The first televised soap opera was on the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) back in 1949, “These Are My Children.” Created by Irna Phillips and directed by Norman Felton, the show was all about Mrs. Henehan, a struggling Irish widow who ran a boarding house while helping her three children.
Irna Phillips was the mother of the genre: her first serial, “Painted Dreams,” began airing on radio in 1930. She later created “Woman in White,” the first radio soap opera set in a hospital.
Her new TV show, however, didn’t last very long. Trade publication Television World ended their review with: "There is no place on television for this type of program. A blank screen is preferable."
Norman Felton went on to create and produce the “Dr. Kildare” and “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” series, while Irna Phillips oversaw her massively successful creations “Guiding Light,” “As the World Turns,” “Another World,” and “Days of Our Lives.”
Out of all of those programs, only “Days of our Lives” remains. But in our ever-changing media landscape, even that is changing on September 12.
Since November 8, 1965, “Days of Our Lives” has aired on NBC. Locally, it’s been partnered with WSFA-TV 12’s News at Noon for nearly its entire existence. There are viewers who have watched all 57 years of episodes.
And every episode has begun with MacDonald Carey intoning the show’s epigraph: “like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.” The theme music was written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, known for their pop music efforts in the 1960s but also part of a stable of composers at Screen Gems, who produced the early seasons of DOOL. Except for an update of the hourglass opening and re-orchestration of the theme music in 1993, this opening has stayed the same ever since day one.
There is even a character on the show who has been there this whole time: Julie Olson Williams. Played by Susan Seaforth Hayes, she started out as a teenage troublemaker but eventually became one of the most successful characters in daytime when partnered with song-and-dance man Doug Williams, played by Bill Hayes. The two of them even appeared on the cover of TIME magazine in 1976. And yes, these two are married in real life as well as on the program.
Other longtime characters on the show include Maggie Simmons Kiriakis, played by Suzanne Rogers since 1973 and Deidre Hall’s Marlena Evans Black, who has been a major character since 1976. There are many others who are still around working on 35 or more years in fictional Salem, including Victor Kiriakis (John Aniston, since 1985); Abe Carver (James Reynolds, since 1981); Steve “Patch” Johnson (Stephen Nichols, since 1986); Kayla Brady Johnson (Mary Beth Evans, since 1986); John Black (Drake Hogestyn, since 1985); Tony DiMera (Thaao Penghlis, since 1982); Justin Kiriakis (Wally Kurth, since 1986); and Jack Devereaux (Matthew Ashford, since 1987).
Some great stories of the past include the love stories of Doug & Julie, Bo & Hope, Shane & Kimberly, Patch & Kayla, Don & Marlena (and Roman & Marlena, and John & Marlena), and many others. There have been hundreds of tales that swept up the Horton and Brady families into conflicts with the DiMera and Kiriakis clans. And of course, there’s been plenty of crazy, with demonic possessions and mysterious murders, back-from-the-dead spouses and unknown out-of-wedlock children, evil twins and babies switched at birth, people trapped on islands or wearing face masks to impersonate somebody else.
Where will all of these Salemites and their friends go at the end of the episode airing Friday, September 9?
Don’t worry – there’s not a serial killer this time.
NBC’s streaming service, Peacock, has found that airing extra “Days of our Lives” content has brought them more screens and subscribers. They are betting that the built-in audience of this soap opera, with 57 years of loyalty, will make the move to the streaming service, where they can find all of the old episodes archived to watch anytime, not just right after the 12:00 news.
It costs $1.99 per month to subscribe to Peacock. And on Peacock, there will be no commercials nor breaking news to interrupt the drama.
Which begs the question – is this still even a soap opera? The genre was invented to sell soap, they say, and most of the advertising, even today, is directed at homemakers.
But obviously, the audience is much different in 2022 than it was even a decade or two ago. The people who watch “Days of our Lives” may be time-shifting anyway, recording for later viewing. So, the network believes that it doesn’t really matter if “Days” is on right after the news anymore.
The genre of the daytime soap opera may appear to be dying, but serialized storytelling is bigger than it has ever been as one surveys the television and streaming landscape. “Days of our Lives” has had its ups and downs, but rather than this being some kind of death knell for the show, I believe this is actually a move that adds more sand to the hourglass – because now, you don’t have to tune in tomorrow, because you can stream at any time.
