‘Days Of Our Lives’ Canceled? What ‘Indefinite Hiatus’ Is Really About

“Days of Our Lives” fans found themselves briefly rocked Tuesday after news broke that the show would be going on an indefinite hiatus at the end of November and the entire cast was being released from their contracts. However, they can rest assured that the show is very likely not going anywhere and won’t be disappearing from the NBC lineup anytime soon.

The story, which was initially reported by TVLine, revealed that the show had released the entire cast from their contracts and was going on an indefinite hiatus, but that episodes were still shot that would air through Summer 2020. However, the show has not yet been officially renewed for Season 56, and the cast release led to panic among fans who were worried this meant the show was officially coming to an end.

However, in addition to reports which claim that the show is very likely to be renewed, members of the cast have taken to social media to share that there really is nothing to worry about. Chandler Massey, who reprised his role as Will Horton in 2017, took to Twitter to explain that because they were so far ahead in their production schedule, the cast was simply being given a chance to take some time off, and reassured fans that there would never be a slowdown in episodes.

Kristian Alfonso, who is currently portraying her usual character’s alter ego, Princess Gina, also took to Instagram in a video with head writer Ron Carlivati to also assure fans that things were fine, while Camila Banus, who portrays Gabi Hernandez, also took to Twitter to share a live video with her followers where she called the rumors the show was coming to an end “BS.”

As it turns out, while the cast has been released from their contracts, it is something they have known was coming for months, and production is expected to resume after the holidays in 2020. In addition, the show’s production company is preparing to enter into the renegotiation period for a new season with NBC, and releasing the cast allows Corday Productions to do that while also potentially giving the cast smaller salaries in the process, as they will all need to re-up their contracts again once the show is renewed. The potential risk comes from the actors signing on to other projects during their time off that could keep them off-canvas or require a recast later on, but they are not actually fired.

The move is actually one that is considered somewhat standard in the industry and might be a move that is needed for the long-running soap, which has a very large cast of characters. 27 actors comprise the current main cast, including Alfonso, Banus and Massey. Meanwhile, there are also an additional 10 actors at least who are on recurring status (including Judi Evans and Chrishell Stause Hartley, whose characters have been revealed to be dead following the show’s historic time jump). Four other actors, including James Read, Stephen Nichols, Tionne Watkins and Brandon Barash are also set to make returns either this month or at some point in 2020.

While the cast’s salaries have never been explicitly confirmed, it’s been reported over the years that depending on how many scenes/lines an actor has in an episode likely directly correlates to what they make. While actors who have been with a show for several years can be rumored to make between $2,000-$5,000 per episode, others may be eligible for only $1,500-$3,000 per episode or even less. If the “Days” production company can successfully negotiate lower pay for their stars (several of whom have been with the soap for numerous decades and could even be making more than $5,000 per episode), then they would resign their contracts with those lower pay scales in mind.

Of course, while the cast being released from their contracts sent fans into a panic, it is worth noting this isn’t the first time the show has been rumored to be at risk of cancellation. Following the Sony hack in 2015, e-mails between executives revealed the show’s future beyond its 50th anniversary was something that would be less certain going forward. In addition, back in 2017, it was reported that Megyn Kelly’s move from Fox to NBC was causing panic behind-the-scenes that any show she was featured on would lead to “Days” being canceled after 2017. Kelly wound up replacing “Today’s Take” with Tamron Hall and Al Roker, but her show was canceled in 2018 and she officially left the network in 2019.