Days of our Lives

Days of our Lives is a long-running American soap opera. It debuted on November 8, 1965, and can still be viewed weekdays on the NBC network and around the world. Originally, the show had the Hortons as its core family. The serial is set in the fictional village of Salem.

Storylines

The 1960s

In the beginning, when the story did not revolve around either Tom or Alice, the love lives of their five children were put on display. Their daughter Addie (Patricia Huston, then Patricia Barry), married to Ben Olson, had much trouble raising their rebellious daughter Julie as well as their son Steven. Tom Horton, Jr., presumed dead in Korea, came home with a disfigured face and a new identity. Unknowingly, his sister Marie fell in love with him. When they learned of each other's true identities, Marie was so ashamed that she went to live in a convent. Tom and Alice's other children, Bill and Mickey, fought over the affections of lovely Laura Spencer, played by Susan Flannery.

Related Topics:
Patricia Huston - Patricia Barry - Korea - Convent - Susan Flannery

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The 1970s

"The Bill/Laura/Mickey Love Triangle"

Considered to be one of the most beloved Days of Our Lives storylines and one of the longest running storylines of the show's history, the Bill/Laura/Mickey triangle lasted for nearly a decade and was the first major storyline of the series to gain major attention from casual fans due to its twists, turns, use of dramatic pacing, and the controversial use of rape as a major plot element. The storyline began with a temporarily insane Bill Horton raped Laura and impregnated her as a result. Laura sought to pass the child off as her husband Mickey's son but ultimately, it was revealed that Mickey was sterile and the truth about their son Mike Horton's parentage was revealed. Mickey left town and through a series of events would end up with amnesia and calling himself Marty Hansen. During this time, Mickey would meet a crippled farm girl named Maggie Simmons (Suzanne Rogers) and fall in love with her. Ultimately Mickey regained his memory and returned to Salem with Maggie while Laura and Bill would finally marry and have a second child Jennifer.

Related Topics:
Rape - Suzanne Rogers

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The Courtship of Doug Williams and Julie Olsen

Another popular storyline/couple on the show during the 1970s was the relationship and marriage of wildchild Julie Olsen and lounge singer turned conman Doug Williams (Bill Hayes). The two met after Doug Williams was introduced as Bill Horton's cellmate in prison, when Bill Horton was convicted of manslaughter against Tommy Horton's wife Kitty. While in jail, Bill accidentally tipped off Doug to the fact that Susan Hunter (Denise Alexander) had come into a big inheritance as her husband was recently deceased (she had killed him, but was allowed to have the money as it was proven she was temporarily insane). After he was paroled, Doug came to town, intent on wooing Susan and getting his hands on some money. Susan would have no part of it, instead having him date her rival Julie. After some soul-searching, she realized that she could not pay off Doug to date Julie, but he told her that she couldn't back out. In time, however, Doug truly fell in love with her.

Related Topics:
Bill Hayes - Denise Alexander

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Doug and Julie had a rough time getting together, as Doug had once married her mother Addie (at first he was only using her for her money, but then they fell in love, even though he still loved Julie). Addie's bout with leukemia cemented his bond to her, and she bore him a child named Hope while she was in a coma, near death from cancer (Addie was over 40 during her pregnancy; women giving birth late in life was a plot element generally left undiscussed in the early 1970s. In the story, Addie had assumed that she had started menopause, but found out otherwise). Not long after, Addie died; she was hit by a truck as she pushed her young child's stroller to safety, but even then, Doug and Julie were not free to be a couple. Julie was trapped in a loveless marriage to Bob Anderson, and although she did not want to be wed to him, he gave her security. Eventually, Doug was fed up and went back to his ex-wife Kim (she had tricked him into coming back to her by saying their divorce was never final). En route, Doug was involved in a car accident and Julie rushed to his side. Julie was divorced quickly and the two were married within weeks (in tune with the viewers' collective clamor to have the characters finally wed). The two would stay on the show for several more years before ultimately leaving the series early during the 1980s as their characters were being phased out in favor of new characters/relationships, but have since made numerous returns to the show since the early 1990s.

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Exit William J. Bell

For its first 20 years on the air, Days of Our Lives was supervised by Betty Corday (her husband Ted Corday created the show but died a few years after the premiere), with her son Ken taking an increasingly large role in production. The show's initial storylines were co-written by the Cordays and Irna Phillips but the first real success began in the late 60's when Bill Bell took over as headwriter. He created the Bill/Mickey/Laura triangle, a popular rivalry between Julie Olson and Susan Hunter, and was considered such an integral part of the program that when he left the series in the early 70's to create The Young and the Restless, NBC sued him to make him stay. Bell agreed to provide story outlines which would run up to 1975-1976.

Related Topics:
Betty Corday - Ted Corday - Irna Phillips - Bill Bell - The Young and the Restless - 1975 - 1976

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Enter Marlena Evans and the Brady Family

The expansion of the show to an hour also allowed for the writers to expand the focus of the show beyond the Horton family. The show's writers would create a brand new family in the form of the middle-class Irish-Catholic family "The Bradys", who were anchored by Shawn and Caroline Brady and featured an assortment of children including Roman (originally played by Wayne Northrop) and Bo (played by Peter Reckell. Meanwhile the show began to focus more and more on an assortment of doctor characters introduced onto the show, who gained popularity amongst viewers.

