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''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 revolved solely around the Horton family, and has since expanded to tell the stories of other families, such as the Brady, DiMera, Kiriakis, Black, and Deveraux clans. The serial is set in the fictional village of Salem . 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 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 ). On November 8, 2005, the cable channel SOAPnet aired the first two episodes of the series. Unlike most daytime programming of the time, all of the ''Days of Our Lives'' episodes still exist. One notable piece of trivia that comes from the first episode is that apparently, Salem was supposed to be Salem, Massachusetts since Marie mentioned moving to Boston once she got married to Tony. =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 killed 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 . Julie had a son by David Martin whom she put up for adoption. The child was adopted by Scott Banning and Susan Martin Banning after Susan got out of jail and her own son died. The baby was living with the widow of his biological father. THE 1970S "The Bill/Laura/Mickey Love Triangle" Considered to be one of the most beloved ''Days'' storyline and one of the longest running 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 when 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 had a heart attack and a subsequent stroke, which caused him to have amnesia. He checked himself out of the hospital and wandered to a farm, 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. The Courtship of Doug Williams and Julie Olson Another popular storyline/couple on the show during the 1970s was the relationship and marriage of wildchild Julie Olson and lounge singer turned conman Doug Williams ( Bill Hayes ). The two met after Doug was introduced as Bill Horton's prison cellmate, after Bill 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. 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; she 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. 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 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 remained on the show for several more years before leaving the series during the early 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. Exit William J. Bell For its first 20 years on the air, ''Days'' was supervised by Betty Corday (her husband Ted Corday created the show but died less than a year 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 William J. Bell took over as head writer, and H. Wesley Kenney was hired to oversee production as well as direct. 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 . Enter Marlena Evans and the Brady Family The expansion of the show to an hour allowed the writers to expand the focus of the show beyond the Horton family. The writers created 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. 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 quickly became the show's main heroine and started a popular romance with lawyer Don Craig ( Jed Allan ). They had a son (D.J., who died of SIDS ). After her marriage to Don ended, Marlena became the focus of the Salem Strangler, a serial killer whose unwanted attentions caused Roman Brady to move into Marlena's apartment. Proving opposites attract, Marlena and Roman became romantically involved. The romance appeared to be short lived, when the Salem Strangler was seen killing Marlena. Fans picketed NBC studios, but writers quickly revealed that it was Marlena's evil twin sister Samantha (who had been played by Deidre Hall's real-life twin Andrea for five years), and the show finally reunited Marlena and Roman, and they became the show's main " Supercouple ". 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 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. After which, Laura attempted to hang herself. Laura was placed in a mental institution and entered into a Catatonic State while Bill shamefully left Salem. Jennifer was sent to boarding school. Bill and Laura's exit was part of a shift in the show that would come to be known as the Valentine's Day Massacre. Over six months, and around Valentine's Day, fourteen characters were written out of the show. They included Bob Anderson, Brooke Hamilton, Margo Horton, Linda Anderson, Phyllis Curtis, and Robert LeClair. As part of new headwriter Nina Laemmle's strategy to makeover the show, nine new characters were written in to make up for the absences. 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 head writer. 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. 