I don't think soap actors can just quit at any time. They are locked into a contract and only the producers can terminate. I took it to mean he let them know he wouldn't be staying once the contract came to an end. So they chose to diminish Chris' importance in the story.

5 hours ago, j swift said:

He quit, thus voiding his contract.  He did the classic dumb employee move of giving lots of notice.  But, once you quit, you have voided your contract.

 

Of course, people can quit.  I'm certain you recall that Charles Mesure, Jamie Martin Mann, and Madelyn Kientz have all quit recently. Thankfully, @Paul Raven we still live in a country that a contract doesn't imply forced servitude.  

My point, is that this article is a classic example of clickbait. An editor used a provocative title for an article.  The actor is saying he thought about suing.  Al Rabin reminds him how contracts work.  Then, he says he regrets quitting because he mistakenly believed they would pay out his contract for work that he did not complete.  So, six years later, when given the opportunity, he returned and quit again.

Edited October 8Oct 8 by j swift

TWO ADDITIONAL WRITER DEATH UPDATES...

With the death of Margaret DePriest, I checked the WGA memorial list from this past year and found that Katherine Penders, a Days writer from 1994-1997, died on 1/1/25. I have also found one of the several "missing" writers. A 1979 article confirms that Delle Coleman Bohrman, who died 4/15/22, used the fictitious name of Elizabeth Blake-Young when writing soaps (the same year she wrote for Days).

 

That leaves 14 still "missing" writers with no info available (all of them have pretty common names, so they will be hard to find probably):

 

Days "Missing" Writers (Years writing for "Days"):

James H. Arthur (1979-1980)
Charles Edwards (1980-1981)
Brian Farrell (1987)
Howard George (1984)
Janne Hiller (1984) (possibly Janne Goodman Hiller Seal, born 1947, via public records)
Chuck Hirsch (1986)
CL Johnson (1985)
Jeanne Knowlton (1986) (found a Jeanne Knowlton Ross, born 1946, who went by Jeanne Ruskin when acting in soaps, so she is a possibility to be this person)
Carolyne Lacey (1971) (Wrote the 1962 play "The Virgin's Victory")
Morton Lewis (1986)
Erika Moore (1984)
Nichole Murphy (1989)
Patrick Smith (1986)
Robert Stevens (1992-1993)

 

Here's Elizabeth Blake-Young (aka Delle Bohrman)'s full obirtuary:

 

Delle Bohrman, a screenwriter and widow of the longtime Los Angeles TV and radio host Stan Bohrman, has died at 89.

 

Bohrman, a resident of Westlake Terrace, died April 15 of advanced kidney failure, according to her son David, a veteran TV news producer for CNN, NBC and CBS.

 

Delle Bohrman served on the women’s committee of the Writers Guild of America. Working mostly under the name Del Coleman, she earned a story credit on the 1986 TV movie “Of Pure Blood” that starred Lee Remick, and wrote for the animated series “The Flintstones.”

 

She was the wife of Stan Bohrman, a provocative TV talk show host at Los Angeles TV station KHJ (now KCAL). Bohrman was the lead host of “Tempo,” a live daily interview program that presented controversial topics to a daytime audience from 1967-73. He later worked as a TV journalist for KABC in Los Angeles and KPIX in San Francisco and radio stations KNX and KFWB.

 

During his years on “Tempo,” where Bohrman flashed a peace sign at the end of each show, he and Delle were liberal political activists. They both marched with labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez.

 

The couple were also active participants in the Laurel Canyon counterculture scene of the 1960s and early ‘70s. David Bohrman recalls that entertainers and rock stars were frequent guests at parties in their home, where folk singer Arlo Guthrie and songwriter Hoyt Axton were regulars.

 

Born Ardelle Coleman in Los Angeles on Oct. 23, 1932, she graduated from Dorsey High School and attended UCLA for two years before leaving to pursue a career as a lounge singer. She met Stan Bohrman when he was a radio show host and part-time musician and they married in 1953.

 

They resided mostly in Los Angeles, but also lived in Boston, San Francisco and San Diego when Stan Bohrman had radio or TV jobs in those cities.

 

Along with her son David, Delle Bohrman is survived by a daughter, Cathy. Her daughter Caren, a literary agent, died in 2012. Stan Bohrman died in 1994.

6 hours ago, j swift said:

Of course, people can quit.  I'm certain you recall that Charles Mesure, Jamie Martin Mann, and Madelyn Kientz have all quit recently. Thankfully, @Paul Raven we still live in a country that a contract doesn't imply forced servitude.  

My point, is that this article is a classic example of clickbait. An editor used a provocative title for an article.  The actor is saying he thought about suing.  Al Rabin reminds him how contracts work.  Then, he says he regrets quitting because he mistakenly believed they would pay out his contract for work that he did not complete.  So, six years later, when given the opportunity, he returned and quit again.

