Days of Our Lives

Days of Our Lives

Infobox Television Soap Opera
show_name = Days of Our Lives


caption = Opening title screen, during which the show's trademark voiceover is heard: "Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives"
network = NBC , SOAPnet
genre = Soap opera
creator = Irna Phillips, Ted Corday & Betty Corday
executive_producer = Ken Corday and Gary Tomlin
head_writer = Dena Higley and Christopher Whitesell
senior_cast_members = Frances Reid
distributor = Sony Pictures Television (Columbia TriStar Television 2001 until 2002, Columbia Pictures Television 1974 to 2001, and Screen Gems until name change in 1974)
Corday Productions
first_aired = November 8, 1965 (US)
last_aired = present
run_time = 30 minutes (1965–1975)cite web|title=NBC Daytime|last=Alliaume|first=Curt|url=http://www.curtalliaume.com/nbc_day.html|accessdate=2007-06-10]
60 minutes (1975-present)
num_episodes = 10,939 (as of october 12, 2008)cite web|title="Days of our Lives"|url=http://www.tv.com/show/101/summary.html|publisher=TV.com|accessdate=2008-03-17]
alternate_titles = "Days", "DAYS",cite web|title="Days of our Lives" home page|url=http://www.soapoperafan.com/days/|publisher=Soap Opera Fan|accessdate=2008-04-10] "DOOL", (acronym) or "Summer of Seduction: Days of our lives"
list_episodes =
imdb_id = 0058796
tv_com_id = 101

"Days of Our Lives" is an American soap opera, which has aired nearly every weekday since November 8, 1965cite web|title=Cinema|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,901746,00.html|publisher="TIME"|accessdate=2007-06-10] on the NBC network in the United States, and has since been syndicated to many countries around the world.cite web|title=A new day for Nine|url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/08/26/1093456731202.html|publisher="The Age"|accessdate=2007-06-10] cite web|title=TVNZ Schedules|url=http://tvnz.co.nz/view-preempt/tvnz_epg_skin/#13:00|publisher=TVNZ|accessdate=2007-06-10] cite web|title="Days" Yanked in UK|url=http://www.soapcentral.com/days/news/2001/0423-daysuk.php|publisher=Soap Central|accessdate=2007-06-10] The series was created by husband-and-wife team Ted Corday and Betty Corday along with Irna Phillips in 1964,cite web|url=http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1,1002,271|81765|1|,00.html|title=NBC Pays Big for More "Days"|accessdate=2007-06-10|publisher=Zap2It] and many of the first stories were written by William J. Bell.

The Cordays and Bell combined the "soaps taking place in a hospital" idea with the tradition of centering a series around a family, by making the show about a family of doctors, including one who worked in a mental hospital. [Gilbert, Annie, "All My Afternoons", p. 110.] Storylines in the show follow the lives of middle and upper-class professionals in Salem, a middle-America town, with the usual threads of love, marriage, divorce, and family life, plus the medical storylines and character studies of individuals with psychological problems. [Gilbert, Annie, "All My Afternoons", p. 111.] Former executive producer Al Rabin took pride in the characters' passion, saying that the characters were not shy about "sharing what's in their gut."cite web|title=Move Over, Sam Ervin|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,964312,00.html|publisher=TIME|accessdate=2007-06-09]

Critics originally praised the show for its non-reliance on nostalgia (in contrast to shows such as "As the World Turns") and its portrayal of "real American contemporary families." [Gilbert, Annie, "All My Afternoons", p. 109] By the 1970s, critics deemed "Days" to be the most daring daytime drama, leading the way in using themes other shows of the period would not dare touch, such as artificial insemination and interracial romance.cite web|title=TIME Rates the Soaps|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,913849,00.html|publisher=TIME|accessdate=2007-06-09] In the 1990s, the show branched out into supernatural storylines, which critics immediately panned, as it was seen as a departure from more realistic storylines for which the show had originally become known.cite web|title=Love, Money, Witches and Beach Grass|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,991471,00.html|publisher=TIME|accessdate=2007-06-09] In 2006, when asked about his character, Jack Deveraux, "coming back from the dead" — for the third time — actor Matthew Ashford responded, "It is hard to play that because at a certain point it becomes too unreal...actors look at that and think, 'What is this — the "Cartoon Network"'?"cite web|title=What you didn't see at the Daytime Emmys|url=http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2006-05-01-daytime-emmys_x.htm|publisher=USA Today|accessdate=2007-06-10]

