26 Years of ‘Days’: No End in Sight

The Scene: The party at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Friday night celebrating the 26th anniversary of NBC’s daytime drama “Days of Our Lives.” This is TV’s top-rated soap. It should be running into the next century. Or, as executive producer Ken Corday put it, “There’s no light at the end of the tunnel.”

Who Was There: Among the 400 guests were studio execs, crew, writers and “Days” stars, including Frances Reid, Peter Reckell, Staci Greason, Drake Hogestyn and Matthew Ashford. The show’s paterfamilias , Macdonald Carey, was recovering from surgery but was honored with a video tribute.

Who Wasn’t There: Kevin Costner--he was turned down after a screen test for the show 12 years ago. Also Warren Beatty, who was once an extra.

Back From the Dead: Two who were presumed deceased at the show’s 25th anniversary--Deidre Hall (seemingly fatal car crash into the ocean) and Wayne Northrup (equally deadly fall off a cliff)--were rewritten into the show by the 26th. Their resurrections illustrate a cardinal rule of the soaps: In the words of 18-year “Days” veteran Susan Seaforth Hayes, “Many die, but none are buried.”

Quoted: “I’ve lived through many purges,” said Hayes. “My Siberia turned out to be CBS, which wasn’t all bad.” (That was when “Days” sent her character on a cruise that lasted five years.)

Dress Mode: An eclectic mix of black-tie, sport jackets, sequined cocktail dresses and suits. One guest said the crowd had the “look of a wealthy car dealer’s wedding.”

Crass Financial Gossip: Soap opera stars earn “comfortable six-figure incomes,” said one insider, “but the big money is in doing weight-loss commercials.”

Key Word: Breakthrough character. “This is a someone who has charisma or looks like they’re going to be real popular,” explained writer Beth Milstein. Breakthrough characters then go on to do weight-loss commercials.

Something to Consider Before Moving Down Under: “Days” is the No. 1 rated series--daytime or nighttime--in Australia and New Zealand.

How to Write Soaps: “One rule is, if they pick up a gun on Friday, they don’t shoot it until Monday,” said actress Frances Reid.

Observed: When the writers were introduced, there was polite applause. But when it came the makeup staff’s turn, there was wild, unrestrained cheering. Kind of gives you an idea of priorities.

Most Merciful Omission: During the many brief speeches, no one said the words, “Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.”