Days of our Lives storylines (1980s)

This is a listing of all major Days of our Lives storylines from the 1980s.

Behind the scenes chaos

By the end of the 1970s, the show had gone through numerous creative changes behind the scenes. Falken Smith left in the late 70's over a contract dispute and through a slow but steady decline in numbers, turmoil gripped the cast and crew. At one point Susan Seaforth Hayes' mother was head writer. Al Rabin, the executive producer at the time began to phase out people he viewed as contributing to an atmosphere of "negativism". In 1979 and 1980, nearly a dozen characters were written out of the series.

To the surprise of the show, fans were not impressed by the characters who took their place. Nearly one million viewers defected between 1980 and 1981, and of the nine characters introduced in that year, only chanteuse Liz Chandler (Gloria Loring) gained a following and stayed around. Falken Smith was again rehired and her Salem Strangler storyline, along with the intense focus on Marlena and Roman, propelled the show to a revival. Falken Smith left again in the early 80's due to another contract dispute. Perhaps the only low point in her era was a storyline where Doug's long-lost wife Lee (Brenda Benet) agonized over her child's extended hospitalization and illness. Falken Smith did not realize Benet's own child had recently died. Benet performed the scenes without complaint, but one day in 1982 she committed [...]. Days dedicated Lee's remaining episodes in memory of Benet, and said Lee left town.

The Brady Clan

The writers created a brand new family in the form of the middle-class Irish-Catholic family "The Bradys", who were anchored by Shawn and Caroline Brady and featured an assortment of children including Roman (originally played by Wayne Northrop) and Bo (played by Peter Reckell). Meanwhile the show began to focus more and more on an assortment of doctor characters introduced onto the show, who gained popularity amongst viewers.

Stefano DiMera

Unlike Victor, who was more of a "traditional" mobster, Stefano was much more refined and intellectual, more of an Blofeld in CONTRAST to Victor's Don Corleone. On a personal level, Stefano had a burning hatred for the Brady family over some unknown slight that occurred in the distant past in Ireland that somehow involved a young Shawn Brady. Stefano also had an obsession with Marlena that was complicated when it was revealed that Roman had previously been married to Stefano's daughter-in-law Anna (Leann Hunley) with whom he had a daughter named Carrie (notably played by Christie Clark). Marlena and Roman would go on to have twins named Samantha (for her late sister) and Eric (for his late uncle). The struggle to eliminate Roman Brady would ultimately result in a complicated, long-running, and often retconned storyline over the "real" Roman Brady and the identity of John Black.

Enter John Black

Controversy began when Wayne Northrop left the show due to problems with the direction of his character. His character of Roman Brady was killed off in 1984 when he fell off a cliff on a tropical island in the Caribbean after being shot by Stefano. In 1986 it was decided by the writers to recast the role of Roman. Rather than just replace him, it was decided to outright explain why he was now being played by a different actor. It was explained that Roman was recovered by Stefano after his fall from the cliff, given immediate medical attention, brainwashed into believing that he was one of Stefano's assassins, given extensive training in The Martial Arts, and had plastic surgery to give him a brand new face. Temporarily nicknamed "the Pawn", he was actually "auctioned off" by a DiMera henchman named Petrov during an adventure in Miami, with The Primary bidders being corrupt ISA Chief Ogden Vaughn, and Victor Kiriakis. Victor won, and returned to Salem with the Pawn, and set AbOUT trying to unravel the mystery of his identity for his own purposes. There was even a brief flirtation with the idea that the Pawn was Stefano himself. But the Pawn escaped Victor, adopted the name "John Black" after seeing it on a war memorial, and set about finding about his past on his own, and with his new friend Marlena. Now played by Drake Hogestyn, the character was eventually revealed to be "Roman", and the "Roman"/Marlena relationship once again became popular amongst viewers and they remarried. Deidre Hall left the show in 1987, and Marlena was presumed dead in a plane explosion. Hogestyn stayed on and John/Roman attempted to start several relationships, including an ill fated romance with Diana Colville (Genie Francis, of General Hospital fame), Peruvian mafia princess Bianca Torres, and French prostitute and con-woman Yvette DuPree. He eventually started a relationship with a new character named Isabella Toscano (Staci Greason) who was the sickly daughter of crime boss Ernesto Toscano (before being revealed as the illegitimate daughter of Victor Kiriakis). The relationship between John/Roman and Isabella, and their connections to the various characters on the show, would lead to one of the most famous "umbrella stories" of the show's run: The Cruise of Deception.

