The Young and the Restless

The Young and the Restless (often abbreviated as Y&R) is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in a fictionalized version of Genoa City, Wisconsin. First broadcast on March 26, 1973, The Young and the Restless was originally broadcast as half-hour episodes, five times a week. The show expanded to one-hour episodes on February 4, 1980. In 2006, the series began airing previous episodes weeknights on SOAPnet until 2013, when it moved to TVGN (now Pop). As of July 1, 2013, Pop still airs previous episodes on weeknights. The series is also syndicated internationally.

Lauren Fenmore is a fictional character from the American CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. Introduced by William J. Bell, the character made her debut during the episode airing on January 21, 1983, portrayed by Tracey E. Bregman. In 1992, Bregman brought the character to The Bold and the Beautiful, resulting in her migrating there fully in 1995.

Phyllis Summers is a fictional character from The Young and the Restless, an American soap opera on the CBS network. The character was created and introduced by William J. Bell, and debuted in the episode airing on October 17, 1994. Phyllis was originally and most notably portrayed by actress Michelle Stafford, until August 2013 (other than Sandra Nelson portraying Phyllis for nearly two years, until Stafford was brought back by former head writer, Kay Alden, in 2000). Stafford has been praised for her portrayal, for which she has won two Daytime Emmy Awards, but left the series after nearly sixteen years, with the character being written into a coma; Stafford last appeared on August 2, 2013. The role passed to Gina Tognoni (debuting on August 11, 2014), who continues in it.

Nikki Newman is a fictional character from the American CBS daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless. Created and introduced by William J. Bell in 1978, the role was originally portrayed by Erica Hope, before Melody Thomas Scott took over in 1979. Initially introduced as a stripper, the character became well known for her relationship with businessman Victor Newman (Eric Braeden), a union that developed into a supercouple pairing that has spanned over three decades. She shares two children with Victor, Victoria (Amelia Heinle) and Nicholas Newman (Joshua Morrow). In 2013, she reveals that she had previously given up a child for adoption, who is later discovered to be Dylan McAvoy (Steve Burton). The character has also had several other notorious relationships, including Paul Williams (Doug Davidson), Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman), and Brad Carlton (Don Diamont). Scott is considered an icon in the soap opera genre.

Victor Newman (born Christian Miller) is a fictional character from the American CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. He has been portrayed by Eric Braeden since 1980. Initially a guest character who was to last for eight to twelve weeks, Victor has evolved into the soap opera's leading male figure. Created by William J. Bell as a "despicable, contemptible, unfaithful wife abuser", the character was planned to be killed off and never heard of again. However, after Bell saw Braeden's performance, he decided to sign the actor onto a contract. Braeden was hesitant to work on a soap opera, but eventually signed a contract, and has remained on the series as a regular cast member for a total of thirty-seven years. The character is widely described as ruthless, and while loving to those he holds dear, is considered a villain. Over the years, he has also been the center of several controversial plots and relationships.

Victoria Newman is a fictional character from The Young and the Restless, an American soap opera on the CBS network. Created by William J. Bell, she is currently portrayed by Amelia Heinle. Victoria was born onscreen in 1982 and was portrayed by child actress Ashley Nicole Millan for her first eight years. Having been rapidly aged to a teenager, Victoria returned to the soap opera and was portrayed by Heather Tom. Tom portrayed the character into her early adult years and remained in the role for twelve years. Due to creative differences, Tom left the soap opera in 2003 and Heinle, who took over on March 21, 2005, was cast in the role.

Ashley Abbott is a fictional character from The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful, two American soap operas on the CBS network. She has been most notably portrayed by Eileen Davidson, who originated the role in June 1982 before departing in 1988. Brenda Epperson portrayed Ashley from 1988 to 1995, before Shari Shattuck portrayed the role for the next three years, until Davidson's return in 1999. Davidson was nominated in 2003 for Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.

Sharon Newman is a fictional character from The Young and the Restless, an American soap opera on the CBS network, currently portrayed by Sharon Case. Created by William J. Bell as a love interest for Nicholas Newman, the character debuted on March 24, 1994. Before Case took over in September 1994, the character was portrayed briefly by Monica Potter and then by Heidi Mark. When first introduced, Sharon was a young girl from the poor side of town. Nick and Sharon married, had a son named Noah, and later won custody of Cassie, the child a teenaged Sharon had given up for adoption. Their marriage faced a number of problems, including infidelity on both sides. Following Cassie's death in an automobile accident, Nick cheated on Sharon with Phyllis Summers, resulting in a pregnancy which ended their 11-year marriage.

Jack Abbott is a fictional character from the American CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. The character was first introduced in 1980 being portrayed by Terry Lester. Lester departed from the series in 1989 and was replaced by Peter Bergman shortly thereafter. Bergman relocated to California for the role after he successfully auditioned for the part. His first episode aired on November 27, 1989. Jack is known for his longstanding feud with the Newman family patriarch, Victor Newman as well as his romances with Nikki Newman, Phyllis Summers and Sharon Newman. Jack has represented the Abbott family as the patriarch since the 2006 passing of his father, John Abbott, who was revealed in 2018 to not be Jack's biological father (it is now believed Phillip Chancellor is).

Ambrosia "Amber" Moore (formerly Forrester, Ashby and Romalotti) is a fictional character from the American soap operas The Bold and the Beautiful and The Young and the Restless. Throughout the character's entire history, she has been produced by Adrienne Frantz, first introduced by Bradley Bell to The Bold and the Beautiful on July 18, 1997. She was babysitter for Brooke Logan (Katherine Kelly Lang) and Eric Forrester's (John McCook) children, but ended up having a romance with their son, Rick Forrester (Jacob Young). As a young woman, she endured several challenges including being drugged and raped, having a relationship with a younger man and becoming an enemy of Sheila Carter (Kimberlin Brown), a psychotic criminal. She left the soap opera on April 14, 2005.