DAYS: Cwikly/Ford (the new writing team) interviews with spoilers

[janea4old]

Thank you to @dragonflies who first posted this on the April spoilers thread.  Much appreciated.
Reposting here now that there's additional info.

 

^ from the TV Guide print magazine issue that covers three weeks April 14 - May 4,
arriving in the postal mail April 10.

As is often the case, the print magazine contains some (but not all) of the article.  The full article appears later on  -- at tvinsider.com.

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Update April 21, 2025 - here is the FULL interview at tvinsider.com,
with Paula Cwikly and Jeanne Marie Ford.
It has much more information than the magazine article had.
They talk about working as writers, and there are new spoilers for the months ahead.
https://www.tvinsider.com/1187291/days-of-our-lives-changes-storylines-2025-writers-interview/

[janea4old]

^ according to Stephanie Sloane's above articles in TVGuide and tvinsider,
the episodes from the new writers begin airing Wed. April 23.

(Back on January 1st, Stephanie Sloane via tvinsider announced that those episodes would begin April 24;
but it is now announced to be April 23.).

 

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Another new interview from Cwikly&Ford, interviewed by soaps.com (soaps.sheknows).
That website is using the old date of Thurs. April 24.

https://soaps.sheknows.com/days-of-our-lives/news/777994/preview-new-writers-start/
 

Edited Monday at 03:37 PM by janea4old

[Khan]

So.  Any predictions on when DAYS will get wacky again, and how?  Methinks we'll see (budget) flying saucers and CGI-generated giant spiders by Christmas.

[dragonflies]

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[janea4old]

Just the spoilers from the above articles

from TVGuide and tvinsider on casting ideas overall and also re: the Hortons:

• Cwikly and Ford: We wanted to bring more Hortons back to the canvas, give meaningful story to the beloved vets, and flesh out our younger cast to give Salem a true multigenerational appeal.

Spoiler from the soaps.sheknows article
https://soaps.sheknows.com/days-of-our-lives/news/777994/preview-new-writers-start/

• “Bope” are on their way back in May.  Cwikly and Ford share that it “dovetails into the emotional return-filled farewell to John.” 

from TVGuide and tvinsider on John/Drake:

• Cwikly and Ford: The first task we were given was addressing the months-long absence of John Black [Drake Hogestyn, who passed away in September 2024 from pancreatic cancer] from the canvas. While we wanted John to have a heroic and meaningful exit, we wrote the story with the fervent hope that Drake would be able to return someday.
  John had already been off the canvas for over nine months, and there were only so many missions the man could be on. His family and friends in Salem, especially Marlena, were sort of stuck waiting for him. Realizing he might never come back, while praying he would, we needed to craft an exit that honored John, Drake, and the fans.

Spoilers from the tvinsider article:
https://www.tvinsider.com/1187291/days-of-our-lives-changes-storylines-2025-writers-interview/

• Bo and Hope’s return: “Bo/Hope’s previous exit story could not be executed as originally planned, and we felt we needed to give them — and their fans — the resolution they deserved.”
   
• The end of John Black’s story: “It was very hard [to write]. Everyone on the show, including us, loved John and Drake. They were both Superman, and this was not supposed to happen. Logistically, it was difficult because it was our first major story. It was an emotionally fraught situation that involved numerous variables beyond our control. First and foremost, we wanted to respect Drake’s legacy and everyone who loved him.”
   
• Marlena: “Marlena will be very busy in the coming months as a mother, grandmother, psychiatrist, and friend.  She has counseled many patients on grief and has obviously experienced loss herself, but losing John forces her to re-explore who she is without him.”
   
• DiMera and Titan: “The business story primarily serves as a backdrop to the complex family dynamics, with Xander/Philip’s fraught relationship playing a central role.”
   
• The fallout of EJ’s shooting: “This story was perfectly poised to take off when we took over. There are many viable suspects with means, motive and opportunity.  There will be a trial in the summer that involves many characters on the canvas.”
   
• Stephanie and Alex: “We will see their courtship, and Alex will help Stephanie find a new side of herself.”
   
• Belle and EJ: “Belle knows EJ is toxic, but she can’t seem to stay away from him…”
   
• Gwen Rizczech’s return: “Gwen’s return was in the works before we were hired. We love Emily O’Brien and think Gwen can stir up a lot of mischief in Salem.”
   
• Arianna Horton’s comeback (SORAS/recast with Marissa Reyes) :
  “Arianna is a Brady, a Horton and a Hernandez, so we were eager to have her back on the canvas to round out the teen scene. We also love seeing the maternal side of Gabi.”
   
• New Rachel Black (Alice Halsey) : “We cannot say enough good things about Alice Halsey. She is talented beyond her years and has been a fantastic addition.”

From TVGuide and tvinsider:
What can you tease about the actual 60th celebration?
Cwikly and Ford: There will be a gala celebration with the return of many familiar faces, leading to a new umbrella story that takes us into the New Year.
 

Edited Monday at 06:07 PM by janea4old

[janea4old]

From the January 1, 2025 interview with Janet Drucker --
(quoting the things that haven’t aired yet or not discussed above.)
https://www.tvinsider.com/1168243/days-of-our-lives-2025-preview-returns-recastings-storylines/ 

•  “The stories created by Paula and Jeanne Marie will first be seen at the end of April and it will quickly be evident that they are moving us back to Salem’s core family dynamics — Brady, Horton, Kiriakis, DiMera, and Hernandez families,” previews Drucker.
   
