Days of Our Lives renewed
It’s a good day for hourglasses and those who love them. Days of Our Lives, that sudsiest of soap operas, has been renewed for its 52nd season. NBC announced the pickup a month after General Hospital’s Ron Carlivati replaced Dena Higley as co-head writer of the show.
“It’s a great day in Salem … We are grateful to our incredible network and long-standing partner Sony for their continued support, and we look forward to what the future will bring under the new creative direction of the show,” said executive producer Ken Corday in a statement. “I’m especially proud to be able to shepherd Days into the new season, continuing my parents’ dream and the show’s legacy.”
The future of Days was in question last month, when Megyn Kelly left Fox News and NBC offered her a daytime news show; many feared the network would axe Days to make room in the schedule.
“Everybody assumed that she would kill that show,” NBC entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt told TVLine. “And that’s a bad assumption.”
Days of Our Lives aired its 13,000th episode in January. The series currently airs in more than 25 countries and is available on Global and NBC in Canada.
LOUIS C.K. LANDS NETFLIX SPECIALS
No joke — Netflix is fast becoming a go-to outlet for A-list comedians. The online streaming service announced that Louis C.K. will front two new standup specials, with the first titled 2017 and filmed in Washington, D.C., during his recently concluded tour. It will debut April 4.
No word on when the second special will air.
“Louis has been one of the most innovative comedy voices in this new era of standup. He has also been a thought leader in the business of comedy,” said Netflix’s chief content officer Ted Sarandos.
C.K. most recently created, wrote, directed and starred in Horace and Pete, which he self-produced and launched on his website. He’s also working on the animated comedy The Cops for TBS, and is an executive producer for the FX comedies Better Things and Baskets.
Netflix dropped jaws in October when it paid Chris Rock $20 million each for a pair of comedy specials. The company has also partnered with Jerry Seinfeld for a production deal, access to old and new episodes of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, and two new standup specials.
Others with Netflix specials include Sarah Silverman, Amy Schumer and Dave Chappelle.