Days of Our Lives

History

The Cordays and Bell combined the "hospital soap" idea with the tradition of centering a series on a family, by making the show about a family of doctors, including one who worked in a mental hospital. Storylines in the show follow the lives of middle- and upper-class professionals in Salem, a middle-America town, with the usual threads of love, marriage, divorce, and family life, plus the medical story lines and character studies of individuals with psychological problems. Former executive producer Al Rabin took pride in the characters' passion, saying that the characters were not shy about "sharing what's in their gut."

Critics originally praised the show for its non-reliance on nostalgia (in contrast to shows such as As the World Turns) and its portrayal of "real American contemporary families." By the 1970s, critics deemed Days of Our Lives to be the most daring daytime drama, leading the way in using themes other shows of the period would not dare touch, such as artificial insemination and interracial romance. The January 12, 1976 cover of Time magazine featured Days of Our Lives' Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes, the only daytime actors ever to appear on its cover. The Hayeses themselves were a couple whose on-screen and real-life romance (they met on the series in 1970 and married in 1974) was widely covered by both the soap opera magazines and the mainstream press.

In the 1990s, the show branched out into supernatural story lines, which critics immediately panned, as it was seen as a departure from more realistic storylines for which the show had originally become known. However, these storylines did have the desired effect, making Days of Our Lives the most-watched daytime soap among young and middle-aged women, also becoming one of NBC's five most profitable shows in any time slot. In 2006, when asked about his character, Jack Deveraux, "coming back from the dead"—for the third time—actor Matthew Ashford responded, "It is hard to play that because at a certain point it becomes too unreal...actors look at that and think, 'What is this — the Cartoon Network'?"

In addition to receiving critical acclaim in print journalism, the series has won a number of awards, including a Daytime Emmy for Best Drama in 1978 and 2013 and a Writers Guild of America, East Award for Best Drama in 2000 and 2013. Days of Our lives actors have also won awards: Macdonald Carey (Dr. Tom Horton) won Best Actor in 1974 and 1975. Susan Flannery (Laura Horton) and Eileen Davidson (Kristen DiMera) won Best Actress in 1975 and 2014, respectively. Suzanne Rogers (Maggie Horton), Leann Hunley (Anna DiMera), and Tamara Braun (Ava Vitali) won Best Supporting Actress for, respectively, 1979, 1986, and 2009 and Billy Warlock (Frankie Brady) won Best Younger Actor for 1988. In 2009, Darin Brooks (Max Brady) took home the Emmy for Best Younger Actor", and Tamara Braun (Ava Vitali) won for Best Supporting Actress, the show's first acting victories in over 21 and 23 years, respectively

As with all other network programming, Days of Our Lives' ratings have declined somewhat since the 1990s. In January 2007 it was suggested by NBC that the show "is unlikely to continue [on NBC] past 2009." In November 2008, in an eleventh-hour decision, it was announced the show had been renewed through September 2010. The 18-month renewal was down from its previous renewal, which was for five years. The show made somewhat of a comeback in 2009, with ratings increasing as the year progressed. In March 2010, the show was renewed once again through September 2011; then again on November 8, 2010, its 45th anniversary, the show was renewed for two more years through September 2013, with an option for an additional year which would keep the soap on through 2014, its 49th year on the air. The series received a two-year renewal in January 2014 that is set to last until September 2016. Beginning on November 8, 2010, which marked Days of Our Lives' 45th anniversary, the show began airing in high definition.

The show was officially "rebooted" on September 26, 2011, in an effort to gain back its lapsed audience, appeal to long-term loyal fans, begin new stories, and boost ratings. Former fan favorite characters were reintroduced as part of the reboot. These included Jack Deveraux (Matthew Ashford), Carrie Brady (Christie Clark), and Austin Reed (Patrick Muldoon). All three, including actress Sarah Brown, were fired from the show in an effort to lower production costs. The reboot was met with mixed reviews from critics. Head writers hired to handle the reboot, Marlene McPherson, and Darrell Ray Thomas Junior were subsequently fired due to declining ratings. Chris Whitesell, and former Days executive producer Gary Tomlin were rehired after being fired as part of the show's revamp. Daytime Emmy award winner Lorraine Broderick was hired as a member of the breakdown writing team in April 2012. Days of Our Lives is noted as the fourth longest running soap opera in the United States.

