The Young and the Restless seems to have all but given up on the teen scene these days. Sure, we occasionally see Moses Winters and Faith Newman, but they don’t have any compelling storylines — nor do they have any friends.
Young and the Restless Missed Opportunities
For a little while, they tried to have something going with Reed Hellstrom (Tristan Lake Leabu), Mattie Ashby (Lexie Stevenson), and Charlie Ashby (Noah Alexander Gerry). However, they didn’t really stick with it, and all the former teens are off-screen now, starting their very young adult lives.
Even the younger set, who are by no means teenagers anymore, is mostly gone. The ones who remain seem to mostly revolve around Abby Newman (Melissa Ordway) and her baby storyline. And surprisingly, Sally Spectra (Courtney Hope) hasn’t really gotten anything too juicy yet.
1990s Revival
Everything old is new again, and teens have embraced mom jeans. So if things from the 1990s are back in style, it seems like a prime time for Y&R to catch the attention of today’s teenagers and turn them into new viewers for the soap’s future.
In the 1990s, teens desperately wanted to watch their favorite soap operas, with some skipping school for highly anticipated events. If they were lucky, others got to tape the shows on their VCRs and watch them after school.
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The Young and the Restless was no different. It featured the Glo by Jabot 24-hour reality TV show that took place in the Abbott pool house. The teen scene consisted of familiar names like J.T. Hellstrom (Thad Luckinbill), Brittany Hodges (Lauren Woodland), MacKenzie Browning (then Ashley Bashioum), Billy Abbott (then David Tom; now Jason Thompson), and Raul Gutierrez (David Lago).
These days, there’s no way teens rush home from school to watch or even ever bother to watch at all because there’s nothing for younger people to care about. Back then, at least the soap tried to engage the next generation of viewers.
Completely ignoring the teen scene is really a missed opportunity for Y&R — and doesn’t bode well for their future. General Hospital manages to have compelling teenage storylines that rival those of the adults on the soap, and we think the young are missing from the restless right now.
Perhaps they could even age a few of the younger children like Connor Newman and Christian Newman. Either that or they need to bring in more teens to interact with Faith (Reylynn Caster) and Moses (Jacob Aaron Gaines). Half-hearted scenes between Moses and Faith recapping Abby’s story along with other significant moments between them happening off-screen won’t cut it.
The Young and the Restless (YR) airs weekdays on CBS. Check your local listings for airtimes. For more about what’s coming up in Genoa City, check out all the latest that’s been posted on Y&R spoilers, and for an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.
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