'Y&R' No.1 For 500 Weeks

The Young and the Restless has reached yet another milestone. On Friday, July 24, the CBS drama celebrated 500 straight weeks as the top-rated network program on daytime television.

Since December 26, 1988, the CBS drama has held the No. 1 spot against such veteran competition as General Hospital and Days of Our Lives, keeping viewers hooked on the lives and loves of the residents of a fictional Midwestern metropolis, Genoa City.

'Young & The Restless' Cast Members

Eric Braeden, Melody Thomas Scott and other stars marked the milestone Thursday. Cast and crew gathered on the lawn in front of CBS Television City in Los Angeles.

In a period of steady broadcast erosion, daytime for CBS has shown growth. When The Young and the Restless premiered in 1973, CBS averaged 5 million daytime viewers a week.

This year as the drama celebrates its 25th anniversary, its average is about 6.4 million viewers, and it continues to set the standard with strong characters, socially-conscious storylines, romance, and sensuality.

'Young & The Restless' Producers

Solid storytelling and characters are the key to Y&R, as aficionados call the show created by husband-and-wife team William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell. William recently surrendered the head writer's reins to Kay Alden, but remains senior executive producer and executive story consultant.

"What they have is consistency," Lynn Leahey, editor-in-chief of Soap Opera Digest, says. "That sounds so dry and boring, but when people watch soap operas what's important is familiarity and being able to trust the characters 'Yeah, that surprises me but it makes sense the character would do that.'"