On November 30, 2014, NBC launched a new logo for Days of Our Lives at the 2014 Hollywood Christmas Parade, in celebration of the series' fiftieth anniversary On February 11, 2016, NBC renewed Days of Our Lives for one-year, with the option of an additional year. In January 2017, while discussion the potential of a renewal for the soap, NBC chairman Bob Greenblatt stated: "We don’t make a decision for another couple months. [...] But I don’t think it’s over yet." In February 2017, NBC officially renewed Days of Our Lives for an additional year. Jennifer Salke, President of NBC Entertainment, said in a statement: "We feel so privileged to be able to continue the remarkable legacy of Days of our Lives. [...] We thank [exec producer] Ken Corday and his team for their incredible accomplishments and look forward to all the stories from Salem that will continue to unfold."

Storyline

When Days of Our Lives premiered in 1965, the show revolved around the tragedies and triumphs of the suburban Horton family. Over time, additional families were brought to the show to interact with the Hortons and serve as springboards for more dramatic storylines. Originally led by patriarch Dr. Tom Horton and his wife, homemaker Alice, the Hortons remain a prominent fixture in current continuity. One of the longest-running story lines involved the rape of Mickey Horton's wife Laura by Mickey's brother Bill. Laura confides in her father-in-law Dr. Tom, and the two agree that her husband Mickey should never know. The secret, involving the true parentage of Michael Horton (a product of the rape) and Mickey's subsequent health issues as a result of the revelation, spanned episodes from 1968 to 1975. This plotline was made even more complex with the presence of Linda Patterson (originally Margaret Mason for many years, later Elaine Princi) who claimed that her daughter Melissa had been fathered by Mickey. When Mickey married the lovely Maggie Simmons (Suzanne Rogers), Linda became even more involved in the story line as the show's main villainess, marrying the wealthy Bob Anderson (Mark Tapscott) and taking over the running of Anderson Manufacturing when he became ill. The story line involving Mickey, Laura and Bill was the first to bring the show to prominence, and put it near the top of the Nielsen daytime ratings. Another love triangle, between lounge singer Doug Williams, Tom and Alice's daughter Addie, and Addie's own daughter, Julie, proved to be very popular around the same time. The storyline culminated in the death of Addie in 1974 and the marriage of Doug and Julie in 1976.

In the early 1980s, the Brady and DiMera families were introduced, and their rivalry quickly cemented their places as core families in Salem beside the Hortons. Around the same time, with the help of head writers Sheri Anderson, Thom Racina, and Leah Laiman, action/adventure story lines and supercouples such as Bo and Hope, Shane and Kimberly, and Patch and Kayla reinvigorated the show, previously focused primarily on the domestic troubles of the Hortons. Since the 1990s, with the introduction of writer James E. Reilly, Days of Our Lives has moved from traditional plots to some supernatural and science-fiction-themed stories, in conjunction with the rivalry of good vs. evil, in a Hatfield/McCoy feud style the Bradys versus the DiMeras. Under the tenure of Reilly, ratings rose to number two, and stayed there until he left in 1999 to start his own creation of Passions. Despite the introduction of new head writer Hogan Sheffer in 2006, ratings failed to revive, which led the show's producers to hire a few past fan favorites to stop the ratings hemorrhage.

