25 Years of Giving a Hoot About the Hortons : Television: ‘Days of Our Lives’ principals credit emotional involvement, family values and beautiful people for the soap’s longevity.

Jennifer married Lawrence to save Frankie Brady’s life, but was raped when she rejected Lawrence’s sexual advances. Meanwhile, when Jack tried to rescue Jennifer, Lawrence’s thugs captured him. After finding a note in Patch’s coat pocket, Bo and Carly realized Lawrence was behind Patch’s death. Bo fought the sexual tension between him and Carly. . . .

Rape, rescue, mysterious notes and sexual tension between just about everybody are the staples of NBC’s soap opera “Days of Our Lives,” which marked its 25th anniversary last Thursday after 6,382 episodes.

On Saturday night, cast and crew from the past quarter-century gathered for a gala celebration at the Regent Beverly Wilshire--to reminisce, to watch outtakes, to slice through the trademark “sands of time” hourglass painted in frosting on the anniversary cake and to speculate about why “Days of Our Lives” is one of television’s longest-running programs.

Like a miniature Academy Awards ceremony, the event drew a throng of fans hoping to see their favorite stars. “I love ‘Days of Our Lives,’ ” said Kris Martinez, 32, an Alpha Beta employee from Downey. “I came to help them celebrate, in my own way.”

The party also drew the chairman of the NBC Entertainment Group, Brandon Tartikoff, who acknowledged that the soap’s longevity made the anniversary a special event. “Somebody said, ‘I’m surprised to see you here, you must have to go to so many of these,’ ” he said. “Yeah--like I have so many shows that are 25 years old. It’s just ‘The Tonight Show’ and this.”

Created by Ted Corday, “Days of Our Lives,” the Horton family’s continuing saga in the mythical Salem, U.S.A., made its debut Nov. 8, 1965, with Bill Bell, a veteran of “As the World Turns” and “The Guiding Light,” as head writer. When Corday passed away in 1966, his wife, Betty, took over as executive producer. Their son, Ken Corday, now serves as executive producer.

“The audience is emotionally bound to the show,” Ken Corday said. “They’ve lived with the Hortons and their children and grandchildren, and, as silly and cliched as it sounds, they are a part of their lives. They watch because they love the people, and they love the story.”

Bell, who left the show after 10 years and went on to create “The Young and the Restless,” said that it had been difficult to leave his “children,” but he believes the show survived because of its characters.

“You have to have people involved with your characters--they must either love them or hate them or fantasize with them. There are all sorts of levels of emotional involvement, but there must be some involvement,” he said.

MacDonald Carey, who has starred for 25 years as Dr. Tom Horton, said that the show lasted because “it started out emphasizing family values. That is the basic thing that has kept the soap opera alive. We have veered away from it now and then, but we always come back to it--the simple, moral values.”

John Clarke, who has played Mickey Horton since the show’s inception, cited the realness of the characters as the primary reason for the soap’s endurance: “When you are in a nighttime show, people recognize you, but they don’t come up and introduce themselves to you. With this show, they come up, grab you by the arm and say, ‘Hey, Mickey, tell me what’s going on?’ and try to get you to spill the beans about what’s going on with somebody else.”

Frances Reid, another 25-year veteran as matriarch Alice Horton, summed up the show’s popularity this way: “There are awfully nice people on the show; they’re very attractive. Beautiful sets, beautiful people. What more do you want from daytime?”