CBS The Young and the Restless (Y&R) spoilers indicate that this is an odd one to write about because we rarely give a second’s thought to what the companies in our shows do unless it’s important to the story or is relevant to a character’s backstory. Most just gloss over it. They have these hugely powerful companies, but deal with their company activities in the vaguest of ways, generally just speaking about stocks rising or falling, board of directors being unhappy, and so on. But The Young and the Restless gives realistic relevance by saying what Newman Enterprises and Jabot Cosmetics do regularly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-A_4iOquuJc
Why it’s important
We’re often told someone goes to work, or has to save the {insert company name] on most shows, but without more meaning to it, it’s hard for new fans to dive in and get an understanding of what’s going on.
If the head of the family is the head of a drug cartel or other shipping industry, then we’d expect coffee, a port or two to be mentioned, as well as problems based on those shipments to occasionally creep up. It’s expected as rival families and the police don’t want to let them go.
Of course, if it’s something simple like a coffee shop, then that would explain why we see the character and their friends gathered there for chunks of the episode.
If it’s a cosmetics company like Jabot Cosmetics, then we expect to see them hustling to find new customers so they can branch out. It adds more weight to any failures they suffer and draws us in more.
Newman Enterprises includes Newman Cosmetics, real estate, and venture capitalism.
Just the tiny bit of information of Newman being in cosmetics sets it up and a rival for Jabot, and vice versa. It’s something we as viewers buy into and can’t wait to see what happens.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mLAIMd5-fM
Why it may not be mentioned
As mentioned above, knowing such things can be incremental in helping new viewers and fans to be drawn in and understand more about certain characters and how they are the top families in a town.
But in some cases, what a company does is glossed over every time it’s mentioned. Its name is used, along with whatever stock or other problems/boons it’s currently experiencing.
That’s great and we can be pulled in if the characters and story are engaging enough, but we nearly all ask, “What do they do?” at some point.
Why?
Well, it may be as simple as the show’s been around for so long that it’s thought of as common knowledge, and any business interest is therefore mentioned strictly as a way of reminding us it’s still there.
The problem here is new viewers lack the feeling of understanding what these rich people are stressing about. We don’t feel the same sympathy because we don’t know what’s going on, or why we should care about the company.
This is something I’ve noticed watching a few shows lately, and it’s something The Young and the Restless excels at. With The Young and the Restless giving realistic relevance, we know what they’re going to do, how the business suffering hurts them, and we can relate. It gives a realistic relevance to the show we can understand and feel a part of right away.
It often comes down to the little things for us to become attached to a show, so why not enjoy the similarities, even if they’re smaller than we expect?
