DAYS: Behind the Scenes, Articles/Photos

[Franko]

Great work as usual, @beebs. Where to begin?

 

While it's fun to imagine Ann Marcus attempting a kamikaze mission with the Donna story, I fear/suspect that she and the NBC brass were loving it in the moment. "Why, we can have sex and young people and intrigue, like they do on The Young and the Restless and All My Children!" It's fascinating to compare and contrast DOOL's struggles with the more successful modernizing going on under the Dobsons at GL and Marland at GH.

 

Wow, Bob really had to be thick-headed. I'd sympathize with him if he wasn't the weakest link in the extended Anderson story.

 

I don't suppose Mike's sexual curiosity re-emerged while cooped up in that pit with Chris? Did Margo wait at home, taking her mind off her troubles by happily planning her funeral?

 

Goodbye, Janice (and, for your own sake, don't come back).

 

I had no idea about Doug and Maggie. I wonder if anybody shipped them.

[JAS0N47]

JASON47'S EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH SIMONE GAD, ACTRESS WHO SPOKE THE FIRST WORDS ON "DAYS" IN 1965...

 

 

Back in 2014, I interviewed Simone Gad, who played Julie's friend Carol, and spoke the first words on "Days of Our Lives" on the show's pilot episode, which aired November 8, 1965. As the show celebrates its 55th anniversary this week, take a look back at where it all began in Salem, with the actress who began it all 55 years ago...

 

http://www.jason47.com/days/interviewsimonepascal.html

 

"DAYS" DEBUTS...

 

 

NBC's 1965 press release and first publicity photo of Macdonald Carey as Tom Horton (misspelled as Norton in NBC's press release).

 

"DAYS" ANNIVERSARY WEEK...

 

 

1st Anniversary Cast Photo, November 1966: Coleen Gray (Diane), Susan Flannery (Laura), Ron Husmann (Tony), executive producer Betty Corday, John Clarke (Mickey), Macdonald Carey (Tom), Ed Mallory (Bill), Frances Reid (Alice), Burt Douglas (Jim), Marie Cheatham (Marie), David McLean (Craig).

 

 

2nd Anniversary Cast Photo, November 1967. Cathy Ferrar (Julie), Susan Flannery (Laura), Coleen Gray (Diane), Macdonald Carey (Tom), Frances Reid (Alice), Marie Cheatham (Marie), Denise Alexander (Susan), Regina Gleason (Kitty).

 

 

3rd Anniversary Cast Photo, November 1968. Joyce Easton (Janet), Marie Cheatham (Marie), Macdonald Carey (Tom), Susan Flannery (Laura), Denise Alexander (Susan), Regina Gleason (Kitty), Heather North (Sandy).

 

 

4th Anniversary Cast Photo, November 1969. Susan Seaforth (Julie), Heather North (Sandy), Frances Reid (Alice), John Clarke (Mickey), Edward Mallory (Bill), Susan Flannery (Laura) and Denise Alexander (Susan) look on lovingly as Macdonald Carey (Tom) cuts the cake.

 

 

5th Anniversary Cast Photo, November 1970. Front Row: Eloise Hardt (Rita), Bill Hayes (Doug), Jeffrey Williams (David), Alan Decker (Mike). Back Row: Robert Hogan (Scott), Ed Mallory (Bill), Margaret Mason (Linda), Betty Corday (executive producer), John Clarke (Mickey), Susan Seaforth (Julie), Macdonald Carey (Tom), Frances Reid (Alice), Denise Alexander (Susan), John Lupton (Tommy).

 

 

6th Anniversary Cast Photo, November 1971. Denise Alexander (Susan), Margaret Mason (Linda), John Amour (Mike), Frances Reid (Alice), Jeffrey Williams (David), Macdonald Carey (Tom), executive producer Betty Corday, Susan Flannery (Laura), Ed Mallory (Bill), Ryan MacDonald (Scott).

