Soap Operas

Not much has changed on Days of Our Lives following an investigation into misconduct allegations against co-executive producer/director Albert Alarr and a toxic work environment he and his team allegedly fostered, with Alarr still in charge at the venerable daytime drama. Now the DoOL cast are taking things into their own hands, with a petition that calls for a new leader on the show, which streams on Peacock. It has been signed by more than 25 cast members to date.

As ABC’s General Hospital marks its 60th anniversary, much remains the same for the longest-running scripted series in production in the United States. A hospital is still the backdrop for the soap opera, many of the veteran characters remain, the wealthy Quatermaine family looms large and the stories are about love, mystery and adventure. But in a shift, many of the most powerful residents of Port Charles are women.

Peter Bergman and Susan Walters, veteran actors on CBS’s The Young and the Restless, reflect on the show’s longevity, evolution and future as it marks its 50^th anniversary on broadcast. A full transcript of the conversation is included.

The CBS soap began  on March 26, 1973. As it celebrates its 50th anniversary this month, it also lays claim to being the No. 1 daytime drama for 35 consecutive years. It helped launch the careers of such primetime and film actors as Vivica A. Fox, David Hasselhoff, Adam Brody, Tom Selleck, Penn Badgley, Shemar Moore, Eva Longoria, Justin Hartley and the late Paul Walker.

Time to get more sand for the hourglass. Days of Our Lives has been renewed by Peacock for two more seasons, which means the iconic soap opera will make it to at least its landmark 60th season. Days moved to Peacock in September, having previously aired on NBC since 1965. It was NBC’s longest-running drama series before switching to Peacock in 2022.

A group of 12 stars from the daytime drama attended a ceremony on the CBS lot to unearth a time capsule that had been buried 25 years.

Morgan is in her second stint on CBS’s The Young and the Restless. She first joined the soap in 2013 and stayed until 2018. She returned in 2019 as a different character.

CBS announced Wednesday that it has renewed its long-running soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful for two more years, setting a run through the 2023-24 broadcast season. The network also announced a celebration of the program’s 35th anniversary for March 23.

Longtime General Hospital cast member Steve Burton is leaving the ABC show due to his refusal to comply with the production’s Covid-19 vaccine mandate. Burton announced his departure on Instagram today.

Days of Our Lives‘ renewals over the past several years have contained as much drama as the daytime staple itself. This year is not an exception. Negotiations between NBC and Sony Pictures Television have been ongoing. The two sides are not commenting but, according to sources, there hasn’t been any cause for alarm and insiders have been optimistic that Days of Our Lives will be renewed for a record 57th season.

CBS daytime dramas are the latest TV series impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. In the face of a fast-escalating health crisis and new restrictions by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti aimed at slowing the epidemic, The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful are stopping production. The shutdown is effective Tuesday, March 17, as both series are dark on Mondays. Currently, filming is suspended for the next two weeks.

While their ranks have thinned over the years to just four now and their audiences growing older, CBS’s The Young and the Restless and The Bold and The Beautiful, ABC’s General Hospital and NBC’s Days of Our Lives are still drawing viewers that lots of advertisers lust after. “There are many advertisers who need to reach that audience of women during the day. And several of the soaps draw more viewers than primetime shows,” says Katz Media Group’s Stacey Schulman.