"Days", in addition to receiving critical acclaim in print journalism, has won a number of awards, including a Daytime Emmy for Best Drama in 1978cite web|title=Daytime Emmys - 1977|url=http://www.soapcentral.com/soapcentral/awards/emmys/1977.php|publisher=Soap Central|accessdate=2007-06-10] and a Writers Guild of America, East Award for Best Drama in 2000.cite web|title=52nd Annual Writers Guild Awards|url=http://www.wgaeast.org/awards2000/|publisher=Writers Guild of America|accessdate=2007-06-10] "Days" actors have also won awards: Macdonald Carey (Dr. Tom Horton) won Best Actor in 1974cite web|title=Daytime Emmys - 1973|url=http://www.soapcentral.com/soapcentral/awards/emmys/1973.php|publisher=Soap Central|accessdate=2007-06-10] and 1975, Susan Flannery (Laura Horton) won Best Actress in 1975,cite web|title=Daytime Emmys - 1974|url=http://www.soapcentral.com/soapcentral/awards/emmys/1974.php|publisher=Soap Central|accessdate=2007-06-10] Suzanne Rogers (Maggie Horton) and Leann Hunley (Anna DiMera) won Best Supporting Actress for respectively 1979cite web|title=Daytime Emmys - 1978|url=http://www.soapcentral.com/soapcentral/awards/emmys/1978.php|publisher=Soap Central|accessdate=2007-06-10] and 1986,cite web|title=Daytime Emmys - 1985|url=http://www.soapcentral.com/soapcentral/awards/emmys/1985.php|publisher=Soap Central|accessdate=2007-06-10] and Billy Warlock (Frankie Brady) won Best Younger Actor for 1988.cite web|title=Daytime Emmys - 1987|url=http://www.soapcentral.com/soapcentral/awards/emmys/1987.php|publisher=Soap Central|accessdate=2007-06-10]

As with other soap operas, "Days" ratings have declined since the 1990s. In January 2007 it was suggested by NBC that the show called "Days of our Lives" "is unlikely to continue [on NBC] past 2009."

toryline

When "Days of our Lives" premiered in 1965, the show revolved around the tragedies and triumphs of the suburban Horton family. Over time, additional families were brought to the show to interact with the Hortons and serve as springboards for more dramatic storylines. Originally led by patriarch Dr. Tom Horton and his wife, homemaker Alice, the Hortons remain a prominent fixture in current continuity.

One of the longest-running storylines involved the rape of Mickey Horton's wife Laura by Mickey's brother Bill. Laura confides in her father-in-law Dr. Tom, and the two agree that her husband Mickey should never know. The secret, involving the true parentage of Michael Horton (a product of the rape) and Mickey's subsequent health issues as a result of the revelation, spanned episodes from 1968 to 1975. The storyline was the first to bring the show to prominence, and put it near the top of the Nielsen daytime ratings.cite web|title=Unforgettable Stories |last=Bonderoff |first=Jason |url=http://soapnet.go.com/specials/days40th/article2.html |publisher=SOAPnet |accessdate=2007-06-08] Another love triangle, between lounge singer Doug Williams, Tom and Alice's daughter Addie, and Addie's own daughter, Julie, proved to be very popular around the same time. The storyline culminated in the death of Addie in 1974 and the marriage of Doug and Julie in 1976. [Gilbert, Annie, "All My Afternoons", p. 112.]

In the 1980s, the Brady and DiMera families were introduced, and their rivalry quickly cemented their places as core families in Salem beside the Hortons. Around the same time, with the help of head writers Sheri Anderson, Thom Racina and Leah Laiman, action/adventure storylines and supercouplings such as Bo and Hope, Shane and Kimberly and Patch and Kayla reinvigorated the show, previously focused primarily on the domestic troubles of the Hortons.

