SoapOperaFan.com . . . Days Of Our Lives Announcements/Breaking News

UPDATED! Head Writer Dena Higley Out: Marlene Clark Poulter and Darrell Ray Thomas, Jr. in!

Get the story on the "Days of Our Lives" head writer shakeup and the new incoming Co-Head Writers, Passions alums Marlene Clark Poulter and Darrell Ray Thomas, Jr.,. here and weigh in on Higley's ousting here.

UPDATE: The new Days writing team continues to come together, with another James E. Reilly protege signing on under Poutler and Thomas. Get the full story and weigh in on the poll posted here on the blog.

Days Alum Martha Madison Is Temporary Recast For General Hospital's Rebecca Herbst.
Due to illness, General Hospital's Rebecca Herbst (Elizabeth) will be temporarily replaced by fellow soap actress, Martha Madison (ex-Belle, Days). ABC has stated that the recast will only be a short term thing and Herbst is expected to soon return to the role.

You can expect to see Madison take over the role beginning on June 8.

Former Days Writer Kola Boof Publishes The Sexy Part Of The Bible
Former Days Of Our Lives writer Kola Boof will be releasing a new book this summer. The Sexy Part of the Bible tells the story of Eternity, "a spirited and diabolical young African hellcat whose life is stigmatized by a heart-stopping secret" who lives a dangerous life filled with rap stars and violent revolutions in West Africa.

Boof ghost wrote for Days before being let go after her past was publicized. She's probably best known for being the lover of Osama Bin Laden during the 1990s and revealing his love of Whitney Huston to the world.

Her book will be published in July. In the meantime, check out the Kola Boof video, posted on the blog.

Eric Marstolf Talks again!
"Without giving too much away? His relationship with Taylor [Tamara Braun] grows."

Soaps.com's Lori Wilson recently had the chance to have a chat with "Days Of Our Lives" actor Eric Martsolf (Brady). They discuss his characters addictions, his prospects for love and more.

Here's a sampling:

Soaps.com: Brady recently kissed Melanie [Molly Burnett] and then invited her to stay at his house. Is Brady developing romantic feelings for Melanie or just looking out for her?

Eric Martsolf: [laughs] Yeah, classically if a guy tries to kiss you and then invites you to his house you would draw a conclusion. It's funny, Melanie and Brady have a very interesting relationship. When I think about them, I think about the movie "When Harry Met Sally" and how you have the question as to can men and women be friends without the romantic thing always seeping in there?

To read the entire interview, please visit Interview: Eric Martsolf Talks Days Of Our Lives With Soaps.com on our sister site.

A new role for Crystal Chappell Chosen As Ambassador For The Hetrick-Martin Institute
Days Of Our Lives star Crystal Chappell (Carly) has just been named Ambassador for the Hetrick-Martin Institute (HMI). Hetrick-Martin is committed to creating a supportive environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth between the ages of 12 and 24. HMI is the home of the Harvey Milk High School in New York City. Read the rest of this entry on the blog »

Eric Marstolf 2-part 3-part interview!
"I had so much stupid fun I decided I should be an actor."

The blog has two new Eric Martsolf (Brady) videos! First here, Eric answers some mail from the fans, compares his female co-stars to fruits and wishes he could have some screen time with one of the Rafes (Galen Gering) . But wait, there's more! Here Eric answering more questions from his fans, including Ari Zucker (Nicole).

UPDATE: Turns out, there's one more part to the Eric Marstolf video interview! "I shaved like four times a day when I played Ethan," Martsolf says in the final installment. Watch it here on the blog!

Do you tweet?
We invite you to join us on Twitter @soapoperafan, "like" Soaps.com on Facebook to dish on Days of our Lives, all the other soap operas, Glee, Grey's Anatomy and Vampire Diaries.

Daytime Emmy Pre-noms out!
Soap Opera Fan has just received the list of the 38th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards Pre-Nominations. We don't want our readers to wait any longer so find out who made the cut today. Please visit our sister site Soaps.com's Coverage section for the full Daytime Emmy Awards Pre-Nominations list today and go weigh in on the Emmy poll posted on the blog !

An Interview With Days Of Our Lives' Louise Sorel: The low down on the Duchess.

Soaps.com's Mario Rocchetta had a chat with legendary Days Of Our Lives veteran Louise Sorel (Vivian Alamain) about her time with the show, how it's changed and what she thinks is next for her character.

Here's a sample:

Soaps.com: There was a recent scene in which Vivian dreams that a naked Brady is flirting with her on the island. Does Vivian have a thing for Brady or is this just a matter of, "We can't help what we dream?"

Louise: I think it's mostly that. Who wouldn't dream about that? My God, he's got the body of doom. I tease him all the time and run my hands all over him. He's a sweetheart, and he obviously is in unbelievable shape. Who wouldn't be dreaming about that? No matter who you are, it's just extraordinary. But I don't think Vivian has a thing for Brady at all.