Best-remembered stories

In addition to the love triangles of Bill/Laura/Mickey and Addie/Doug/Julie, other memorable storylines include the 1968 story of amnesiac Tom Horton, Jr., who returns from Korea believing he is someone else and then proceeds to romance his younger sister Marie; the 20-year tragic love triangle when John Black steals Marlena Brady from her husband Roman; the 1982 "Salem Strangler" (Jake Kositchek, who was nicknamed "Jake the Ripper") who stalks and murders women; the 1984 Gone with the Wind story line in which Hope Williams Brady and Bo Brady hide out on a Southern plantation and dress up as Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler (devised to keep viewers tuned in while rival network ABC's soaps were preempted due to the 1984 Summer Olympics); and "The Cruise of Deception" in 1990, when madman Ernesto Toscano invites all his enemies aboard a ship, the S.S. Loretta, and holds them captive.

In 1992, the show received a reboot with additions such as refurbished sets, the debut of the Brady Pub, the addition of new characters such as Vivian Alamain, Lisanne Gardner, Billie Reed, and Kate Roberts. Later that same year, Days of Our Lives introduced its highly popular teen scene with new characters such as a SORASed Sami Brady, played by Alison Sweeney, Carrie Brady, played by Tracy Middendorf, and then back to Christie Clark again, Austin Reed portrayed by Patrick Muldoon, Lucas Roberts played by Bryan Dattilo, Abe Carver's younger brother Jonah Carver, played by Thyme Lewis, Jamie Caldwell, played by Miriam Parish, and Wendy Reardon played by Tammy Townsend to appeal to younger viewers. However, by 1997, the characters of Jonah, Jamie, and Wendy had been written out or faded into the background, proving to be unsuccessful and the Carrie/Austin/Sami/Mike love triangle and the Will Horton paternity issue/custody battle storyline had now been taking most of the series' air time.

The shocking and ratings-grabbing 1993 plot when Vivian Alamain buried Dr. Carly Manning alive (the first controversial storyline from head writer Reilly); and the 1994–1995 story line in which the town's Christmas tree burns down and Marlena becomes possessed in Exorcist fashion.

Also from 1993 to 1998, the soap saw a lot of actress Eileen Davidson. Her character, Kristen DiMera suffers a miscarriage in secret, and in a panic to keep John Black away from Marlena, pretends to still be pregnant with John's child. Stefano hires a doppelganger, Susan Banks to conceive and bear a child for her (which resulted in the birth of EJ DiMera). Eileen Davidson portrayed the entire Banks family clan, four in total (including one male), as well as her main character.

2000 saw the departures of front-and-center cast members, Louise Sorel as Vivian Alamain and Jensen Ackles as Eric Brady. Ackles and the character of Eric had been one of the main focus of the series for the past three years prior, in which the void would be hard to fill. Ken Corday and NBC announced plans to re-introduced a SORAS Brady Black, immediately following the conclusion of Eric's storyline. That spring, Kyle Lowder was cast as the new Brady Black, whom would now be aged to his early 20's, first appearing on August 21, 2000, a month following Eric's exit. Lowder's Brady did prove to win over the majority of viewers, as his pairing with Chloe Lane proved highly popular. The pair married and left town in 2005 when Lowder's contract was not renewed.

2003–2004's "Melaswen", saw several characters purportedly die at the hands of a masked psychopath; they are later revealed to have been kidnapped to the secret island of Melaswen (New Salem spelled backwards). 2007's "Bradys and DiMeras: The Reveal", told the story regarding how the Brady/DiMera feud started.

Past characters returned in June 2010 to honor the passing of matriarch Alice Horton, whose character died on June 23, 2010. On June 23, 2011, Days of Our Lives introduced Sonny Kiriakis, the show's first contract gay character onto the canvas to be featured in the show's first gay story line. Freddie Smith (Sonny) said in an interview, "He’s very confident and mature, he’s traveled the world and is very open-minded. I’m very excited to portray him." Subsequent to Sonny's arrival, Will Horton investigates his own sexuality, and reveals himself to be gay. He later starts a romantic relationship with Sonny. They eventually marry.