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 rehired and her Salem Strangler 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. "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 Brady ( Peter Reckell ) and Hope ( Kristian Alfonso ) Williams, 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, Steve Johnson (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 Brady (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. 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. Despite his villainous behavior, when the role was recast with Matthew Ashford , Jack quickly garnered fan interest. Jack was a 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 identified with the role, and future recasts ( Mark Valley , Steve Wilder ) brought their own style. As the show began to regain its popularity, it was decided to bring the focus back to the Horton family, which by the mid-1980s was marginalized in favor of focus on the Bradys. 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 ). The DiMera and Kiriakis Families Another addition to the show in the 1980s were the DiMera and the Kiriakis families, which both represented actual blood families as well as the Criminal Organizations they controlled. Both clans were created by show writers who felt that the series was lacking villains for the main characters to struggle against. It was the series of complications caused by this struggle that led to the "action-adventure" element that virtually came to define the show in the mid-to-late 1980s (and was attempted to be duplicated in the late 1990s and early 2000s). Stories involving police mysteries and spy adventures unfolded, including the creation of a fictional Spy agency, the International Security Alliance ( ISA ), to battle the unusually high-level and far-reaching global criminal conspiracies involving the Kiriakis and DiMera families. Several Salem residents, including Roman Brady, Shane and Emma Donovan, Gabrielle Pascal, Gillian and Grace Forrester, John Black, Steve Johnson, Kimberly Brady, Billie Reed, Philip Kiriakis, and Bo Brady, were revealed to having served at one time or another with the ISA. The ISA itself has held an interesting position on the show; although ostensibly dedicated to crimefighting instead of traditional political intelligence, its agents have often engaged in " Covert Operations " types of activities, up to and including kidnapping and assassination, both on foreign and American soil. Despite it's stated law-enforcement mission, the ISA often found itself vulnerable to corruption from within and without. The Kiriakis family was headed by Victor Kiriakis () 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. Victor's schemes also involved other villains, including ex-ISA agent Orpheus, Ernesto Toscano, Lawrence Alamain, Vincent Moroni, the drug-dealing Torres family, and of course, the sinister DiMeras. While Victor mellowed over the years, the DiMeras remained villainous. The family was headed by Italian patriarch Stefano DiMera ( Joseph Mascolo ), who in the early 1980s relocated to Salem. The seemingly aristocratic Stefano headed a mysterious organization that operated on a global level, and was something of a cross between a crime syndicate and terrorist organization. Unlike Victor, who was more of a "traditional" mobster, Stefano was much more refined and intellectual, more of an Blofeld in contrast to Victor's Don Corleone . On a personal level, Stefano had a burning hatred for the Brady family over some unknown slight that occurred in the distant past in Ireland, that somehow involved a young Shawn Brady. Stefano also had an obsession with Marlena that was complicated when it was revealed that Roman had previously been married to Stefano's daughter-in-law Anna ( Leann Hunley ) with whom he had a daughter named Carrie. Marlena and Roman would go on to have twins named Samantha (for her late sister) and Eric (for his late uncle). The struggle to eliminate Roman Brady would ultimately result in a complicated, long-running, and often Retconned storyline over the "real" Roman Brady and the identity of John Black. Enter Drake Hogestyn Controversy began when " of the show's run: The Cruise of Deception. (You can here the song on 80stvthemes.com, go to drama. Reported by Eric Brown) 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". Also on board for the cruise were Isabella Toscano, Bo Brady, Hope Brady, Jack Deveraux, Jennifer Horton, and a newly returned Julie Williams. Luring his enemies onto a cruise ship, Ernesto destroyed 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). 