The Young and the Restless : Are the Newman's Adult Kids Being Overlooked?

On The Young and the Restless, the adult kids of the Newman family appear less and less as main players and more like occasional parts of existing stories, say the fans. Is this true? Details Explored.

The Young and the Restless has several prominent characters in any storyline, such as the great Victor Newman (Eric Braeden). Every storyline somehow has him as a part of it. Whether that's by design and contract obligations for The Young and the Restless or whether he needs to be involved in all goings on in Genoa City, maybe we’ll never know, but what about the middle-tier Newmans, the adult kids? Fans seem to think that less and less, these “adult kids” are featured in their storylines and suspect that their relevance is fading out. Do you agree? Here’s what the fans and viewers say on the Soap Central Message Boards.

Are The Newman Adult Kids Fading In Importance on The Young and the Restless

“So the good news is that Y&R is getting sorely needed new male characters. Damien and Holden have already arrived, and Billy Flynn is on contract to play an undisclosed character. This is great. However, I’m beginning to wonder about the future of the Newman adult kids. Are they fading into the background? Nick hasn’t led a story or had a significant love interest in years. His role has been “concerned family member or friend” in others’ stories.

Victoria’s role has been limited to “Claire’s mom” for over the last year. Her tepid romance with Cole appears to be on hold. He went to NY on a business trip months ago and hasn’t been mentioned since. She still works at Newman but in a diminished role. Abby is almost never seen. The actress who plays her went off contract and the character went off screen.

Adam is the most perplexing. He has had one story since sleeping with Chelsea in June 2024. He’s spent the 9 months since then in a slow, low intensity reconciliation with her that was shown once a week. Other than that, Adam talks to Victor but has no story. Victor, on the other hand, remains as prominent as ever. He’s waging war with the Abbotts, undermining Billy, and is now connected to Dumas. Nikki is running Chancellor and continuing her connection to Jack. But the next generation of Newmans - the 30- and 40-somethings who should be driving story - seem to be fading in importance.” - Executive Poster clamcat

“So true. Everything revolves around Victor. The Abbotts, Jack, Diane, Billy, Kyle, their stories are mainly Victor-driven interactions. Even Phyllis is talking about Victor. It's so tiresome.

The younger generation has been handed off to the Winters clan recently. It's like Y&R is trying to compete with The Gates (I hope). I'm not complaining. If it actually plays out that way, it could be a good thing for Y&R as they eventually phase out Victor since the actor will not live forever and his children are all already well established and highly featured over the decades. I'd love to see the Newmans reduced to current Lauren-levels while other families/characters take over going forward. The Newmans/Abbotts were not always the central focus of Y&R, and their time is at an end.” - Regular Contributor Emrys

“I know people make fun of B&B but I like how Eric has taken a back seat to the younger generation who now dominate the stories. This is how it should be.” - Good Kitty

“Victor is being allowed to run away with the show. He should not be the main/ lead/ overused actor, in every story line, in everyone else's business, telling everyone who they should be with or where they should work. This is the fault of TPTB. I dont care what the actor says. He is an employee and hence should be told how it's going to be, take it or leave it.

With Victor being so dominant in the show, no one else is being groomed to take the reigns as head of NE. Good grief, there are 4 Newman kids who should be heading up different division of the company, doing their own thing, creating havoc and conquering evil but, no, we continue to see an 80+ year old man sitting in a chair giving orders like a general. So if there are no younger actors or actresses who can take the lead, TPTB only have themselves to blame.” - Valued Contributor CloverLeaf

The Young and the Restless fans and viewers make some valid points. Do you agree that it’s high time that characters such as Abby, Nick, Adam, Victoria, and Cole had more significant parts to play and should get featured in storylines that their characters were driving? Join the discussion on the message boards or put your thoughts below in the comments.

Watch full episodes of The Young and the Restless weekdays on CBS or stream on Paramount Plus.