Not denying the clickbait aspect-those old soap magazines thrived on those type of headlines eg  Valerie Starrett finds true love at last! And then you read the article and she's talking about her cat or some such.

Not to be a bore about this contract thing, but yes I guess actors can choose to leave at any time, but they are breaking a contract and surely there must be a penalty or consequence.

Otherwise you would have people leaving anytime which would be chaotic for the show.

Thinking of Robin Wright when she got Princess Bride-she couldn't up and leave-she had to add extra months onto the end of her contract.

Or when Melissa Reeves up and left there was a lawsuit involved.

In the examples you mentioned, isn't it a case of producers agreeing (for whatever reason) to allow the actor to leave? I think it is at producers discretion.

 

@JAS0N47 Thank you for finding all this information and honoring the memory of the various soap writers who would probably not be remembered otherwise. I never even thought of how difficult it must be to find info on various writers, especially those who used pseuds. 

Was Katherine Penders a sister to Maura Penders?

 

In 1991, after waking from a five-year coma and returning to Salem, Marlena recalls her first encounter with the original Roman.

12 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

Not to be a bore about this contract thing, but yes I guess actors can choose to leave at any time, but they are breaking a contract and surely there must be a penalty or consequence.

Otherwise you would have people leaving anytime which would be chaotic for the show.

Thinking of Robin Wright when she got Princess Bride-she couldn't up and leave-she had to add extra months onto the end of her contract.

Or when Melissa Reeves up and left there was a lawsuit involved.

In the examples you mentioned, isn't it a case of producers agreeing (for whatever reason) to allow the actor to leave? I think it is at producers discretion.

 

Thank you for laying out your perspective so clearly—it’s an important conversation and one where the language around “contracts” can understandably cause some confusion.

Just to clarify: yes, actors can and do break contracts. The key thing to remember is that a contract isn’t an unbreakable chain—it’s a mutual agreement that outlines terms, including potential penalties for breach. When someone breaks a contract, the consequence is usually reputational or financial—not legal incarceration. That’s why most actors who break a contract only do so when another opportunity has been secured, and they’re willing to face the fallout (e.g., a damaged relationship with the producer, or financial penalties). It’s not chaos, it’s calculus.

You’re absolutely right to bring up the Robin Wright example—she *did* extend her contract. But that wasn’t because she couldn’t leave; it’s because she and the production found a mutually agreeable solution with her management that she hated. She played out her contract, presumedly, to protect her reputation early in her career with New World that co-owned the movie studio that produced her debut film.  In Melissa Reeves’s case, the lawsuit you mentioned underscores that exit consequences are case-by-case—not automatic and not always prohibitive.

Lastly, while producers certainly can approve a release, it’s not always at their “discretion” in the sense of full control. Soaps aren’t gulags. Actors are not indentured—they're workers in a collaborative industry with fluid movement, especially across networks and platforms. If someone wants to leave, they can. The question becomes what consequences they’re willing to accept—and what bridges they’re willing to burn.

Soap contracts are fascinating, but we might want to leave the labor law analysis to actual attorneys. What is clear is what played out on-screen, which is the only part we’re meant to interpret as viewers.  Making inferences about a second soap that is going on behind the scenes is purely fiction, as this article shows.  And that fiction is rarely close to the truth (see Charles Mesure for a recent example of fan speculation (he couldn't handle the pace) versus his actual truth (he hated his work environment).  Which is why, I believe, promoting those myths makes us seem foolish.

For example @Paul Raven, you appear to be a bright person, but I don't think you truly believed that Robin Wright was forced to work on TV against her will, while living in America in the 1980s.  I think you are restating an oral history of fan myths that are rarely subjected to logical reinterpretation.  However, once you apply your human experience of employment, you can easily get to the truth.  

 

 

Edited October 9Oct 9 by j swift

9 hours ago, DRW50 said:

@JAS0N47 Thank you for finding all this information and honoring the memory of the various soap writers who would probably not be remembered otherwise. I never even thought of how difficult it must be to find info on various writers, especially those who used pseuds. 

Was Katherine Penders a sister to Maura Penders?

I always assumed they were.

59 minutes ago, JAS0N47 said:

I always assumed they were.

Thanks.

1 hour ago, DRW50 said:

Thanks.

I couldn't find any obituary for Katherine Penders, but when you google Maura Penders, it shows her middle name is Katherine, so I think that makes it more likely they were sisters.

Why do I feel like Louise Sorel wasn't completely acting when she said "This is the worst day of my life" while dressed as a box of french fries?