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 in an exploding cage by Ernesto. It would later be revealed that Ernesto had traded Hope to the DiMera family and that a lookalike named Greta von Amberg was the victim instead. Hope would be brainwashed as a pawn of Stefano, who used her as a replacement for her evil doppleganger Gina von Amberg (Greta's mother), a princess who along with her mercenary lover John Black, stole valuable items for Stefano. This story proved to be the least popular ''Days'' story ever, turning the fans off in such large numbers that the show lost almost a million viewers in the span of two months during the infamous jungle story where John and Hope bonded. The lack of chemistry between John (Drake Hogestyn) and Hope (Kristian Alfonso), not to mention all the rewrites of popular history, doomed the story from the beginning, but the stubbornness of the show's producers and writers couldn't be stopped, and ''Days'' suffered the erosion of it most loyal fanbases. Returning home, Bo began a flirtation with newly arrived doctor Carly Manning ( Crystal Chappell ). The arrival of Carly Manning would begin a new 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 by murdering (with the aid of Nick Corelli ( George Jensky )) 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). Nick was later killed by a temporarily insane Jo Johnson ( Joy Garrett ), Patch and Jack's mother. 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 . 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 Lawrence instead. Meanwhile Isabella and "Roman" married but their married bliss was quickly shattered by the shocking return from the dead of "Roman's" wife Marlena Evans. Marlena's death had been faked, and she had been the prisoner of Stefano Dimera. It was later revealed that she had been used as a surrogate for the real Roman's twin children (Rex and Cassie) with former Dimera employee Kate Roberts's ( Lauren Koslow ) eggs. As "Roman" sought out Stefano to seek vengeance, 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 those years. The behind the scenes reason for such a massive swerve was that the producers had approached Deidre Hall about returning to the show in the role of Marlena. Hall agreed to return only if the producers also brought back her close friend Wayne Northrop in the role he originated, Roman Brady. The producers were interested but knew quite well that Hogestyn was extremely popular with viewers and they couldn't just fire him. 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 mercenary in the employ of Stefano DiMera's criminal organization who had his memories taken from him and was brainwashed into thinking he was Roman as punishment for betraying Stefano (as well as a means of carrying on Stefano's favorite hobby--the continual torment of the Brady family). In fairness to the writers and producers, it should be noted that the idea that Hogestyn's character was not the real Roman Brady was nothing new in 1991; various magazine articles in 1988 hinted at the idea during a story arc that involved the return of Stefano and explored what really happened to Roman during his 2 years in Stefano's custody. One idea floated in the press at the time centered around the possibility of Hogestyn's character actually being one of Stefano's unknown sons. However, this was never fleshed out and the storyline concluded with a fairly clear resolution that Hogestyn's character was truly Roman Brady who had been captured by Stefano, brainwashed into believing he was one of Stefano's assassins (but not successfully to the point where he actually assassinated anybody), accidentally caused an explosion that caused the deafness of Stefano's son Benji Hawk, and was found by the ISA but abandoned again when its other agents in Stefano's organization were discovered and killed. Roman remained in Stefano's clutches until Stefano went into hiding during one of his faked deaths, and Roman was auctioned off to Victor Kiriakis as "The Pawn". Nevertheless, the return of the "real" Roman was particularly amusing to fans who paid close attention to the obvious physical differences between Northrop and Hogestyn, and wondered how anyone, particularly Marlena who had been married to (and slept with) both men, would readily accept one in place of the other. Hogestyn was taller, darker, hairier, had straighter hair, and was right-handed, in contrast with the shorter, fairer-skinned, smoother, curly-haired, left-handed Northrop. It was also apparent that Hogestyn was either a few years younger than Northrop, or it was just that being couped up in Stefano's prison for 7 years had caused Roman not to age quite as well as his Salem-bound counterpart. Through many different writing regimes, John's past would change considerably. He is, to date, quite possibly the most continually rewritten character in the history of television. His character has been Retconned at least 6 or 7 times over the period 1986-2000. First it was revealed that he was a member of the wealthy Alamain family, and then he was a priest who Stefano's mistress confided in. Eventually it was revealed that John was a mercenary, con artist, and jewel thief who worked with Gina von Amberg, a royal princess who was a con artist like her lover on the side. Years later it was rewritten yet again that John was actually the illegitimate son of Daphne DiMera, Stefano's deceased common law wife and Alamain sister, and an as-yet-unrevealed father (fan speculation continues to center on Shawn Brady, which would make him Roman's half-brother and may explain why he shared enough similarities with Roman to be able to replace him so easily and for so long). 