Related Topics:
Wayne Northrop - Peter Reckell

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By the late 70s, the popular character was Dr. Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall), who was a favorite of then head writer Pat Falken Smith (who took over after the departure of Bill Bell), Marlena Evans quickly became the show's main heroine and have a romance with fellow doctor( lawyer not doctor) Don Craig (Jed Allan). They had a son (D.J., who died of SIDS). After her marriage to Don ended, Marlena was killed off by a serial killer called the Salem Strangler. Fans picketed NBC studios, but writers quickly revealed that Marlena's evil twin sister Samantha (who had been played by Deidre Hall's real-life twin Andrea for five years) as the show finally united Marlena and her new lover Roman Brady together as the show's main "supercouple".

Related Topics:
Deidre Hall - Pat Falken Smith - Jed Allan - SIDS - Andrea - Supercouple

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The End of Laura and Bill

The show ended the decade with a literal bang as longtime favorites Bill and Laura Horton were written out of the show in a controversial storyline involving mental illness and adultery as Bill Horton began cheating on Laura, whose mind had become horribly unstable due to years of hiding the identity of her son Mike's father from him. Laura began a slow and steady breakdown culminating in a nightmarish sequence where Laura forced her daughter Jennifer on a bus all by herself so that she could go and attempt to hang herself. Laura would be placed in a mental institution and enter into a catatonic state while Bill Horton shamefully left Salem. Their daughter Jennifer meanwhile would be sent to boarding school.

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The 1980s

Behind the scenes chaos

By the end of the 1970s, the show had gone through numerous creative changes behind the scenes. Falken Smith left in the late 70's over a contract dispute and through a slow but steady decline in numbers, turmoil gripped the cast and crew. At one point Susan Seaforth Hayes' mother was headwriter. Al Rabin, the executive producer at the time began to phase out people he viewed as contributing to an atmosphere of "negativism". In 1979 and 1980, nearly a dozen characters were written out of the series.

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To the surprise of the show, fans were not impressed by the characters who took their place. Nearly one million viewers defected between 1980 and 1981, and of the nine characters introduced in that year, only chanteuse Liz Chandler (Gloria Loring) gained a following and stayed around. Falken Smith was again hired as headwriter and her Salem Stalker storyline, along with the intense focus on Marlena and Roman, propelled the show to a revival. Falken Smith left again in the early 80's due to another contract dispute. Perhaps the only low point in her era was a storyline where Doug's long-lost wife Lee (Brenda Benet) agonized over her child's extended hospitalization and illness. Falken Smith did not realize Benet's own child had recently died. Benet performed the scenes without complaint, but one day in 1982 she committed suicide. DAYS dedicated Lee's remaining episodes in memory of Benet, and said Lee left town.

Related Topics:
Gloria Loring - Brenda Benet - 1982

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"The Supercouple Phenomenon"

Meanwhile on rival network ABC, the intense popularity of the pairing of Luke and Laura on General Hospital led to Days of Our Lives to attempt to cash in on the phenomenon of the "supercouple" by pairing off their assorted characters into various relationships. The most popular of these couples included Bo (Peter Reckell) and Hope (Kristian Alfonso) Brady, who quickly became the focal point of the show during the mid-80s and helped the show regain its popularity. The show also gained ground with addition of two new characters, Steven (aka "Patch", due to the fact that the character wore an eye-patch after losing an eye while a Merchant Marine) (Stephen Nichols) and Kayla Johnson (most notably played by Mary Beth Evans), whose courtship became a major storyline for the series in and helped to lead to the introduction of one of the show's most popular characters.

Related Topics:
General Hospital - Supercouple - Peter Reckell - Kristian Alfonso - Stephen Nichols - Mary Beth Evans

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Jack Deveraux (originally played by Joseph Adams, then by James Acheson) was a politically ambitious newspaper reporter from a wealthy family who became the spoiler for the relationship between Patch and Kayla, ultimately marrying Kayla during a period of health problems that left Jack near death. The rivalry between Jack and Patch over Kayla took an even greater turn when it was revealed that Jack was Patch's long lost brother, a revelation that led to Jack slip into a great depression over his confusion over his new identity. Meanwhile Kayla began an affair behind Jack's back with Patch and that when the affair was exposed, Jack committed spousal rape against Kayla. Kayla quickly told Patch, who attacked Jack on the roof of a nearby building. In the ensuing struggle, Patch dropped Jack from the roof and the fall caused Jack to suffer extreme damage to his kidneys, forcing Patch to make the controversial decision to give Jack one of his kidneys. Kayla and Jack quickly divorced afterwords and Patch and Kayla finally reunited.

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Despite his villainous behavior, when the role was recast with Matthew Ashford, Jack quickly garnered fan interest. Jack was an extremely complex character whose dark edge was complemented with a level of existential angst over his very identity after learning that he was adopted and after his rape of Kayla. Indeed, rather than whitewashing the rape story the writers exploited it as a source of great angst for Jack, who struggled with his guilt over the incident for several years. Ashford was highly identifiable in the role, and future recasts brought their own style (Mark Valley, Steve Wilder).