On January 26, 2012, episode 11765 was a tribute to soldiers who have served in Afghanistan and previous wars with a PTSD therapy group for Jack Deveraux to talk over his time held captive there. This was also when the inline ''Next On'' promos were discontinued in favor of an external weekly promo.

Cast

When Days of Our Lives debuted the cast consisted of seven main characters (Tom Horton, Alice Horton, Mickey Horton, Marie Horton, Julie Olson, Tony Merritt, and Craig Merritt). When the show expanded to one hour in April 1975, the cast increased to 27 actors. By the 25th anniversary in 1990, 40 actors appeared on the show in contract or recurring roles, which is the approximate number of actors the show has used since then.

Original cast member Frances Reid, who played Alice Horton, remained on contract with Days of Our Lives until her death on February 3, 2010, though she last appeared on the show in December 2007. Original cast member John Clarke, who played Mickey Horton, left the series in 2004. Suzanne Rogers, who plays Maggie Horton has been on the show since 1973, and Susan Seaforth Hayes has played Julie Olson Williams since 1968 with a few breaks in between, and also her husband Bill Hayes, who has played Doug Williams since 1970, though neither Seaforth Hayes nor Hayes is employed with the serial on contract.

In recent years, Days of Our Lives has hired back many former cast members. Twenty of the current contract cast members have been with the show, off-and-on, since at least 1999. Since 2005, cast members from the 1980s and 1990s, such as Christie Clark (Carrie Brady), Stephen Nichols (Steve Johnson), Austin Peck (Austin Reed), Mary Beth Evans (Kayla Brady), Joseph Mascolo (Stefano DiMera), and Thaao Penghlis (Tony DiMera) have been brought back to Days of Our Lives. More additions to the show include the returns of Crystal Chappell (Dr. Carly Manning), and Louise Sorel (Vivian Alamain). In June 2010, characters such as Jennifer Horton, Bill Horton, Shane Donovan, and Kimberly Brady returned for a short time and were featured heavily in a tribute to Alice Horton. Guest cast members have included Elizabeth Alley. In late 2012, the show reintroduced actress Eileen Davidson in the role of Kristen Blake DiMera after a fourteen-year absence. In mid 2013, the show debuted new characters such as JJ Deveraux and Theresa Donovan to appeal to younger viewers.

In celebration of the soap's fiftieth anniversary in 2015, several cast members returned to the soap, including Peter Reckell, Stephen Nichols and Penghlis.

Executive producing and head writing team

The co-creator and original executive producer, Ted Corday, was only at the helm for eight months before dying of cancer in 1966. His widow, Betty, was named executive producer upon his death. She continued in that role, with the help of H. Wesley Kenney and Al Rabin as supervising producers, before she semi-retired in 1985. When Mrs. Corday semi-retired in 1985, and later died in 1987, her son, Ken, became executive producer and took over the full-time, day-to-day running of the show, a title he still holds today. The series' current co-executive producers are Greg Meng and Lisa de Cazotte. In March 2015, it was reported that de Cazotte would no longer serve as a co-executive producer for the series. Albert Alarr was announced as de Cazotte's replacement as a co-executive producer.

The first long-term head writer, William J. Bell, started writing for Days of Our Lives in 1966 and continued until 1975, a few years after he had created his own successful soap, The Young and the Restless. He stayed with the show as a story line consultant until 1978. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, many writing changes occurred. In the early 1980s, Margaret DePriest helped stabilize the show with her serial killer story line. Later head writers, such as Sheri Anderson, Thom Racina, and Leah Laiman, built on that stability and crafted story lines of their own, temporarily bringing up ratings. Many writing changes occurred after Laiman left the series in 1989 and would not become stable again until James E. Reilly started with the show in 1993. His tenure, which lasted for four-and-a-half years, was credited with bringing ratings up to the second place spot in the Nielsens. Other writers who succeeded him, such as Sally Sussman Morina and Tom Langan, failed to keep the ratings success, and another writer turnover continued until Reilly returned to the series in 2003.