For more, please check out Soaps.com Chats with Days of Our Lives' Louise Sorel!

new! Are You Oprah Winfrey's Biggest Soap Opera Fan?
Are you a fan who plans your day around your favorite soap operas? Do some Daytime characters feel as though they are part of your family? If you're a soap opera fan who can tell talk show goddess Oprah Winfrey why you stand out from the rest, you might just win the opportunity of a lifetime!

Head to Soap Opera Fan Blog to vote in our poll and let us know if you think you're the biggest soap opera fan out there, and visit our sister site Soaps.com's Latest News Room article Oprah Winfrey's Biggest Soap Opera Fan Contest today!

Executive Producer Ken Corday Shares Days Of Our Lives Winter Spoilers!
A peek at the rest of the winter.

Executive Producer Ken Corday has offered fans a glimpse into what will be unfolding over the next couple of months in Salem. "It's romance and Gothic mystery," he told SOD, which will mean that an old couple will be getting back together, as well as some new ones forming and a good share of oddness along the way.

It looks like Bo and Hope will be back together again. He'll be fulfilling the wishes of fans of the couple and realizing that Carly was a big mistake. When the supercouple gets back together, she doesn't want to be a cop anymore, but that could actually spell bad news for someone. Hope's become an adrenalin junkie and looks for a new way to get her fix. Meanwhile, after the prison and organ debacle, Ben's on the outs with Jenn. She almost gets killed in the whole mess but Daniel manages to rescue her. This means that she owes him her life, but he'll settle for less than that. They bond over their dead marriages and get intimate.

Because one wasn't enough, EJ and Stefano kidnap Rafe and replace him with a doppelganger. Doppel-Rafe...

Read the rest of this entry - including what to expect for Chloe, Mel, Maggie, Vivian and the Kiriakis clan - on the blog...

Days Of Our Lives Alum Staci Greason Releases The Last Great American Housewife.
Former Days Of Our Lives star Staci Greason (ex-Isabella) has a novel coming out.

"The Last Great American Housewife" has been released as an ebook today, December 10. The book is about a woman who has to cope with the death of her mother, and does so in a unique way. If that's piqued your interest, you can read some excerpts from the novel on Greason's Blog, which is also where you can purchase a copy. Copies are also available through Amazon.

Read the rest of this entry on the blog »

Days of Our Lives renewed till 2013
At the Saturday party marking Days of Our Lives historic 45th anniversary, Executive Producer Ken Corday announced that the series has been renewed for another two years. According to Soap Opera Digest, this means that NBC has agreed to run it until September 2013.

Get the full story here.

Call for Homemade Days Of Our Lives Banners
Say goodbye to the John Black banner! Soap Opera Fan, or as most know the site fondly, "Dustin's Days Page," is doing away with that great John Black banner. Yes, we know. Finally! We feel the same and I wanted to change it ages ago but I won't dwell if you won't!

We're happy to announce that we still want you the DOOL fans to create your own great banners and send them in for posting, just as Dustin once did.

Criteria:
Size should be 400px ^x 259px, which is the size of the original. We'd rather not have anything to do with the Ejami vs Safe fight unless it's poking fun at it!

Send all submissions to contact -at- soapoperafan.com. We will replace the current John Black banner with the first person who sends us a new one. Please let us know what name you'd like us to credit you as in your submission.

Each month we'll replace the banner with a new one. The old banners will be kept here on our blog, in a special section of their own we named "Days Of Our Lives Banners."

Primetime Soap dish & previews!
Soaps.com is now covering Primetime shows. This fall we started covering Glee, Grey's Anatomy and Vampire Diaries.

To receive news, weekly recaps with photos, polls and spoiler videos and chat in our forums, check out the Glee home page.

To read news, weekly recaps with photos, polls and spoiler videos and chat in our forums, go to the Grey's Anatomy home.

Vampire Diaries: Read up on news, weekly recaps with photos, polls and spoiler videos and chat in our forums on the Vampire Diaries page.

In the spring, we'll let everybody know which shows we'll cover while Glee, Grey's Anatomy and Vampire Diariesare on hiatus.

Days Of Our Lives goes High Def!
November 8 will be the 45th anniversary of Days and the show will celebrate by going High-Definition (HD). Read the rest of this entry on the blog >>!

Important Reminder: Still Not Seeing Page Updates?
We are still getting reports that SOF pages aren't updated, when in fact, we are updating daily, five days a week! The likely problem is that your web browser is pulling a cached update off your hard drive, rather than the latest version from the server. Sometimes, you'll get the fresh page one week, but then an older cached version the next. There are several ways to fix this issue:

For an immediate fix, simply click refresh OR hold down CTRL on your keyboard and hit your browsers refresh/reload button OR hold down CTRL + SHIFT + r, which force your browser to refresh the page without using its own cached version.

