Last week, reports circulated that Days of Our Lives was on indefinite hiatus and that the entire cast had been released from their contracts.
However, one of the show’s executives has great news for fans and actors alike: the show will be renewed.
Soap operas once dominated weekday afternoons, playing one after the other and directly competing with each other.
Now, there are only four left: The Young and The Restless, The Bold and The Beautiful, General Hospital, and Days of Our Lives.
This final quartet will now continue — for another year, anyway.
Panicked fans are being reassured that the show will not only continue, but was never in any danger of getting the axe, anyway.
According to what an inside source tells People, fears that the series were doomed were premature.
The reports were dismissed as a "clickbait story," though the indefinite hiatus was true.
"The show shoots months and months in advance," the source noted.
The insider added: "And they’ve gotten so far ahead that the cast was prepared ages ago for the fact that they would all be put on hiatus."
The source said that the hiatus would continue "until closer to pick-up (aka renewal) time, for scheduling reasons."
It’s absolutely true that hiatuses are a standard part of television production.
And soap operas are infamous for filming well in advance, even when compared to other scripted shows.
Remember, soap operas film every single day, which means that one scene may be filmed in only a few hours, and air on TV 8 months later for days.
A Corday Productions executive told the cast on Thursday, November 21, that the show will be renwed for Season 56.
This report comes via Entertainment Weekly.
Apparently, the executive assured everyone that it is simply a matter of formalizing the paperwork.
Their year-end break, which is always part of their schedule, will continue as planned.
That is a relief to hear.
Even so, we are sure that some fans and actors alike will not fully breathe a sigh of relief until it’s official.
Soap operas are not always treated as "serious" acting, with some thinking that the actors are bad, though that is not the case.
In reality, soaps are factories to help actors who are starting out get name and face recognition and launch successful careers.
Justin Hartley was on The Young and The Restless before filming the pilot for This Is Us.
Eva Longoria famously got her start on the same series before Desperate Housewives began.
Others, like Eric Braeden and Susan Lucci, devote decades of their careers to soap operas, enriching themselves and becoming household names.
And the only reason that some believe the "acting" to be poor on these shows is because they are almost always filmed in one take — no do-overs.
Infamously, Days of Our Lives is going in a surprising direction with Season 55 by using everyone’s least favorite TV trope – a time skip.
They hope that the mystery of what happened in the single skipped year will keep viewers intrigued, rather than alienating them.
If viewers are unhappy, writers will have an entire year to make it up to them with Season 56.
Congratulations to the entire cast and crew on their renewal and continued success!
