TVSquad

First, Paula Abdul walks away from American Idol (or was she shoved out by the producers a bit?), now comes news that Susan Lucci's not sure about sticking with All My Children when the ABC soap relocates to Los Angeles in December. My thought was there's no way La Lucci was going to pass on the chance to keep on working, but she's saying it's a tough decision. "I don't know ... I love the show and I love playing Erica, but I'm just now going to have a couple of days off. It's a lot to think about."

Could Susan truly be thinking anything but, "Yes, I'm going"? Seriously, All My Children has been her mainstay for 39 years. That's right, nearly four decades of continuous employment in essentially a starring role.

There's good news and bad news on the CBS soap opera front. The good news is that The Young & the Restless has been renewed for two years. The bad news is that As the World Turns could be axed just like Guiding Light.

The Young & the Restless is CBS daytime's top rated soap. It's been number one in the Nielsens for nearly 20 years running. So the renewal wasn't a big surprise. However, the pick-up came with a warning to cut costs, tighten the budget and, basically, don't expect the stars to get big raises anytime soon. In the past year alone, two of the veterans -- Melody Thomas Scott and Jess Walton -- opted to take less money when the show threatened to write them out or recast. Welcome to the brave new world of daytime!

To quote Danny Glover in every Lethal Weapon, I'm too old for this shit.

I never thought I could get hooked on another soap opera. I watched Guiding Light every single day for over 20 years, but got away from it when they stopped focusing on the Bauers and then went all crazy with the way they shot the show (I'm back now that Grant Aleksander has returned). And I watched All My Children and One Life To Live in the 80s, though I haven't watched either of those shows in 15 years and would probably be lost now. But I can at least imagine going back to that show because I know a lot of the characters and can figure things out.

But can someone explain to me how I'm suddenly hooked on a soap opera I've never seen before?

For one thousand weeks -- that's 19 years -- CBS's daytime drama The Young & the Restless has been number in the Nielsens, the highest-rated soap on the air. Back in December 1988, when this streak started, the number one show in prime time was The Cosby Show. The number one song was "Faith" by George Michael (do you hear that, Eli Stone?). And Ronald Reagan was winding up his second term as President. In other words, it was a looooong time ago.

Of course, this being a soap, not much has changed on Y&R in nearly 20 years. Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) is still the ruthless scion involved in an on-again, off-again marriage/love story with Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott). Jill (Jess Walton) is still a social-climbing vixen. Brad Carlton (Don Diamont) has graduated from hot pool boy to hot corporate executive. Jeanne Cooper is still playing grande dame Katherine Chancellor. And Genoa City, Wisconsin (yes, really, Wisconsin!) is the center of the universe for these characters.