Since the 1990s, with the introduction of writer James E. Reilly, "Days of our Lives" has moved from traditional plots to supernatural and science-fiction-themed stories, in conjunction with the rivalry of good vs. evil, in a Hatfield/McCoy feud style the Bradys verses the DiMeras. Under the tenure of Reilly, ratings first rose and then fell dramatically. Despite the introduction of new head writer Hogan Sheffer in 2006, ratings failed to revive, which led the show's producers to hire a few past fan favorites to stop the ratings hemorrhage. While penned by James E. Reilly, "Days" began to flounder but remained steadily in the 2.5 range (consistently second to last among all soaps at the time. The other show for which he was head writer, Passions, held the position of dead last in the ratings until it was moved to DirecTV in 2007.). Since the head writing job was appointed to Hogan Sheffer the ratings have dropped to a consistent 2.0 rating, continuing to leave "Days" in the bottom three overall.

Best-remembered stories

In addition to the love triangles of Bill/Mickey/Laura and Doug/Julie/Addie, other memorable storylines include the 1968 story of amnesiac Tom Horton, Jr., who returns from the Korean War believing he is someone else and then proceeds to romance his younger sister Marie; the twenty-year tragic love triangle when John Black steals Marlena Brady from her husband Roman; the 1982 "Salem Strangler" (Jake Kositchek, who was nicknamed "Jake the Ripper"), who stalks and murders women; the 1984 "Gone with the Wind" storyline when Hope Williams and Bo Brady hide out on a Southern plantation and dress up as Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler (originally devised to keep viewers tuned in despite pre-emptions due to the 1984 Summer Olympics);cite web|title=Where's the Soaps?|last=Zoglin|first=Richard|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,926796,00.html|publisher=TIME|accessdate=2007-06-09] "The Cruise of Deception" in 1990, when madman Ernesto Toscano invites all his enemies aboard a ship, the "S.S. Loretta," and holds them captive; the 1994–1995 storyline when the town's Christmas tree burns down and Marlena becomes possessed in "Exorcist" fashion;cite web|title=Soap Operas: The Old and the Desperate|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,982368-1,00.html|publisher=TIME|accessdate=2007-06-09] and the 2003–2004 "Melaswen", when several characters purportedly die at the hands of a masked psychopath, but are later revealed to have been kidnapped to the secret island of Melaswen (New Salem spelled backwards).cite web|title=Unforgettable Stories|last=Bonderoff|first=Jason|url=http://soapnet.go.com/specials/days40th/article2.html|publisher=SOAPnet|accessdate=2007-06-08]

Cast

When "Days of Our Lives" debuted the cast consisted of 11 actors, nine of whom were permanent fixtures in the storyline.cite web|title=Original Cast of "Days of our Lives"|url=http://www.bethsdayspage.com/days/origcast.html|publisher=Beth's "Days" Page|accessdate=2007-06-10] In April 1975, the cast increased to 27 actors in different storylines. By the 25th anniversary in 1990, 40 actors appeared on the show in contract or recurring roles,cite web|title="Days" Cast Photos Through the Years|url=http://www.bethsdayspage.com/days/castpics/castpics.html|publisher=Beth's "Days" Page|accessdate=2007-06-10] which is the approximate number of actors the show has used since then.Of all the current cast members, only Frances Reid, who plays Alice Horton, has been on contract with "Days of our Lives" since it began, appearing since the very first episode in 1965. Original cast member John Clarke, who played Mickey Horton, left the series in 2004. Suzanne Rogers, who plays Maggie Horton, and Deidre Hall, who plays Marlena Evans, have been appearing on the show for over 30 years.

In recent years, "Days" has hired back many former cast members. In fact, twenty of the current contract cast members have been with the show, off-and-on, since at least 1999. Since 2006, cast members from the 1980s, such as Stephen Nichols (Steve Johnson), Mary Beth Evans (Kayla Brady), Joseph Mascolo (Stefano DiMera), and Thaao Penghlis (Tony DiMera) have been brought back to "Days", in an attempt to reach viewers who may have quit watching the series.cite web|title=Mascolo Brings Stefano Back to Salem|url=http://www.soapcentral.com/days/news/2007/0507-mascolo.php|publisher=Soap Central|accessdate=2007-06-09] More recent additions to the show include the returns of Nadia Bjorlin (Chloe Lane) and Arianne Zuker (Nicole Walker) as well as long-time soap veterans Shawn Christian (Daniel Jonas), Roscoe Born (Trent Robbins) and Kevin Dobson as a recasted Mickey Horton. These additions came around the same time as many cast exits, including Brandon Beemer (Shawn-Douglas Brady), Martha Madison (Belle Black), Julie Pinson (Billie Reed) and Frank Parker (Shawn Brady).

