Young and the Restless Has Lost The ‘Young’ Storylines & Characters

For many decades, The Young and the Restless actually featured storylines and characters that were…well…young. However, these days, the show isn’t quite living up to its iconic name.

Where’s the ‘Young’ on The Young and the Restless?

With Faith Newman (Reylynn Caster) leaving for college and (presumably) Moses Winters (Jacob Aaron Gaines) already there, the soap no longer has anyone who would quite qualify as young. Even when they were on these past couple of years, Faith and Moses didn’t really have much drama or big storylines. Instead of heading out of state for college, we wonder why they didn’t stay in town, which might have been a way to generate storylines for young characters, which are the show’s trademark.

Not only is there not a teen scene but also there’s not even a particularly young scene. In the past, Y&R had a thriving late teen and 20-something group with popular storylines like Glo by Jabot.

Sure, we know that age is fluid in the world of daytime, but this is beyond that. Nearly every other youngish character is pushing 30. For instance, Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor) and Summer Newman Abbott (Allison Lanier) are married and parenting Harrison Locke (Kellen Enriquez). Even Mariah Copeland (Camryn Grimes) and Tessa Porter (Cait Fairbanks) are married and focused on trying to adopt a child.

Then the others who are sort of young, like Devon Hamilton (Bryton James), Lily Winters (Christel Khalil), Abby Chancellor (Melissa Ordway), and Sally Spectra (Courtney Hope), are certainly well into their 30s. These characters are high-powered CEOs and/or business owners.

Ultimately, without a younger set, it is difficult to see how this show is still actually calling itself The Young and the Restless. It doesn’t make sense to move entirely away from the younger characters, especially when they are the future of the soap.

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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