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. Much had changed since Roman was last in town, and he struggled to fit into the canvas. Meanwhile, John and Isabella's happiness was shortlived, as Isabella was given fatal pancreatic cancer to accommodate the exit of Staci Greason when contract talks broke down because the actress demanded too much money. After dealing with his grief, John began a controversial affair with Marlena, which culminated with Marlena and Roman's daughter Sami ( Alison Sweeney ) catching them having sex on a conference table at Victor Kiriakis's new Titan Industries office building. When she became pregnant as a result of this fling, she believed the child to be Roman's and was aided in this belief by Sami, who altered a paternity test to make it appear that Roman was the father. Ultimately, Sami was exposed after kidnapping and attempting to sell her younger sister Belle (named for the late Isabella Black). Unable to forgive Marlena, Roman fled town in disgrace at being cuckolded by John. The scandal would force Marlena to raise Belle alone while John found comfort with a new arrival in Salem, social worker 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 serious turn to the dark side for Sami. 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 buried alive by John and Lawrence's insane aunt, Vivian Alamain ( Louise Sorel ). The show shot up in the ratings as NBC heavily promoted the storyline with lurid commercials. With ratings at a high level, the show was forced to fire popular actors Matthew Ashford , Michael Sabatino , and Crystal Chappell , who were demanding storyline approval in contract negotiations. Carly and Lawrence's complicated and often adversarial relationship ended up turning to love as they reclaimed Nicholas, the child they long believed dead from Vivian. The happy family ended up leaving town for a life together in Europe. 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. Jennifer quickly moved on with Stefano's mysterious ward, Peter Blake ( Jason Brooks ) brother to John's new love Kristen, but Jack (now played by Mark Valley ) ended up returning. 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 look-alike Stephanie Cameron , along with a brand new recast of Jack when replacement Mark Valley also left. 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 a far less popular Jack, Jennifer, and Abby reunited and left the show for Africa in 1998. 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 ( Alison Sweeney ), there were 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. 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 intended target). Reilly quickly 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; she eventually shot him in the testicles, effectively castrating him. This quickly became a town scandal and an already troubled Sami was humiliated, slipping further into manipulative and self-destructive patterns. Austin showed her great kindness and she became obsessed with him. Sami drugged Austin and seduced him only to run from his house when Austin called her "Carrie". She ran to Lucas's arms, and they slept together in an effort to get over their mutual heartbreak over Austin and Carrie's relationship. With help from Vivian, Sami convinced Austin he was her baby's father and attempted to get him to marry her. Meanwhile Lucas used his other half-brother, Mike Horton ( Roark Critchlow ), to break Austin and Carrie up by having Mike steal Carrie away from Austin. However, the truth about young Will's paternity came out, resulting in a wedding for Austin and Carrie. Lucas declared his undying hatred for Sami, as he had longstanding issues with his own absent father. Finally, one of Salem's legendary rivalries was born, as Kate and Sami became mortal enemies due to Sami's manipulations of her two sons. 