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Credit: Images: Howard Wise/JPI (2), John Paschal/JPI (3)

And let’s be honest… even before the shutdown, the soap could have used a little tune-up.

After its first full week of all-new episodes aired, the cast and crew of The Young and the Restless were probably ready to celebrate. We sure would’ve been. They were together again, doing what they (and we) love, and they were miraculously able to do it while implementing safety protocols that are as rigid as they are sensible.

But then… oh dear. Then they must have seen the ratings for the week of August 10. That can’t have been pretty.

All four daytime dramas were down, significantly, and The Young and the Restless had 1 million fewer viewers than it had when it last aired a week of new episodes this past spring. Its audience of 2.7 million was, in fact, a new low for the soap, according to our sister site TVLine.

So we suppose our pals put back the bubbly to save it for a happier occasion. Which could come sooner than even they think. Because although those numbers add up to seriously cruddy news, back in January, the show was renewed for four more years. And it won’t take nearly that long to get it back on track.

As a matter of fact, Soaps.com has come up with 10 surefire ways to fix what’s broken on The Young and the Restless, like, now. To find out what they are, just click on the photo gallery below, then hit the comments with your suggestions for giving Genoa City a tune-up.