Five-time Daytime Emmy winner Hogan Sheffer was named head writer with great fanfare in October 2006, but lasted less than 16 months with the show, with his last episode airing in January 2008. Former head writer Dena Higley's first episode aired on April 23, 2008. Her co-head writer was Christopher Whitesell until February 2011. On May 18, 2011, Dena Higley was fired. The new head writers were Marlene McPherson and Darrell Ray Thomas Jr.

In April 2012, it was confirmed that McPherson and Thomas Jr. were fired from their positions as co-head writers. Gary Tomlin and Christopher Whitesell were hired for the position. It was later confirmed that former All My Children headwriter Lorraine Broderick would join Tomlin and Whitesell as a breakdown writer on the series. In February 2015, Soap Opera Digest confirmed that both Tomlin and Whitesell had been ousted in their roles as head-writers; they further confirmed that former head writer Higley would return, alongside former The Young and the Restless head writer Josh Griffith. The change took effect on February 16, 2015.

In August 2015, reports stated that Higley would be taking a leave of absence from the show. In her place, Sony would be sending a writer from The Young and the Restless to help Griffith with the transition. The writer was later revealed to be former head writer Beth Milstein.

In February 2016, several days after the show was renewed for another year, Soap Opera Digest exclusively reported that Griffith has departed the show as head writer with Higley remaining; they further revealed that script writer Ryan Quan has been promoted to replace Griffith. On January 23, 2017, Soap Opera Digest broke news that both Higley and Quan had been let go from their positions as co-head writers. According to the report, Quan was given a new title of Creative Consultant, while Higley was let go all-together. Former One Life to Live and General Hospital head writer Ron Carlivati was named as Higley's replacement, "effective immediately". In addition to Carlivati's appointment, it was also announced that Anderson would return to the soap, sharing the role of Creative Consultant with Quan.

Days of Our Lives won the Daytime Emmy Award in June 2012 for Outstanding Drama Writing Team and also won the Daytime Emmy Award in June 2013 for Outstanding Drama Series.

Domestic broadcast

According to Variety, Days of Our Lives is the most widely distributed soap opera in the United States, with episodes not just broadcast via NBC, but also via cable (SOAPnet), and as of June 2007, episodes are offered via iTunes.

For the first three years on the air, Days of Our Lives was near the bottom of the Nielsen ratings, and close to cancellation. However, its ascent to the top was rapid; as the 1969 TV season ended, it became an effective tool of NBC, which attempted to dethrone daytime leader CBS. By 1973 the show, pitted against CBS' popular Guiding Light and ABC's The Newlywed Game at 2 p.m. (ET)/1 p.m. (CT), had matched the first-place ratings of As the World Turns and sister NBC soap Another World. Due to the success of the program, it expanded from a half-hour to one hour on April 21, 1975. This expansion had followed the lead of Another World, which became TV's first-ever hour-long soap on January 6, three-and-a-half months earlier. Further, Days of Our Lives' new starting time of 1:30 p.m./12:30 finally solved a scheduling problem that began in 1968 when NBC lost the game Let's Make a Deal to ABC, and in its wake, eight different shows were placed into the slot (Hidden Faces, You're Putting Me On, Life with Linkletter, Words & Music, Memory Game, Three on a Match, Jeopardy!, and How to Survive a Marriage).

However, this first golden period for NBC daytime proved to be short-lived, as Days of Our Lives' ratings began to decline in 1977. Much of the decline was due to ABC's expansion of its increasingly popular soap All My Children to a full hour, the last half of which overlapped with the first half of Days of Our Lives By January 1979, the network, in a mode of desperation more than anything else, decided to jump headlong against AMC and moved the show ahead to the same 1:00 p.m./12 Noon time slot. In exchange to its affiliates for taking away the old half-hour access slot at 1:00/Noon, NBC gave them the 4 p.m./3 slot, which many (if not most) stations had been preempting for years anyway. By 1986, ABC and CBS followed suit, under the intense pressure of lucrative (and cheap) syndicated programming offered to affiliates.