Executive producing and head writing team

The co-creator and original executive producer, Ted Corday, was only at the helm for eight months before dying of cancer in 1966. His widow, Betty, was named executive producer upon his death. She continued in that role, with the help of H. Wesley Kenney and Al Rabin as supervising producers, before she semi-retired in 1985. When Mrs. Corday semi-retired in 1985, and later died in 1987, her son, Ken, became executive producer and took over the full-time, day-to-day running of the show [ "Soap Opera Digest" article, issue of February 10, 1998, page 42 ] , a title he still holds today. The series' current co-executive producer is Edward J. Scott, who was hired after longtime producer Stephen Wyman left the program in 2007.

The first well-known head writer, William J. Bell, started writing for "Days" in 1966 and continued until 1975, well after he had spun off his own successful soap, "The Young and the Restless". He stayed with the show as a storyline consultant until 1978. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, high writer turnover was commonplace. In the early 1980s, Margaret DePriest helped stabilize the show and kill off dead wood in the cast via a serial killer storyline. Later head writers, like Sheri Anderson, Thom Racina and Leah Laiman, built on that stability and crafted storylines of their own, temporarily bringing up ratings. Writing changes occurred after Laiman left the series in 1989, and would not become stable again until James E. Reilly started with the show in 1993. His tenure, which lasted for four-and-a-half years, was credited with bringing ratings up to the second-place spot in the Nielsens. Other writers who succeeded him, such as Sally Sussman Morina and Tom Langan, failed to keep the ratings success, and another writer turnover continued until Reilly returned to the series in 2003.

Five-time Daytime Emmy winner Hogan Sheffer was named head writer with great fanfare in October 2006, but lasted less than 16 months with the show, with his last episode airing in January 2008. His co-head writer was Meg Kelly. Dena Higley was named as the show's newest head writer in March 2008, and she was first credited with writing the April 23, 2008 episode. [cite web|url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20186226,00.html|title=THE POWERS THAT BE
accessdate=2008-04-01|publisher=EW.com
] Her co-head writer is Victor Gialanella.

Ratings and scheduling history

During its first three years on the air, "Days of our Lives" was near the bottom of the daytime Nielsen ratings, and close to cancellation. However, its ascent was rapid; as the 1969 TV season ended, "Days" became a successful part of NBC's attempt to dethrone CBS. By 1973 the show, pitted against CBS' "Guiding Light" and ABC's "The Newlywed Game" at 2 p.m.(EST)/1 p.m.(CST), had matched the first-place ratings of "As The World Turns" and sister NBC serial "Another World". NBC capitalized on this success with the decision to expand to one hour on April 21, 1975. This expansion had followed the lead of "AW," which became TV's first-ever hour-long soap on January 6, three-and-a-half months earlier. Further, "Days"' new starting time of 1:30/12:30 finally solved a scheduling problem that began in 1968 when NBC lost the game "Let's Make a Deal" to ABC, and in its wake, eight different shows were placed into the slot, with only one, "Three on a Match," lasting more than nine months.

However, this first golden period for NBC daytime proved to be short-lived, as "Days"' ratings began to decline in 1977. Much of the decline was due to ABC's expansion of its popular soap "All My Children" to a full hour, the last half of which overlapped with the first half of "Days." By January 1979, the network, in a mode of desperation more than anything else, decided to jump headlong against "AMC" and moved the show ahead to the same 1 p.m./12 Noon time slot. In exchange to its affiliates for taking away the old half-hour access slot at 1/Noon, NBC gave them the 4 p.m./3 slot, which many (if not most) stations had been preempting for years anyway.cite web|title=NBC Daytime|last=Alliaume|first=Curt|url=http://www.curtalliaume.com/nbc_day.html|publisher="Curt Alliaume's Utterly Irrelevant Web Site"|accessdate=2007-06-10] By 1986, ABC and CBS followed suit, under the intense pressure of lucrative (and cheap) syndicated programming offered to affiliates.

