This is NBC's longest running soap opera. The record was previously held by "Another World" (1964), which was cancelled in 1999.
The Walton's Mary Jackson (I) was the original Alice Horton in the unaired pilot. The role was then assumed by Frances Reid (I) for the TV broadcast who has played her since the show's TV debut.
In July of 2001, Daytime NBC (with soaps Days of Our Lives & Passions) became the first network to broadcast with Spanish closed-captioning.
The show is taped on sets 2 and 4 at NBC Studios
Started out as a 30 minute show in 1965 then became an hour show in 1975
MacDonald Carey's voice over in the opening title was kept as a tribute to the actor after he died.
The state that they're in is never mentioned
Drake Hogestyn was hired in 1986 to take over the role of "Roman Brady" after Wayne Northrop left the series after a falling out with the show's writers. Several years later Northrop approached the producers of the show about him returning to the series, which created a problem because Hogestyn had quickly became one of the show's most popular actors. In order to keep Hogestyn on the show while allowing Northrop to return to the series as Roman, a storyline was crafted that revealed that Hogestyn's Roman was actually a mercenary named John Black who had been brainwashed into thinking he was Roman Brady as punishment for betraying his employer Stefano Dimera. This allowed Hogestyn to continue on the show while allowing Wayne Northrop to resume his previous role.
The show celebrated its 10,000th episode on Monday, 21 February 2005. The episode began with a special introduction by Frances Reid (Alice Horton) as she reflected on the first days filming (nearly 40 years ago!), with a short clip from the very first episode. At the show's close, Frances returned stating that she felt that Sami's trials and tribulations were just beginning and to join the show tomorrow as they began their second 10,000 shows.
In 1991 Deidre Hall (Marlena Evans Black) was lured back to Days of Our Lives with the promise that she could serve as executive producer of a DAYS spin-off called "Manhattan Lives". Initial hopes were to begin airing in 1994 if Another World wasn't renewed. In the end "Another World" (1964) was renewed and the spin-off never came to be.
