Days of our Lives was the one daytime soap that didn’t need to resort to classic episodes during the pandemic shutdown since its production schedule was about eight months ahead, and they had plenty of episodes to air while on an on-set hiatus.
Socially-Distanced Days of our Lives?
However, according to Jason47’s DAYS Website, the show is about to run out of pre-COVID taped episodes, with the October 5, 2020 installment serving as the last of the DAYS episodes fully completed before the shutdown that happened in March.
“The following two weeks of episodes (10/6-10/19) were partially completed in March and partially completed in September, so fans will start seeing the first socially-distant “Days” scenes taped start airing next week,” he writes. “The following week will be all September stuff.”
Before COVID hit, DAYS was on a schedule that allowed them to tape approximately 1.5 episodes a day, allowing for the long backlog of episodes to continue airing without impact to stories.
The cast and crew returned to set on Sept. 1, and since going into production, they have been focusing on filming just the one episode a day, eventually planning to go back to the 1.5 number as things get back to a normal rhythm.
According to Jason47, this doesn’t mean they are filming chronologically, and it’s even likely that they are doing bits and pieces based on cast members’ availability and taking social distance practices into consideration.
Once Oct. 20 comes, expect to see some storyline differences as the impact of the coronavirus will most likely be seen in the way that characters interact—especially when it comes to love scenes and close encounters.
But the show has never let anything come between them and telling compelling stories, and this shouldn’t impact its ability to continue giving fans what they love! Days of our Lives (DOOL) airs weekdays on NBC. Check your local listings for airtimes.
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