By the early 1980s, "Days" had displaced "Another World" as NBC's highest-rated soap. However, the entire NBC soap lineup was in ratings trouble. In fact, by 1982, all of its shows were rated above only one ABC soap ("The Edge of Night") and below all four CBS soaps. The "supercouple" era of the 1980s, however, helped bring about a ratings revival, and the 1983–1984 season saw "Days" experience a surge in ratings. It held onto its strong numbers for most of the 80s, only to decline again by 1990, eventually falling back into eighth place. In the mid-1990s, however, the show experienced a resurgence in popularity and the show reached number two in the ratings, where it remained for several years before experiencing another ratings decline beginning in 1999, the year that "Days" became NBC's longest-running daytime program (upon the cancellation of "AW"). Throughout the 2000s, "Days" and all the other remaining network daytime serials have witnessed a steady erosion of viewers, mainly due to vastly altered viewing habits induced by cable networks and alternative genres such as reality and talk shows on minor network affiliates.

On January 17, 2007, NBC Universal Television president Jeff Zucker remarked that "Days of our Lives" would not be renewed and would most likely not "continue past 2009."cite web|title=No surprises at NBC|last=Levin|first=Gary|url=http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2007-01-17-nbc-presstour_x.htm|publisher=USA Today|accessdate=2007-06-08] With the move of "Passions" from NBC to DirecTV in September 2007, "Days" is now NBC's last remaining traditional daytime program (excepting "The Today Show", which received a fourth weekday hour in exchange for "Passions"' cancellation) on its mid-day schedule. After the January announcement, the Nielsen ratings for "Days" dropped to 1.9 million households"Soap Opera Digest". "Save "Days of our Lives!". "Crisis at DAYS! The Secret Plan to Save It". April 17, 2007] before stabilizing in June near 2.4 million households.cite web|title=Days of Our Lives Weekly Nielsen Ratings Charts|url=http://members.aol.com/jason47b/pressrelease.html|accessdate=2007-06-10] In an April 2007 interview with "Soap Opera Digest", executive producer Ken Corday remarked of the ratings decline of the previous months, "If I don't pay attention to the ratings and what the viewers are saying, I'm an ostrich. I have not seen a decline in the ratings on the show this precipitous — ever. I've never seen this much of a percentage decline.""Soap Opera Digest". "Crisis at "DAYS"! The Secret Plan to Save It". April 17, 2007.] But "Days" has not been able to recover the viewers it has lost.

On September 10, 2007, as a result of "Passions"' cancellation by NBC and subsequent move to DirecTV, along with the expansion of "The Today Show" to four hours, in some areas "Days" moved to 2 p.m. weekdays, taking over the former timeslot of "Passions." Affiliates have a choice of what timeslot to air "Days" in, but most affiliates continue to broadcast the show at its 1 p.m. hour. [ [http://www.curtalliaume.com/nbc_day.html NBC daytime schedule history] ]

External distribution

According to "Variety", "Days" is the most widely-distributed soap opera in the United States, with episodes not just broadcast via NBC, but also via cable (SOAPnet), and as of June 2007, episodes are offered via iTunes. [cite web|url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117966619.html?categoryid=14&cs=1|title=iTunes plays "Days"|date=2007-06-10|accessdate=2007-06-10|author=Josef Adalian|publisher="Variety"]

"Days" also has an international audience. It started broadcasting locally in Australia in 1968, later moving to the Nine Network. Over time, "Days" ended up airing at a delay of nearly five years behind the United States due to cricket pre-emptions in the summer, so in 2004, Nine aired a special titled "Days of our Lives: A New Day", which summarized four years of storyline in one hour, in an attempt to catch up to more current telecasts. This speed-up caused mixed feelings as viewers missed many vital storylines and it landed right in the middle of the Melaswen storyline. Now, episodes are ten months behind the United States. New Zealand has aired "Days" nearly as long, debuting on Television New Zealand by 1975 at the latest,cite web|title=PM Bears Tidings of Meo's Departure|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=118287|publisher=New Zealand Herald|accessdate=2007-06-11] and currently running approximately five years and 3 months behind the United States on the TV ONE channel.

"Days" also airs in a number of countries across Europe, premiering in Turkey on October 8, 1990, France on July 29, 1991 and since July 1998 after the end of Loving diffusion on France 2 , Germany on September 6, 1993, Sweden in September 1997 (currently four years behind USA), Finland on August 11, 2003, and Hungary on June 14, 2004. Channel 5 aired episodes of "Days" in the United Kingdom from March 2000 until April 2001, eventually pulling it off the air; network executives deemed its audience of 200,000 viewers as too low a figure. "Days" had previously aired in the UK and Ireland on the Sky Soap channel between 1994 and 1999; episodes were three years behind U.S. telecasts. From September 3, 2007, UK viewers will be able to watch "Days" on the female-skewed entertainment channel Zone Romantica. In Italy "Days" aired for only three months in 1985 on Rete A; in 1992 Italia 7 started to air new episodes, five years behind U.S. telecasts. In 1993, after 260 episodes, the show was cancelled.

