"Days" Makes a HUGE Mistake

“Days of Our Lives” fans may want to shield their eyes at the checkouts this week. Because there’s a headline on the cover of this week’s “Soap Opera Digest” that might just rock your world…

If you don’t want to know what’s going to happen, stop reading now…

Are you still with me?

If you are, then let me tell you the headline reads, “John Dies!”

And the article inside makes it pretty clear that this is not a trick. Drake Hogestyn, who has played John since 1986, is gone from the show. And the cast is devastated.

So what happened? I wish I could tell you…

It all started when John ended up in a coma. The fans were promised a beautiful romantic story for their beloved John and Marlena, but it never happened. In fact, Hogestyn was off the canvas for months. Then John finally emerged from the coma to presumably be a major part of the DiMera storyline, but it never happened. Meanwhile, the clock kept ticking toward the end of Hogestyn’s contract this December.

Behind the scenes, a new producer, Ed Scott, was hired who doesn’t take any crap from actors. There were rumors that Hogestyn was unhappy (and why wouldn’t he be) and that didn’t sit well with Scott. Head Writer Hogan Sheffer continued to exclude John from his stories and the show continued to be far from Hogestyn’s contract guarantee. Even Hogestyn’s open attitude toward the press changed as he refused to discuss his lack of story (which many viewed as him trying to make the best of a bad situation). In June, Hogestyn called his fan event, “John Black’s Final Mission.” While his castmates waited for things to get settled, Hogestyn was reading the writing on the wall.

And now, Wednesday, October 17th, John will breathe his last breath.

Now, I know this is a soap, so there could be a twist here, but that’s not what it looks like this time.

And if that’s the case, “Days of Our Lives” has made a huge mistake.

I know it was just a little while ago that I said “Days” was back on track—because it was—but now it’s headed for a trainwreck. The DiMera vendetta storyline has gone south with the E.J.-Sami-Lucas triangle. Tony and Anna returned, but were given nothing to do. And Andre’s reign of terror became terrible for viewers.

And now this.

I understand that change must come and people can’t stick around forever, but to do this to Hogestyn after 21 years of loyalty, and to do this to the fans is just wrong. And I don’t know how “Days” will recover.

They’ll certainly do it without me…