For a long term solutions: The easiest way to fix the problem is to make sure whatever browser you are using (IE, Netscape, Firefox, Opera) is the most current and up to date version. The newer browsers are much better at correcting this issue than older browsers are. You can also try changing the settings/options of your browser. How to do this will vary depending on the browser. One option to look for is how the browser checks for new versions of the pages you visit. Options usually include: once per session, once per day, every time I connect to a website. This option is usually found somewhere near the cache/temporary files settings (Firefox seems to not have this option).

You can also go into your options and choose to clear/empty your temporary internet files/browser cache.

If all else fails and the page isn't updating, please don't hesitate to Contact Us - The glitch may be on our side after all!

Days of Our Lives Hits The Bookshelves!
Days of Our Lives, Corday Productions and Sony Pictures have joined together to partner with Sourcebooks to produce books all about the wacky world of Salem. Get more on this story on the blog.

Soap Opera Fan is all a Twitter!
Soap Opera Fan Blog's Editor-In-Chief Christine Fix is not only on Facebook, but she tweets on Twitter as well - just so our readers can get the latest soap opera news and updates while they're exploring the latest internet social networking craze! We invite you to follow Christine @Soap Opera Fan on Twitter - and you won't believe the stars who are tweeting as well!

Days Partners with InStyleBelly for Charity.
Days is battling the fashion faux pas of maternity wear by teaming up with an upscale maternity consignment shop with a focus on style. Making use of the plethora of pregnancies on the series for a good cause, the people at the show have begun donating some of their lightly used maternity wear. Get the full story on our blog.

Set Sail With Soap Cruise 2010: The Third Voyage!

Soap Opera Fan Blog has some updates for the upcoming Soap Cruise, which sails January 28, 2010 to February 1, 2010 aboard the luxurious Celebrity Century to Cozumel, Mexico and Key West! One actor has backed out, another has signed on and a list of events has been posted! Get the full story on our blog.

Daytime Emmy Host & Nominations Announced!

Days fans have something to celebrate with this year's Emmy nominations! So far, Days has landed the nom for Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Lead Actor, and meanwhile, a sexy Emmy host has been announced. Get the story on soaps.com, and check out what Matt has to say about our Days noms on our blog. The Pre-nom list is still posted here, for those who are interested.

Exclusive Interview with Rachel Melvin!
Many fans were saddened by the recent news that Rachel Melvin (Chelsea Brady) decided not to renew her contract with the series. You can read more about her final air dates here, but if you want a more personal glimpse into why the talented young actress is leaving Salem behind for something new, you can get the story straight from Melvin in soaps.com's exclusive interview!

SOF's Deanna Cruised with the Stars!
Usually I sit down to write about the stars, but this time I'm the one with big news: I am off Wednesday the 21st to cover the Soap Cruise for our sister site, soaps.com! In addition to writing full reports upon our return, Julie Robinson and I will be sending live notes, videos and photos from sea (or port?), so be sure to check it out on soaps.com.

UPDATE: Soap Cruise 2009 coverage posted on our sister site!

Ali Sweeney gives birth to a baby girl!

Last night, Days of Our Lives Alison Sweeney (Sami Brady) gave birth to a daughter in Los Angeles on January 12. Get the scoop here.

Days' Poll Link Issue

Just a quick note that our Days Poll page has again crashed and has already been repaired: However some links may still take you to the old, faulty page. Please just let us know if you find a link that hasn't been updated. We appreciate your assist here!

Star Sighting: Days Of Our Lives Kristen Renton At The Los Angeles Mission!
'Tis the season to give to others... Though the holidays are a very happy time for most, many less fortunate are in need of our help - and former Days star Kristen Renton (Morgan Hollingsworth) and The Young and the Restless actress Kate Linder (Esther Valentine) were spotted doing just that! Read more about the big event here.

Days Stars Help out at Operation Gratitude.
This December 13 saw a few Days stars taking time out of their busy schedules to do some holiday charity work. To find out what Deidre Hall (Marlena Evans), Jay Kenneth Johnson (Philip Kiriakis) and Leanne Hunley (Anna DiMera) got into at Operation Gratitude in Los Angeles, read more here.

Soap Opera Fan Blog Chats With Days' Sandra Robinson!

Days was lucky enough to have landed veteran soap actress, Sandra Robinson [formerly Sandra Ferguson] to play opposite Drake Hogestyn's John and Deidre Hall's Marlena! Wanna get Up to Speed on Salem's new Therapist? Read Candace's interview with Sandra on our blog!

Days Stars at the Live Positively Holiday Parade.
Getting into the holiday spirit, Days' Shelley Hennig (Stephanie Johnson), Molly Burnett (Melanie Layton) and Rachel Melvin (Chelsea Brady) participated in the Live Positively Holiday Parade on December 13. Check out a photo and read more about the big event here.

Mary Beth Evans is up for the Holiday Pie Rush.
What's better than Days of Our Lives? How about Days of Our Lives and apple pie!? To find out how Mary Beth Evans (Kayla Brady Johnson) can help you with your holiday shopping and/or your holiday feasts, read more here.

Days' songster Jd Webb releases a new track for the Holidays!