Days of Our Lives also airs in the middle east and the Arab World Since 2003 in the cannel MBC2 and then moved to MBC4 as a channel of American TV shows and the show is 5 years behind the USA.

Theme song and opening title sequences

The title sequence of "Days of our Lives" has changed several times since the show's debut, but always maintained hourglass imagery and trademark voiceover, "Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives"." Beginning in 1966, the voice has been that of Macdonald Carey (1913–1994), who played Dr. Tom Horton from the show's opening until the actor's death from lung cancer. [cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,980442,00.html|title=Milestones: MacDonald Carey obituary|date=1994-04-04|accessdate=2007-06-08|publisher="TIME" magazine]

From 1966 to 1994, the voice would also intone, "This is Macdonald Carey, and these are the days of our lives." After Carey's passing, the producers -- out of respect for Carey's family -- decided not to use the second part of the opening tagline.

Opening titles

Opening music and announcement

multi-listen item
filename=Daysofou.ogg
title="Days of our Lives" opening theme (1973)
description=Narrated by Macdonald Carey
format=Ogg

The theme that regularly accompanies each sequence was composed by Charles Albertine, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart.cite web|url=http://music.yahoo.com/library/default.asp?i=282103&m=bio&add=&|title=Bobby Hart Biography|accessdate=2007-06-10|publisher=Yahoo! Music] The theme has only been modified twice since "Days" premiered: in 1993, when the opening titles were changed to computerized visuals, and in 2004, with an orchestral arrangement that was only used in eight episodes, at which time the theme was reverted back to the 1993 arrangement, and is the one currently used.

From its debut in 1965 until March 1966, announcer Ed Prentiss spoke the words now made famous by Macdonald Carey. Since April 1966, Macdonald Carey has intoned the epigram "Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives." From 1966 to 1994, he would add "This is Macdonald Carey, and these are the days of our lives." After Carey's death in 1994, the decision was made to remove the second part of the opening, out of respect for Carey and his family.cite web|url=http://www.bethsdayspage.com/days/credits.html|title=Opening and Closing Credits|accessdate=2007-06-10|publisher=Beth's "Days" Page]

Cultural references

"Days" was satirized on the hit sitcom "Friends" when one of the principals, Joey Tribbiani (played by Matt LeBlanc), got a job as Dr. Drake Ramoray on the show,cite web|title=Increasingly, TV Shows Are Talking About Themselves|url=http://www.brandweek.com/bw/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001263051&schema=|publisher="Brandweek"|accessdate=2007-06-10] despite the fact that Joey lived in New York and "Days of our Lives" is shot in California.cite web|title=Increasingly, TV Shows Are Talking About Themselves|url=http://www.brandweek.com/bw/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001263051&schema=|publisher="Brandweek"|accessdate=2007-06-10] All storylines shown on "Friends" (with guest shots by actual "Days of our Lives" stars) were fictional and did not represent what was really going on in the soap opera itself. Joey's fictional stint on the show ended when he angered its writers and his character was killed after falling down an elevator shaft.cite web|title="Friends": The One Where Dr. Ramoray Dies|url=http://www.tbs.com/stories/story/0,,68899,00.html|publisher=TBS|accessdate=2007-06-10] Later, his character was brought back to life in a further spoof on the show (no fewer than thirty-six characters have been "brought back" from the dead on "Days").cite web|title="Days of our Lives" FAQ|url=http://www.bethsdayspage.com/days/DaysFAQ.html|publisher=Beth's "Days" Page|accessdate=2007-06-10] Joey was brought back as a man with a brain transplant. His new brain was from the character Jessica Lockhart, played by Susan Sarandon. Lockhart died from a horseback riding injury.cite web|title="Friends":The One With Joey's New Brain|url=http://www.tbs.com/stories/story/0,,69026,00.html|publisher=TBS|accessdate=2007-06-10] The Lockharts are also the last names of Bonnie, Mimi and Patrick on "Days", but the Jessica character is not a relation to any of the three. Alison Sweeney, who plays Sami Brady, appeared on "Friends" as Jessica Ashley who stars with Joey on his version of "Days".cite web|title="Friends": The One With Joey's Award|url=http://www.tv.com/friends/the-one-that-could-have-been-1/episode/480/summary.html|publisher=TV.com|accessdate=2007-06-10] Additional "Friends" episodes feature Kristian Alfonso as Hope Bradycite web|title="Friends": The One That Could Have Been, Part I|url=http://www.tv.com/friends/the-one-with-joeys-award/episode/34225/summary.html|publisher=TV.com|accessdate=2007-06-10] and Roark Critchlow as Mike Hortoncite web|title="Friends": The One After the Super Bowl|url=http://www.tv.com/friends/the-one-after-the-super-bowl-1/episode/380/summary.html|publisher=TV.com|accessdate=2007-06-10] . In an episode where Joey hosts a soap opera party on the roof, Matthew Ashford and Kyle Lowder each make an appearance, Ashford even giving Rachel his number. In the spin-off sitcom "Joey", Joey was nominated for "best death scene" in which his character was stabbed while performing surgery.cite web|title="Joey": Joey and the Wrong Name|url=http://www.tv.com/joey/joey-and-the-wrong-name/episode/398478/summary.html|publisher=TV.com|accessdate=2007-06-10]

