Days of Our Lives could be at risk of cancellation

What is happening over on the set of Days of Our Lives? Apparently not much after celebdirtylaundry.com reported the news that the show’s writers have been ordered to cease operations.

The soap’s renewal was anticipated to be announced sometime this month, but no agreement has been reached so far between Sony, NBC and Corday Productions.

In January, NBC entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt was optimistic about the show’s return.

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“We’re happy with where Days was this year,” Greenblatt told TVLine. “We have a negotiating period that starts in February. Stay tuned.”

The current agreement runs out in September and all of the episodes have been written through that time period. Without an agreement in place, there is no point in the writers moving ahead with the story line.

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Over the past year, DOOL has been in a great place with ratings, a successful story line and an energized cast.

At the Day of Days event in November, Deidre Hall talked to SheKnows Soaps about the creative direction of the show.

“Our writers have their fingers on the pulse. They know what the audience wants and I think it was genius to bring back so many characters that we’ve seen in the past,” Hall explained. “Now, we get to renew our friendship with them.”

One thing plaguing the long-running soap is the budget. A January 2015 Soap Opera Digest article mentioned that all four network soaps were experiencing a downturn in the size of their casts.

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“Insiders say a couple of daytime soaps will be slimming down their top-heavy casts due to network mandates,” said Soap Opera Digest via Soap Opera Network. “Sources report that a number of actors are concerned that they may wind up on the unemployment line in the coming weeks.”

Even fans on Twitter are concerned about the show’s budget. Will a smaller cast keep the show focused or will DOOL lose some of the magic it gained during the 50th anniversary year?

With fans getting nervous and no official news from the network, the writers will have to sit back and hope they return to creating stories for residents of Salem soon.