Post by Chloe (admin) on Aug 13, 2022 14:31:25 GMT
• Weekdays (Peacock) •
Days Of Our Lives is an American daytime soap opera which aired at 13:00 on NBC between 8th November 1965 and 9th September 2022, and on Peacock only since 12th September 2022. It began more than two-and-a-half years after ABC rival 'Days Of Our Lives', which used to air immediately after it. It is set in the fictional town of Salem in Illinois, though the show is actually filmed at the Burnank Studios in California, on the other side of the country.
Daytime soaps once ruled the American airwaves, but their popularity began to decline in the 2000s, and a soap bloodbath between 2009-2013 gradually saw twelve of them dwindle to just four - The Bold And The Beautiful (TBATB or just B&B), General Hospital (GH), The Young And The Restless (TYATR or just Y&R) and Days Of Our Lives (DOOL). With the shock demise of both Guiding Light (1937-2009) and As The World Turns (1956-2010), DOOL suddenly found itself as America's second longest-running soap, having so far racked up well over 14'000 episodes, making it one of the most volumous television serial dramas still on air today. Once one of the USA's most popular soaps - its profile raised yet further thanks to Matt Le Blanc's portrayal of fictional Dr. Drake Ramoray in Friends - ratings have slowly declined and it now finds itself third out of four.
Things took another turn when, on 3rd August 2022, NBC announcd that from 12th September 2022, DOOL would air exclusively on its Peacock streaming service. This meant that, not only is NBC now without a daytime soap opera for the first time, it is also the only major American network which no longer carries one. This is the first time a soap opera anywhere in the world has aired only on streaming, and may be a turning point: if it succeeds, more straming-only soaps may follow. If it doesn't, other networks are unlikely to do the same, and DOOL may not be renewed and could end in late summer 2023.
The show originally focused on two medical families, gradually expanding. Ratings-wise it got off to a shaky start, and was at risk of cancellation as early as 1968. However, it s success grew incredibly quickly in the early 1970s, and it transposed itself from the bottom-rating daytime soap opera to one of the very top-rating ones. Like most American serials, its ratings gradually began to dwindle in the 1990s and 2000s. This decline became more serious in the late 2000s, but a revamp proved successful and for a while ratings enjoyed an increase. As part of its growing success in the early years, episodes went from 30 minutes to 60 minutes.
Notable moments in the show's history include the exit of character Alice Horton (Frances Reid). An original cast member, Alice's final appearance was in December 2007, more than 42 years after the show began. Reid passed away in 2010. Suzanne Rogers (Maggie Horton) is currently the longest-serving cast member of DOOL - and of any current American soap opera - having appeared since August 1973.
Daytime soaps once ruled the American airwaves, but their popularity began to decline in the 2000s, and a soap bloodbath between 2009-2013 gradually saw twelve of them dwindle to just four - The Bold And The Beautiful (TBATB or just B&B), General Hospital (GH), The Young And The Restless (TYATR or just Y&R) and Days Of Our Lives (DOOL). With the shock demise of both Guiding Light (1937-2009) and As The World Turns (1956-2010), DOOL suddenly found itself as America's second longest-running soap, having so far racked up well over 14'000 episodes, making it one of the most volumous television serial dramas still on air today. Once one of the USA's most popular soaps - its profile raised yet further thanks to Matt Le Blanc's portrayal of fictional Dr. Drake Ramoray in Friends - ratings have slowly declined and it now finds itself third out of four.
Things took another turn when, on 3rd August 2022, NBC announcd that from 12th September 2022, DOOL would air exclusively on its Peacock streaming service. This meant that, not only is NBC now without a daytime soap opera for the first time, it is also the only major American network which no longer carries one. This is the first time a soap opera anywhere in the world has aired only on streaming, and may be a turning point: if it succeeds, more straming-only soaps may follow. If it doesn't, other networks are unlikely to do the same, and DOOL may not be renewed and could end in late summer 2023.
The show originally focused on two medical families, gradually expanding. Ratings-wise it got off to a shaky start, and was at risk of cancellation as early as 1968. However, it s success grew incredibly quickly in the early 1970s, and it transposed itself from the bottom-rating daytime soap opera to one of the very top-rating ones. Like most American serials, its ratings gradually began to dwindle in the 1990s and 2000s. This decline became more serious in the late 2000s, but a revamp proved successful and for a while ratings enjoyed an increase. As part of its growing success in the early years, episodes went from 30 minutes to 60 minutes.
Notable moments in the show's history include the exit of character Alice Horton (Frances Reid). An original cast member, Alice's final appearance was in December 2007, more than 42 years after the show began. Reid passed away in 2010. Suzanne Rogers (Maggie Horton) is currently the longest-serving cast member of DOOL - and of any current American soap opera - having appeared since August 1973.
However her colleague, Susan Seaforth Hayes (Julie Williams) - who is the show's second longest-serving actor - is the only person who has appeard in DOOL in every decade of the show's existence (seven and counting)! Other notable occurences are that on 12th January 1976, actors Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes (yes they married in real life) appeared on the front cover of Time magazine; they remain the only daytime soap actors ever to do so. Character Jack Devereux has so far been killed off four times - but he still came back for a fifth stint in December 2018!