#TVOVERMIND #YRSPOILERS
To compete with the youthful ABC soap operas, All My Children, One Life to Live, and General Hospital, CBS executives wanted a new daytime serial that was youth oriented.[16] William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell created The Young and the Restless in 1972 for the network under the working title, The Innocent Years![16][17] "We were confronted with the very disturbing reality that young America had lost much of its innocence," Bell said. "Innocence as we had known and lived it all our lives had, in so many respects, ceased to exist."[18] They changed the title of the series to The Young and the Restless because they felt it "reflected the youth and mood of the early seventies."[18] The Bells named the fictional setting for the show after the real Genoa City, Wisconsin, which was located on their way from their then-home in Chicago to their annual summer vacation spot in Lake Geneva.[2]
The Young and the Restless began airing on March 26, 1973, replacing the cancelled soap opera, Where the Heart Is.[5] Bell worked as head writer from the debut of the series until his retirement in 1998.[19] He wrote from his home in Chicago while production took place in Los Angeles, California. Originally, Bell wanted to shoot the series in New York, however, CBS executives felt that Los Angeles would be more cost effective.[9] John Conboy acted as the show's first executive producer, staying in the position until 1982.[5] Bell and H. Wesley Kenney became co-executive producers that year until Edward Scott took over in 1989. Bell then became senior executive producer.[5] Other executive producers included David Shaughnessy,[20] John F. Smith,[21] Lynn Marie Latham,[22] Josh Griffith,[23] Maria Arena Bell, and Paul Rauch.[24]
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