U.S. soap opera 'The Young and the Restless' approaches 12,000th episode

After 12,000 episodes, the characters have now probably had affairs with everyone in the town.

I've never watched it, or at least not a whole episode. My old father-in-law, though, was a staunch fan right into his 80s, and if we picked the wrong time to visit we'd be subjected to 20 or 30 interminable minutes of strangely-tanned people with impossible hairstyles giving each other a hard time and looking off significantly into the dark reaches of the very obvious set.

Because of that, and because my much-loved old dad-in-law is long gone, I retain a perverse affection for the show and wish it another 12,000 episodes. Just not while I'm in the room.

Given the choice of watching Young and the Restless or having a half-hour nap, the nap would win every single time.

Never even heard of it. So is it shown here in Japan?

As a kid, my mother used to force me to watch this (only had one TV) and I do remember when it debuted. Still don't like soap operas, however.

After 12,000 episodes, The Young and the Restless have turned into the Old and the Sleepy...

All good things come to an end. Breaking Bad ended after 62 episodes. Fargo S4 is also ending. The bad stuff however....

Coronation Street has been going for 60 years. Used to have great scripts, believable characters and normal storylines. Now it’s pathetic; mostly wooden acting, two dimensional characters and wafer thin sensationalist story lines.

Many actors and actresses got their start on soap operas