Related Topics:
Matthew Ashford - Mark Valley - Steve Wilder

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As the show began to regain its popularity, it was also decided to bring the focus back to the Horton family, who by the mid-1980s was marginalized in favor of focus on the Brady family. Laura and Bill Horton's daughter Jennifer (Melissa Reeves) was brought back, now as a wild teenager sent to live with Tom and Alice Horton so as to provide the young girl with the stable home that her parents were incapable of giving her. Jennifer quickly became a popular figure and began a friendship with another new character, Frankie Brady (Billy Warlock). Frankie was a teenager who was had been legally adopted by Shawn and Caroline Brady. The two became a couple but quickly broke up as the writers came up with the idea of pairing Jennifer with Jack Deveraux, which led to a lengthy courtship as Jennifer "redeemed" Jack through their love. Frankie was revealed to be European royalty, and moved to Africa with Shane's daughter Eve (Charlotte Ross).

Related Topics:
Melissa Reeves - Billy Warlock - Africa - Charlotte Ross

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The DiMeras and The Kiriakis Families

Another addition to the show in the 1980s was the creation of two new families, the DiMera and the Kiriakis families. Both were created by show writers, who felt that the series was lacking villains for the main characters to struggle against.

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The Kiriakis Family was headed by Victor Kiriakis, a wealthy businessman who had ties to organized crime, especially prostitution and underage pornography. Victor routinely found himself in conflict with the Salem police department over his illegal activities. However despite his evil, Victor had a dark secret that ultimately led to his redemption: years earlier Victor carried on an affair with Caroline Brady that resulted in the conception of Bo Brady. The revelation that Bo was Victor's son caused Victor to renounce crime and go legit but the revelation caused problems for Shawn and Caroline Brady's relationship that would last for several years. Caroline's daughter Kim Brady (Patsy Pease) befriended Victor to find incriminating evidence against him, but he uncovered her true motives and threated to kill her true love Shane Donovan (Charles Shaughnessy) unless she broke up with Shane and married Victor. She did, but soon reunited with Shane and remained married to him for a number of years.

Related Topics:
Patsy Pease - Charles Shaughnessy

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While Victor mellowed over the years, the DiMeras remained villainous. Headed by patriarch Stefano DiMera (Joseph Mascolo), the DiMera family headed a global crime syndicate and had a burning hatred with the Brady family over an unknown past slight. The scheming Stefano also had a burning obsession with Marlena that was complicated when Roman married Stefano's daughter-in-law Anna (Leann Hunley) and had a child named Carrie with her before returning to Marlena and conceiving twins with her. The struggle to eliminate Roman Brady would ultimately result in a complicated and long-running storyline over the "real" John Black.

Related Topics:
Joseph Mascolo - Leann Hunley

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Enter Drake Hogestyn

The controversy began when Wayne Northrop left the show due to problems with the direction of his character. It was decided by the writers to recast the role of Roman but rather than just replace him, it was decided to outright explain why he was now being played by a different actor. It was explained that Roman was involved in an explosion and had plastic surgery to give him a brand new face. Now played by Drake Hogestyn, the "Roman"/Marlena relationship once again became popular amongst viewers and they remarried. Ultimately, when Deidre Hall left the show in 1987, Hogestyn stayed on and was given a relationship with a new character named Isabella Toscano (Staci Greason), who was the sickly daughter of a crime boss named Ernesto. The relationship and their connections to the various characters on the show would lead to one of the most famous "umbrella story" of the show's run: The Cruise of Deception.

Related Topics:
Drake Hogestyn - Deidre Hall - 1987 - Staci Greason

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The 90s

The Cruise of Deception was a massive storyline that began in the summer of 1989 and ran up through the end of the summer of 1990, resulting in numerous storylines finally being resolved and setting up new, more complex stories in its wake. The plot revolved around Ernesto's scheme to kill off his assorted enemies, most notably Victor Kiriakis and "Roman". Luring his enemies onto a cruise ship, he destroys the vessel, shipwrecking the characters on an island he controlled. As the shipwrecked characters tried to escape the island, Jack and Jennifer both finally made love in a nearby cave while "Roman" and Bo both reconciled after a lengthy period of tension between the two (including a plot where Bo sided with Ernesto as part of a scheme to find out what he was planning to do against his father Victor).

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In the end, everyone made it back to Salem save for Hope, who was "killed" by way of being dropped in a vat of acid by Ernesto. It would later be revealed that Ernesto had traded Hope to the DiMera family and that a lookalike named Greta was dropped into the acid instead. Hope would be brainwashed as a pawn of Stefano, who used her as a replacement for her evil doppleganger Gina, a princess who along with her mercenary/conman lover John Black, stole valuable items for Stefano.