By 1980, Days of Our Lives had displaced Another World as NBC's highest-rated soap. However, the entire NBC soap lineup was in ratings trouble. In fact, by 1982, all of its shows were rated above only one ABC soap (The Edge of Night) and below all four CBS soaps. The "supercouple" era of the 1980s, however, helped bring about a ratings revival, and the 1983–1984 season saw Days of Our Lives experience a surge in ratings. It held onto its strong numbers for most of the 1980s, only to decline again by 1990, eventually falling back into eighth place. In the mid-1990s, however, the show experienced a resurgence in popularity and the show reached number two in the ratings, where it remained for several years before experiencing another ratings decline beginning in 1999, the year that Days of Our Lives became NBC's longest-running daytime program (upon the cancellation of Another World). Throughout the 2000s (decade), Days of Our Lives and all the other remaining network daytime serials have witnessed a steady erosion of viewers, mainly due to vastly altered viewing habits induced by cable networks and alternative genres such as reality and talk shows on minor network affiliates.

On January 17, 2007, NBC Universal Television president Jeff Zucker remarked that Days of Our Lives would most likely not "continue past 2009." This contributed to an immediate ratings decline for Days of Our Lives. The show was averaging a 2.4 rating prior to the announcement, dropped to a 2.2 average household rating in the months after. In an April 2007 interview with Soap Opera Digest, executive producer Ken Corday commented on the ratings decline of the previous months, "If I don't pay attention to the ratings and what the viewers are saying, I'm an ostrich. I have not seen a decline in the ratings on the show this precipitous — ever. I've never seen this much of a percentage decline."

Days of Our Lives had finished the 2008-2009 television season with a substantial increase in viewers (3.0 million vs. 2.8 million) and had risen to the #3 spot behind The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful, respectively. It was the #2 daytime program behind The Young and the Restless in the much coveted 18-49 demographic. During the first few months of the 2009-2010 season, Days of Our Lives increased its average household rating to 2.4, and averaged consistently over 3,000,000 viewers. It was only one point behind the #2 daytime drama The Bold and the Beautiful, and has beat that soap on several days during the season. In 2010, Days of Our Lives continued to increase viewership, reaching as high as 3.6 million viewers on several days. A substantial increase in viewership such as Days of Our Lives has had lately also bucks the viewership trend in daytime dramas, which had declined since the 1990s for all other daytime drama series. Days of Our Lives was the only daytime drama series to increase in viewers between 2008 and 2010 and had reduced its operating budget, making it a profitable asset to NBC's broadcast line-up.

However starting in 2011, Days of Our Lives started to lose ground significantly to the point that it sometimes occupied the last position among all soaps for both total viewership and the 18-49 women demographic. The ending of All My Children on ABC combined with the return of several cast members allowed a brief resurgence of Days of Our Lives in October 2011, but ratings soon declined again. In December 2011, Days of Our Lives recorded three consecutive weeks of new lows in the 18-49 women key demo category., and again another consecutive three weeks of low ratings in the same demographic during March–April 2012

As of 2012, Days of Our Lives generally ranks #3 among the four daytime soap operas on the air when it comes to the total number of viewers (surpassing only General Hospital). However, Days of Our Lives is last among all soap operas for the numbers of viewers in the targeted demographic of women aged between 18 and 49 years old.

Local scheduling variations

Since January 1993 after the cancellation of Santa Barbara, WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh airs Days weekdays during its 3:00 p.m. time slot while some stations such as WJAC-TV in Johnstown, Pennsylvania air the program during the 2:00 p.m. timeslot, but most stations continue to air Days at its 1 p.m. time slot. Some Central Time Zone affiliates carry it at noon with the main Eastern feed, such as Green Bay, Wisconsin's WGBA-TV, which uses it as an alternative to programming what would likely be a low-rated local newscast against long-established local competition.

