Days of Our Lives News (Page 9)

Marking the 60th Anniversary of their annual awards, the Writers Guild of America has announced the winners of the 2008 Writers Guild Awards for outstanding achievement in writing for screen, television, documentary, radio, promotion, and video games for 2007.

You're familiar with a couple of the victors:

Daytime Serial: The Young and the Restless
Written by Lynn Marie Latham, Scott Hamner, Jeff Gottesfeld & Cherie Bennet, Bernard Lechowick, James Stanley, Natalie Minardi Slater, Lynsey Dufour, Marina Alburger, Sara Bibel, Janice Ferri Esser, Eric Freiwald & Linda Schreiber, Joshua McCaffrey, Sandra Weintraub; CBS

Television on-air Promotion: Days of Our Lives: Mini-Series, The Bradys vs. the Dimeras
Written by Judie Henninger; NBC

Let's take a look at the following Days of Our Lives spoilers. Feel free to talk about them in our forum...

• Steve (Stephen Nichols, pictured) sees Ava (the woman from his past) once more before he leaves for Ireland.

• Those in Ireland head back to Salem on John's jet. But it gets sabotaged and left without pilots. That can't be good.

• Grandpa Shawn gives Bo the last oxygen mask on the plane to save him. Might it be the end of Shawn Sr.?

• EJ (James Scott) and Sami (Alison Sweeney) leave the safe house, returning to their respective apartments.

Patsy Pease (Kimberly) will return to Days of Our Lives for two episodes, beginning February 27.

"My relationship with the fans is what has meant the most to me," the actress told Soap Opera Digest. "When they write and tell me that it feels like there's a hole in the Brady family, then I want to come back. I am very protective of the loyal following I have.

If they're feeling down about a storyline, I want to go in there and contribute something to make them feel happy. Their happiness means a great deal to me."

Tom Casiello (pictured) was recently fired as a writer on Days of Our Lives.

Before that unceremonious decision, however, the writer spoke with Soap Opera Network about his history of working on various shows. Here are a few highlights:

Question: What are some of your favorite episodes you wrote at As the World Turns?
Casiello: There are so many. Oakdale was such a special place for me, because it was a town I wasn't all that familiar with. So it was the first time in my career that I really had to study a show, because I knew so little about it. I had seen it occasionally growing up, and of course, loved how Doug Marland structured his stories. But a fifteen-year old can only watch so many soaps a day.

So I really had to do my homework and because of having to work that much harder, I was prouder of the episodes I turned in. My absolute favorite episode was right after Bryant died. I wrote the day Craig saw his son's body for the first time, and Barbara showed up at the hospital and said she hoped he felt that way for the rest of his life. I still get chills. I also wrote a few key crazy Julia Lindsay episodes early on, and those were a blast. Oh, and I also got to write Jake and Vicky, which was INSANE since "Another World" had just gone off the air.

Even though it was ghost-Vicky, it was wonderful to write for Tommy [Eplin] and Jensen [Buchanan], having gotten to know them at "Another World." I wrote Jake saying goodbye to Vicky at the Lassiter swings, on a completely different show - very surreal.

Question: In late summer/early fall of 2006 you wrote for The Young and The Restless. How was your stay in Genoa City?
Casiello: Brief. [Laughs] It just wasn't a good fit, and I could feel it from the beginning. It wasn't a personal issue. The people there were really wonderful - I didn't know what it would be like breaking into a Bell show, since they usually hire within their ranks. But they were SO welcoming and SO warm.

I really struggled, but that's not a measure of my abilities or theirs. I just couldn't get a handle on the characters or the story, and it showed. I worked really hard to overcome that, but sometimes, you just don't click with a show and the lesson I learned there was that it's okay if that happens. Not every writer can write for every show.

Continue Reading...

As Tamara Braun (pictured) joins the cast of Days of Our Lives later this month, Soap Opera Digest notes that the actress who portrayed former mob moll Carly Corinthos on General Hospital is far from the first person to switch from the latter series to the former.

Here's a look at a few others:

Stephen Nichols
Donning an eye patch, Nichols defined a new kind of sexy when he premiered as Days of Our Lives' Steve Johnson, a wild-eyed, blue jean-clad bad boy, in 1985. Nichols played a major personality shift in 1996, when he turned up on General Hospital as stuffy Stefan Cassadine.

Mary Beth Evans
Talk about an about-face! In 1986, Evans took on the role of Days of Our Lives' girl next store Kayla Brady, the epitome of sugar & spice and everything nice. Fans were shocked when she turned up on General Hospital in 1993 as manipulative Katherine Bell, who had an affair with a younger man, Nikolas!

However, fans took solace in the fact that she was eventually united with Stefan, portrayed by her former Days of Our Lives' soul mate, Stephen Nichols.

Read the full article now.

Soap Opera Network is reporting that Days of Our Live's entire writing team has been fired. Whoa!

Here's the excerpt from that website:

According to sources, the following writers have been fired and will not return to the show after the strike ends: Head Writer: Hogan Sheffer; Associate Head Writers: Tom Casiello, Frederick Johnson, Meg Kelly, Gordon Rayfield, Judy Tate; Script Writers: Judith Donato, Renee Godelia; Script Editor: Richard Backus.

The status of the other Script Writers: Bettina F. Bradbury, Cydney Kelley, and Jodie Scholz is unclear at the moment.

Wow. What do you think of this development? Chime in on our Days of Our Lives forum right now!

Here are a couple of soap opera notes, courtesy of the latest Soap Opera Digest and Weekly:

Tamara Braun comments on her return to daytime drama in this issue.

"There was nothing wrong with leaving daytime and there's nothing wrong with coming back," said Braun, who played Carly on General Hospital from 2001-05 and joins Days of Our Lives as Ava, a mystery woman from Steve's past, on February 8. The February 12 issue of Soap Opera Digest has a report from her first day on set.

Meanwhile, a General Hospital spoiler:

Sam is hit by a car this week and the question is: who was the driver? It seems much of Port Charles was out driving on that snowy night. And what does Kelly Monaco (Sam) have to say about this? Pick up the latest Soap Opera Weekly to find out!

Here are a few Days of Our Lives spoilers for next week. Don't worry, they don't give too much away...

• Kayla (Mary Beth Evans) learns she's pregnant!

• Colleen tells John (Drake Hogestyn, pictured) that she is his mother.

• Kayla gives Bo the bad news: he's sick.

• Shawn (Brandon Beemer) and Belle decide to try and save their marriage.

Shirley Jones has never been on a soap opera before.

Therefore, the veteran actress recently explained how different her stint on Days of Our Lives has been compared to other roles she's enjoyed.

"I had never done six shows in six days, which is how they do it as you well know,” Jones told Soapdom.com. “And, I had page after page, after page of dialogue to memorize, as well as an Irish brogue. So it was not easy. But I ended up loving it, had a great time with everybody, and they couldn’t be more helpful. I had a good time.”

Read the rest of the feature on Jones now.

Soap Opera Digest is reporting that Lauren Koslow, (Kate, Days of Our Lives) is staying in Salem. Internet rumors had claimed the actress was the latest in the recent string of firings on NBC's only soap opera.

“The internet rumors regarding Lauren Koslow being let go are simply not true," said a show spokesperson.