Forty years on television isn't a small feat.

To have retained so many of the characters from its earlier years to celebrate such a momentous occasion, you'd think the The Young and the Restless week would have been filled with flashbacks to reward loyal viewers of the show they've loved so long.

You'd be wrong.

There was one brief moment where two characters shared a memory of their past and this was only to further drive home what is becoming increasingly obvious to viewers: Paul is Dylan's father.

It was amazing to see Paul and Nikki sharing a scene together, even as brief as it was. Their friendship has been more important in recent weeks than Paul's marriage, so they're moving in a direction with these two.

Their "son" if it turns out to be the case inadvertently made a sex tape with Avery and uploaded it to the net. Whoops! Dylan tried to get it down; we'll see how well that worked.

I'm sure it can be argued that the archives are gone or there is minimal footage from which to pull scenes for the anniversary, but since we saw Sharon and Nick just weeks ago, I don't think it would be a stretch to imagine seeing Victor, Jack, Esther, Neil or Jill as they remembered something about how they got to where they are today.

Instead the week was ridiculously lacking in content. Period. Where are the stories? We didn't see a flashback of Victor but were subjected to him hitting the boxing ring and sweating it out in gloves as he showed the young guys a thing or two about being tough.

To be fair, Victor hasn't been as interesting as he was in that five minute scene in years. Take the man out of the suit and give him something else to do for goodness sakes. I got the impression that he told the powers that be that since he's the big cheese on the show he'd rather show how well he's held up than how he once looked thank-you-very-much.

With the grease removed from his hair and without that stuffy suit, a whole new world could open up for Victor Newman. Would you be willing to see that man? Would Victor going natural make him more interesting?

Victoria and Billy signed separation paperwork and Vicki got closer to Stitch. I guess we're going there. At least they're having fun in their scenes together. Well, as much fun as two people who are drowning their sorrows in drink can have.

The mystery about what's going to happen with Neil, Hilary and Devon continues. With Neil and Hilary going on a business trip and even hitting The Price As Right, they got a lot closer. This was after Neil realized how much he missed Leslie and having someone to watch March Madness with (CBS got their money's worth of plugs out of Y&R for that tournament!), only to later watch with Hilary.

Devon is throwing out mixed signals about the annoying Esmeralda. It's unclear whether he realizes how much using her as a walking PR stunt is giving her the impression she's his number one girl or whether he's only using her as PR. There is a lot going on with Neil, Hilary and Devon that is confusing, but I enjoyed the scenes with Neil and Hilary far more than expected. They have an easy relationship that can't be ignored.

Sharon woke up form her ECT treatments and doesn't remember the FauxCassie business. Cue the reveal that she's real and their daughter which will really toss the family into turmoil. Since it's Shick's 20th anniversary, this is the year of Schick so don't expect to get rid of them any time soon.

The same old stuff happened with Chelsea, Chloe, Kevin and if they don't hurry that along oh my. My fast forward is going to wear thin!!

Were you disappointed in the lack of anniversary flashbacks?

Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.