The Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless (often abbreviated as Y&R) is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in a fictionalized version of Genoa City, Wisconsin. First broadcast on March 26, 1973, "The Young and the Restless" was originally broadcast as half-hour episodes, five times a week. The show expanded to one-hour episodes on February 4, 1980. In 2006, the series began airing encore episodes weeknights on SOAPnet until 2013, when it moved to TVGN (now Pop). As of July 1, 2013, Pop still airs the encore episodes on weeknights. The series is also syndicated internationally.
Kelly Andrews (The Young and the Restless)
In September 2013, "Entertainment Weekly" broke news that former "Guiding Light" and "Lost" actress Cynthia Watros had joined the cast of "The Young and the Restless" in the recurring role of "Kelly". Watros' arrival was said to have "profound influence" on several of the characters connected to the canvas. "Soap Opera Digest" confirmed Watros' debut for sometime in November 2013. "Entertainment Weekly" further confirmed that Kelly was a former school teacher whose son was killed in a hit-and-run car accident, and that she'd interact with Billy Abbott (Billy Miller), whose character recently lost his own child on-screen, and that they would meet in a support group for grieving parents. They further confirmed her first airdate as November 15, 2013. Watros attributed her casting in the role to executive producer Jill Farren Phelps, with whom she previously worked with during her time on "Guiding Light". She complimented, "She’s a perfect combination of someone who knows what she’s doing, and she’s a strong woman." Upon accepting the role, Watros knew there was a potential for her to vacate, due to her also being involved in a potential pilot series for MTV.