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. Reilly's second major storyline saw the return of Stefano, who with the help of his longtime lover, the psychic Celeste Perrault ( Tanya Boyd ), kidnapped Marlena and John. The two were able to break free with help from an amnesiac Hope, who had been held prisoner by DiMera during her absence. The return of Hope, who believed her name to be Gina, created havoc for Bo and his new girlfriend Billie. Hope was declared dead again, after several events lead everyone to believe the two couldn't be the same person. Billie and Bo would eventually marry, and "Gina" even dated Mike for a short time, though they both felt more of a familial bond than anything romantic. Eventually, Hope would regain her memory, ending Bo's marriage to Billie, as he and Hope were still legally married. In order to give Bo space to explore his feelings for his newly returned wife, Billie left for Europe. Billie returned, however, now played by Krista Allen , and ultimately became pregnant by Bo, though the child appeared to be stillborn. Recently it was revealed that Georgia had been spirited away by DiMera minions and given to new parents to raise. Bo and Billie later discovered their daughter had been in Salem the entire time, and was in fact Chelsea Benson, the teenaged best friend of Abby Deveraux. Tony DiMera (Thaao Penghlis) returned under Reilly's pen in 1993 to take care of an ill Stefano and to marry his longtime sweetheart, Kristen. Tony had reconciled his differences with Stefano during their absent years from the show. Tony was now portrayed as a protagonist, who wanted to legitimize the DiMera business. After a few mishaps, Tony was able to marry Kristen but she ultimately left him for John 2000 AND BEYOND The show continued on with plotlines that 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 his family. The main storyline of the time involved the relationship between Shawn and Belle, who vowed to remain virgins until they married and exchanged "purity rings" as a sign of love. The other big teen stories of the time were Brady and Philip'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. Philip 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 because of his hatred of Marlena, and confided in Chloe. Eventually Brady and Chloe became a couple, but his grandfather, Victor, felt that Chloe was not good enough for him and got her an overseas job singing opera. Tony DiMera ( Thaao Penghlis ) returned to steal Marlena away from John. His motives remained unclear for many months as he put subtle plans into motion and worked at creating tension among many characters. Stefano had left him a blue key that he said would unlock the secrets to his past and future, and John and Tony spent many months racing to learn the secrets of the key first. It turns out that the key unlocked the bracelets of the Gemini Twins, mind-controlled teenage-aged pawns of Stefano. Tony's fugue states led him to a DiMera island compound on a string of islands shaped like the Gemini constellation. On the island, he used the blue key to open a box containing Stefano's dairy. The diary contained all of the information pertaining to the Brady / DiMera feud, revealed that John was the son of Daphne DiMera and therefore Tony's half-brother, and further solidified Tony as the new antagonist of the show. He also 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 ruining her relationship with Lexie's stepson Brandon Walker ( Matt Cedeno ). Finally, the new struggles against Tony resulted in the sudden, surprise revelation that John Black, rather than just being a semi-amnesiac former mercenary, thief, and priest-turned-wealthy local businessman, was in fact Salem's resident ISA agent-in-place, and naturally his #1 assignment was to wage the ongoing battle against the DiMera clan (the exact timing of his employment by the spy agency was never revealed; it was just sprung on the audience out of the blue one day with a brief return by Shane Donovan). Finally, the writers eagerly exploited the show's newest (at that time) character, Nicole Walker ( Arianne Zuker ). Originally a girl from the wrong side of the tracks, Nicole was hired as a model by one time Titan Industries employee Sami, and Kate later paid her a large sum of money to marry her son Lucas, to help Lucas win custody of his son. Through the Robertses, Nicole discovered the power of money and quickly manipulated her way into the bed of Victor Kiriakis, much to Kate's horror. As her marriage to Lucas ended, she married Victor and found herself rich and 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 was therefore unable to prevent Nicole from seducing Brady. 