Days of Our Lives

Coming up, over the next few episodes on Days of Our Lives...

• Brady gets beaten up.

• Phillip survives his gun shot.

• Victor is consumed with thoughts of revenge.

• Roman tracks down Rafe.

Max meets a woman and Stefano worries about meeting his end next week on Days of Our Lives...

• Brady and Mel make out... but is he into it?

• Max meets waitress named Arianna.

• It's Mia vs. Sydney!

• Stefano fears someone is trying to poison him.

Mel gets a new job next week on Days of Our Lives...

• Stefano and Victor clash.

• Kate wreaks havoc on Dan's potential love life.

• Nicole panics over her future with EJ.

• Mel gets a job at the hospital.

Someone dies next week on Days of Our Lives...

• Tony dies.

• Anna blames Stefano for Tony's death.

• Rafe has a heart-to-heart with Will.

• Doc Baker returns!

Coming up, over the next handful of episodes of Days of Our Lives...

• Nicole confronts Mia.

• Chelsea and Stephanie get an apartment together.

• Sami chooses Rafe as Grace's godfather.

• Phil gets fired by Vic.

Returning priests and trips to Vegas are the focus of this week on Days of Our Lives...

• Chloe's priest is back!

• Tony runs into Mia.

• Kate heads to Vegas.

• Bo advises Steph to rethink her relationship with Phil.

From conversations about eloping to adopting, here's a look ahead on Days of Our Lives:

• Chloe really wants to elope.

• EJ and Nicole sleep together again.

• Rafe applies to the Salem police department.

• Chelsea and Max disagree about adoption.

Leann Hunley is leaving Days of Our Lives. Again.

The actress returned to Salem in June 2007 after a 21-year absence. Viewers have scarcely seen her on the screen recently.

On her blog, Hunley told fans it was time to go:

"Hello Darlings! I worked my last day on Days of Our Lives today ... Anyway, THANK YOU for all your sweet wishes and support over the last year and a half. I had a wonderful time bringing Anna back to life and will miss 'her' more than just a little."

Hunley's exit will coincide with that of co-star Thaao Penghlis.

Programming and casting note for Days of Our Lives viewers:

Tune in to see Wes Ramsey (formerly Sam on Guiding Light) appear on the show in a role producers are keeping under wraps.

The actor first caught the eye of the series last year when he came in to read at the time they were casting for Brady (which went to Eric Martsolf) and Rafe (which went to Galen Gering). 

On Days of Our Lives, Renee Jones has portrayed a best friend, cop, doc, bad girl, and, in recent years, Salem's top adulteress.

However, the actress latest storyline - which depicts Lexie as a mother coping with her son's battle with autism - has been her most challenging to date.

The Days of Our Lives star talked about it with Soap Opera Weekly. Here are excerpts from the interview:

Soap Opera Weekly: What was your reaction when you heard you and James Reynolds (Abe) were the actors chosen to have an autistic child?
Renee Jones: I was blown away. I never thought they would give Abe and Lexie this kind of a storyline.

Weekly: Did you do any research or anything to prepare for this?
Jones: I spoke to our head writer, Dena Higley, whose son has autism, and the show immediately connected me with Autism Speaks so I could learn about it. Autism Speaks connected me with a mother and her little boy. I got to go to his speech therapy class and his occupational therapy, and I [observed] them. Oh, my gosh! Seeing that mother — she was so excited over any little tiny achievement her son made. I was watching her more than him.