Question about Y&R being at #1

[EricMontreal22]

It was--and to be fair it often was rated very closely to Y&R. It was around '95 when AMC started to slip (i remember I was shocked to see that in the SODs I was so used to seeing it constant) which was why McTavish with her increasingly outrageous plots was allowed to be fired by Behr who, though she helped hire her was reportedly beginning to be at odds with her. Of course ironically very soon after ABC fired Behr anyway... Days' climb also, I beklieve cut into the ratings.

[YRBB]

I think some peoples' assertion that time slot is the only reason why Y&R went to #1 and stayed there is, to say the least, cynical.

Like said above, it's bound to have helped.

But the best time slot in the world would not have made much of a difference had it been a terrible show.

I'm not going to speak about ALL MY CHILDREN's writing and which show "deserved" to be #1 more.

However, Y&R was known as a consistently well-written show; if you liked it, you always got the things that you liked, in every single episode. It had a cast that was well-balanced and had excellent production values (directing? Lighting? Music? Etc). Its slow pace would have been the kiss of death had it not been sort of an entrancing show. Veterans stayed on the show forever (giving it the aforementioned feeling of familiarity). Characters had arcs that developed and were resolved over the course of years and years. It did not have the fluctuations in quality that so many fans complain about on their own show (and style and tone helped it get through some occasional clunkers). The main characters were all different between them and mostly excellently acted. Each character had his or her own voice. Count in the fact that it was one man's vision for decades and did not change every few years (if not more often), depending on the new HW(s).

As the 90s progressed and we started seeing some crazy up and downs in terms of quality on most shows, Y&R kept it the same with minimal changes. It held on to its ratings well after the new millennium and my impression is that it started losing viewers at a much slower pace until the writing started to get really bad.

Sorry for the long post, but these "Y&R did not deserve to be #1" posts that pop up every now and then really get me going

[soapfan770]

The funny thing about the timeslot is that outside of the East coast Y&R does not air at 12:30pm but instead at 11am for a very large part of the country. In fact CBS has always had a special 12PM ET feed so there would be no day behind Y&R shows(there use to be a couple exceptions). Y&R viewers in the Central and Mountain Time Zone where the show comes on at 11AM CT/10 AM MT see the show first before the east coast even does.

I think you've summed it up perfectly YRBB. Even when story on Y&R became sluggish or boring, the show could still be expected end up making up for it by delivering a punch or satisfying climax, at least until 2005 anyways.

[YRBB]

Good point about the timeslots.

Yes, that was definitely one of the biggest Y&R draws; you can become frustrated by the slow pace, or even find it boring but big stories ended BIG and with hugely satisfying climaxes which made it all worth it.

[Sedrick]

And don't forget the fact that in most markets the show's lead-in was The Price is Right, which spent much of the time period as THE top-rated program in daytime.