 

 

7th Anniversary Cast Photo, November 1972. Back Row: Peter Brown (Greg), Stanley Kamel (Eric), Susan Seaforth (Julie), Macdonald Carey (Tom), Susan Flannery (Laura), John Lupton (Tommy), Frances Reid (Alice), Nancy Wickwire (Phyllis), Bill Hayes (Doug), Karin Wolfe (Mary), Edward Mallory (Bill), Jeanne Bates (Anne). Front Row: Executive producer Betty Corday, Denise Alexander (Susan), Robert Clary (Robert), John Amour (Mike).

 

 

8th Anniversary Cast Photo, November 1973. Back Row: John Lupton (Tommy), Mark Tapscott (Bob), John Clarke (Mickey), Dick DeCoit (Mike), Edward Mallory (Bill), Peter Brown (Greg), Bill Hayes (Doug), Stanley Kamel (Eric) and Patricia Barry (Addie). Front Row: Larry Delaney (Jay), Monica Gayle (Sharon), Jed Allan (Don), Suzanne Rogers (Maggie), Susan Flannery (Laura), producer Jack Herzberg, executive producer Betty Corday, Macdonald Carey (Tom), Bennye Gatteys (Susan), Susan Seaforth (Julie), Corinne Conley (Phyllis), Jeanne Bates (Anne) and Richard McMurray (Mel).

 

 

9th Anniversary Cast Photo, November 1974. Top Row: John Lupton (Tommy), John Clarke (Mickey). Middle Row: Corinne Conley (Phyllis), Patricia Barry (Addie), Ed Mallory (Bill), Jeanne Bates (Anne), Susan Flannery (Laura), Stanley Kamel (Eric), Frances Reid (Alice), Betty Corday (executive producer), Macdonald Carey (Tom), Jack Herzberg (producer), Kaye Stevens (Jeri), Jed Allan (Don), Suzanne Rogers (Maggie), Mark Tapscott (Bob), Karin Wolfe (Mary), Ron Husmann (ex-Tony). Bottom Row: Bennye Gatteys (Susan), Peter Brown (Greg), Patty Weaver (Trish), Wesley Eure (Mike), Joseph Gallison (Neil), Jack Denbo (Jack), Susan Seaforth Hayes (Julie), Bill Hayes (Doug), Ben DiTosti (Ben).

[Paul Raven]

Never seen Dick DeCoit as Mile before.He looks older than Wesley Eure.

Wonder if that's why they decided to drop him?

[Titus Andronicus]

After doing a bit of research, I don't think the Donna story got Marcus fired. I think she got fired, but I'm now leaning towards another incident that might have made Days' brass finally decide to clean house.

 

Jon-Michael Reed, the best soap insider there was at the time, had this in February 1979:

 

I think that might have been the tipping point. Days claimed Marcus moved on to other projects. Days also claimed that Pat Falken Smith was fired over ratings, when it was likely that and all the controversial stories under her watch.

 

The re-worked Donna storyline from the interracial love child proposal might not have gotten Marcus fired.  But something was going on. Not only did Marcus go in February 1979, so did two of her hires, writers Ray Goldstone and Joyce Perry.

 

Marcus was a bad fit. Days must have offered her a huge chunk of money. It was said in September 1977 that Betty Corday had wanted Marcus for a long time. Money and Corday had to play a huge part in it. Marcus had been working with Norman Lear. After her season of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, she had worked with him on another show, All That Glitters. Marcus wrote two episodes. It was a stinkbomb and she knew it. The show began airing in April 1977. It was a daily and made it 65 episodes before being canned.

 

(A year after Days, Marcus was involved in yet another soap satire, The Life and Times of Eddie Roberts.)

 

The style clash was highlighted even more in an interview just after her hiring when Marcus said she didn't know if it was possible with Days, but she wanted to do a humorous soap opera.

 

So, it was Corday who specifically wanted Marcus. I'm not sure if Marcus truly wanted daytime again, or to be saddled with something for a long time. In that retrospective interview (with the interracial love child claim), she didn't think she had more than three years of ideas for any project.