• Marnie [Saitta, casting director] continues to bring some really great actors our way for a couple of recasts, plus more intriguing characters to come.
   
• refocus and stronger storylines featuring our college-aged characters
   
• doses of humor:  Leo, Hattie, Bonnie, Susan
   
• Soap vet Michael Dietz will appear for a short story arc beginning April 30.

Edited Monday at 08:22 PM by janea4old

[janea4old]

from the April TVGuide and tvinsider interviews re: John/Drake:

• Cwikly and Ford: The first task we were given was addressing the months-long absence of John Black [Drake Hogestyn, who passed away in September 2024 from pancreatic cancer] from the canvas. While we wanted John to have a heroic and meaningful exit, we wrote the story with the fervent hope that Drake would be able to return someday.
  John had already been off the canvas for over nine months, and there were only so many missions the man could be on. His family and friends in Salem, especially Marlena, were sort of stuck waiting for him. Realizing he might never come back, while praying he would, we needed to craft an exit that honored John, Drake, and the fans.

from the April 2025 soaps.sheknows article

• “Sadly, the first thing we had to deal with was the absence of John Black,” they acknowledge. “The character had already been MIA from the show for over nine months. His loved ones, especially Marlena, were stuck in a holding pattern while he was gone. We had to execute the tough decision of exiting the character in a way that was meaningful and respectful. We all hoped, until the very end, that Drake would beat that horrible disease and come back, so we did have a plan in our back pocket to make that possible.”

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Both of those interviews seem (?) to indicate that they had planned to write it with the possibility/hope that Drake might be well enough to appear again, but then he wasn't.
I wonder how that will play out on screen? Will there be several weeks of characters wondering before it's confirmed that he's gone?
Last autumn, the actors confirmed that John's memorial ended up being filmed just before Drake passed on.

It's all so sad.

Edited Monday at 08:25 PM by janea4old

[janea4old]

Credit to @Bright Eyes who mentioned this on another thread:
In this interview, Melissa Reeves confirms she returns in early June for John's memorial episodes.  The memorial would be airing sometime in June.
https://www.womansworld.com/entertainment/celebrities/melissa-reeves-talks-days-of-our-lives-drake-hogestyn-nashville


This tvinsider article from October 2024 shows some of the June 2025 returns:
https://www.tvinsider.com/1155196/days-of-our-lives-returns-charles-shaughnessy-christie-clark-victoria-konefal-thaao-penghlis-matt-ashford/
Quite a few photos in this article.   Thaao did confirm on twitter that he returns in June.
(I don't know if these returns are all for John's memorial, but they are appearing in a June timeframe).



These screenshots are from the "Season 60" trailer which covers November 2024 into some point in the Cwikly/Ford regime.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EI-1bN19UWk

As of 4/21/2025, I believe these screengrabs are the only scenes from that trailer that haven't aired yet. 
Don't know exactly when they'll air.

This scene from the trailer - is it from John's memorial? Or does the family gather for some unrelated reason before they learn news about John?
I don't know.

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(In this scene of Hope and Julie from the trailer - they are discussing that Bo will soon walk through the door).  Hope and Julie are wearing the same wardrobe here as in the BTS photo within the tvinsider article from October 2024.

Edited Monday at 08:46 PM by janea4old

[1974mdp]

I'm glad they want to put more focus on the Hortons. I feel like they we almost wiped out by RC towards the end of his run with all the focus on the Dimeras.

[j swift]

Unfortunately, it may not mean much, as every head writer since Shakespeare has promised to focus more on the Hortons.  I'm certain if you prompted ChatGPT to write a cover letter for the job of head writer at Days of Our Lives, it would automatically include a swear to focus on the Hortons.  It's like Kindergarten class being asked a question by the teacher, “what do we say when a soap journalist asked about the future of Days?” and all the little boys and girls say, “focus on the core families like the Hortons.”

[DRW50]

It did seem like for a while they moved away from saying much about the family in comparison to stunts or couples, but I agree not much will change, especially if the idea is that Will's daughter showing up means a Horton focus.

I noticed that they made sure to point out Gwen's return was set up before they took over. I guess they don't want any blame for that flop.

Thanks @janea4old

Edited Monday at 09:57 PM by DRW50

[Taoboi]

Thank you for this.

 

I figured that they would want to repair the damage RC did to Bo/Hope so I'm all for that. 

 

 

[AbcNbc247]

I've been wondering about that too; that doesn't look like a funeral/memorial

Why am I not surprised? 

[1974mdp]

LOL...you do bring up a great point! All the new writers do tend to say that.

Curious what others think...what keeps the writing teams from beefing up and maintaining the Horton clan? There seems to be an endless supply of Dimeras, for instance.

I feel like the family was actually expanded again in 2010s (Sarah, Eli, Nathan, JJ, Abby, Allie, the MANY returns of Lucas, Will and Shawn, and even extended Horton family members such as Ciara and Claire). Out of ALL those characters only Sarah and JJ are currently around on any regular basis. We also lost Jennifer and Hope full-time.

Now all that's currently left of Tom and Alice's descendants are Julie (finally back on contract), Shawn, Sarah (Mickey's legal daughter), JJ (currently recurring). Of course, we still have Maggie considered a part of the family.

[AbcNbc247]

In Ron's case, I think it was his obsessions and his biases that kept it from happening.