Days of Our Lives

Days of Our Lives
Also known as
  • Days
  • DOOL
GenreSoap opera
Created by
Written byRon Carlivati
Directed by
Starring
Theme music composer
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes14,430[2]
Production
Executive producers
ProducerSee below
Production locationThe Burbank Studios (Burbank, California)
Running time30 minutes (1965–1975)
60 minutes (1975–present)
Production companies
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseNovember 8, 1965 (1965-11-08) –
September 9, 2022 (2022-09-09)
NetworkPeacock
ReleaseSeptember 12, 2022 (2022-09-12) –
present (present)
Related
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Days of Our Lives (also stylized as Days of our Lives; simply referred to as Days or DOOL) is an American television soap opera that aired on the network NBC from 1965 to 2022 and currently streams new episodes on Peacock. The soap is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday since November 8, 1965.[3] A co-production of Corday Productions and Sony Pictures Television, the series was created by husband-and-wife team Ted Corday and Betty Corday.[1] During Days of Our Lives' early years, Irna Phillips (creator of former NBC stablemate Another World as well as its former CBS rivals, As the World Turns and Guiding Light) served as a story editor for the program and many of the show's earliest storylines were written by William J. Bell, who would depart the series in 1975 to focus full-time on The Young and the Restless, which he created for CBS in 1973. Following the 2007 cancellation of Passions, Days of Our Lives remained the only soap opera airing on NBC.[4] On August 3, 2022, NBCUniversal announced that it would relocate the series exclusively to its Peacock streaming service beginning September 12 after 57 years on the network and leaving NBC as the only Big Three network without a daytime serial.

The series is set in Illinois, in the fictional city of Salem, and primarily focuses on two groups – the Brady and the Horton families.[5] Other families, however, are also frequently represented including the DiMera and Kiriakis families. The actress Frances Reid (who played the matriarch of the Horton family, Alice Horton), remained with the show from its inception until her death in 2010; her last, formal appearance had occurred in December 2007.[6] Suzanne Rogers is the longest-serving member of the program's current cast, and the longest-serving current cast member of an ongoing American soap opera, having appeared on the show since August 1973 (Rogers celebrated 50 years on Days of Our Lives in 2023).[7] Susan Seaforth Hayes – the second longest-serving actor currently on the program – is the only cast member to appear on Days of Our Lives in all seven decades it has been on the air, having made her first appearance in December 1968 as a recast of original character Julie Olson.[8]

Due to the series' success, daily episodes were expanded from 30 minutes to 60 minutes on April 21, 1975.[5] Days of Our Lives has been syndicated in many countries, internationally, in the years since its debut.[9][10][11] The soap was given the title of "most daring drama" in the seventies, due to the episodes venturing into topics that other soaps of the era would not dare to cover.[12] The show's executive producer is Ken Corday, who has held that role since his mother, Betty, relinquished showrunning duties upon her semi-retirement from the program in 1986,[13] with Janet Spellman-Drucker serving as co-executive producer. As of November 2024, Days of Our Lives has been renewed through 2026. The soap will celebrate its 15,000th episode on December 2, 2024.[14]

The show has been parodied by the sketch comedy series SCTV (as "The Days of the Week") and the sitcom Friends, with some cast members making crossover appearances on the show, including Kristian Alfonso,[15] Roark Critchlow,[16] Matthew Ashford, Kyle Lowder and Alison Sweeney.[17] The show has had high-profile fans such as actress Julia Roberts[18] and Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.[19]

  1. ^ a b "'Days of Our Lives' Matriarch Frances Reid Has Died". Entertainment Tonight. CBS Television Distribution. February 4, 2010. Archived from the original on July 10, 2011. Retrieved February 12, 2011.
  2. ^ Fairman, Michael (September 9, 2022). "Days of our Lives Airs Last Episode of Its Historic Run on NBC; Heads Exclusively to Peacock Monday". michaelfairmantv.com. United States. Retrieved September 9, 2022. Friday marks the final airdate of Days of our Lives run on network television. For almost 57 years, and for 14,430 episodes.
  3. ^ "Cinema". Time. November 5, 1965. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved July 10, 2007.
  4. ^ "CBS Shopping for 'Light' Replacement". TVWeek. March 29, 2009. Retrieved December 27, 2019. NBC is down to one soap, "Days of Our Lives," following the decision to dump "Passions" in 2007
  5. ^ a b "Days Summary". TV.com. CNET. Archived from the original on February 26, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2007.
  6. ^ "Frances Reid — Days of our Live — Bio — DAYS — Alice". Soap Opera Digest. Source Interlink. Archived from the original on March 20, 2005. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
  7. ^ "The Suzanne Rogers Interview". DailyRadar.com. Archived from the original on October 24, 2009.
  8. ^ "Susan Seaforth Hayes Bio". Soap Opera Digest. American Media, Inc. Archived from the original on January 23, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  9. ^ "A new day for Nine". The Age. Melbourne. August 26, 2004. Retrieved July 10, 2007.
  10. ^ "TVNZ Schedules". TVNZ. Archived from the original on May 25, 2009. Retrieved July 10, 2007.
  11. ^ "Days Yanked in UK". Soap Central. April 24, 2001. Retrieved July 10, 2007.
  12. ^ "TIME Rates the Soaps". Time. January 12, 1976. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved June 9, 2007.
  13. ^ Soap Opera Digest article, issue of February 10, 1998, page 42
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference Soap Opera Network (15k) was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ "Friends: The One That Could Have Been, Part I". TV.com. CNET. Archived from the original on February 26, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2007.
  16. ^ "Friends: The One After the Super Bowl". TV.com. CNET. Archived from the original on January 8, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2007.
  17. ^ "Friends: The One With Joey's Award". TV.com. CNET. Archived from the original on February 24, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2007.
  18. ^ Fonseca, Nicholas (May 28, 2004). "Daytime's Secret Weapon". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved June 8, 2007.
  19. ^ "Sex and Suffering in the Afternoon". Time. January 12, 1976. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved June 8, 2007.