JD Webb, the songwriter behind the sounds of Days' summer romances this year, has put out a holiday single. Catch a sneak preview here!

Alison Sweeney latest baby shower booty goes to charity.

Ali's (Sami) "Momma Bird/Baby Bird" themed shower included everything from feather bouquets and pink/yellow/chocolate scrapbook papers to contemporary white vases and birdhouse decorations. Read about who attended and what made this a charity event here!

Terrell Ransom Jr. Walks for Autism.
Since he took over the role of Theo Carver on Days of Our Lives, actor Terrell Ransom Jr. and his mother Katrina have become active participants in the Autism awareness campaign. To find out what these two are doing in support of the cause and how you can help, read more here!

Salem lives on - thanks to a new deal!

Although Days just celebrated its 43rd anniversary, fans of the soap have been living under the shadow of near constant speculation that their beloved series would be cancelled in the near future. Now, they finally have a little light. To read about the show's new deal with Sony, click here!

Bryan Dattilo Announces the Winner of the Day of Days Contest.

"The Bonnie Hunt Show" has chosen it's fan correspondent for the Day of Days event at Universal CityWalk on Nov 1 and Bryan Datillo was on hand to deliver the news! Wondering who won the honor of interviewing all of the Days actors at the big event? Posting updated here!

Eric Martsolf is coming to Days as the new Brady Black starting November 13, so out sister site Soaps.com recently talked with Eric about his new role and even gave their readers an opportunity to ask him a couple of questions themselves! To hear what Marstolf had to say, read here.

Play a free Soap Trivia Game, courtesy of... us!
Think you know all there is to know about your favorite soaps? Test yourself! It's free, after all! How long have you been watching Days? Did you watch Passions from start to finish? How much do you think you know about The Young and The Restless, Bold and The Beautiful, General Hospital, One Life to Live, As The World Turns, All My Children and Guiding Light? Unsure? We thought we knew all that there was, but when we tried our hand at the Soap Trivia, a few of us bombed! Watching our soaps for so many years gives us a step up on competition, but sometimes it makes us forget what happened to whom, and when!

What to do? You may see links to the Trivia Game, or banners. All you have to do is click one, enter in your name - screen name or otherwise - and you'll see an area that'll teach you how to play! Don't care for the music? Simply turn it off!

This is what'll happen... In Round One, you'll be asked ten questions – either multiple choice or fill in the blanks. If you get stuck, skip it and move on! Answering quickly counts! After you've made it through the first round, your points earned will appear. You can go through three rounds until you hit the Bonus Bubble Round! What's that? It's silly, fun and mindless. Just get your mouse ready and start clicking as many bubbles as quickly as you can! In Round Five, the last round, you'll have one final question to answer before receiving your final "soapy score" - you'll see where your score ranked with others who have played the game as well!

Anytime you want to quit and try your hand at another soap, just click the Back to Menu button in the top left-hand corner. This game is perfect to pass the time while you're waiting for us to bring you the latest breaking news, spoilers, recaps, bios and while waiting for your friends to show up on our message boards!

Leave us a comment after you play. Let us know how you fare, and vote on which game you loved best!

While many have been enjoying "Days" and "The Young and the Restless" online through the GlobalTV.com and Eonline.com, those who subscribe to Rogers Digital Cable will now be able to watch the show without even turning on their computers! On October 15, Rogers Digital Cable subscribers will be able to pick up both shows for free, through your cable package, as Global and E! will be bringing the fans same-day episodes for their viewing pleasure!

Infertile Nicole was shocked to learn she's knocked up, but she may be less excited about the other baby news on the way! We're sure you can guess who the other mommy-to-be is, but check out this Days promo to see if you're right!

Become friends with Angry Angel (aka Chelsea) & Blog-Out with Portrayer Rachel Melvin!

As previously reported, Chelsea's started her own online blog and video diary on the show, and not only can you visit Chelsea's blog on MySpace, you can make her your MySpace pal, in real life! To keep up with her teen angst and machinations, just add 'Angry Angel' to your friends list. UPDATE: Even better, portrayer Rachel Melvin occasionally gets to blogging herself! She's been known to get into everything from onscreen mom Julie Pinson leaving the Days to what show's she's addicted to in real life, not to mention a rant against the societal perceptions of "skinny." Check her out!

If you're wondering what the Days' head scribe is thinking, visit her blog. Dena's slacked off since the Emmy, but she's back at it again and while much of her chatter is about family, you may also catch some raves, rants or teases about the show.

Exclusive interview with Kristian Alfonso!
If you've noticed the beautiful jewelry Kristian Alfonso (Hope) wears on Days, the pieces are more than likely from the actress' very own collection, Hope Faith Miracles. For the past couple of years, Kristian has been hard at work designing and promoting her collection, which most recently brought her to the Bloomingdales in Chicago. Soaps.com reporter Lori (of Lori's Last Word) was able to grab a few moments with Kristian in the Windy City to talk jewelry, clothes and of course Salem! Click here to read more!

