You know that sweeping piano and violin theme and today The Young and the Restless, the American soap seen in South Africa on weekdays on e.tv at 16:40, turns 40 years old.
The Afrikaans sound track of Rustelose Jare was eventually ditched in December 1994 when regime change took hold of the SABC, not long afterwards the soap was also gone.
e.tv resurrected The Young and the Restless but the viewership in South Africa has simply never recovered to what it was in its heydey on TV1 with the evil meddling Sheila, Victor and Nikki, Mrs Chandler on the bottle, and the evil fat Rose who kidnapped the poor pregnant Nina and held her at the clinic against her will, waiting for her to give birth and wanting to steal her baby ... (I've watched lots of television, don't judge.)
Of course in America, The Young and the Restless is the number one most watched soap, produced by Bell Dramatic Serial Company and Sony Pictures Television.
The Young and the Restless commemorated today's 40th anniversary - it started on 26 March 1973 - and more than 10 000 episodes filled with backstabbing, marriages, divorces, betrayals and softly-lit scantily-clad romance scenes with a private cake-cutting ceremony on the show's CBS Television City sound stage which was attended by cast, crew and the producers.
"The Young and the Restless has such a legacy," says Jill Ferren Phelps, executive producer. "My charge is to bring it into the next decade and do so without disrupting anything, particularly the viewers who are so important to us. Our goal is to keep it fresh, keep it going for another 40 years."
