"The Young and the Restless" recently finished first in the daytime ratings. Not that that's anything new for the CBS soap opera -- it has been No. 1 in daytime for 520 consecutive weeks.
For the math impaired, that's 10 years on top -- an unprecedented run.(CBS, however, has only been No. 1 in daytime ratings for 508 consecutive weeks.)
Which is not to say that "Y&R" is the best daytime soap. The show has more than its share of creative problems -- not the least of which is the fact that it can't seem to keep its timelines straight.
(One storyline can stay on the same scene for a week while another may advance several days in the same number of episodes.)
Nonetheless, it's hard not to be impressed with any show that can stay on top for 10 years. It certainly has never happened in prime-time TV, where no show has ever been No. 1 for more than five consecutive seasons.
("All in the Family" did it from the 1971-72 season through 1975-76. "The Cosby Show" did it from 1985-86 through 1989-90. Neither show, however, was No. 1 every single week during those periods.)
And to put the "Y&R" string of ratings victories in perspective, 10 seasons ago the top 10 shows in the prime-time ratings (in order) were "The Cosby Show," "Roseanne," "A Different World," "Cheers," "60 Minutes," "The Golden Girls," "Who's the Boss?," "Murder, She Wrote," "Empty Nest" and "Anything But Love."
Only "60 Minutes" remains on the air today.
"Y&R's" ratings run is even harder to believe than its plotlines.
THE RATINGS: Here's how the soaps stacked up in the most recent national ratings. (Each ratings point represents 985,000 homes.)
1. "Young and the Restless," CBS, 6.4; 2. "Days of Our Lives," NBC, 4.4; 4. "Bold and the Beautiful," CBS, 4.3; 5. "General Hospital," ABC, 4.2; 6. "As the World Turns," CBS, 4.0; 7. (tie) "All My Children," ABC, and "Guiding Light," CBS, 3.9; 10. "One Life to Live," ABC, 3.4; 11. "Another World," NBC, 2.3; 12. "Port Charles," ABC, 2.2; 13. "Sunset Beach," NBC, 1.4.
RECYCLED SOAP: Barring impeachment hearings, soap operas present new episodes five days a week, 52 weeks a year, right?
Wrong.
CBS is going to air reruns of its daytime soaps on both Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
On Christmas, it's a 1988 episode of "Y&R"; a 1997 episode of "Bold and the Beautiful"; a 1989 episode of "As the World Turns"; and a 1995 episode of "Guiding Light."
New Year's Day will feature an "exclusive behind-the-scenes documentary" about shooting episodes of "B&B" in Italy in 1997; a 1987 episode of "ATWT"; and a 1990 episode of "GL." ("Y&R" will be pre-empted by the Rose Parade.
None of this is particularly earth-shattering. But one wonders if this will set some sort of precedent for other holidays as well.