Gary Tomlin is already shaking the trees at Days and one of his first moves was to bring back Emmy award winning writer Christopher Whitesell, who was a Days scribe from 2000-2001. In fact, Christopher has done stints all over daytime. To see if he worked on your other fave show(s) and learn a bit more about him, click here.

Exec Producer Shake-up: Gary Tomlin in / Ed Scott out!
Daytime vet Gary Tomlin has signed on as Days new Co-Executive Producer, replacing Ed Scott! "I have decided that it's in the best interest of the show's future to make this change in order to improve ‘Days’ both visually and emotionally," said Ken Corday, Executive Producer. "We at ‘Days’ are grateful to Ed Scott for all of his contributions and amazing energy over the past year. Gary Tomlin brings a long successful history of being an actor's producer and a writer's producer to our cast and crew and I know the viewers will see the immediate results of this change for the better."

For those not familiar with the name, Tomlin first hit daytime in 1973, when he was cast on NBC’s "Search for Tomorrow" as Bruce Carson. He went behind the scenes, landing on Days as Co-Head Writer from 1980-1981, followed by stints as head scribe at "Another World" and "One Life to Live." In 1997 Tomlin rose to Exec Producer of NBC's "Sunset Beach", then on to "One Life to Live" in 2001, where the series received its first ever Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Series for the 2002 season.

"I'm very happy to be back at 'Days' where I began behind the scenes in the early 80's," said Tomlin. "It's wonderful to be given the opportunity to work with Ken Corday."

Alison Sweeny and other celeb moms auction maternity clothes off their bellies!

Like this dress? It could be yours for the right price! Ali Sweeny has signed and donated the raspberry Isabella Oliver Ruffle Wrap to the Isabella Oliver Celebrity Maternity Fashion Auction on the Clothes Off Our Back website.

If pink isn't your color, other Isabella Oliver maternity items were donated and/or signed by actress Minnie Driver, singer Lisa Marie Presley, actress Teri Hatcher (from her character's "Desperate Housewives" wardrobe), boxer Laila Ali, singer Gwen Stefani and many others. Proceeds from the auction will benefit Clothes Off Our Back's children's charities, including America's Second Harvest, The Art of Elysium, Hope North and H.E.L.P. Malawi.

You have until August 27 to win one of the lovely Isabella Oliver designed maternity items signed by your favorite celebrity mom, so go to clothesoffourback.org and put your bid in now!

Marlena's twin sister, Samantha, is heading back to Salem and Deidre Hall has agreed to play the dual role for one day. During the '70s and 80s, the role was played by Deidra's real life twin, Andrea Hall, until the character fell victim to the Salem Strangler. (One can only imagine this is a dreamy of ghostly return!) Andrea was back in the fold again in 2001 to play Hattie, the familiar stranger who became one of Stefano's pawns and underwent surgery to look even more like Marlena, but apparently wasn't available or wasn't asked this time around.

No Olympic Interruption!
In the past, Olympic action has been bad news for NBC's Days, which was preempted during the competitions the last go round, but not this year! It's confirmed that the show will air "great story" through the Olympic season, but best to keep an eye on your DVR/VCR schedule for any changes as the show may occasional air at alternate times.

Alison Sweeny expecting - It's a girl!
SoapOperaFan.com and our readers want to send out a big congrats to Alison Sweeny (Sami) and her husband Dave who are expecting their second child! Word is Ben can expect to be a big brother to a baby sister around January 20, 2009. While word is the expectant mom has been having some rough morning sickness, she looked gorgeous when we spotted her at an NBC party in mid-July.

Hottest of the Hotties!

The ladies and gentlemen of daytime are all hot, but TV Guide channel recently gave a shout out to the sexiest of them all in "Soaps' Sexiest Women," hosted by Y&R hottie Kristoff St. John, and "Soaps' Sexiest Men," hosted by Kelly Monaco. We've listed the winners below, but you can catch portions of both TV Guide specials on YouTube. Just search for "Soaps' Sexiest Women" and "Soaps' Sexiest Men."

FAN REPORT: Our family at the 2008 DOOL Basketball Game, by Shari Gamson
I have been watching DOOL since the day it started on television in 1965. My daughter, Teri, was three years old when she first started watching with me and she became a lifelong fan. Later, her son, Arik, now 26, also got hooked.

For the past several years, we have attended the annual DOL Celebrity Basketball Game in South Pasadena. This year, we again had the opportunity to join in the fun of watching the game, talking to the cast members and taking pictures with them. Teri asked several of them to autograph the DOOL tee-shirt she was wearing, and they did. During half time, she was asked by Jed Reynolds (James' son) to join in their practice and shoot a couple of baskets. She actually got one in! Last year, Arik convinced James Scott (E.J.) to come over and meet his Mom. This year, he wasn't there but, Arik brought a miniature surf board for Shawn Christian (Dr. Jonas) and he seemed really pleased to get it. When I met Bryan Datillo, (Lucas), I reminded him that I had asked to be his adopted grandmother. He said his real grandmother gives him a special birthday gift each year, but I didn't think I should copy her special gift. My husband, Sherman, isn't a big fan of the show, but he takes pictures for us and enjoys the game. He did miss seeing one cast member he really likes - Alison Sweeney (Sami), who was out of town.