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 Stalker storyline. The storyline began with the shooting of Abe Carver ( James Reynolds ), which stunned the city of Salem. Even more stunning was that he pointed to Maggie Horton ( Suzanne Rogers ) as he lay dying, though she was never considered a suspect in his murder. Jack Deveraux ( Matthew Ashford ) was killed by a brick to the head, since he had been working with Abe on a story. Maggie, who had seen Abe's death but mentally blocked it out, found herself a victim of the serial killer, who bludgeoned the recovering alcoholic with a liquor bottle. Caroline Brady ( Peggy McCay ) was poisoned at church during a memorial service, and her granddaughter Cassie ( Alexis Thorpe) was stabbed to death and placed in a pinata on Thanksgiving. Roman's ( Josh Taylor ) throat was slashed at his wedding to Kate Roberts, and Tony DiMera was mauled by a tiger the killer let loose at a fundraiser where he had promised to reveal the Salem Stalker's identity. Tony survived the attack, but was given a lethal dose of medicine by the murderer who was revealed to be none other than Marlena Evans. In the meantime, an insane Jan Spears ( Heather Lindell ) electrocuted Victor Kiriakis in a convoluted attempt to win the heart of Shawn Brady. The death was at first attributed to the Salem Stalker, but later the police became unsure. Doug Williams ( Bill Hayes ) discovered Marlena's treachery and was stabbed to death in the cemetery. He left a note that was found by Alice Horton. Marlena confronted Alice, who despite heavenly interventions by Abe, Maggie, Caroline, and Roman, was suffocated by one of her homemade donuts. Alice, however, was able to call John Black and warn him that Marlena was the killer. After a nasty fight, Marlena ended up in the hospital, where under the influence of truth serum admitted that she killed everyone because Abe had discovered that she intended to stop Roman from marrying Kate, though a non-drugged Marlena apparently didn't remember any of the crimes. 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 ''. After Marlena was "killed" in a prison riot arranged by Nicole, Marlena found herself alive in a seemingly deserted Salem. As she explored the town she met Alice Horton, who was alive after all. Alice was later joined by Roman and Abe, who revealed that the entire charade had been faked by an unknown enemy, though most believed it to be Stefano or Tony (who was the only victim not to be found on the island). Victor, though not a victim of the Salem Stalker, was also on the island of Melaswen, or ''New Salem'' spelled backwards. Tony eventually revealed himself to the survivors, though he claimed to be a victim as well. However, Tony was responsible for everything, and had done so to destroy Salem's greatest love stories and prove that he was more powerful than his father Stefano ever had been. The plan was part of his revenge against his half-brother John Black, who he could never surpass, or forgive for his betrayal with Kristen. The seemingly dead Colin Murphy was also a prisoner on Tony's island, as was Billie Reed, now played by Julie Pinson . Bo, Hope, Jennifer, John, and Patrick all made it to the island, and were reunited with their lost love ones. Tony and John had a final duel to the death in Tony's faux Zen chamber, resulting in Tony's apparent demise. The captives ultimately were rescued from Melaswen, but Tony triggered a volcanic explosion resulting in a tidal wave. Marlena, Roman, Jack, Cassie, Victor, Caroline, and Colin were presumed dead. The remaining islanders returned to Salem to attempt to regain the lives they had lost. Maggie found that Mickey, now played by veteran actor John Ingle , had remarried, while Abe began to suffer from migraine headaches that led to blindness. Eventually, it was revealed that the six victims were in fact being held by a very much alive Tony in a European castle (the fate of Colin Murphy is unknown, though he is believed to be dead (see Chuck Cunningham Syndrome )). Victor and Caroline became close again, while a segregated Jack and Cassie began to scheme to escape. Roman and Marlena were thrust together in yet another part of the castle, though they weren't seen often, and began to fall in love again. Devestated at losing her parents and her new found love with Lucas Roberts, Sami began to act out again, and disguised herself as a man named Stan (while Alison Sweeney was on maternity leave). She caused John to be wracked by excruciating pain and got him hooked on drugs. While battling his addiction, John became involved with Kate Roberts. Marlena and Roman saw John and Kate having sex and, out of grief and desperation, had sex, too. After a fire in the castle, Jack, Cassie, Roman, and Marlena escaped and returned to Salem. Victor and Caroline were spirited away yet again by Tony, who was later apprehended, and Victor and Caroline were allowed to return to Salem. As 2004 progressed, the slow-paced storylines continued, and 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 attempted to trick him into having sex with her. Meanwhile Belle (who Shawn had left on bad terms when her refusal to give vital information about her mother being the serial killer resulted in the "deaths" of Shawn's maternal grandfather Doug and his maternal great-grandmother Alice) and Phillip found themselves forced together by Kate, who spent time manipulating the love lives of her children. She also did damage to Lucas and Sami's relationship by having Sami drugged and placed with her ex-boyfriend Brandon, resulting in Lucas canceling 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 receive 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. 