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Returning home, Bo would begin a relationship with newly arrived doctor Carly Manning (Crystal Chappell). The arrival of Carly Manning would bring a new umbrella storyline involving Carly's childhood friend Jennifer (now married to Jack) and Frankie Brady, who was retroactively declared to be Carly's brother and their war against the show's newest villain Lawrence Alamain (Michael Sabatino). Lawrence quickly made his bones as the new arch-villain by murdering Patch in October 1990. Due to the popularity of the character, the writers set up an "out" to bring Steve back at a later date (an out that as to this day has yet to be used). With Patch gone, his beloved Kayla, after a romance with her former brother-in-law Shane which generated a negative fan response, was soon written out of the show as well in 1992.

Related Topics:
Crystal Chappell - Michael Sabatino - October - 1990 - 1992

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Lawrence raped Jennifer which put him at odds with her husband Jack. Meanwhile Bo (now played by Robert Kelker Kelly) began a relationship with Carly, whose parents were demanding her to marry the villainous Lawrence instead.

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Meanwhile Isabella and "Roman" married but their married bliss was quickly shattered by the shocking return of "Roman's' wife Marlena Evans. Marlena had been kidnapped by Stefano and used to breed a set of twin heirs for the DiMera family. As "Roman" sought out Stefano to seek vengence, another shocking secret emerged as it was revealed that "Roman" was not really Roman and that the real Roman, Wayne Northrop, was also Stefano's prisoner all of these years.

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Behind the scenes, the reason for such a massive swerve was that Wayne Northrop had approached the producers about returning to the show in the role of Roman. The producers were interested but knew quite well that Hogestyn was extremely popular with viewers and they couldn't just fire Hogestyn. However, since Hogestyn's Roman had moved on to Isabella, a compromise was struck: Northrop returned as Roman and it was revealed that Hogestyn's character, John Black, was a minion of Stefano who had his memories taken from him and was brainwashed into thinking he was Roman as punishment for betraying Stefano.

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Through many different writing regimes, John's past would change considerably. At first he was a member of the Alamain family, then he was a priest who Stefano's mistress confided in, before they finalized on John being a conman who worked with Gina, a royal princess who was a conman like her lover on the side. Marlena reunited with the real Roman while John and Isabella celebrated their relationship with the birth of their first (and only) child Brady, named after the family that had taken John in as their own.

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Much had changed since Roman was last in town, and he struggled to fit into the canvas. Since John and Marlena were still a popular couple, John's wife Isabella was promptly given cancer and killed off, freeing John to begin an affair with Marlena, which created controversy when Marlena's daughter Sami (Alison Sweeney) caught them having sex on a conference table at a nearby office building. When she became pregnant as a result of this fling, she sought to pass the child off as Roman's and was even unknowingly helped by Sami, who altered hospital files to make the child Roman's. Ultimately, Sami was exposed and Roman fled town in disgrace at being cuckolded by John. The scandal would force Marlena to raise the child (named Belle, after John's former wife Isabella) alone while John was forced to find comfort with a new arrival in Salem, Kristen Blake (Eileen Davidson). Sami meanwhile never forgave Marlena and John (who Sami considered a second father) for betraying Roman like they did, with the incident triggering a turn to the dark side for Sami.

Related Topics:
Alison Sweeney - Eileen Davidson

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The James E. Reilly Era

In 1993, the show began to drift towards more supernatural storylines when the hiring of new head writer James E. Reilly. One of his first major storylines was to have Carly Manning be buried alive by evil Vivian Alamain (Louise Sorel). The storyline shot up the ratings as NBC heavily promoted the storyline with lurid commercials hyping it. With ratings at a high level, the show fired many popular actors such as Ashford, Sabatino and Chappell. Carly and Lawrence suddenly fell in love after years of hating each other and left Salem for Europe while Jack fled town after being rendered penniless and emotionally dead upon learning that his daughter Abby had cancer caused by toxic chemicals he had authorized to be dumped years earlier. The exits were controversial with some fans, particularly the decision to have Jack desert his wife and daughter.

Related Topics:
James E. Reilly - Louise Sorel

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Jennifer quickly moved on with Stefano's mysterious son, Peter Blake (Jason Brooks), but Jack (now played by Mark Valley) returned. Adding to the drama was the return of Jennifer's long-institutionalized mother Laura (now played by Jamie Lyn Bauer). Laura was suspicious of Peter, so he had her office painted with toxic chemicals to send her around the bend. While in a rehab facility she slept with Jack - they had no idea of the other's identity as they had never met and were using assumed names. A monkey wrench was thrown into the story when Reeves quit the show in the fall of 1995 without advance notice. Rumors flew about the real reasons for her departure and the role of Jennifer was quickly recast with Stephanie Cameron, along with a brand new recast of Jack when replacement Mark Valley left the show. The newly recast Jack (Steve Wilder) and Jen finally did reunite but were forced to flee Salem to avoid Peter, who was now infected with a disease that caused him to go insane and to possess insanity induced super-strength. After a year of sporadic appearances, Peter was arrested at long last and Jack, Jennifer, and Abby reunited and left the show for Africa in 1998.

