Days Of Our Lives
DAYS OF OUR LIVES: Marlena Looks Back at 50 Years in Salem
The June 22 episode of Days of Our Lives reminded us all of why Deidre Hall is iconic in the role of Dr. Marlena Evans. Here we are 50 years later, and Marlena is still the heroine of the long-running soap opera, and Deidre remains one of the most most recognizable names in the history of soaps.
To pay tribute, and to look back at the life and times of Marlena, the story starts with Marlena flipping through a photo album of her with John (the late Drake Hogestyn) over the years. As she misses him dearly, she gets a knock on the door and its none other than John’s son, Paul Narita (Christopher Sean).
With Andrew (Colton Little) in Salem working on a case, he sits down with Marlena, who says she can’t believe its been fifty years since she first arrived in Salem! Cue: Deidre’s first scenes on DAYS when she finds Mickey Horton (the late John Clarke) playing chess against himself inside the mental institution she worked.
Courtesy/Peacock
THE FLASHBACKS OF MARLENA’S LIFE
From there, viewers definitely got the cliff notes version of the history of Marlena and entrenched within them, some of the biggest moments in Deidre’s enduring run.
Paul thinks he is looking at 70s, and early 80s Marlena while going through her scrapbook, but he is actually looking at her twin, Samantha (Andrea Hall). Cue: when Marlena confronted Samantha about impersonating her, and then later getting a call on her radio show from the Salem Strangler (Jack Coleman as Jake Kostichek) who killed Samantha thinking it was Marlena.
In the present, Belle (Martha Madison) has arrived at this time to meet up with Paul, unaware of this trip down memory lane. She wants to go over the findings in the chess board mystery Stefano willed to Marlena and John, in private with him, since Marlena previously said she wanted nothing to do with it.
Back to the history lesson, Marlena speaks highly of Don Craig and even though their marriage didn’t work out, she could find a path forward with the new love her life, Roman Brady. (Wayne Northrop however is never shown, possibly to keep the story focused on John as Roman for confusion sakes?)
Paul sees a photo of a young Carrie (Christie Clark) in the album and Marlena says she was such a godsend after losing her baby. In fact, Marlena says caring for Carrie prepared her for her having and raising her own twins, Eric and Sami. Cue: The twin visiting Marlena in the hospital.
JOHN AND MARLENA’S LOVE CONQUERED ALL
Then, in a way to get through and incorporate the wild storylines only Marlena could have been in, she tells Belle and Paul, she has been through so much in her life, how lucky she was to find John, and some of the most unbelievable experiences no one could imagine. Cue: Marlena possessed by the devil and levitating from the bed. Next, John confronting Marlena being the Salem Stalker, where she admits she killed Alice Horton, pretends she needs help, then pulls a gun on her beloved John!
The comment is made by Paul and Marlena, that she literally has been to hell and back and she could not have survived were it not for her beloved John. Cue the big emotional highpoint clips; The Pier Scene! Marlena steps out of the fog when John sees her from a distance. After believing she was dead for four years, here she was before him in one of the greatest reunions in a soap opera love story in history. What followed were other times of the life of times of Jarlena.
Courtesy/Peacock
MARLENA’S ‘GIFT’ FROM STEFANO HAS A NEW CLUE
When Marlena makes a brief exit to the other room, Belle fills in Paul on the chess set Stefano left her mother and the photo of the Lire. Paul said he will investigate. Marlena comes back into the room and overhears, and says to promise her if things get dangerous he will back off, she does not want anyone hurt by Stefano’s games.
As the episode comes to a conclusion, it’s just Belle and Marlena going through the photo album giggling about 70s hairstyles and all the memories. Belle speaks on the impact Marlena has had in everyone’s lives, and that she is both the heart of their family and the heart of Salem.
An end card comes up acknowledging Deidre Hall’s 50th anniversary as Marlena, and we fade to black.
So, what did you think of Marlena’s walk down memory lane? Were you happy to see the flashback clips utilized throughout? Were you touched by the scenes and the performance of Deidre Hall? Let us know what you thought of Deidre’s 50th anniversary episode via the comment section below.
She briefly left to do our house
With the late Shannen Doherty.
When I noticed that the episode was 50 minutes long, I knew something was up. It was a lovely tribute to Hall. I’m sure long-time viewers were thrilled to see the old clips.
There is Nobody like Marlena Evan’s, never has been and never will be again…
May God continue to bless her career!!!
Love, love, love all of the flashbacks they show! Very emotional, romantic, and heartwarming ❤️ ♥️
It was a nice episode.
Congratulations to Electra Woman. “ELECTRA WOMAN AND DYNA GIRL. ELECTRA WOMAN AND DYNA GIRLLLL” Those costumes though. Oh my days. I grew up and was like…GURLLL. NO.
I loved the episode, and it got me thinking about Don Craig and his daughter Donna and also Marlena’s sister, Sam. Maybe Donna can return to Salem and give us the answers to what happened to her father. Maybe Donna discovered Don slept with Sam, which resulted in Sam giving birth not long before she was murdered by the Salem Strangler. Maybe Donna brings her half brother, Samson, to Salem and he becomes Marlena’s patient. And maybe, just maybe Samson can be played by Ryan Gosling.
More casting news from Days of Our Lives, and for now, the soap opera seems to be breaking their new additions to Salem via their Instagram account. Now comes word and picture on August 24, that General Hospital and The Young and the Restless alum Brytni Sarpy has joined DAYS!
