Finally, it appears that The Young and the Restless has realized that it is — let’s be generous and say — not in optimal shape. The return of former executive producer Edward J. Scott (as supervising producer) is a definite step in the right direction. So what’s next?

Aside from immediately shifting the focus of the show back from “Who’s CEO this week?” and “What’s the mental illness du jour?” to romance and family drama, some cuts are due. The canvas is overcrowded with characters who are played too little to be counted as having actual storylines. The solution? As painful as it will be, drop a family.

Victor and Jack have been at each other’s throats for decades. For them to still be going at it after all these years renders them static, unable to grow or change or play anything but the same “I’ma get you, just you wait!” plot over and over again. 

While we may love the characters, does any viewer really care who comes out on top in their endless feud? No. Because we have been trained to know that there are no stakes. Win or lose, Victor and Jack will still be richer than the rest of us combined.

So would we send the Newmans or the Abbotts packing? Not all of them, perhaps, but some, especially if it saves us from retreads of stories that no one really wants retold. “Chadam” 2.0? Pass. Billy and Kyle competing to see which of them can be more obnoxious? No, thanks. Nick pretending there are no women in Genoa City besides his ex-wives? You can do better, Young & Restless.

What about the Winterses? Do they even count anymore as a family since all we have left of Neil and Drucilla’s legacy is adoptive siblings Devon and Lily and cousin Nate? (Mamie is on so infrequently — and her machinations are so confounding — we’re gonna leave her outta this.)

The Fenmore-Baldwins are down to just Michael and Lauren, who are used as nothing more than supporting players in other characters’ storylines. Mariah and Tessa, too, are primarily talk-to’s; they don’t make anything happen, they just discuss things that have happened to frontburner characters.

We get that Young & Restless might be afraid to swing the axe for fear of alienating any viewer. But if it isn’t really going to use certain characters, it should lose them, thereby freeing up the space to bring in an impactful new family the way co-creator Bill Bell did when he replaced the Brookses and Fosters with the Newmans and Abbotts. And for heaven’s sake, can we please make the new family one that has to actually think about its bills and work for a living? People to whom we can actually relate and who don’t wake up, go to bed and do everything in between in a business suit? Please and thank you.