Related Topics:
Jason Brooks - Mark Valley - Jamie Lyn Bauer - Stephanie Cameron - Steve Wilder

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The New Generation

Reilly also began to fill the show with new young actors to help promote the show to younger viewers. Besides Sami Brady, these included her half-sister Carrie (Christie Clark, who had been a cast member since she was a little girl) and dysfunctional half-siblings Lucas Roberts (Bryan Dattilo) and Austin Reed (Patrick Muldoon). Lucas himself was the offspring of a relationship between his mother Kate Roberts (Deborah Adair) and Bill Horton, retroactively inserted into Days canon as the event that caused Laura Horton to have her nervous breakdown. Meanwhile Austin and his sister Billie (Lisa Rinna) were children of a previous marriage of Kate that had ended in Kate having to abandon her children to an abusive father. Austin was a boxer whose budding romance with Carrie suffered after a mobster threw acid in her face (Austin was the indended target).

Related Topics:
Christie Clark - Bryan Dattilo - Patrick Muldoon - Deborah Adair - Lisa Rinna

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Quickly Reilly created a love rectangle between Austin, Sami, Carrie, and Lucas that would borrow from previous love triangles, most notably the Bill/Mickey/Laura triangle from the early 1970s. Sami was infatuated with a young man named Alan, who wanted her sister. Alan raped Sami and Sami shot him in the testicles. This quickly became a town scandal and Sami was humiliated. Austin showed her great kindness and she became obsessed with him. Sami would drug Austin and rape him only to run from his house when Austin starts calling Sami "Carrie". She would go to the arms of Lucas, who she would have pity sex with and become pregnant with his child. With help from Vivian, Sami would accuse Austin of being the father of her child and force a marriage between the two. Meanwhile Lucas would use Mike Horton (Roark Critchlow) to break Austin and Carrie up by having Mike steal Carrie away from Austin. However, when Sami discovered the truth about her son Will's parentage it created a landslide of events that resulted in Austin and Carrie marrying and Lucas declaring his undying hatred for Sami for hiding the truth about Lucas being a father from him, as Lucas had longstanding issues with his own absent father.

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These new storylines generated much notice but problems developed when Patrick Muldoon left the show, forcing the casting of Austin Peck as the new Austin Reed.

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Reilly's second major storyline saw the return of Stefano, who with the help of his new girlfriend, the psychic Celeste Perrault (Tanya Boyd), kidnapping Marlena and John. The two were able to break free with help from Hope, who had been given amnesia to keep her from remembering how she worked as a thief for Stefano. The return of Hope, now calling herself Gina, created havoc for Bo and his new girlfriend Billie, leading her to leave town so as to allow Bo and Hope to be reunited even though through contrived plot twists, there was no physical means to confirm that Hope was indeed Hope. Billie would return though, with new actresses playing her, and would ultimately become pregnant by Bo, though the child would be stillborn (though it would later be revealed that the DiMera family stole the child's dead body and used advanced science to resurrect the dead baby).

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Meanwhile the success of Carly's buried alive storyline cause Reilly to branch out into his most controversial storyline to date, a year long storyline involving Marlena becoming possessed by Satan. The plot brought Reilly high ratings despite numerous interruptions due to coverage of the O.J. Simpson trial and complaints from critics who felt that demonic possession was too over the top a storyline. In the end, Marlena was freed from Satan's grip through the love of John. John's relationship with Kristen was strained when Tony DiMera, who was married to Kristen in spite of her love for John, learned he was terminally ill, killed himself, and set John up to be arrested for his "murder". John was nearly guillotined but Marlena jumped in front of the blade and Stefano called off the punishment. Reilly turned John's ex-girlfriend Kristen evil then gave her four additional roles to play in a protracted storyline involving doppelgangers, false pregnancies, gender-bending (as one of Davidson's characters was a man), and Stefano dressing up like Elvis Presley so that he could have sex with a woman (played by Davidson) who was obsessed with Elvis. Kristen and the other four characters were later written out in 1998.

Related Topics:
O.J. Simpson - Elvis Presley

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A fairly controversial move was Reilly's decision to hire Josh Taylor, who played the popular supporting cast member Chris Kositchek from 1977-1987, to play the role of Roman Brady without any sort of storyline to explain away the drastic change in the character's appearance. Roman was terminally ill, and Marlena and John had to hide their relationship so she could pretend she loved Roman.

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By the end of 1997, Reilly left the show to begin work on his new series Passions, which left many subplots up in the air as writers scrambled to resolve the writer's loose ends. For the next few years the show was written by Sally Sussman Morina, who wrapped up many of Reilly's stories. Mike seduced Carrie into committing adultery and the two left town for Israel in November 1999. The villainous Vivian, who quickly went from feared villain to comic relief, left town in February 2000 with her loyal manservant Ivan Marais when he came into a small fortune. Lucas and Sami waged a violent war for custody of Will that ended with Victor stepping in and forcing Lucas and Kate to sign full custody of Will to Sami in exchange for Sami turning over all blackmail material she had on the two. Austin, after a fling with Greta Von Amburg (Julianne Morris) that ended with a virtual reality "Garden of Eden" storyline finally agreed to marry Sami but left her at the altar when he learned how Sami lied to him about Will being physically abused by Lucas to get him to take her side in the custody case.

