Kay Alden

In her one-hour-and-forty-five-minute interview, Kay Alden speaks of her early years as a high school English teacher. She talks about writing her doctoral thesis on "daytime serials as a medium for social change" at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She describes how she ended up as a writer on The Young and the Restless when she contacted creator William Bell to talk to him about her doctorate. Alden then details her long tenure on the show (starting in 1973), which culminated in being named head writer in 1998. She outlines The Young and the Restless setting of Genoa City, discusses her writing process, and recalls several of the key characters and storylines from the show. She recounts working from Chicago (the series is shot in Los Angeles) and writing storylines with serious social themes, a hallmark of The Young and the Restless. She also comments on the major role that academic debate plays in her writing process, and predicts the then-future of daytime dramas. Karen Herman conducted the interview on April 6, 2006 in Chicago, IL.