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Days of Our Lives


Days of Our Lives (seen on the show's title card as Days of our Lives but is cited with a capital O in Our in the majority of publications) 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.

Contents

The first episode

The first episode revolved around teenager Julie Olson (first played by Charla Doherty ; since 1968 the role has been played by Susan Seaforth Hayes) stealing a mink stole from Bartlett's Department Store. She lied about her last name, telling the store detective that her name was Julie Horton. As a result, her grandfather, Dr. Tom Horton (Macdonald Carey) and his son (Julie's uncle) Mickey (then John Clarke) were called down to the police station to resolve the matter. At home, Dr. Tom's wife Alice (Frances Reid) was lamenting the reality of all her children leaving her; her daughter Marie (at that time played by Maree Cheatham ) was going to be married to Tony Merritt (Richard A. Colla ).

Storylines


Since then, the show has moved from its roots in telling stories revolving around the Horton clan. The show extended to an hour in 1975, giving the show more time to develop new characters. At the time, the popular characters were Dr. Neil Curtis (Joseph Gallison), Dr. Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall), and Don Craig (Jed Allan). In the 1980s, the show became most famous for its supercouples, the most popular being (but not limited to) Bo and Hope Brady (Peter Reckell and Kristian Alfonso), Patch and Kayla Johnson (Stephen Nichols and Mary Beth Evans), and Shane and Kimberly Donovan (Charles Shaughnessy and Patsy Pease). In the 1990s, storylines drifted away from the traditional due to new stories from head writer James E. Reilly. One of his first acts was to have one of the show's heroines, Dr. Carly Manning (Crystal Chappell) be buried alive by evil Vivian Alamain (Louise Sorel). Some of the wacky storylines included having another one of the show's heroines, Marlena, possessed by the devil. In a bizarre turn of events, fan favorite Kristen Blake (Eileen Davidson) ended up playing four other roles in addition to the one she was originally hired for. Also, a major storyline of the 2003-2004 season was the Salem Serial Killer, which claimed 9 victims and was revealed to be Dr. Marlena (Deidre Hall). However, 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).

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 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 the writers, and his character was killed by being thrown down an elevator shaft.

Cast

Major castmembers include:


U.S. soap operas
Currently on the air:
All My Children
As the World Turns
The Bold and the Beautiful
Days of Our Lives
General Hospital
Guiding Light
One Life to Live
Passions
The Young and the Restless
Important cancelled soaps:
Port Charles (cancelled 2003)
Another World (1999)
The City (1997)
Loving (1995)
Santa Barbara (1993)
Dallas (1991)
Dynasty (1989)
Ryan's Hope (1989)
Capitol (1987)
Search for Tomorrow (1986)
The Edge of Night (1984)
Love of Life (1980)
The Secret Storm (1974)
Love is a Many Splendored Thing (1973)
Dark Shadows (1971)
Peyton Place (1969)

External websites



Last updated: 11-07-2004 05:34:23