Related Topics:
Passions - Sally Sussman Morina - February 2000 - Julianne Morris

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Finally the whole storyline with regards to Hope's missing years ended when Stefano brainwashed Hope into becoming Gina again while at the same time restoring John's memories so as to bring them under his control once and for all. This led to a controversial episode of the series where Hope and John had sex on a submarine, which many fans denounced as a massive betrayal of their respective marriages while other fans accepted the scene as not an act of adultery since both Hope and John were under the influence of Stefano's control at the time.

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Hope became pregnant, and NBC began a much-publicized campaign asking fans to decide who should be the father of Hope's child - John or Stefano. John won, but many fans wanted Bo, Hope's husband, to be the father, and after a change in headwriter, the show rewrote history to reveal that Bo was the father after all after a baby swapping storyline involving Stefano's illegitimate daughter Lexie Carver (Renee Jones) (who for a time became the head of the DiMera crime syndicate when Mascolo was fired from the series). But before this could happen, viewers would have to endure one final twist in the Gina storyline: as the real Gina came out of hiding and kidnapped the real Hope, taking her place before being exposed and dying in the ensuing chaos of her being exposed. The real Hope was freed and eventually Bo and Hope were reunited with their real son.

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2000 and Beyond

The show continued on with plotlines that primarily focused upon new teenage characters including Belle Black (Kirsten Storms), Brady Black (Kyle Lowder), Shawn-Douglas Brady (Jason Cook), and Philip Kiriakis (Jay Kenneth Johnson). They were soon joined by Cassie (Alexis Thorpe) and Rex (Eric Winter), who were ultimately revealed to be the offspring of Kate and Roman, who Marlena gave birth to while she was believed to be dead and Mimi Lockhart (Farah Fath), Belle's best friend, whose father lost his job and abandoned her family.

Related Topics:
Kirsten Storms - Kyle Lowder - Jason Cook - Jay Kenneth Johnson - Alexis Thorpe - Eric Winter - Farah Fath

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The main storyline of the time involved the relationship between Shawn and Belle. Vowing to remain virgins until they married and exchanging "purity rings" as a sign of love. The other big teen stories of the time were Brady and Phillip's rivalry over Chloe (Nadia Bjorlin), daughter of conniving Nancy and Dr. Craig Wesley (Patrika Darbo and Kevin Spirtas). Chloe initially wore all black ensembles and big glasses. After many taunts as "Ghoul Girl" she shocked the students at the Last Blast Dance by throwing off her cloak to reveal a sexy red dress. Phillip had originally dated her only as a prank (he planned to dump her and break her heart), but he soon fell in love with her. Brady was alienated from his family (he hated his stepmother, Marlena) and confided in Chloe. Eventually Brady and Chloe became a couple, but his grandfather Victor felt Chloe was not good enough for Brady and got her an overseas job singing opera.

Related Topics:
Nadia Bjorlin - Patrika Darbo - Kevin Spirtas

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Tony DiMera (Thaao Penghlis) returned and served as a catalyst for Sami and Lucas to finally acknowledge their feelings for each other, when Sami was nearly killed by Tony when she confronted him over his helping Lexie ruing her relationship with Lexie's stepson Brandon Walker (Matt Cedeno).

Related Topics:
Thaao Penghlis - Matt Cedeno

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Finally the writers eagerly exploited the show's newest (at that time) break-out character Nicole Walker (Arianne Zuker). Originally a girl from the wrong side of the tracks, Nicole was hired as a model by Kate and later paid a large sum of money to marry her son Lucas, to help Lucas win custody of his son. Through the Roberts, Nicole discovered the power of money and quickly manipulated her way into the bed of Victor, much to Kate's horror. As her marriage to Lucas ended, she married Victor and soon found herself super-rich and super-powerful, though Nicole found herself outmatched when she crossed swords with Victor. Having survived a near fatal stroke that left him paralyzed for several years, Victor was determined to never be helpless again and used the fact that Nicole murdered rogue doctor Colin Murphy (Justin Melvey) when he tried to blackmail her to keep her under his thumb. Much to Victor's horror, Nicole became involved with Brady. Victor was soon presumed dead and unable to stop Nicole from seducing Brady.

Related Topics:
Arianne Zuker - Justin Melvey

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With ratings at an all time low and NBC threatening to cancel the series, James Reilly was brought back as head writer in the summer of 2003 and given carte blanche to "fix" the show. His major storyline to save DAYS was the ultra-controversial Salem Serial Killer storyline, which murdered Abe, Jack, Maggie, Caroline, Cassie, Roman, Tony, Doug and Alice by Marlena, who at the time declared that her decision to kill her closest friends and relatives was based upon her rage that Roman was dating Kate Roberts. The storyline was extremely controversial as many of the victims were longtime fan favorites. In the midst of this original cast member John Clarke (Mickey) left, which added to the controversy. But since the show's ratings were now levelling out with the revelation that Marlena was the killer, the show's efforts were deemed a success by Soap Opera Digest.

