That was the case this week when rumors surfaced that the long-running NBC daytime drama “Days of Our Lives” might be canceled after the end of the current season.
The cast and crew jumped in to control the damage. “We are still here and we are not going anywhere,” the actress Kristian Alfonso, who plays Hope Williams Brady, said on Tuesday in an Instagram video. “We’re not being canceled,” Chandler Massey, who plays Will Horton, said on Twitter. Despite those assurances, many fans wondered whether the future of the show was in doubt.
Representatives for NBC and Corday Productions, the production company which has produced “Days of Our Lives” since its debut in 1965, declined to comment. Sony Pictures Television, which produces the show in association with Corday, did not return phone calls. A person close to the show, though, said that “Days of Our Lives” had not been canceled, and that Sony and NBC were in negotiations to renew it for its 56th season. “Everyone is hopeful that it will be picked up,” the person said. “People are assuming a worst-case scenario, while we are hoping for the best.
The news about renewal talks was reported by TVLine, an industry news site, which said the entire cast had been released from their contracts and the show would go on an indefinite hiatus. Calling the move “decidedly ominous,” it questioned whether the end was near. Daytime serial dramas have suffered in recent years as ratings have plummeted and networks have shifted daytime programming to talk shows, which are cheaper to produce.
In 2011, for example, ABC announced it would end two of its long-running daily dramas, “All My Children” and “One Life to Live.” CBS announced the cancellations of both “Guiding Light” and “As the World Turns” in 2009.
Corday, which negotiates contracts with actors for “Days of Our Lives,” will wrap up production for the current season at the end of the month, eight months ahead of schedule, said the person close to the show. And that’s where things get confusing: Some, but not all, of the cast will be released from their contracts, the person said. Additionally, all this is happening as the cast is preparing to leave for a scheduled holiday hiatus.
“In the past, we had a return date for production,” the person said. “But since we are ahead of schedule, we don’t.” If Sony and NBC reach a deal to renew the show, then Corday Productions and the actors can sign new contracts.
“Days of Our Lives” debuted on Nov. 8, 1965, as a half-hour drama and was expanded to an hour format a decade later. Television soap operas were an offshoot of 1930s radio dramas, which were sponsored by soap companies. The show is set in the fictional Midwestern town of Salem and has garnered 43 Daytime Emmy Awards. It airs in more than 25 countries worldwide.
Like other serial dramas, “Days of Our Lives” has dropped in popularity. According to Nielsen, which tracks television viewership, the show has had an average of 2.07 million daily viewers so far this year. The show drew 2.6 million daily viewers over the same period in 2010.
In March, Corday sued Sony, saying the company “has intentionally sought to destroy the series,” according to a news release. According to the complaint, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Sony sought to subvert the show in foreign markets.
“It is absolutely necessary to bring the current untenable situation out into the light in order to ensure the future of ‘Days of Our Lives,’” Ken Corday, president and owner of Corday Productions, said in the news release.
The production company said Sony did not negotiate adequate licensing fees with NBC for “Days of Our Lives” and had not taken advantage of the growth of cable television and video streaming. In addition to seeking the termination of its distribution agreement, Corday wanted at least $20 million in damages for lost profits, as well as damages for fraud and breach of contract.
Lawyers for both Sony and Corday declined to comment on Wednesday. But a recent court filing shows that the two sides have entered into settlement negotiations to resolve the conflict.
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