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 the scars didn't matter. 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'' alumnus Kyle Brandt ) as his obsession with Belle caused him to stalk her and to drink heavily. While Philip tolerated Shawn's obsession with his wife for the sake of Belle, Philip soon found his life irreversibly altered when Philip (who was a Marine) was sent on a mission to Iraq , where he was promptly captured and tortured by Tony. Tony had assembled a group 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 Philip was deployed, was filled with guilt and sought to make amends by going over to Iraq and rescuing Philip from the portion of the country that Tony's army of European mercenaries had conquered. Aiding him in the mission was Philip's half-nephew, Brady, his 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 Philip lose his leg. Meanwhile, Marlena discovered she was pregnant with Roman's child, though she kept this from John because he was going through withdrawal from the painkillers to which he had become addicted to while Marlena was presumed dead. However, the truth came out as John and Marlena and Roman and Kate tried to mend their troubled marriages. Roman and Kate separated, but mostly due to her constant interference in Sami's life. Marlena lost her baby after a tumble down the stairs, due to the high risk pregnancy and the stress involved in her marriage. She awoke in the hospital to find she had amnesia, and John was convinced to call in a specialist named Alex North. In a twist, Alex North was played by none other than Wayne Northrop the original Roman Brady. Dr. North had been using hypnosis on Marlena and trying to help her recover her past -- a yet-another- Retconned past in which the two of them were married! 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 was rapidly aged to a teenager and Patrick and Billie have taken her in. ( Ashley Benson )'s orphan friend Chelsea Benson ( Mandy Musgrave , then Rachel Melvin ), was revealed to be Bo and Billie's presumed-dead daughter, Georgia Brady. Chelsea was a key figure in a major plot line that opened 2006, as she accidentally killed Bo and Hope's little boy Zack while playing with her cell phone behind the wheel of Bo's SUV. Matters grew even worse when Hope found out that Bo had not only lied to cover up what Chelsea did (when Billie insisted on taking the fall, Bo let her), he also had just that night signed a new temporary driver's license to Chelsea, then handed her the keys to his truck. He believed that he was actually responsible for Zack's death, and Hope agreed, throwing him out of their house. By the summer and fall of 2005, the soap brought back some of its fan favorites from the 1980s and 1990s including Austin Peck (Austin Reed), Billy Warlock (Frankie Brady) and most recently Christie Clark (Carrie Brady). In February 2006 , Arleen Sorkin , who played the show's comedic relief (and fan favorite) Calliope Jones-Bradford from 1984 to 1990 (including brief visits in 1992 and 2001 ) returned for a pair of storylines involving Mimi & Shawn and Marlena & Alex as a wedding designer. Given Calliope's history of "Anything that goes wrong, will definitely go wrong," viewers can expect that saying to apply to the two couples by the time they reach the chapel later this Spring. Beloved cast members Stephen Nichols (who played Steve "Patch" Johnson) and Mary Beth Evans (Kayla Brady Johnson) announced their long-awaited return to the show in April 2006. Nichols and Evans were briefly reunited on General Hospital, but had not been seen on the Days canvas since 1990 and 1992, respectively. Their return storyline is a topic of big discussion among fans, who are assuming that Steve's return may play a part in the sudden reappearance of Jack Deveraux (Matt Ashford), his half-brother and the man who once raped Kayla. '' FRIENDS '' The serial 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. 