I was fortunate to win one of the silent auction items, which included gift cards for three restaurants and a great autographed picture of James Reynolds (Abe)! All of the team players and other cast members were friendly and gracious to all the fans and, although still sweaty and tired from playing the game, most stayed as long as needed to satisfy their fans.

We thank Shari for sharing her experiences with meeting some of the DOOL cast! If you'd like to read another fan's BB game experience, check out the event blog from the Trivia Contest winner here!
If you have you have met a daytimer and would like to send us your story, along with photos, please contact us.
(Our contact info is on our main page Days Page.)

Renee Jones Talks!
To read what the woman behind Lexie has to say about coming, going and sticking around Salem, not to mention her current storylines, click here.

If you missed the Days of our Lives Celebrity Basketball Game, never fear. You can get the score from Lori here. Not only does she dish game highlights and rubbing shoulders with the stars, but she also caught some spoilers and scoop from Salem locals and expats like Jason Cook and Brandon Beemer, who relocated to General Hospital and Bold and the Beautiful, respectively.

Read Nadia Bjorlin's exclusive interview about Soap Cruise 2009 and being back in the Days fold here!

The Daytime Emmy Nominations are out! To find out which 6 nods Days received, click here.

As previously reported, Joseph Mascolo (Stefano) was proud to be on hand as his parents celebrated 80 years of marriage on April 23. We've learned that just nine days later, on May 2, Mascolo's father Peter passed away at 106 years of age, in Newington, Connecticut. Soap Opera Fan extends heartfelt condolences to Joseph and his family.

Nadia Bjorlin and her brothers release a Four Song EP! She is beautiful, she can act, and she can sing! On her website, she explains the type of music she sings... "The music is best described as classical crossover, in the likes of Josh Groban and Andrea Bocelli. We recorded these four songs because of the beautiful three part harmonies and of course it is accompanied by my brother Jean Paul on piano." Congrats to her! Find her music on Amazon or iTunes!

Christine Fix writes her newest wardrobe Q&A for DAYS fans! Congrats. It's her 1 year anniversary, writing these pieces. Fans, if you love the DAYS fashions, feel free to write to Christine here to ask if she can find out where a specific piece comes from and who it's created by! Read the newest article right here

Matt Cedeno Interview! Read it here! Find out what "Brandon Walker" has been up to recently and what he had to say to Soaps.com/Soap Opera Fan's Lori Wilson, about a return to DAYS!

Samantha's Friends
Bradenton, Florida: Once a year, several top soap actors gather for Samantha's Friends charity Fundraiser gala brunch and show and this year the event raised $20K to help young people challenged by a catastrophic illness gain their independence with the assistance of a service canine. To read more about the event and see photos, follow this link to soaps.com.

Hello! Some of you are noticing that we're currently under a little construction and I wanted to give all of you a heads up as to what's happening with Soap Opera Fan these days! Dustin has sold Soap Opera Fan, in order for him to concentrate on his studies! In a statement on the message board, Dustin says he has been maintaining this site for almost 14 years and decided to sell the site for various factors, one of which is to focus on graduate school! To quote Dustin: "So all these factors contributed in my decisions to give up the page, and I truly hope you can understand. Again this wasn't an easy choice for me, but essentially for so long I feel I have put the page first and now it was time to put me first." Dustin has stayed with us through the transition for a few months but at this point, he's no longer maintaining the site in any capacity. We've agreed that we both would like to see him posting from time to time as a "guest writer", depending on how much time he has available! We wish him all the best in his future endeavours, knowing that it is never easy to leave a huge part of your life that you've put all your love and hard work into.

A little about us! The company who purchased the site is called She Knows LLC. They own and operate various sites on the web including She Knows.com. My name is Christine Fix, I'm Canadian, reside in Toronto Ontario and work as a writer, reporter, senior producer and editor-in-chief of Soaps.com, Reality TV Magazine.com and now, Soap Opera Fan. My writers reside both in Canada and the US and are a wonderful and very talented team. If you've any questions or feedback about the site, myself or my staff, we've got an open door policy. Feel free to contact us at . Our staff will try to get back to everyone but we do ask that you allow our staff time to answer! Thank- you for your patience regarding the delay in our updates. Friday March 28th, we've started posting the spoilers and comings and goings and you can find our updates posted Monday March 31, 2008, for Passions and Days Of Our Lives!

Please feel free to read the updates, spoilers and comings and goings on Soaps.com and we'll be linking to our sister site with any interviews or major news that we feel you want and need to know about! Cheers and thank- you!

