A dozen actors from The Young and the Restless took a break from the grind of soap opera duties to mark the show’s 50th anniversary March 1 by doing something that can’t happen every day: unearthing a time capsule that was buried on the CBS Television City lot for 25 years.
Interred on March 26, 1998, it contained merch, scripts, faux newspaper clippings from the Genoa City Chronicle, two Y&R books by Mary Cassata and Barbara Irwin (who flew down for the event) and the last IBM Selectric typewriter ball used by head writer Kay Alden before they switched to computers.
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“I’ve been here 44 of those 50 years,” Melody Thomas Scott told THR of playing Nikki Newman on the show since 1979. “We beat astronomical odds to still be here and still be No. 1.”
As for whether they can make it another 50, Scott is cautious amid a shift in TV consumption that has led to the death of a number of their competitors. “I don’t think we are counting our years, we just hope for the best. I’m such an annoying fatalist that whatever happens with the show is meant to happen, whether it be for good or bad reasons. I’m just enjoying every day that I have here. Until we’re not here.”
In the meantime, there’s a lot to celebrate. CBS will present The Young and the Restless 50th Anniversary Celebration, an Entertainment Tonight special, that will air March 27 on the CBS Television Network and available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+. The news special, hosted by ET’s Nischelle Turner from the Y&R set, will feature footage and interviews with cast members from the past 50 years and never-before-seen moments from the ET vault. There will also a special bash to mark the milestone at Downtown Los Angeles venue Vibiana on March 17.
This story first appeared in the March 8 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
