The Young and the Restless at the Beginning

Having had my two oldest sons in the mid 1970's I was the perfect target group to be immersed in the comings and goings of the new soap opera "The Young and the Restless". The soap opera, called soaps because the biggest advertisers are soap products, began on March 26, 1973. Created by Lee Phillip Bell and William J. Bell, wife and husband, it slowly but steadily became one of the most watched and favorites of the daytime soaps.

In the beginning we have the Brooks family, Stuart Brooks is a wealthy newspaper publisher, he is married to Jennifer and they have 4 daughters. The oldest daughter, Leslie, is a pianist and the quietest of the 4 girls. Lauralee, called Laurie, is an author and the most outgoing of the group. Next is Chris, who was always my favorite of the 4 sisters, she is a reporter and works with her father at the paper. Peggy is the youngest and a college student. The Brook's family is closely connected to the poor Foster family, which consists of the mother, Liz Foster who is a factory worker and her 3 children. The oldest son Snapper is finishing up his schooling to be a doctor, Greg who is going to law school and Jill, a beautician working in a beauty salon. The Brooks live in a beautiful mansion while the Fosters, whose father left them, live in a small home in a poor neighborhood in fictional Genoa City, Wisconsin (named after a vacation spot that series creators William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell visited annually).

Chris is dating Snapper, but he also dating someone else, Sally, and is not ready for a serious relationship, while Greg is in love with Chris. Leslie is falling in love with Dr. Brad Eliot, who has come into town to escape his past and finds himself working at the newspaper ran by Stuart Brooks. Then Laurie falls in love with Brad, causing the two sisters to be at odds. Jill, one of the characters still in the show today, dreams of a life of being rich. Now enters the Chancellors. Katherine is a very wealthy customer of Jill's at the beauty salon, her husband owns the company where Liz Foster works. Katherine likes Jill and soon hires her as her personal assistant. Jill needs the job to help her struggling family pay bills. Mrs. Chancellor is an alcoholic and Jill was helping her deal with this. Jill and Katherine's husband fall in love and have an affair which leads to all kinds of things, including the death of Mr. Chancellor and Jill being pregnant with his son. Mr Chancellor was killed in a car accident while argueing with his wife over a divorce while his wife was driving the car. This has caused the forever conflict between Jill and Katherine. Jill claiming that Katherine killed the love of her life and Katherine saying that Jill stole her husband.

Jeanne Cooper who plays Katherine Chancellor has been on the show since its beginning. Her role and that of Jill, (played by Jess Walton since 1987) are the two characters that have remained since the beginning.

"The Young and the Restless" is still on CBS in the afternoons and going strong.