Sincerely,
Christine Fix
Senior Producer / Editor-in-Chief
Soap Opera Fan Soaps.com Reality TV Magazine.com

Daytime Emmy Pre-Nominations Released
The 2007 Daytime Emmy Pre-Nominations list has been released. These are the actors that the show puts in for consideration for the final nominations. The final list of who will be up for the award is selected at a later date. For now, here are the actors "Days" put in to be considered. For the list of all soap nominations, head over to Soaps.com.

Lead Actor -
Stephen Nichols (Steve)
James Scott (EJ)
Thaao Penghlis (Tony)
Peter Reckell (Bo)

Supporting Actor -
Bryan Datillo (Lucas)
Jay Kenneth Johnson (Phillip)
Joseph Mascolo (Stefano)

Supporting Actress -
Judi Evans (Bonnie/Adrienne)
Martha Madison (Belle)
Mary Beth Evans (Kayla)

Leading Younger Actor -
Blake Berris (Nick)
Darin Brooks (Max)
Matthew Florida (Ford)

Leading Younger Actress -
Kristen Renton (Morgan)
Shelley Hennig (Stephanie)
Rachel Melvin (Chelsea)

Update! Days Writers Re-Hired?
Deadline Hollywood Daily is reporting that at the WGA East's meeting this weekend on the resolution to the writers strike, that it was announced that the fired "Days" writers would all be getting their jobs back, because of technicalities that a fired striking writer must be replaced by another striking writer, not scab writers.

Days Writers Fired
Hogan Scheffer, who was brought in last year to take over as head writer, has been fired along with many to most of the writers under him, who have been on strike since November. Currently the show is being written by "scab" writers, writers which will cross the picket lines. Recently Hogan Scheffer's name along with the other writer's names fell off the credits for the show.

Tom Cassiello, one of the writers who was fired, has been posting about the drama on his myspace page. You can read his official "Goodbye Letter" on his Myspace page.

There has been no official announcement from Days about the following news yet. The writers strike is possibly ending this week, as contracts have been drawn up and are expected to be approved.

Writers Strike Could Hurt Soaps!
Writers Now Set To Strike!
Writers Strike Begins!
New Negotiations Scheduled!
Negations Stalled!

Last week the Writers Guild of America voted to strike come midnight, October 31st if new contracts are not agreed upon. Their current contracts expire at midnight on Halloween. At the heart of the strike is the fact that networks are now making more money from the shows through DVD sales, online plays and download sales through iTunes, cellphones, etc . . . In 2001 a strike was averted at the final hours of the night, which could happen again tonight. The last time the writers went on strike was in 1988, and it lasted for 5 months.

Should writers strike again, a lengthy strike could be disastrous for the soaps. Soaps usually only tape 3 weeks in advance, with the final scripts of the show not being delivered too much ahead of the taping of the shows. Should the strike happen and not be resolved quickly, we could see the soaps running out of new episodes by the end of November or early December. The spots would most likely be filled with old reruns of other syndicated shows, news programs or infomercials. Current primetime TV shows would run out of new episodes in early 08. Movies too would be affected as the studios would not meet projected dates for some of their upcoming blockbusters.

Even though several deals were offered, and a professional mediator was brought in, contract talks with the Writers Guild of America broke off last night. Today. November 1st, the guild is set to vote again on whether to strike or continue working without contracts in hopes of negotiating a deal. If they vote to strike, the strike could begin as early as tomorrow, November 2nd.

On Thursday the Writers Guild of America voted to strike, but as of yet no announcement has been made to when the strike will begin. Some news reports indicate it could happen at any moment, others say it will most likely be delayed until Sunday or Monday to allow last minute attempts to resolve the contracts before striking.

Last minute negotiations fell through, and the writers strike began at 12:01am this morning, Monday November 5th.

The soaps are currently without their writers, but have enough scripts and episodes to get through January, maybe into February. However there may be no interruption as negations to end the strike are set to begin again on November 26th.

In early December, a week after starting talks again, the WGA ceased talks and rejected deals presented to them. There have been no new talks since and the strike has gone on.

NBC Universal is acquiring Oxygen Media, one of the nation's leading female-focused cable television networks, thus expanding its highly successful cable portfolio. The announcement was made on October 9th by Jeff Zucker, President and CEO, NBC Universal.

Zucker said: "In just seven short years, Oxygen has become the crown jewel of independent networks. It's a terrific property with a clear mission, strong brand, and desirable audience. This acquisition increases our foothold in the advertiser-coveted young, upscale, female demographic, and perfectly complements our current roster of cable channels and plays to our strength of running and operating cable networks."

Oxygen was founded by current Chairman and CEO Geraldine Laybourne along with talk show host Oprah Winfrey and television producers Marcy Carsey, Tom Werner and Caryn Mandabach.

With all the rumors swirling about for almost a year now that "Days of Our Lives" could be canceled by NBC come 2009, and with "Passions" already having been dropped and picked up by DirecTV and NBC.com for online play, the acquisition of the Oxygen Channel is good news for soap fans as it very well could become the home of NBC soaps in the near future as more and more network soaps will probably find themselves on cable channels down the road.