In an additional link between "Days of our Lives" and "Friends", John Aniston, the actor who portrays the character Victor Kiriakis on "Days" is the real life father of Jennifer Aniston, who portrayed Rachel on "Friends".

The show has also been referenced on The Simpsons episode, Pygmoelian, when Moe Szyslak gets plastic surgery on his face becoming a very handsome man. He then gets a part playing Dr. Tad Winslow, on a show called "It never ends", a parody of "Days of our Lives". "It never ends" plays on the show's title sequence; "like the cleaning of a house, it never ends". The eye patch worn by Dr. Tad Winslow refers to the character Steve Johnson or "Patch" from "Days of our Lives".

The Show is also referenced in The American Sitcom "Scrubs" as being the favorite show of Dr Cox.

The Show is also referenced in the American sitcom "The Nanny" in the episode "Take Back Your Mink" . The Nanny watches "Days" and her employer Mr Sheffield (played by Charles Shaughnessy who also played the character of "Shane" on "Days") joins her and makes fun of Shane's British accent.

Fans

The show has had many high-profile fans. In 1976, "TIME" magazine reported that then-Justice of the Supreme Court, Thurgood Marshall, would call a recess around the 1 p.m. hour to watch "Days of our Lives".cite web|title=Sex and Suffering in the Afternoon|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,913850-1,00.html|publisher=TIME|accessdate=2007-06-08] Actress Julia Roberts admitted at the 2002 People's Choice Awards that she was a fan of "Days", and asked to be seated near the cast at that event as well as other award shows. In 2004, during the show's Melaswen storyline, Roberts' interest was considered notable enough that "Entertainment Weekly" quoted her saying that " [the show has] gotten a little wacko."cite web|title=Daytime's Secret Weapon|last=Fonseca|first=Nicholas|url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,640535_1,00.html|publisher=Entertainment Weekly|accessdate=2007-06-08] A 1998 "TIME" article mentioned that Monica Lewinsky, the former White House aide who admitted to having an "inappropriate relationship" with then-president Bill Clinton, was a passionate fan of "Days of our Lives", so much so that she wrote a poem about the series in her high school yearbook. The article compared her whirlwind experiences in the White House to a story on "Days".cite web|title=The Days of Her Life|last=Ratnesar|first=Romesh|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,987747-1,00.html|publisher=TIME|accessdate=2007-06-09] Best-selling horror novelist Brian Keene has said in interviews with The New York Times, Rue Morgue Magazine and elsewhere that he has been a fan since the early Eighties and never misses an episode.

References

External links

* [http://www.nbc.com/Days_of_our_Lives/ "Days of our Lives" official website - NBC.com]
* [http://www.daysofourlives.com/ "Days of our Lives" - Sony Pictures]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058796/ Days of Our Lives] at Internet Movie Database
* [http://www.soapcentral.com/days/index.php "Days of our Lives" - SoapCentral.com]
* [http://www.Days-Addicts.com/ "Days of our Lives" FAN SITE]


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