CORDAYS's SAY

DAYS of OUR LIVES Excutive Producer Sounds Off about What's going on in Salem!

Digest: What is precipating all of these cast and crew cuts?

Ken Corday: (Before we signed a new contract with NBC), I had a choice of staying with my principals and seeing the show canceled or taking some drastic measures with some very high cuts in cost and fee. I had to do the right thing for the show -- and for the 500-600 employees who would've been out of work -- which was keep it on the air.

Digest: Is it hard for you to see these actors go?

KC: It's awful for mme. We're looking at four cast members who've had more than 80 years on this show combined. How do I explain this? It's impossible. These cast members are as good as it gets. I spoke to the cast on Friday when Jim Reynolds had his last day. I said I knew this was extremely painful moment for Jim, but it's painful for me and for all of us. Nothing I say can really change the way we feel about that. But, unfortunately, it's a pain we have to endure because (Head Writer) Jim Reilly's vision for the show is one I stand behind and it includes this very dramatic story, which will see the exit of some very beloved cast members. I'm begging the viewers to be patient and indulgent and watch the way the story unfolds. But how do I feel personally? I feel greatly pained. It sucks. That's what I said to the cast. I said, "This is what came with the cake, guys. We got five more years, but this is the growing pain we have to endure." I do believe in magic. I still believe there's going to be magic in the show after these changes.

Digest: Do you worry about the fan threats that they'll tune out?

Corday: Yes, I'm lying if I say no. However, the intrigue and drama of this is much larger than it seems to be now. It'll pique your interest in new ways. They don't see that yet. What Jim wants to do is create "Must-See DAYS" on a daily basis, to create the furor we had in the 90s.

Digest: Gossip has the two of you at odds.

Corday: Not at all. Let's dispel that right away. First of all, I picked up the phone and called him before a deal was being made and it was like going back in time to 1996. I was sad to see him leave the show to do PASSIONS, but that's a long time ago. We get along famously.

Digest: How do you feel about the show nowadays?

Corday: I think the show looks fantastic. I think everyone in the cast has risen to the task. I think production has risen to the task of making the show look even better in a precise and feasibly economic way. I'm very interested in the romantic aspects that are being played. Sami and Lucas, I find very intriguing: Brady and Nicole are starting to get legs. I'm also intrigued with Rex, Mimi and the inclusion of Mimi's mother, Bonnie. She's the only new character Jim is going to bring on-screen.

Digest: Will you bring anyone back?

Corday: We won't bring anyone back until the earliest, mid-2004.

Digest: We can put an end to the rumors of Carrie and Austin returning in December?

Corday: Yes. One plane isn't leaving town and crashing with five cast members on it, and another's coming in with five new ones. That's not the case.

Digest: How did you feel about the online rumor that Drake (Hogestyn, John) was fired?

Corday: I laughed. I howled. I said, "Oh, please." But any press is good press. I'm thrilled they're making stuff up. They're probably saying that Ken is walking around with a Lizzie Borden ax.

Digest: Can you say anything about more firings?

Corday: I don't want to. It's as much a mystery to me as it is to the viewers to wait and see what Jim is cooking up on a weekly basis.

Digest: So, who is running the show here?

Corday: I still have creative control on the show. That, I will never relinquish. Jim and I are working together, hand in hand, to bring a better show to the viewers. It's not like something's been torn out of my hands and give to Jim; it wouldn't be that way.

Digest: Have you seen movement in the ratings/demos yet?

Corday: It's been static in the industry. Positions are static. Numbers are where they are and eroding. My belief and Jim's belief as we signed this deal with NBC and took a huge cutback was that we can restore the numbers in daytime to the levels they were at five years to eight years ago. That is our goal. If anyone says it's impossible, it't can't be done again. I say balderdash. It has to be done again or this industry is going to be a thing of the past.

Digest: Any final thoughts?

Corday: Jim's got a good one, one tiger by the tail. We're not walking a fine line anymore. We're walking a razor blade and every step we take gets us toward the end of this line, which is painful. But we still have to keep walking down it until we get to the end of this murder mystery. The hanging judge is writing the show and nobody is safe. It's phenomenal. I've gone on like this before, but this one you can take to the bank. Buy stock in the show for 2004.

SOD (Soap Opera Digest)

WHAT's NEXT ON DAYS

Hold onto your remotes, DAYS fans. The serial-killer is only beginning of what Head Writer/Consulting Producer James E. Reilly has planned for Salem. "There are amazing twists down the road," promises Executive producer Ken Corday. "Chapter one is just November Sweeps; this is a huge story. This is as big as it gets for Jim Reilly. He took a long time to conceive this, believe me."

Corday says Reilly's initial story pitch was riveting. "When Jim told me the story in June. I took a pad, thinking these would be 10 minutes of notes," recalls the exec. "I put the pad down, and he went on for almost two hours. My hair stood up. I hadn't been pitched a story like that in a long time. It is incredible." As for the victims of the serial killer, Corday explains, "They're not going to take this thing seriously if Bart and Henderson die. They're going to start taking it seriously when they see our beloved characters horribly murdered. Jim says, "I want to bang the drum so loud, they're not going to believe what we're doing at DAYS; they're going to come watch and they're going to stay.'

And stay for a while, Reilly already has fireworks planned for 2004. "There's going to be major magic in the show---hang on till next spring; you won't believe your eyes," Corday previews. "I would say by June of next year, when this things really starts to wrap, as we approach Wimbledon, people will be at the doors of NBC to find out what's going to happen."