Already posted this on the Santa Barbara thread, but adding here on the DAYS history thread for fun because, Missy Reeves talks about the distant past and says:
"I used to dogsit Louise Sorel's dogs when she went on vacation"
 

This is about Missy Reeves remembering her time at Santa Barbara,
(on the occasion of 40 years since she first taped at DAYS).

https://x.com/RemindMag/status/1976401054670438583

Melissa Reeves is celebrating 40 years since she joined the cast of #DaysOfOurLives. https://t.co/3F6OjcBbLT

— ReMind (@RemindMag) October 9, 2025

 

published October 9, 2025: 
Melissa Reeves - brief interview about her time at Santa Barbara. (interviewed by Stephanie Sloane)
https://www.remindmagazine.com/article/36005/days-of-our-lives-melissa-reeves-santa-barbara/

I keep doing the math of how much longer Cat will be in Salem, given the initial reports of ALM's signing:

Here's a breakdown (AI assisted) of the timeline and context:

• Contract timeline: McCord's one-year contract began in December 2023.
  • editor's note: Isn't that crazy to think it was 12/2023? That feels like a lifetime ago - seven months before Biden ended his candidacy.
• Filming schedule: Days of Our Lives tapes approximately seven to ten months ahead of its airdate.
  • editor's note: This seems like the key calculation error, because I think AI made a mistake, they are obviously further ahead than 10 months at this point.
• Initial character departure (mid-to-late 2025): The original one-year contract would have ended in December 2024. Considering the lead time, the scenes filmed at the end of that contract would have aired around mid-to-late 2025.

I noticed she was in New York for DAYS’ induction into the Broadcast Hall of Fame, and featured in the official promo pics on social media, no less. That makes me think the trip wasn’t self-funded, which raises the question: did she quietly sign an extension? Or is she wrapping up before Chad exits and swaps faces?

It reminded me of that story about the actor who played Doug³ being spotted by a fan long after his contract was terminated. Imagine the surreal moment of being recognized for a role you filmed two years ago. That’s probably why DAYS is so good at keeping spoilers under wraps—by the time anything airs, even the cast barely remembers what they shot. 😉

Finally, remember the hub bub about the 60th anniversary promo pics?  Are they ever planning to use those?  I feel like I've seen the entire photoshoot, but they never printed the results.

 

Edited October 12Oct 12 by j swift

1 hour ago, j swift said:

I keep doing the math of how much longer Cat will be in Salem, given the initial reports of ALM's signing:

Here's a breakdown (AI assisted) of the timeline and context:

• Contract timeline: McCord's one-year contract began in December 2023.
  • editor's note: Isn't that crazy to think it was 12/2023? That feels like a lifetime ago - seven months before Biden ended his candidacy.
• Filming schedule: Days of Our Lives tapes approximately seven to ten months ahead of its airdate.
  • editor's note: This seems like the key calculation error, because I think AI made a mistake, they are obviously further ahead than 10 months at this point.
• Initial character departure (mid-to-late 2025): The original one-year contract would have ended in December 2024. Considering the lead time, the scenes filmed at the end of that contract would have aired around mid-to-late 2025.

I noticed she was in New York for DAYS’ induction into the Broadcast Hall of Fame, and featured in the official promo pics on social media, no less. That makes me think the trip wasn’t self-funded, which raises the question: did she quietly sign an extension? Or is she wrapping up before Chad exits and swaps faces?

It reminded me of that story about the actor who played Doug³ being spotted by a fan long after his contract was terminated. Imagine the surreal moment of being recognized for a role you filmed two years ago. That’s probably why DAYS is so good at keeping spoilers under wraps—by the time anything airs, even the cast barely remembers what they shot. 😉

Finally, remember the hub bub about the 60th anniversary promo pics?  Are they ever planning to use those?  I feel like I've seen the entire photoshoot, but they never printed the results.

 

Instead of AI, you could use my production schedule made by me (a human)!!

https://www.jason47.com/days/productionschedule.html

I forget my human resources, thanks @JAS0N47

Have you found an updated scheduling "insider" source?🤞

UPDATE using @JAS0N47 production schedule made by a human - himself

https://www.jason47.com/days/productionschedule.html

so, if she signed in December 2023 (still incredible), her first tape day was probably 1/9/23, and it was edited into the cliffhanger of June 19, 2024

Week of 12/26/22-12/30/22 DARK WEEK # 15

2023:
Week of 1/2/23-1/6/23 DARK WEEK # 1
Week of 1/9/23-1/13/23 # 14625-14631 (airing 6/27/23-7/5/23)

Then, if she taped for a year, we can assume,

2024:

Week of 12/18/23-12/22/23 # 14886-14895 (airing 6/25/24-7/8/24)

Therefore, she must have extended if she is still on-screen in 10/2025.  So, we don't know how long she's staying. 
 

Spoiler

Unless, she signed a two-year contract which would've ended in January 2025.

2025:
Week of 1/6/25-1/10/25 # 15225-15233 (airing 10/13/25-10/23/25)

Sorry, this veered into spoiler, when it started as BTS, feel free to punish as necessary. 

Edited October 12Oct 12 by j swift