A strong soap opera storyline can do wonders in the land of daytime television. It can help refresh a long-time character or create a solid connection with the viewers. Days of Our Lives (DOOL) will be celebrating an incredible 51 years on television this year. Salem and its residents have seen their fair share of twists and turns, keeping fans tuned in weekly. While there are some DOOL characters who continue to experience heartache, romance, love, adventure and pain – there are others who simply need a new storyline, to help move their character along. Below are the top five DOOL characters in need of a new storyline.
5. J.J. Deveraux
As the only son to super couple Jack and Jennifer Deveraux, J.J. burst onto the Salem scene in 2013. He was involved in some pretty intense storylines in the three years since his return and thanks to soap opera rapid aging syndrome (also known as SORAS) he came back to Days as a teen and experienced a whole lot of drama. He had an issue with drugs, problems with the law, plenty of love affairs, slept with his girlfriend’s mom and drove his own mother crazy. However, as of late, J.J. has played second fiddle to his mother’s and sister’s storylines. J.J. has definitely cleaned up his act and seems like a stand-up guy now. Even so, a fresh new storyline wouldn’t hurt is character, especially since he seems to be on the verge of losing some relevancy in Salem right now.
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4. Lucas Horton
In his heyday, Lucas Horton had some incredible leading ladies. From Nicole Walker, to Chloe Lane, Carrie Brady, and of course, the infamous Sami Brady. Lucas was always in the thick of things when it came to the ins and outs of Salem and the storylines on DOOL. Unfortunately, things have slowed down significantly for Lucas and a solid storyline, or new love interest, or potentially another love triangle, could pick things up for this ever-popular and much-loved DOOL character.
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3. Sonny Kiriakis
Everyone’s favorite Kiriakis is set to return to Salem sometime in the summer of 2016. He’s a fan favorite thanks to his ground-breaking performance as one half of DOOL’s first-ever gay super couple WilSon. It’s been rumored that Sonny will reunite with old flame, Paul Narita which sounds like a some-what interesting angle considering the history these two have shared. Still off the cusp of losing the love of his life, here’s hoping DOOL writers have some romance mixed in with adventure for this character. Sonny deserves a new and fresh storyline for his return, possibly something that will keep fans vested in this intriguing character.
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2. Marlena Evans
Recently celebrating 40 years with DOOL, Deidre Hall (playing Dr. Marlena Evans) has been a staple on the daytime television show. As an iconic soap opera character, Evans may just be most well known for her exorcism storyline and, of course, the love story she’s shared John Black and Roman Brady (during her early days). As DOOL has brought in newer characters, it seems Marlena has played second-fiddle when it comes to recent storylines. This versatile actress and unique character, deserves a little bit more (in terms of storyline) than just the ‘doctor’ everyone turns to when they have a problem.
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1. John Black
He has been everything from a top corporate CEO to a priest, to super spy and art thief. The handsome, smart and charming John Black is an iconic DOOL character that seems to literally have nine lives. He’s had some incredible storylines over the past 35 years he’s been in (and out of) Salem, the only problem is these angles always seem to center around his true identity — not to mention the fact that once he gets settled into knowing (or thinking he knows) who he is, a plot twist occurs and he’s out on the hunt again. While it’s unclear exactly how old John is, one could assume he’s anywhere between the ages of mid-50s to early 60s (the actor, Drake Hogestyn is actually 62), so at this point he really should be happy with the roots he’s established in Salem. A new storyline, that focuses less on his past is completely in order. Sadly, Hogestyn recently suffered a near-death accident off set and might not be seen on DOOL for a while. Here’s hoping that upon his return, Days writers will have something interesting in store for him.
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