The Abbotts and The Newmans
By the early 1980s, most of the Brooks and Foster families had been recast again and again, and when The Young and the Restless expanded to an hour in 1980, many lead actors said they could not sustain themselves on an hour show. Show creator William J. Bell told himself he would wait for one more major departure before making big changes. When Jaime Lyn Bauer, who played Lorie, quit in 1982 due to exhaustion, Bell took the opportunity to write out all of the Brooks and Fosters, save Jill. Gradually, the focus shifted from the Brooks and Foster families to the Williams, Abbott, and the Newman families.
The Williams family was introduced in 1978. Police Detective Carl Williams (Brett Hadley) and his wife Mary (Carolyn Conwell) had their hands full with their promiscuous teenage son Paul (Doug Davidson). Paul had a fling with Nikki Reed (Melody Thomas Scott) and gave her a sexually transmitted disease. He then went on to romance prostitute Cindy Lake, as well as April Stevens (Cynthia Eilbacher), who mothered his daughter, Heather, before marrying Lauren Fenmore (Tracey E. Bregman) and opening a private investigations agency with Andy Richards (Steven Ford). Paul's older brother Steven (David Winn) was a reporter who dated Peggy Brooks and eventually moved to Washington D.C. Meanwhile, Carl and Mary's daughter Patty (Lilibet Stern/Andrea Evans) married Jack, but due to his frequent infidelities, she eventually lost control and shot Jack in the back three times. After being cleared of any charges, Patty divorced Jack and left town to join her brother Steven in Washington. The Williams' oldest son Todd was an unseen character who served as a priest (he eventually made an on-screen appearance in 2004 with Corbin Bernsen playing the role in a cameo appearance).
By the late 1980s, most members of the Williams family were phased out, but the Abbott and the Newman families remain. The Young and the Restless is one of the few shows in the history of daytime to eliminate their original core families and benefit from the result.
Eric Braeden joined the cast in 1980 as sinister tycoon Victor Newman, in what was originally a short-term role but soon became a permanent fixture. Victor was so menacing to his wife Julia (Meg Bennett) that he locked her boyfriend Michael Scott (Nicholas Benedict) in a bomb shelter constructed in the basement and forced him to watch Victor and Julia's bedroom via closed-circuit camera. Bell saw something in Braeden's performance and since the show had few strong male characters, elevated him to star status. Soon after, Victor went to a strip club and met Nikki, who at the time was working as a stripper. She married Victor in a lavish 1984 wedding and their love-hate relationship has gone through the birth of two children, Victoria (Heather Tom/Sarah Aldrich/Amelia Heinle) and Nicholas (Joshua Morrow), as well as many divorces, affairs, and remarriages since then.
Bell also expanded the role of the Abbott family. In addition to John and his son Jack, daughters Ashley (Eileen Davidson) and Traci (Beth Maitland) were introduced. Stories were phased in regarding the corporate rivalry between the Abbott's Jabot Cosmetics and the Newman's Newman Enterprises. The personal lives of both the Abbotts and the Newmans also became a major focus. A four-way quadrangle became a major storyline in the 1980s-90s with Victor marrying Ashley and Jack marrying Nikki. Meanwhile, the insecure Traci became involved in a love triangle with her rival Lauren and rock star Danny Romalotti (Michael Damian), before marrying gardener-turned-business executive Brad Carlton (Don Diamont).
The rivialry is put the test in 2010 after Billy and Vikki marryRead more about this topic: The Young And The Restless Storylines