However, the program received schedule and station shifts with the start of the 2013-14 television season. One NBC station, KSNV-DT in Las Vegas, stopped carrying the show on August 19, 2013 due to a long-term move to an all-news schedule outside of network news and primetime programming; the program moved to the market's CW affiliate KVCW, where it aired at its traditional 1:00 p.m. time slot until an ownership change saw the show return to KSNV in late December 2014 as part of a change in the all-news plans. With the cancellation of Passions, Days is now NBC's last remaining daytime soap opera, as well as the network's last remaining daytime program. Salt Lake City's KSL-TV moved the show to the late night 1:05 a.m. slot three weeks later on September 9 for unknown reasons, though a romantic plot line between two gay characters was theorized as a reason for the move; the station is owned by the broadcasting arm of the LDS Church.

Nielsen ratings history

End of season number of metered viewers (listed as a Nielsen share in millions) and ranking (against other soap operas) from the first broadcast to the reporting week of August 24 to August 28, 2015.

Americas

Throughout Canada, Days of Our Lives currently airs at 1:00 pm on Global Television Network. Episodes are aired in sync with the NBC broadcast to take advantage of simultaneous substitution regulations.

In Barbados the show is very popular, though it runs several years behind the U.S. (the series began in Barbados in 1980 from the very first episode), and is aired on the island's lone television broadcaster, CBC TV 8. Viewing time is 6 pm weekdays.

Belize's Tropical Vision Limited features Days of Our Lives as an afternoon staple. Currently it airs at 3:00 pm UTC-6 Central Time, though it previously aired as early as 1:00 pm or as late as 5:30 pm as a lead-in to the news.

Oceania

In Australia, Days of Our Lives was initially broadcast on the Nine Network from March 25, 1968, until April 26, 2013, when the network axed the show based on a commercial decision. During its run on the Nine Network in the early 2000s, episodes ended up being nearly five years behind the United States, due to the network's coverage of cricket each summer. In an attempt to get viewers up to date with the US, Nine aired a one-hour special on September 13, 2004, titled, Days of Our Lives: A New Day, which summarized four years of storylines and caused mixed feelings among regular viewers. This special was followed by episodes airing at the same pace as the US. However, the show ended up being behind the US again, and by April 2013, episodes were airing at a delay of 16 months. On June 17, 2013, Days of Our Lives resumed to Australian viewers free and on-demand through Sony's Crackle service, as well as across Crackle's web apps on mobile devices, connected TVs and game consoles. Crackle picked up where the Nine Network left off with 10 new episodes in its first week and seven new episodes every Monday thereafter. From January 20, 2014, Crackle began releasing five episodes each week.

Days of Our Lives returned to Australian television on Foxtel's channel Arena in April 2014. It airs weekdays after The Young and the Restless at 12:50 pm AEST. In order to bring TV viewers up to date, Arena screened ten catch up episodes, each presented by Days of Our Lives cast members, from April 1 to April 14, 2014, featuring key story lines missed during the 11-month Australian television hiatus. Then on April 15, 2014, Arena began airing episodes at the same pace as the US. Arena also re-airs the last five aired episodes shown as an omnibus catch up edition each Sunday around 7:00 am AEST.

New Zealand has aired Days of Our Lives along with The Young and the Restless since 1975, debuting on Television New Zealand (TVNZ). Originally airing weekdays on TV2 was shifted to TV One in 2003, where it was put in a 2pm time slot. The soap was approximately five seasons behind the NBC season due to being preempted by holiday and sporting programming. During October 2009, TVNZ announced that they were ending their exclusive contract with Sony Pictures. Despite a national petition from fans Days of Our Lives ended on May 19, 2010. On February 27, 2013, nearly three years the series' final broadcast on TVNZ, ChoiceTV announced their decision to pick up the series; the series began broadcasting on March 11, 2013, weekdays at 1:30pm. Broadcasting began with the series' 46th season (2011–12), meaning the show would be only 18 months behind the current NBC season in the US. ChoiceTV also re-airs the last five aired episodes shown as an omnibus catch up edition each Sunday, beginning at 9 AM NZST, when due to government broadcasting restrictions are shown without advertisements. By December 20, 2013, ChoiceTV had removed the show from their schedule for summer hiatus. However, the series resumed airing on February 10, 2014 from episode 11,880. As of April 25, 2014, New Zealand viewers are up to episode 11,933, as ChoiceTV decides on if they will renew the show.