 

Bill Bell's contributions ran out April 1978. Days had been declining steadily in the ratings - enough that in August 1977 it was reported that NBC was considering changing back to 30 minutes if ratings didn't improve - and then the bottom fell out.

 

Marcus looks to have been trying to get out soon after Bell's run truly ended.  In mid-1978, she had pitched a soap to ABC, which they were considering. It was tentatively titled, The Best Years. Goldstone and Perry were going to write for it. While at Days, she wrote Women at West Point, a made-for-TV movie that aired just after she left the show.

 

So, I think we have a combo here:

- Bad storylines

- A style clash

- Plummeting ratings

- Not totally focusing on Days

- The backstage fight

 

And, because she's so good at this, Susan Seaforth Hayes had a little dig at Marcus. Marcus' departure was announced in the same article that Elizabeth Harrower's promotion was announced. Naturally, Susan was asked what she thought:

"Whenever we received a script written by mother, everyone in the cast agreed it was a pleasure to act her words."

[Paul Raven]

Remember that Betty Corday had really only ever worked with Bill Bell and PF Smith, so having a new headwriter with her own style and agenda may have been a little difficult on both sides, more so than expected.

 

There was also some backstage rumblings when Susan's mom became headwriter - she addressed rumors in SOD that Julie would be favored - denied of course,  but the Julie burn and Doug/Julie breakup wew penned by her mother and she was front burner.

[beebs]

SSH has always had a way with shade so subtle, you could blink and miss it.

 

Didn't someone post the newspaper clipping about the backstage fight a few years ago? I'm pretty sure it was between SSH and Kaye Stevens (Jeri). 

 

It really does seem like a perfect storm. And I have to say, it seems like (and I'm sure you all noticed it), a very distinct reboot that happened near the end of 1977. A whole bunch of stories just abruptly stopped and either languished in the backburner for ages (Bill/Kate/Laura), were ended/sent packing abruptly (the entire Grant family, particularly Danny/Toni's story, Trish/David/Mike, Marie, Tommy, Dr. Griffin and his daughter), or ended with a really definite period (the wife beating story, Sam/Marlena). A few came to their natural conclusion, but few had long-reaching consequences. Wouldn't Julie's rape be a better reason why she isn't interested in sex with Doug than being in a snit because he isn't nice to her scammer brother? These conversations needed to be had, and weren't.

 

It was as though Ann Marcus rebooted her own show midway through her run, and it feels like she just wanted us all to forget that 1977 even happened. You are 100% right about the style clash. The show did not need to be constantly scandal-filled, but DAYS was not known as a plotty, action-based show at this point. It did not need to speed through all these stories at breakneck speed like it has under Marcus, with such melodramatic extreme trials coming and going almost every few weeks like it's nothing. 

 

Oddly enough, DAYS' ratings stabilized in 1978-79, though I wonder how much of that was down to Elizabeth Harrower taking over in February. 

1975-76 - #4 (tied with SFT) - 8.3

1976-77 - #7 - 7.8

1977-78 - #10 - 6.9

1978-79 - #10 - 6.8

 

So evidently, Ann Marcus' stories were flopping hard, especially the first year.

 

Checking out the Ratings of the 70s thread, I pulled up some interesting notes:

NOV 77 - DAYS made it to #6 with an 8.9 during this month, where Fred Barton tripped and fell down the stairs and Bill had to perform surgery on him with Kate's help. Marlena was rescued from Bayview, and Phyllis leaves on her trip after emasculating Neil for his affair with Mary. I suspect these stories' climaxes were surprisingly successful, but the effect was not long-lasting.

 

NOV 78 - The ratings bottom out at #10 and 5.5. So the Janice custody trial was a massive flop, as was Donna's travails.

 

After February 1979, the ratings seem to stabilize, with DAYS now settling around #8 or 9 most months, neck and neck with RH and AW most of that time, so I suspect Elizabeth Harrower wasn't exactly lighting the world on fire, but was keeping things from going entirely down the tubes. Most of the time her DAYS stayed in the Mid-6.0 range.