Related Topics:
John Clarke - Soap Opera Digest

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After Marlena was "killed" in a prison riot arranged by Nicole, it was revealed that the victims have been revealed as alive and are all trapped on an island replica of Salem, named, appropriate enough, Melaswen (New Salem spelled backwards). The conclusion to the Salem Serial Killer mystery was laid at Tony's feet, as he wanted to prove that he could be an even bigger villain than Stefano by destroying the lives of the people of Salem as well as make Marlena think she was a murderer. The captives ultimately were rescued from Melaswen, but an explosion separated Marlena, Roman, Jack and Cassie from the others. Everyone else returned to Salem while the former four were held prisoner in Tony's castle. Fans watched as Sami (while in her "Stan" disguise) caused John to be wracked by excruciating pain and hooked on drugs. While battling his addiction, John became involved with Kate. Marlena was little seen during these months - when she did reappear onscreen, she and Roman saw John and Kate making love and they also chose to make love. The last survivors then managed to escape the castle and return to Salem. Unfortunately, Marlena was pregnant with Roman's child which she ultimately lost when she accidentally fell down a flight of stairs due to the stress of being a woman in her late 40s carrying a child combined with the rather unforgiving reaction from John when she told him the truth.

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As 2004 progressed, the slow-paced storylines continued, but ratings fell. In a homage of Marlena's many visits to the prison cages of Stefano, Shawn was kidnapped by his insane childhood friend, Jan Spears (Heather Lindell) and kept in a cage for months while she pulled every trick in the book to seduce him into having sex with her. Meanwhile Belle, who Shawn had left on bad terms with when her refusal to give vital information about her mother being the serial killer resulted in the "deaths" of Shawn's paternal grandfather Doug and his maternal grandmother Alice, and Philip found themselves forced together by Kate, who spent time manipulating the love lives of her children. She also did serious damage to Lucas and Sami's relationship by having Sami drugged and placed with her ex-boyfriend Brandon, resulting in Lucas pulling out of their planned wedding. Another more controversial storyline was Mimi's decision to have an abortion after becoming pregnant with Rex's child on the basis that Rex would not want a child due to the couple's poor financial status. The truth was kept from Rex for many months as fans were forced to watch Rex and Mimi perform the same scene of Mimi trying to tell the truth to Rex only have something interrupt her before she could tell Rex the truth. Meanwhile Jan found out about the abortion and blackmailed Mimi, culminating in Mimi accidentally putting Jan into a coma, then pleading guilty so she would received a lengthy jail term and never have to face Rex again. Ultimately Mimi was released from jail when it was proven that Jan's coma was an accident, but Belle revealed to Rex the truth about Mimi's abortion and Rex dumped Mimi as a result of her lies. Many fans complained that rather than using the storyline as a discussion on the pros or cons of abortion, viewers watched as Mimi was 'punished' for her choice by developing an infection which rendered her barren and losing Rex's love. Actress Heather Tom wrote an op-ed in Soap Opera Digest criticizing the story as inaccurate and irresponsible.

Related Topics:
Heather Lindell - Heather Tom

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While Victor was presumed dead (actually bonding with old love Caroline on Melaswen), Nicole seduced Brady. Chloe was disfigured in a limo accident and faked her death rather than meet Brady without her beautiful face. Eventually Nicole found out Chloe was alive and through a convoluted series of events, was mistaken for a doctor and had to perform plastic surgery on Chloe's face. Nicole permanently scarred Chloe, but when Brady found Chloe, he told her her scars didn't matter.

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After escaping Jan's cage, Shawn crashed his motorcycle into the church in a failed attempt to stop the wedding of Belle Black (now played by Martha Madison) and Philip Kiriakis (played by Real World alumni Kyle Brandt) as his obsession with Belle caused him to stalk her and consume large amounts of booze to deal with his depression. While Philip tolerated Shawn's obsession with his wife for the sake of Belle, Philip soon found his life irreversibly altered when Phillip (who was a Marine) was sent on a mission to Iraq, where he was promptly captured and tortured by Tony. He had assembled a literal army of highly trained mercenaries and sought to conquer Iraq as part of his scheme for world domination. Meanwhile Shawn, having slept with Belle during a snowstorm shortly before Phillip was deployed, was filled with guilt and sought to make amends by going over to Iraq and rescuing Phillip from the portion of the country that Tony's army of European mercenaries had conquered.

Related Topics:
Martha Madison - Kyle Brandt - Iraq

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Aiding him in the mission was Belle's half-brother Brady, Philip's half-brothers Lucas and Rex, and Sami, who was in disguised as a male reporter named Stan (in truth, Alison Sweeney was on maternity leave and Dan Wells was hired to play her in drag) who proceeded to play the four rescuers and Tony against each other before helping the men rescue Philip. Tony meanwhile escaped capture though the guys' attempt to bring Philip home was rejected by Philip, who opted to stay behind to help his fellow troops free the Iraqis from Tony's remaining forces. It was during his first mission after his rescue that Philip lost his leg to a landmine, sending him home as a result. Many were not comfortable with the use of a war in which many real soldiers had suffered and died as well as the controversial decision to have Phillip lose his leg.

