Why Is Young and the Restless Cheating Viewers Out Of Big Scenes?

The Young and the Restless has a scene problem these days, and it’s no secret that viewers feel cheated. With so many big moments occurring entirely off-screen, it’s challenging to get involved in storylines without payoffs.

Young And The Restless Off-Screen

Most notably, viewers felt hugely disappointed to learn that Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor) and Summer Newman’s (Hunter King) wedding happened, leaving Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott) to announce it. So where were the blushing bride, handsome groom, and the heartfelt vows fans anticipated? Sadly…off-screen.

This letdown feels like a neverending refrain in Genoa City these days. Faith Newman (Reylynn Caster) and Moses Winters (Jacob Aaron Gaines) recently went on a romantic date. But, instead of showing us the romantic event, it once again happened off-screen, leaving the characters to talk about it.

So many things have happened elsewhere, and viewers learned about them through dialogue or texts even. From Ashland Locke (Richard Burgi) and Tara Locke’s (Elizabeth Leiner) confrontation to Amanda Sinclair’s (Mishael Morgan) family drama with her grandpa’s murder and her mom’s illness, the juiciest storylines aren’t being shown onscreen.

Young And The Restless Used To Show The Story

It hasn’t always been this way on the soap. Even recently, viewers actually saw the story instead of merely hearing about it (or reading about it in texts). For instance, when Dina Mergeron (Marla Adams) had Alzheimer’s, and she thought she was back in high school, we got to see a sweeter side of Victor Newman (Eric Braeden).

Despite his feud with Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman), Victor treated Dina with respect when she thought they were back in high school. Viewers got to see Victor take Dina to a “school dance” at Top of the Tower. Bittersweet, the scene showed a softer version of The Mustache, helping the character transition to retirement after years as a cutthroat businessman.

Why The Change From Showing To Telling?

It’s unclear why the big storyline payoffs happen off-screen these days. It’d be easy to blame budget concerns or the COVID-19 pandemic. However, even those constraints don’t seem to make sense. They should’ve filmed a small, sweet wedding for Kyle and Summer since the show went through all the effort to bring them back this month. Likewise with Faith and Noah. Why not show at least a bit of their date?

Viewers are tired of this type of storytelling. Enough with hearing about big moments that happened — it’s time to show them. What’s your take on the situation? Let us know in the comments below.

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.