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. The connection between ''Days of Our Lives'' and ''Friends'' is attributed to the fact that John Aniston (Victor Kiriakis) is the real-life father of Jennifer Aniston (Rachel Green). RATINGS HISTORY After its introduction in 1965, Days of Our Lives soon became an important part of NBC's attempt to dethrone longtime daytime powerhouse CBS, which was largely successful in the 1970s. By 1973-74, it has claimed equal 1st place in the ratings chart with ''As The World Turns'' and ''Another World''. The ratings success was only confirmed by the decision to expand to one hour in 1975 (following the lead of ''Another World''). However, this first golden period for Days and NBC daytime proved to be short-lived as the show's ratings declined from 1977 onwards. By the early 1980s, though Days displaced Another World as NBC's highest-rating soap (which it remained ever since), the entire NBC daytime lineup was in ratings trouble. In fact, by 1982 it was above only one ABC soap (''The Edge of Night'') and below all four CBS soaps (even the lowest-rated, ''Search For Tomorrow'', whose ratings plummeted when it moved to NBC). The supercouple era of the 1980s, however, saw a ratings revival and for the 1983-84 season saw Days of Our Lives experience a surge in ratings, jumping from 8th place and 5.7 to 7th place and 7.1. It held onto its strong numbers (and 5th place on the ratings chart) for most of that decade, only to go into decline again by 1990. It had fallen to 8th by 1993. The arrival of James E. Reilly as head writer saw intriguingly creative though sometimes controversial storylines which polarised viewers, yet saw a surge in the show's popularity to the extent it had surged to #2 by 1996. Days' ratings performance remained strong for the rest of the decade but since 2000 has seen its popularity decline for most part (although there have been brief ratings spikes). As of April 14 , 2006 , the ratings for ''Days'' are placed at a 2.5, meaning about 3.1 million households are tuning in each day. Out of all soaps, ''Days'' currently ranks at #4, tied with All My Children , One Life To Live , and As The World Turns . Even though ''Days'' Household ratings are average, They do exceptionally well in the demographics. ''Days'' Is the #1 soap in Women age 18-34 and has held that title for over 10 years. For the 2005-2006 season ''Days'' is the #1 soap in Women age 18-34, and Women age 18-24 (Tied with Passions ). It is also sitting at #3 for the season in Women age 18-49, and #2 in Teens age 12-17. While most of Daytime is down verses last year, ''Days'' is one of only three soaps to actually show a gain in viewers from the 2004-2005 season. THEME SONG AND OPENING SEQUENCES ''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, a condensed version of the Times New Roman typeface in yellow coloring (before then, the show's title was in generic caps). In 1993 , a computerized version of the visual was made, with completely redone sound effects and rearranged music composed by Charles Albertine, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart. In this version the hourglass, now slowly spinning clockwise, 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 and the show's title "flourishes" on to the screen as the music flourishes. While the entire hourglass is revealed, the clouds in the sky change formations. A portion of this open is also used as a mid-show break bumper, starting after the hourglass has zoomed out and title has appeared with Macdonald Carey announcing "We will return with the second half of ''Days of our Lives'' in just a moment." A shortened version of this open exists, last being used in the summer of 2004 as the show's time period was shortened due to coverage of the Martha Stewart trial. Since 1966, the late Macdonald Carey has intoned the legendary epigram "Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives." From 1966 to 1994, he would also say, "This is Macdonald Carey, and these are the days of our lives." After Carey's passing, the decision was made to remove the second part of the opening, out of respect for Carey and his family. In the summer of 2004 , the show's theme song was changed to give the tune a more majestic feel. Both versions (the 1993 theme and the new theme) were alternated by every other day, but was scrapped after only being used in about eight episodes with the 1993 theme the only one used since; the 1993 theme tune was reinstated with no comment from ''Days'' publicists. The theme also was accompanied by the "like sands through the hourglass..." epigram by Macdonald Carey in a different tone with an emphasis on "sands" and "so" (Example: "Like ''sands'' through the hourglass, ''so'' are the days of our lives."). ''Days of our Lives'' 's 1993 open is currently the longest used open among the current soaps, most of which have changed their opening sequences more frequently than ''Days''. What's unsual about ''Days'' and NBC's other soap ''Passions'' 's (whose opening has been used since it premiered in 1999) opening sequences have yet to change their opening sequences. They are also the only soaps not to feature their main cast members in the opening sequence. CAST Current cast members
Recurring cast members
Coming and going cast members
Deceased cast members
EXTERNAL LINKS Officially sanctioned websites |