 

Things bottom out in the Summer of 1980, when they drop to a 4.8 under Nina Laemmle.

 

Edited November 4, 2020 by beebs

[JAS0N47]

"DAYS" ANNIVERSARY WEEK...

 

 
April 21, 1975 Variety ad announces "Days" is expanding from a half-hour series to an hour series.
 

 
Betty Corday holds a card from NBC congratulating "Days" on its 10th anniversary in 1975.
 

 
Macdonald Carey (Tom) speaks at the "Days" 11th anniversary party in 1976.
 

 
Susan Seaforth Hayes (Julie) and Macdonald Carey (Tom) promote the news that "Days" is expanding from 30 minutes (smaller hourglass) to 60 minutes )larger hourglass) in April 1975.
 

 
John Clarke (Mickey), Marie Cheatham (Marie), Edward Mallory (Bill), Frances Reid (Alice) and Macdonald Carey (Tom) pose for the first Horton family portrait in 1966.
 

 
John Clarke (Mickey, with amnesia as Marty) meets Suzanne Rogers (Maggie) for the first time on August 20, 1973.

Edited November 2, 2020 by JAS0N47

[AbcNbc247]

There's an interview with Ann Marcus posted on this thread a couple of pages back in which she revealed that Betty Corday wanted her for a while, and offered her a very sweet deal, basically whatever Ann Marcus wanted, in order for her to become head writer. But I guess all those high hopes ended when the ratings slipped.

 

In the interview, Ann also goes on about how hard it is to be a head writer on a soap, and suggests that a head writer's stint should only last like two years.

 

Edited November 2, 2020 by AbcNbc247

[soapfave06]

Did they age Mickey and Bill in casting in the 60s? I didnt start watching until 2006 but I find it shocking that Mickey and Bill were so old by the 70s. This and the bizzarre aging process for Mike and David. 

[Bright Eyes]

 

John Clarke was only a year older than Mickey, but Ed Mallory was a decade older than Bill.

[Paul Raven]

John Clarke (Mickey) was 34 when he started on Days in 65 and Edward Mallory (Bill) was 36 but I believe Mickey and Bill were supposed to be younger.

Really the characters should have been 10 years younger when the show started.

Neither actor looked particularly youthful and didn't age well so by the 70's they weren't really leading man material.

[soapfave06]

Thanks guys! Obviously the casting worked out in the long run but it limited long term opportunities it seems. 

[Franko]

According to the family album, published in 1995 ...

Tom Jr. and Addie were 34 in 1965.

Mickey was 33 and Bill was 25.

Marie was 23.

 

Also, Julie was the first born grandchild, sometime around 1949-50. It sounds as though Steve, two years younger than her, was just slightly older than Sandy, who was born before Tommy "died" in '53 but never met her dad until her teens.

 

Edited November 3, 2020 by Franko

[JAS0N47]

 

The 1961 "Days" proposal which I typed up has all the info. Of course, since it was written in 1961, the years should be moved up four years to 1965 start date:

 

http://www.jason47.com/days/proposal.html

 

THE HORTONS

Tom -- born 1905 -- now 56

Alice -- born 1908 -- now 53

They were married in 1925, when Tom was 20 and Alice 18.

THE CHILDREN

Daniel and Adelaide, twins, born 1926. Adelaide now 35-36.

Daniel married Kitty, 1947.

Adelaide married Ben Olson, 1946. Ben born in 1924.

Daniel killed, Korea, 1951.

Michael (Mickey) -- born 1928 -- now 33-34

Marie Curie Horton -- born 1931 -- now 30-31

William Osler (Bill) Horton -- born 1933 - now 28-29

THE GRANDCHILDREN

To: Dan and Kitty:

     Robert (Bobby) -- born 1949 -- now 12-13

To: Ben and Addy:

     Julia (Julie) -- born 1947 -- now 15-16
 
     Mark -- born 1948 -- now 13-14

[Franko]

Excellent stuff, @JAS0N47. Interesting how this stuff changed, like Marie and Bill's birth order switching.