DAYS SHOCKER: New Headwriters Promise Faster Stories, Big Returns & “No More Waiting”!

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Back in July of last year, Days of Our Lives shocked its viewers with the news that its longtime headwriter Ron Carlivati was out, effective immediately, and daytime writing vets Paula Cwikly and Jeanne Marie Ford were stepping in as co-headwriters. It was shocking, but while the change went into effect behind the scenes right away, viewers have been waiting ever since to see it occur on our screens.

It has been a long wait, but it’s over. And just to give you an idea of how far in advance Days of Our Lives films these days, the writing change that happened in July of 2024 is only just now beginning to air this Thursday, April 24th. That’s the good news. Even better? Cwikly and Ford have us more excited than ever after teasing a bit of what to expect from this new era!

“We have both been soap fans our whole lives and believe in writing what we would like to see,” the headwriters share. And what they like to see is a whole lot of heart. “We both prefer emotion over plot, while acknowledging we need the plot to generate the emotion. We think our styles are very complementary. It is amazing how often we have the same thoughts that will literally pass each other in a text or email.”

Granted, as in any partnership, they’re quick to admit that, “We don’t always agree, but those cases generate conversations that usually result in something better than either of us started out with. We are blessed with a team of talented, hard-working writers who love the show as much as we do and could not do this without them – or each other.

“From its first episode,” Cwikly and Ford explain, “Days has been about family and love and romance. Even the fantastical plots were rooted in these. For instance, at its heart, the original devil possession story was ultimately about a man loving a woman so much he was willing to give up his soul for hers. While the economics of TV have changed a lot since the heyday of the eighties and nineties, and none of the shows has the budgets to do larger-than-life quite so large, the human relationships remain the same.”

And from the teasers we’ve gotten for the week, it already looks like their tenure is starting with love and family. Paulina and Chanel bond, JJ tries to fix his relationship with Gabi, Jada and Rafe come to terms with what they’ve done, and the big one: Shawn gets news about Bo. Yes, “Bope” are on their way back in May.

That return is especially important, as Cwikly and Ford share that it “dovetails into the emotional return-filled farewell to John.” As you can imagine, that was an agonizing story to handle right off the bat.

“Sadly, the first thing we had to deal with was the absence of John Black,” they acknowledge. “The character had already been MIA from the show for over nine months. His loved ones, especially Marlena, were stuck in a holding pattern while he was gone. We had to execute the tough decision of exiting the character in a way that was meaningful and respectful. We all hoped, until the very end, that Drake would beat that horrible disease and come back, so we did have a plan in our back pocket to make that possible.”

Unfortunately, we all know that the plan won’t be possible with Hogestyn’s passing. But it’s comforting to know that it was always there and that everyone at the show never lost hope for him.

And now that we’re finally moving into the farewell, John’s absence will hopefully be the last time we get stuck in a “holding pattern.” Viewer expectations in 2025 aren’t the same as they were 20, 30 or 40 years ago. “It is no longer true that you can miss the show for months and still find the same stories being told when you come back,” the co-headwriters explain.

“Stories move at a faster pace and are resolved more quickly. Of course, the downside of that is constantly having to come up with what happens next. We still want to make ’em laugh and make ’em cry, but maybe not make ’em wait – at least not quite so long. To quote an old promo tagline, miss a day, miss a lot!”

But don’t worry too much because we’ll still be here to catch you up! And be sure to check back in because we’ve got more from Cwikly and Ford on their plans for EJ, the shooting aftermath and how Marlena will move forward after John.

Bo and Hope are just a few of the big returns on the way, and you can keep track of all of them with our photo gallery of folks coming back to Days of Our Lives below.