The Peacock soap opera’s Instagram account, showed a photo of Sarpy standing in front of her dressing room in the hallways of Days of Our Lives’ studios. The caption read, “Someone new is checking into Salem… Welcome Brytni Sarpy to the Days of our Lives family! Stay tuned.”
The casting of Sarpy comes on the heels of the announcement of Sydney Malakeh coming to the show in September, and earlier this year General Hospital favorite, Sofia Mattsson (ex-Sasha Gilmore, GH) joining the show in a mystery role when she began taping back around the end of March of this year. Now Sarpy is the “mystery role” category too!
Photo: JPI
SOAP HOPPING
Soap fans first met Sarpy when she played Valerie Spencer, the niece of Luke (Anthony Geary) and Bobbie Spencer (Jackie Zeman) on General Hospital back in 2015. She made her final appearance on the series back in 2019 to join the cast of The Young and the Restless in the role of Elena Dawson.
Elena was introduced as a love interest for Devon Winters (Bryton James). She later cheated on him with his cousin Nate Hastings (Sean Dominic). Elena began to be back-burned by 2023 with Sarpy’s last on-screen appearance in Genoa City in November of 2024.
Due to Days of Our Lives nearly year in advance tape schedule, viewers will have to wait till sometime in the early summer of 2027 to see Brytni’s arrival in Salem.
So, happy to see Brytni Sarpy has landed another soap role? Now that she is at DAYS, who you think she might be playing and paired with? Put on your casting director hats and let us know via the comment section.
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Days Of Our Lives
Sydney Malakeh Joins the Cast of ‘Days of Our Lives’ in Mystery Role: Who Do You Think She’s Playing?
There’s a new gal coming to Salem, or is she new and a recast? That’s what inquiring minds from Days of Our Lives fans have been trying to figure out since the Peacock soap opera dropped an Instagram video heralding actress‘ Sydney Malakeh‘s arrival in Salem.
The soap did confirm that viewers will first see Malakeh on the September 9 episode. In the video, Malakeh is seen going set to set from her dressing room and in to the halls of Days of Our Lives studios.
What we do know id that Sydney has been acting professionally for 6 years and had appeared on Grey’s Anatomy, Apple TV’s Shrinking and the HBO Max’s The Sex Lives of College Girls.
Plenty of Malakeh’s DAYS castmates jumped into the comment thread with positive emojis symbols or written excitement including: Paul Telfer (Xander), Linsey Godfrey (Sarah), Sal Stowers (Lani), Conner Floyd (Chad), Eric Martsolf (Brady) and Christie Clark (Carrie) and more now that fans will finally see her on-air. Since Days of Our Lives tapes 10-11 months in advance, Sydney would have started taping the show sometime back in 2025.
DAYS fans think perhaps because the actress’ name is Sydney that she might be playing the grown-up daughter of Sami and EJ. That character hasn’t bee on the canvas since 2021.
So, who do you think Sydney Malakeh might be playing on Days of Our Lives? Drop your casting director thoughts via the comment section below.
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Days Of Our Lives
Peacock Hikes Subscription Rates for Fourth Time in Four Years; ‘Days of Our Lives’ Fans Sound Off
While recently the streaming service Peacock reported turning a profit for its first time since its infancy, now comes word that the company is raising their prices for all customers, and in some cases it stared today on August 18.
The news of the subscription rate increases marks the fourth time the NBCUniversal streaming platform has done so in four years. So, on August 18, Peacock is increasing the prices for new or returning subscribers and customers, while current subscribers will see the rate increase on or after September 17 depending on their billing cycle when they initially signed up.
Here is the new pricing to follow along: Peacock Premium (which includes ads) will be $12.99/month, up two dollars from $10.99; Peacock Premium Plus will be $19.99/month, up three dollars increase from $16.99; and the Peacock Select tier (which includes current and past seasons of NBC and Bravo shows but excludes movies, live sports and Peacock originals) will increase a dollar from $7.99 to $8.99/month.
Photo: JPI
SUBSCRIBERS CONTINUE TO PAY MORE ACROSS THE STREAMER LANDSCAPE
It was back in June that the streamer reported that aid subscribers were up to 48 million adding a 2 million net gain during Q2 in of 2026. The subscription price hikes are rampant now in the entertainment streaming industry where over the last two years for example, Netflix, HBO Max, Apple TV, Paramount+ have all raised their fees to consumers.
Peacock’s tier-levels feature not only Days of Our Lives, but reality hits such as The Traitors and Love Island USA, Bravo series, and a vault of Saturday Night Live, Law & Order, The Real Housewives franchise, and Below Deck episodes as well. Pecock Premium and Premium Plus subscribers have access to sports and live events, as well.
DAYS OF OUR LIVES SUBSCRIBERS HAD A FEW CHOICE WORDS FOR PEACOCK
As Days of Our Lives fans know, the soap opera moved from NBC to the streamer back in September of 2022 after 57 years on broadcast television. When the news hit X on the price increase, DAYS fans had a lot to say about it. Here are just a few of the comments below:
“I can’t believe Peacock and can’t come to a deal with Cordya to air old episodes of #Days. That alone would bring a ton of subscribers,” to If Peacock actually cared about #Days of Our Lives, gave the show the budget it needs for better sets, cameras, background actors and enough time to tell proper stories, I wouldn’t mind paying more. If the money actually showed on screen, the higher price would be worth it,” to “I will continue to pay for a Peacock subscription as long as #Days is on it, but did we know there was another price increase coming?” and more.
So, what do you think of the new price hike increase to watch Days of Our Lives and your other favorite shows and events on Peacock? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
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