LESLI KAY - 1,000 WEEKS AT NO. 1

CBS's The Young and the Restless is celebrating its 1,000th consecutive week as the top daily soap opera. For the week ending Feb. 29, the daytime drama averaged 5.8 million viewers and is likely to experience an audience surge two weeks from now when it celebrates its 35th anniversary on March 26 with a storyline that returns several earlier characters to the show, including Danny Romalotti, played by Michael Damian, who debuted on the series in 1981. Eileen Davidson and Lesli Kay, now appearing on The Bold and the Beautiful, are also due to return to the cast for the anniversary plot. "Reaching the milestones of 1,000 weeks at No. 1 and 35 years on the air simultaneously is unheard of in this industry, it is a testament to the work of an extraordinary team of storytellers both in front of and behind the cameras," Barbara Bloom, senior VP daytime programs at CBS, said in a statement.

07/03/2008