Days: Who do you think will stay, go, be fired?

[JackPeyton]

Per Jason 47's site, a lot of Days actors contracts expire this year. Who do you think will stay, go, and be let go?

Any news on Shawn or Ari? Theirs are already up!

Shawn Christian (Daniel): February 2012

Arianne Zucker (Nicole): March 2012

Kristian Alfonso (Hope): April 2012

Renee Jones (Lexie): May 2012

Molly Burnett (Melanie): June 2012

Josh Taylor (Roman): June 2012

Suzanne Rogers (Maggie): June 2012

Peter Reckell (Bo): July 2012

Joseph Mascolo (Stefano): July 2012

Melissa Reeves (Jennifer): September 2012

Galen Gering (Rafe): September 2012

Eric Martsolf (Brady): October 2012

Ian Buchanan (Ian): November 2012

Peggy McCay (Caroline): December 2012

Alison Sweeney (Sami): December 2012

[Mr. Vixen]

I could see Peggy, Ian and Galen being fired or dropped to recurring. Everyone else is safe, I assume.

[AMCHistory]

The cast is really inflated right now, and ratings are not moving the right direction. Lest a lot of these people take pay cuts, I can see an axe swinging through Salem too. Here are my bets on the current cluster:

Shawn Christian (Daniel): February 2012 -STAY; Christian wants to stay, and it looks like they are hedging their bets with Rinna.

Arianne Zucker (Nicole): March 2012 - STAY; Corday's loves a bitch and Zucker is not old enough yet to de-claw and toss aside. She also costs pennies.

Kristian Alfonso (Hope): April 2012 - STAY; Bo and Hope, packaged deal, and his current tent pole characters.

Renee Jones (Lexie): May 2012 - DUMPED; I did not even know Renee was back on contract, I thought she had been recurring since her last return. I could see her getting a heavy recurring thing.

Molly Burnett (Melanie): June 2012 - DUMPED; I can see Molly walking, she is still young and has been around for a while. She is struggling to find a story now. She has grown so much as an actress; I would hate to see her go.

Josh Taylor (Roman): June 2012 - STAY; He's in bed with the boss (not literally). He is going nowhere. Which is sad, because I cannot think of anyone cares about Roman anymore.

Suzanne Rogers (Maggie): June 2012 - ??; breaks my heart, but this can go either way. Marlena is starting to take of Suzanne's airtime. She is not really positioned as the next "Alice" and I do not know how Suzanne would react to that type of moniker of treatment.

Peter Reckell (Bo): July 2012 - STAY; Bo and Hope, packaged deal, and his current tent pole characters.

Joseph Mascolo (Stefano): July 2012 - ??; This could go either way. Moscolo makes a lot of demands in terms of perks, but keeps a low profile when it comes to stories. I can see his guarantee being chopped, but I feel like he is going nowhere.

Melissa Reeves (Jennifer): September 2012 - STAY; Like above, Corday is loyal. He loves Missy. I know he gave her the world to come back.

Galen Gering (Rafe): September 2012 - STAY; In the current tptb's eyes, this guy is their leading man.

Eric Martsolf (Brady): October 2012 - STAY; The guy is well liked on the set and he does not cost much relatively. He still has his looks, which we all know means a lot in the land of Corday.

Ian Buchanan (Ian): November 2012 - DUMPED; Any one else smell Salem's next murder mystery (I heard on of the gays does it, shh!!!)?

Peggy McCay (Caroline): December 2012 - DUMPED; I hate to see it happen, but McKay's showing signs of having a hard time with lines; she is also known for having a bit of a kooky personality offscreen which seems to have only intensified with age.

Alison Sweeney (Sami): December 2012 - STAY; I doubt she is going anywhere unless she decides to walk. NBC loves cross-product integrations, and she is

[juppiter]

They could really do some pruning on this show. They've got too many characters right now and there is a lot of dead weight. The only ones on this list I think are 100% safe are Nicole, Hope, Lexie, Bo, Stefano, and Sami.