Europe

Channel 5 aired episodes of Days of our Lives in the United Kingdom from March 2000 to April 2001, eventually pulling it off the air; network executives deemed its audience of 200,000 viewers as too low a figure. Days had previously aired in the United Kingdom and Ireland on the Sky Soap channel between 1994 and 1999; episodes were three years behind U.S. telecasts. Days of Our Lives became available to viewers again in the United Kingdom in 2007-2010; CBS Drama ended the run after relegating the show from daytime to 1.00am.

African/Eastern

In South Africa, the soap aired on SABC 1 for ten years, from 1996 until March 2006, weekdays at 17:10 to 18:00 local standard time. As of April 2005, the soap airs on SABC 3, each weekday from 17:00 to 17:50.

Opening title sequences and theme song

Almost unmodified since the show's debut in 1965, the title sequence of Days of Our Lives features an hourglass, with sand slowly trickling to the bottom against the backdrop of a partly cloudy sky, as well as the trademark voiceover, "Like sands through the hourglass, so are the Days of Our Lives." From the show's debut in 1965 until March 1966, announcer Ed Prentiss spoke the phrase, adding "Days of Our Lives, a new dramatic serial starring Macdonald Carey." Since April 1966, the voice has been that of Macdonald Carey, who played Dr. Thomas Horton from the show's premiere until the actor's 1994 death from lung cancer. From 1966 to 1994, he would add "This is Macdonald Carey, and these are the Days of Our Lives." After Carey's death in 1994, this second part was removed out of respect for Carey and his family. At each intermission, his voice also says "We will return for the second half of Days of Our Lives in just a moment".

The only major visual change to the title sequence was in 1993 when the show began using a CGI animated hourglass and backdrop.

The theme that regularly accompanies each sequence was composed by Charles Albertine, Tommy Boyce, and Bobby Hart. The theme has only been modified a few times since Days of Our Lives premiered: in 1972; in 1993, when the opening titles were changed to computerized visuals (designed by Wayne Fitzgerald and Judy Loren); in 2004, with an orchestral arrangement that was only used in eight episodes, after which time the theme was reverted to the 1993 arrangement; and in 2009, when the theme was edited for time and shortened. Beginning with the November 8, 2010 episode, there were slight changes to the coloring of the sky background in the sequence now being displayed in 16:9 widescreen. However, there was very little change in the sequence's appearance from the 1993 version.

Parodies

Fans

The show has had many high-profile fans. In 1976, TIME magazine reported that then-Justice of the Supreme Court, Thurgood Marshall, would call a recess around the 1 p.m. hour to watch Days of Our Lives. Actress Julia Roberts admitted at the 2002 People's Choice Awards that she was a fan of Days of Our Lives, asked to be seated near the cast, and upon winning her award stated, "I'm very nervous because the cast of Days of Our Lives is here." In 2004, during the show's Melaswen storyline, Roberts' interest was considered notable enough that Entertainment Weekly quoted her saying that "the show has gotten a little wacko." A 1998 TIME article mentioned that Monica Lewinsky was a passionate fan of Days of Our Lives, so much so that she wrote a poem about the series in her high school yearbook. The article compared her whirlwind experiences in the White House to a story on Days of Our Lives. Best-selling novelist Brian Keene has stated in interviews that he has watched the show since 1983, and pauses from writing each day during the hour it is on.