Some of my closest friends are people I haven't even met. They live in an imaginary land, and I know all the details of their lives.
No, I'm not crazy. I'm just a typical soap opera fan, specifically of "The Young and the Restless."
I get a little embarrassed talking about taping five episodes a week, but at least I can fast-forward through the commercials.
If I am going to admit to being a fan of any soap opera, I'm least embarrassed to say it's "The Young and the Restless." I consider it the classiest of the soaps.
It doesn't have back-from-the-dead plot lines or characters possessed by the devil or mystical powers. You won't find aliens landing on my soap opera. Y&R (as we pros call it) is simply about rich, dysfunctional people living their lives in Genoa City, Wis.
There are no truly evil characters or pure heroes. Characters have depth and complexities rarely seen on daytime TV...and I know because I used to watch the entire CBS line-up.
I don't even mind that the show is still called "The Young and the Restless," even though most characters are old and well rested.
Still, it's a soap opera. Things aren't that close to reality. While watching Y&R with my husband, weÕve developed terms like "soap stare" and "young logic" that describe certain typical soap opera conduct.
"Soap logic" refers to instances when characters do whatever isn't reasonable. It's when they keep the wrong things secret or talk loudly about private issues in popular, crowded restaurants.
The "soap stare" term refers to the vacant look actors leave on their faces when it's time for the scene to break. They leave questions unanswered and sentences unfinished to build tension. Many times, dialogue will go from Monday to Friday with numerous "stares" before a conversation is completed.
It's not all mockery though. Trivial as it may sound, I've learned many lessons from "The Young and the Restless":
Don't become sexually involved with spouseÕs family members or close friends
Don't listen in on phone conversations because the listener usually draws the wrong conclusions
Don't send children off to boarding school, because it ages them at least 10 years in one season
Don't divorce and remarry the same person more than twice
Don't drift off into vivid flashbacks while in conversation with someone. It's embarrassing answering the question, "Where were you just now?"
Even if I don't learn that much from watching "The Young and the Restless," at least I have a stable group of characters to watch. I know that if Katherine Chancellor and Victor Newman can still fit the mold, I can always be close to living young and a little restless.