Believe it or not, there was a time in soap opera history when your favorite daytime dramas — like Days of Our Lives — were not constricted by their early morning to late afternoon timeslots and they did, in fact, extend their sudsy offerings into primetime television hours.
That’s right folks, the same lying and scheming, romancing, and screaming that you watched earlier in the day were sometimes seen at night — but produced on a much healthier budget.
Stunning revelations, shock murders, and wild cliffhangers dominated these special episodes that producers hoped would entice viewers who otherwise never watched a soap to tune in the next weekday and follow the story in the shows normal timeslot.
NBC’s Days of Our Lives was at the forefront of this daytime revolution when they became the first serial to try such an audacious experiment.
The first outing was an unqualified success and they would do it twice more all the while inspiring their fellow brethren to do the same. Below is your handy guide to the goings-on during that first exciting special.
One Stormy Night
Airdate: January 10, 1992
The Build-Up: After recovering from the death of his first wife Hope, Bo Brady is ready to move on with Carly Manning but she finds herself inexplicably drawn to the dangerous and sexually perverse Lawrence Alamain, a man to whom she had once been betrothed.
Newlyweds Jack and Jennifer have already hit a rough patch in their marriage and are in the midst of a major argument over Jack’s inability to be romantic. In fact, the only couple that seems to be happy in Salem — aside from stalwarts Tom and Alice Horton — is John and Isabella who are eagerly anticipating the birth of their first child.
The Episode: A torrential rainstorm is threatening to flood the town of Salem and the unstoppable deluge has resulted in a massive pile-up on the town’s main thoroughfare. The injured are being rushed to University Hospital but their number is so great that the already taxed doctors are finding it hard to cope.
Jennifer has been assigned to report on the crash and she makes her live broadcast from the hospital’s emergency room. Later she retires to the studio and finds Jack waiting for her. Fed up with her husband,
Jennifer runs off and winds up getting herself and Jack trapped on the set of Ask Doctor Love, a poplar dating gameshow. She and Jack indulge and find themselves enjoying the friendly competition. With the tension dissipated, the two wind up making love.
Carly finds herself …continue reading on the next page —>
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