Daytime Soap Opera
Actor Of The Week

The Tribute to Doug/Bill Hayes (Days Of Our Lives)

Days didn’t always do entirely right by Bill Hayes, there were times they let him go and he wasn’t as deeply involved in stories as he deserved to be over the last thirty years, but Days did step up nicely when it came to honoring his passing. I loved that Days spared no expense, filling the canvas over those few episodes with actors truly connected to Doug and Julie, giving us Jennifer, Lucas, Eli, Ciara, and Shawn, and even if we saw Hope all too briefly, her grief was felt. And how rewarding that Liz, Marie, and Steven were given more to do than just a token line of condolence. Liz leading that sing-along at the service proved truly emotional, while Liz and Marie’s renewed rivalry and Steven’s sketchiness brought welcome levity to a heavy week; I’m sure I’m not alone in longing for more visits from all three, especially Stephen Schnetzer, man do I miss his signature rascally charm in daytime. I’m always going to err on the side of there could have been more clips, showing off even more of Bill Hayes’s talent and warm comforting presence, still the flashbacks that were chosen captured Doug’s spirit and what he meant to each character fondly remembering him, and whatever we may not have gotten from the clips was largely made up for by Julie’s eulogy (it’s unimaginable how difficult that must have been for Susan Seaforth Hayes to deliver) which fantastically covered the breadth and depth of the man she loved (onscreen as well as off).