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''The Young and the Restless'' is an American soap opera, first aired in 1973 on Creator/{{CBS}}, about the residents of the fictional town of Genoa City, Wisconsin. When the show first aired the show focused on two main families, the Foresters and the Brooks.

The show is, easily, the most popular soap opera on television today; it has held the daytime {{ratings}} crown since 1989 - a total of '22 years'. Its ratings are significantly higher than the other soaps left on the air, often doubling the ratings of its closest competition.

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!!Provides examples of:
* BackFromTheDead: A number of examples as with other soap operas. For example Jill's son Philip who had been thought dead for years turned out to be alive and well in Australia.
* BrainlessBeauty: Abby Newman seemed like this at first, though she eventually showed HiddenDepths.
* BreakTheCutie: Sharon often gets these storylines.
* BruiserWithASoftCenter: Nick Newman
* ByronicHero: Victor Newman.
* CallingTheOldManOut: Nick and Victoria have done this on several occasions with Victor, but not with any lasting effect.
* ConvenientMiscarriage: As with many other soaps a pregnancy will end in a miscarriage once it has no further dramatic purpose.
* ConvulsiveSeizures: Averted - one of the characters has Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.
* DeadpanSnarker: A number over the years, usually the nastier characters.
* DisneyVillainDeath: Ricky gets shot in shoulder, probably non-fatally, by his father, and falls backward out of his window, where he dies.
* TheDitz: Esther the maid, who is also kindhearted and loyal to Katherine.
* DracoInLeatherPants: Quite a few of the most popular characters started out as villains, including Victor, Nina, Phyllis, Michael, Kevin and Chloe. They turned out to be popular with viewers so they were retooled by writers to be more likable, albeit still with an edge.
* DramaticHalfHour: Ran for a half hour from its debut in 1973 until February 1980. It was the last soap opera to expand to an hour.
* DudeNotFunny: Tracy reacts this way when Jack called Brad, who froze to death, a "Bradsicle."
* EvilTwin: A number of these have popped up over the years. Catherine, Phyllis and Lauren have all been bedeviled by evil doubles at some point.
* FatGirl: Tracy Abbott had a number of sensitive story lines about her insecurities over her weight.
** Her daughter Colleen also had similar anxieties until the actress was replaced by someone extremely thin (much to the annoyance of many fans).
* FieryRedhead: Phyllis, oh so much. Lauren also has shades of this.
* FairytaleWeddingDress: An awful lot over the decades. Most striking is the dress for Nikki's first wedding.
* TheGamblingAddict: Billy Abbot, to the point of racking up a huge death and getting his wife kidnapped.
* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: All done in slow motion with syrupy music and a ModestyBedsheet.
* IdiotHoudini: Ashley. If she gets involved in your plans...
* LadyDrunk: Kay, Nikki
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Due to multiple main families and many supporting families. There are many characters currently in the cast.
* {{Long Runner|s}}: It's been aired every weekday for almost 40 years.
* MagnificentBastard: Victor Newman.
* OfficerOHara: Averted. Both Ronan and Paul are Irish, though they both avoid typical 'Irish cop' tropes.
* OminousMusicBoxTune: Paul's creepy son Ricky had this as his Leitmotif.
* PutOnABus: Numerous characters. Most recently, Ashley, Heather, Sophia, and Ronan. Generally, it's tradition to do a steady houseclean of the cast whenever a new regime moves in.
* RagsToRiches: Several characters, most notably Victor Newman who grew up in an orphanage and clawed his way to the top.
* ReTool: The show is notable as one of the few soaps to completely {{retool}} and write out the bulk of its core families. According to TheOtherWiki, this was the result of the show's expansion from 30 minutes to an hour in 1980. The expansion forced the producers to renegotiate contracts; when many actors chose to leave, the writers wrote out the remaining main characters from the Foster and Brooks families, except Jill Foster. They then refocused their attention on a new pair of main families, the Williams and the Abbots. The writers later added more families: the Newmans, the Winters and, more recently, the Fisher-Baldwin family.
* SoapOperaRapidAgingSyndrome: The victim is typically sent off to a Swiss boarding school for a few months.
* SpankTheCutie: Daniel gave Abby several swats when she was acting like a annoying brat.
* TangledFamilyTree: Due to numerous marriages, remarriages, and marriages to different people, the show's three main families, the Newmans, Abbots, and Winters, are all related, at least through marriage.
* WrongSideofTheTracks: Nicki Newman (nee Reed) came from a bad part of town and worked as a stripper for awhile until she caught Victor's eye.
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