John’s death on Days of our Lives — and the death of his beloved portrayer, Drake Hogestyn — are very, very sad. But John’s funeral and wake were oh, so very, very good. And one of the best parts was that they didn’t skimp on the flashbacks.
We didn’t just see John and Marlena’s greatest moments, but also relived scenes from their fellow 1980s super-couples, including Steve and Kayla, Kim and Shane, and Jack and Jennifer. And the biggest thrill — after the Reagan-era hair and fashion, of course — was the reminder that soap operas used to have an outside!
Let the Sun Shine In
When John and Bo (Peter Reckell) tussled on a cliff, that was a real cliff! When Jennifer (Melissa Reeves) and Jack (Matthew Ashford) went into the water, that was real water. And Bo and Hope (Kristian Alfonso) sailed away on a real boat!
Soaps didn’t go outside all the time, but they did it just often enough to make it feel both special and realistic. We knew something big was about to go down when we saw blue sky instead of a missing ceiling, and green grass instead of nothing between the knees. And we wouldn’t risk missing a day of the excitement.
READ THIS: Find out what happens next week on DAYS.
Pale Imitation
In the last few years before it was cancelled, Guiding Light tried to do exclusively on-location shooting. The goal was to make it look more like a reality show. But they didn’t choose an exotic locale like the beaches of Florida or the ancient architecture of Greece. They went to New Jersey instead.
The actors and technical team gave it their best shot, and we always support soaps trying something new. But it didn’t work. Not the way DAYS’ back in the day location shoots did. Any chance we might get to see something like them again?
