Fans of Days of our Lives aren't the only ones who are thrilled that the NBC soap opera made it to its 55th birthday. The long-running series' executive producer, Ken Corday, says that he is also over the moon -- just like his parents, Ted and Betty Corday, would be if they were still alive to see how far the soap that they created has come.
"They'd be flabbergasted! My dad didn't think it would make it a year, and of course, he didn't make it a year, the show did," Corday shares with Soap Opera Digest. "My mom was thrilled when we hit our 20th anniversary and our 25th. Fifty-five is just incomparable. They would be proud. They'd be so proud of what everyone has done. The legacy continues."
As for what DAYS has planned to make sure that the show sees future anniversaries, the EP says that he doesn't plan to reinvent the wheel or do anything shocking in terms of the structure and storylines.
"It's an iconic show, especially for NBC and daytime drama. And if it ain't broke, don't fix it," he opines. "We'll stick with the formula and the families and the romance that seems to have worked for five-and-a-half decades."
The show's continued success, Corday shares, is due in no small part to DAYS' various head writers over the years -- many of whom have honored what the fans love about the show while bringing it into modern times.
"You look at 55 years and you realize that a lot of our legacy characters [are still] on the show -- we still have Maggie [Suzanne Rogers], and Doug [Bill Hayes] and Julie [Susan Seaforth-Hayes], John [Drake Hogestyn] and Marlena [Deidre Hall], and so many other mainstays [who] speak to such a long run. That and the fact that there have basically been five head writers, one in every decade, who have changed the pace of the show and were able to move it up a notch or two," Corday says. "The real driving force behind any soap is the head writer and we've been fortunate to have some really great ones that were able to reshape the show in a positive way and water its roots with young story for the future. We're five generations deep now on the show and it's all flown by so quickly. Here's to 60!"
In case you missed the big news, DAYS is celebrating its 55th anniversary in a very special way: the show will be hosting its annual "Days of Days" fan event virtually for the first time ever -- and the exciting online extravaganza will be available to all fans, for free! To find out how you can attend, check out Soap Central's article about the fan event here.
Do you agree with Ken Corday that it's best to keep the same formula, families, and romance on DAYS? Or do you think the show would do well to make some changes? If you vote for changes, what would you like to see done differently? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
