Days: All My Afternoons

This entry is about the Days of Our Lives section of All My Afternoons a 1979 book by Annie Gilbert on soap operas.

The chapter starts with a comment about how the characters on Days are fun to watch because they are like real life family and friend. Days came about because William Bell wanted to combine the hospital soap and the family soap and did this by having the Hortons a family of doctors.

Another comment is unlike other soaps, the people are wealthier and more sophisticated as they go out to restaurants to gossip instead of hanging out in people’s kitchens. They also feature a hospital with mental wards that you see how people are treated.

The book goes into great detail about the six year on and off relationship of Doug and Julie (Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes). There are pictures of them with Addie (Patricia Barry) and a photo of Scott Banning (Julie’s former husband on his deathbed). It is explained why Addie didn’t die of leukemia, but was hit by a car. Basically Betty Corday who really loved Patricia as a person and respected her as an actress felt the character wasn’t needed. The reason she died in that manner was they didn’t want to say that all cancer patients die. Then it is explained how Bill and Susan got married in real life, and viewers became impatient waiting for a wedding for their characters. It didn’t happen right away, but when it did they used it as an excuse for the actors to have a real foreign honeymoon. Doug and Julie were written out going on a trip to Italy as Bill and Susan left for there. The local press in LA was even invited to watch the taping. There is an interview with Bill and Susan along with a picture from their real life wedding and a four-page spread from the on screen wedding of Doug and Julie.

The other story they go into detail with is Mickey (John Clarke), Bill (Ed Mallory at the time), Laura (Susan Flannery) and Maggie (Suzanne Rogers). They have pictures of Mike Horton as a boy with both of his fathers (the one who raised him Mickey and his biological one Bill). Basically Mike was conceived by rape, as Bill and Laura loved each other, but she had moved on to Mickey marrying him after Bill left her. Bill in frustration one night raped her, but for years no one knew the truth. Young Mike found out about Mickey cheating on Laura with his secretary and Laura’s “emotional affair” with Bill. Mike and Mickey argued and Mickey had a heart attack. While amnesiac Mickey was presumed dead he married Maggie and Laura and Bill wed. Once he got his memory back, Mickey lost his mind after finding out that Mike wasn’t his child and shot Bill. There is a photo in the book of Mickey with the gun and seeing that is just surreal as by the time I started watching Mickey was just such a good guy. Eventually Bill and Laura were together and happy having another child (that’s Jennifer Rose). Once Mike found out his parents sordid past it took time for him to accept his family situation.

Another story they reference is the interracial relationship between David (Julie’s son) and Valerie Grant. This ended their engagement as David got Trish Clayton pregnant.

Macdonald Carey was also interviewed in the book. He took the job to pay alimony to support his children. Mac said that soaps allow you to be recognized and get a seat in any restaurant. One quote against soaps he heard from the neighbors whose set was across from Days. “I overheard some people on the Laugh In show, which was across the hall from us, saying, ‘Well that’s the last refuge of the untalented.’ Nowadays actors who wouldn’t have dreamed of it before are hammering at the gates to get in and do soaps.” The question was asked about stigma with soaps and he said he was getting less bad. He also makes the comment about how soaps…”the person who transgresses suffers or is punished in some way. You see, that’s the other meaning of the “soap” in soap opera. It’s a cleansing thing. Soap opera—it’s the soul’s detergent.”

There is also a quote from Wes Kenney who was the executive producer at the time. He talks about how viewers invest and how a show may be terrible they will still watch if they are invested. He said that Days built its audience in its first seven years by doing things “that hadn’t been done before. We had more sex, and nice sex, not vulgar sex.”

The last part of the chapter was on soap opera acting. At the time the average regular cast member was making $35,000 a year. Someone like Mary Stuart (from Search for Tomorrow made between 100,000-200,000. Susan and Bill Hayes got over 75,000 each a year. They mention famous people who had been in soaps like Warren Beatty (Love of Life) and Don Knotts (Search for Tomorrow). My favorite mention in this section is about scripts. “If the script is bad, it’s up to them to add the subtext or small changes in speech that can make it work. On some shows, particularly ones with weak ratings, writers come and go so fast that the actor usually knows much more about his character—its history, motivations, involvements—then the writer does.” They compare soap performers to long distance runners.

The chapter ends with a picture of the Days cast in 1975 at their 10th anniversary party. In the 2558 shows they had performed over 1.2 million lines, rehearsed for 28,000 hours, shot 1200 miles of tape and drank 1.2 million cups of coffee.