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In recent months the show's producers have begun to focus more on the past as they've shifted focus back onto Jack and Jennifer as well as restocking the Horton family tree by way of SORAS Abby to a teenager and having Jack and Jennifer take in Abby (Ashley Benson)'s orphan friend Chelsea Benson (Mandy Musgrave, then Rachel Melvin), in which Bo and Billie found out that Chelsea is their presumed-dead daughter, Georgia Brady.

Related Topics:
Ashley Benson - Mandy Musgrave - Rachel Melvin

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By the summer and fall of 2005, the soap brought back some of its fan favorites from the 1980s and 1990s including Wayne Northrop (Roman Brady/Alex North), Austin Peck (Austin Reed), Billy Warlock (Frankie Brady) and most recently Christie Clark (Carrie Brady).

Related Topics:
Wayne Northrop - Austin Peck - Billy Warlock - Christie Clark

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Friends

The serial was satirized on the sitcom Friends when one of the principals, Joey Tribbiani (played by Matt LeBlanc) got a job as Dr. Drake Ramoray on the show. 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. 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). In the new sitcom Joey, Joey was nominated for "best death scene" in which he was stabbed while performing surgery.

Related Topics:
Friends - Joey Tribbiani - Matt LeBlanc - ''Joey''

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Opening sequence

Days of our Lives has one of the most iconic opening sequences in television history. Almost completely unchanged since the show's debut in 1965, the titles show an hourglass, as time slowly trickles to the bottom. In 1966, the focus moved from the entire hourglass to the bottom, with the time trickling away as the theme played. In 1972, the current title lettering was introduced (before then, the show's title was in generic caps).

Related Topics:
1965 - 1966 - 1972

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In 1993, a computerized version of the visual was made, with completely redone sound effects and music. In this version, the hourglass starts focus at the bottom-half, overlooking the dawn. As the sun rises, the focus is zoomed out, and the audience sees the entire hourglass.

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Since 1966, Macdonald Carey has intoned the legendary epigram "Like sands through the hourglass, so are the Days of our Lives."

Related Topics:
1966 - Macdonald Carey - Epigram

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Cast

Current cast members

• Kristian Alfonso (Hope Williams Brady)
• Matthew Ashford (Jack Deveraux)
• Ashley Benson (Abigail Deveraux)
• Steve Blackwood (Bart Beiderbecke)
• Kyle Brandt (Philip Kiriakis)
• Darin Brooks (Maxwell Brady)
• Jason Cook (Shawn-Douglas Brady)
• Bryan Dattilo (Lucas Roberts)
• Judi Evans Luciano (Bonnie Lockhart)
• Farah Fath (Mimi Lockhart)
• Deidre Hall (Dr. Marlena Evans Black)
• Drake Hogestyn (John Black)
• Brody Hutzler (Patrick Lockhart)
• John Ingle (Mickey Horton)
• Renee Jones (Dr. Lexie DiMera Carver, MD)
• Lauren Koslow (Kate Roberts)
• Martha Madison (Belle Black Kiriakis)
• Rachel Melvin (Chelsea Brady)
• Wayne Northrop (Dr. Alex North, MD)
• Rhasaan Orange (Thomas Edward Kramer "Tek")
• Austin Peck (Austin Reed)
• Thaao Penghlis (Tony DiMera)
• Julie Pinson (Billie Reed)
• Peter Reckell (Bo Brady)
• Melissa Reeves (Jennifer Horton Deveraux)
• Frances Reid (Alice Horton), Original Cast Member
• James Reynolds (Abe Carver)
• Suzanne Rogers (Maggie Horton)
• Alison Sweeney (Samantha "Sami" Brady)
• Josh Taylor (Roman Brady)
• Billy Warlock (Frankie Brady)
• Arianne Zuker (Nicole Walker)

Recurring cast members

• John Aniston (Victor Kiriakis)
• Daphne Bloomer (Eugenia Willens)
• Tanya Boyd (Celeste Perrault)
• Christopher Gerse (Will Roberts)
• Garrett, Spencer & Mitchell Gray (Zack Brady)
• Bill Hayes (Doug Williams)
• Susan Seaforth Hayes (Julie Olson Williams)
• Chase & Tyler Johnson (Theo Carver)
• Peggy McCay (Caroline Brady)
• Frank Parker (Shawn Brady)

Coming and going cast members

• Nadia Bjorlin (Chloe Lane Black) (until fall 2005)
• Christie Clark (Carrie Brady) (returns October 2005)
• Kyle Lowder (Brady Black) (until fall 2005)

Deceased cast members

• Brenda Benet (Lee DuMonde Williams), 1982
• Richard Biggs (Dr. Marcus Hunter, MD), 2004
• Macdonald Carey (Dr. Tom Horton, MD) Original Cast Member, 1994

External links

Officially sanctioned websites

• Soapcity Site
• NBC.com Site
• Days Online

Cast and crew guides

• IMDb Information
• TV Tome Info

Fan sites

• About Days of our Lives
• Dustin's Days Page
• Beth's Days of our Lives Page
• Children of Salem