Drake Hogestyn's 'Days of Our Lives' Character Dies 8 Months After Actor's Death: 'Hardest Day Ever,' Says Deidre Hall

It got demoted from OTA television to Peacock a few years ago so grannies would make their families sign up, but it's "one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday since November 8, 1965."

As far as I can remember, the Friends stories were only somewhat exaggerated. American daytime soaps are a trip, like a fever dream of live-ish theater and a dance marathon and clickbait before there was clicking. They even have/had "understudies" who would play a part for a few days if the real actor was sick or between contracts. One summer as a kid in the 80s, I watched The Young and the Restless with my mom, but by the end of it I could sort of tell that there was no end, just churn, and since the flimsy accouterments of rich grown-up drama didn't inherently appeal to me, I moved on. Now I pretend that Star Wars and team sports aren't basically the same thing, LOL. The soaps are absolutely impressive in their way, though.