Hey Tivo users, you can now get a special program all about "Days" on your Tivos! Curious what goes on backstage in Salem? Catch exclusive behind-the-scenes looks from your favorite soap opera, Days of our Lives, delivered right to your TiVo box every week via TiVoCast. To download this program, simply open up your Tivo menu. Select "Find Pograms" from the main menu, followed by "Download TV and Movies." "Days of Our Lives" should be an option on the list that appears. You can select to download the most current episode or have a season pass which automatically sends a new show to your Tivo every Wednesday. Please note that in order to download the program you will need to have a broadband connection and have your Tivo hooked up to the connection.

The End Of Days on iTunes? NBC Goes to Amazon's Unbox
The New York Times and other sources are reporting that a fallout between NBC and Apple over the pricing of NBC shows for sale on iTunes has lead to the announcement by Apple that no new NBC shows will be added to iTunes for sale! None of the new shows debuting this fall will be added, but whether new episodes of current shows will be added is unknown. NBC says Apple must sell them, Apple says they will not. There is no information yet on whether this will affect Days of Our Lives.

NBC announced that they have stuck a deal with Amazon to distribute their shows online through Amazon's Unbox service, which allows users to watch shows online, download them to their computer or mobile devices or to have programs sent to user's Tivos. New shows for the fall 07 season will actually premier on Unbox before their television debut, and users can currently get episodes of older shows such as "Heroes" and "The Office." Head over to http://unbox.amazon.com to learn more.

How the drama between NBC and iTunes will affect "Days" status on iTunes has yet to be mentioned in any of these articles. Given the original deal was actually announced by Sony and Columbia Tri-star Television, which own "Days," it may not be affected at all. Currently though "Days" is categorized by iTunes as an NBC show.

Days Moving Time In Many Markets!
Many have been emailing me about commercials indicating Martha Stewart's show is taking "Days'" time slot at 1pm. Beginning in September, Days is moving in many markets to either noon or 2pm! Please check your local listings to find the new time slot for "Days!"

Staff Changes At Days!
Days has named a new co-executive producer and casting director. Ed Scott, formerly from "The Young and the Restless" replaces Steve Wyman as co-executive producer at the show. Additionally Roy Steinberg, supervising producer, is leaving. Marnie Saitta, who also worked on "Y&R" replaces Fran Bascom as casting director.

Days To Be Sold Through iTunes!
Variety.com is reporting that beginning tomorrow, Tuesday June 12th, "Days of Our Lives" will be available for download through the iTunes store. Episodes will cost $1.99 a piece, though 20 episode passes can be ordered for $9.99.

Not Seeing Page Updates?
I often get emails that the page doesn't appear to have been updated in days, or when trying to get the latest summary one gets the summary from last week. The problem is that your web browser is pulling a cached update off your hard drive rather than the latest update from my server. There are several ways to fix this issue.

The easiest way to fix the problem is to make sure whatever browser you are using (IE, Netscape, Firefox, Opera) is the most current and up to date version. The newer browsers are much better at correcting this issue than older browsers are.

Other ways to correct the issue are to change the settings/options of your browser. How to do this will vary depending on the browser. One option to look for is how the browser checks for new versions of the pages you visit. Options usually include: once per session, once per day, every time I connect to a website. This option is usually found somewhere near the cache/temporary files settings (Firefox seems to not have this option).

If all else fails and the page isn't updating, go into your options and choose to clear/empty your temporary internet files/browser cache. Another option is to simply hold down CTRL on your keyboard and hit your browsers refresh/reload button, which forces an update.

Get Rid of Spyware, Protect from Viruses, Protect from Hackers!
If you are getting excessive pop-ups from this site (more than 2 a day) or any other site, especially pop-ups that make it past your pop-up blockers then you most likely have spyware on your PC! Please take the time to read through the following, I have links to completely free spyware and virus software that you can install on your PC in minutes!

Two great spyware removal tools are Ad-Aware and Spybot. Spybot actually includes a download blocker in it that stops a lot of stuff from being downloaded automatically in Internet Explorer. Spyware Blaster is another program that blocks spyware from downloading onto your PC. Unlike Spybot, it supports all types of browsers. I recommend using ALL THREE programs! If you are running Internet Explorer as your browser than you are more vulnerable to spyware than say users of FireFox, Netscape or Opera.

If you have no ant-virus program on your PC, a good free one to use is AVG Anti-Virus

If your online a lot, or have a cable modem and do NOT have any type of firewall installed, your vulnerable to hackers. I recommend using ZoneAlarm. If you have an up-to-date Windows XP system running Windows Service Pack 2 then you should have Windows Firewall running. Still, Zone Alarm is a good alternative and FREE!

Finally, if you haven't already, give Firefox a try. Most spyware makes its way onto your computer through loopholes in Internet Explorer. Firefox stops a lot of spyware from getting through. Additionally it is a heck of a lot faster than Internet Explorer! There is a third browser I highly recommend, and that is Opera. The best thing about Opera is that it is fast, really fast. It's also now FREE. Netscape is another browser you can try.