[quartermainefan]

Peggy McKay you can see has aged, and I wish she would retire while she can go out on a graceful note. Unless the show and the audiences makes this unspoken compact where everyone sees she is unsteady but pretends not to notice because she is Peggy McKay. Let's face it, the show did that for Alice, GH did it for Lila, AMC did it for Palmer and Pheobe. I guess if she wants to work and the show can work around her it isn't the end of the world if she stays, but it is a little sad watching her.

[JackPeyton]

If Zucker's wa sup later in the year, id say shes a goner.

I dont see Bo, Hope, Maggie going at all.

Alison/Sami will stay if she decides, not the show. I feel the same way about Joe/Stefano.

Id place Lexie, Daniel and Rafe on the safe list, given where they are doing/upcoming plans for all, but that could change.

Caroline, Roman should go, but will stay.

I think the ball is in Burnetts court, but i think the show is expecting her to leave.

Jennifer and Brady i am really unsure about it. Nothing they give him tends to work, i could see them moving on, perhaps recasting Eric Brady even. And Jen, same, nothing has worked with her return. So im just unsure, but id bet safe.

[DRW50]

They just hired Ian Buchanan. I think they will keep him around (although he hasn't worked so far), especially if Joe Mascolo leaves.

They are always pushing Rafe so I think he will stay as well.

[JackPeyton]

Ian was hired on a short term tho, I think they have a preplanned story to the finale for him so i think he will be killed off.

[tylerbo20]

Daniel/Lexi/Maggie/Rafe/Roman all need to get the boot in a murder mystery but lets face it its never going to happen...Jack/Jen/Nicole/Austin/Carrie will probably get the boot

[DRW50]

I could see that, but so far it wouldn't be much of a story. I guess Madison or Kate could kill him. He's like some type of homicidal queen from a subversive 50's movie.

[AMCHistory]

Or Sonny... or Will... or Adrianne/Justin so as to sacrifice a non-critical role (in Corday's eyes)

[JackPeyton]

Well, but the time his contract is up it would be a good 8 month stint or so, and they have weaved him into quite a few stories.

MAGGIE?! NO! Caroline, sure. Hell, anyone - including Marlena - before Maggie, please.

[darraholic]

I don't see Suzanne Rogers getting dumped.

I could see Peggy, Renee becoming recurring.

I have a strange feeling Joe Mascolo might leave this year and retire. I can also see Shawn Christian being dropped later in the year.

Molly & Alison are a toss up. I can see both wanting to leave to try other things (moreso Molly) but DAYS will try everything to keep them.

[JackPeyton]

I don't see Ali even wanting to leave. Shes a smart woman. Ride the show out into the sunset, it works with her schedule.

Molly is very much a toss up. Shes also smart, and shes not unhappy, and the show has allowed her to do multiple outside projects with their filming schedule, but she is young and if she were to really try it now is the time. Its the gamble of a soap actor, play it safe or take the risk? I wouldn't be surprised either way, but i def do think the ball is 100% in her court on staying or going, more so than any other younger person on the show with the exception of Chandler. Then again it very much feels like they are bracing themselves for her to go.

[JaneAusten]

I am not sure what's to play safe. It's not like Days or any of these shows have years left and Molly got her experience at days. I dislike Melanie a lot mostly because of how they've used her over the years, the tortured heroine doesn't work for her but I think Molly is actually very talented. Shelly left and immediately landed something I could see Molly doing the same.

As for the rest who knows. I'd like them to dump John but I doubt that would happen. Nicole, Carrie, Madison all kind of bleed together now. Ari is by far the best of the 3 although Nicole and Madison would be easy to dump. They have no connections on the show. Jack and Jenn I think are gone which contract or not is fine by me. I'd hate to see Suzanne gone but the show has little use for her and Shawn Christian Billie or not I think is a goner.