"The supercouple phenomenon"

Meanwhile on rival network ABC, the intense popularity of the pairing of Luke and Laura on General Hospital in the 1980s, led to Days of our Lives to attempt to cash in on the phenomenon of the "supercouple" by pairing off their assorted characters into various relationships. Among Days roster of supercouples were Bo Brady (Peter Reckell) and Hope Williams (Kristian Alfonso), who quickly became the focal point of the show during the mid-80s and helped the show regain its popularity. The show also gained ground with addition of two new characters, Steve Johnson (aka "Patch", due to the fact that the character wore an eye-patch after losing an eye while a Merchant Marine) (Stephen Nichols) and Kayla Brady (most notably played by Mary Beth Evans), whose courtship became a major storyline for the series in and helped to lead to the introduction of another of the show's most popular characters—Jack Deveraux. Second only to Bo and Hope, were the shows other supercouple, Captain Shane Donovan of the ISA (Charles Shaunessey) and Kimberly Brady Donovan (Patsy Pease). The drama of the Shane and Kimberly storylines were extremely popular, and could have been a show all in itself. Shane and Kimberly's notable adversaries got huge followings aiding in the shows rising ratings. Among them; Victor Kiriakis (John Aniston), Emma Donovan (Jane Windsor), Gabrielle Pascal (Karen Moncrief) And Eve Donovan (Charlotte Ross). Heading into the 90's, Carrie (Christie Clark) and Austin (Austin Peck) would become another supercouple, battling for the sake of their relationship against Carrie's scheming sister Sami Brady (Alison Sweeney).

At the same time, it was shown that Patch also had a past connection to Bo Brady. Both had once been in love with the same woman—a Russian agent named Britta Englund. In a fight over Britta, Bo put Patch's eye out. Because of this, Patch wanted revenge on Bo. Patch terrorized Bo and Hope for some time. On one occasion, he kidnapped Hope and placed a bucket allegedly filled with acid over her head. If she were to move, the plate would spill on her face. Bo rescued Hope, and they discovered that the bucket was actually filled with water. The immensely popular Bo and Hope reunited and were given a lavish wedding in London.

"Patch" and Kayla

After Patch/Steve terrorized Kayla in Cleveland at Emma's request, he was also hired by Victor Kiriakis to follow her around Salem and pick up on any information that would be relevant to Victor (regarding Bo/Hope, Kimberly's kidnapped baby, etc.). Steve found many excuses to hang around Kayla, and it was clear that he was developing an interest beyond what he was being paid to do. Kayla, meanwhile, was suspicious and frightened of Steve, but fascinated and attracted to him at the same time. Thus began a long period of "push and pull" between the two characters while they got to know each other and eventually fell in love. An ongoing theme in the early stages of their relationship was that Steve did not feel worthy of being loved by anyone, let alone a "good girl" like Kayla. Because of this, she had to work very hard to get him to let down his guard and accept her love. It took around six months before the two characters had their first kiss, and another six months before their relationship was consummated. They finally married in 1988, two years after they first developed an interest in each other. They had daughter Stephanie Kay in February 1990.

When the character of Steve became a central character of the show and a fan favorite in early 1987, the story of his past was revealed. The impetus of this reveal was the arrival of a young woman named Adrienne, who befriended Kayla and worked at the Emergency Center with her. Eventually it was revealed that Adrienne was the sister of Steve, who had never known he had a sister. As a child Steve and his younger brother Billy had been put up for adoption because his father, Duke, was an alcoholic who abused his mother, him, and his baby brother, Billy. In attempt to protect his family, Steve had set a fire at age 5 in an unsuccessful attempt to kill his father. Adrienne had been born after Steve and Billy were given up for adoption. Her appearance in Steve's life was the source of much turmoil and self-hatred for Steve as he tried to shut out the memories of his past.

When Steve's mother Jo (Joy Garrett) followed Adrienne to Salem and re-entered Steve's life, Steve was forced to deal with the realities of his past, and to share his pain with Kayla. Alcoholic father Duke showed up to force Jo to come home with him, but ended up raping his virginal daughter Adrienne in a drunken rage instead. Adrienne shot and killed her father in self-defense, but then blocked out the traumatic incident. Steve took the rap in order to protect his sister, and almost went to jail for the crime, until Adrienne remembered what happened and cleared him at the last minute.

Adrienne and Steve went on to develop a close relationship despite Steve's initial reluctance to accept her. He even became close to his mother Jo, after struggling to deal with his anger at her for giving him away.

Eventually, while still recovering from the incident with her father, Adrienne met and developed a popular fairytale romance with Justin Kiriakis (Wally Kurth).

Steve and Kayla were brought back and "reunited" in June 2006. It was revealed that Steve had not actually died in the accident that had been assumed to take his life in 1990. His most recent memory is waking up in a hotel room in Cincinnati about 3 years ago and having no idea who he was, and then finding an ID that said he was Nick Stockton. He had been working as a hospital orderly in Cincinnati since that time, having no memory of his past. Meanwhile, Kayla had moved to Los Angeles after Steve's "death" and has spent the past 16 years becoming a doctor and raising their daughter Stephanie. She has never gotten over Steve and did not remarry.

Kayla's first sighting of Steve upon his return was in the cemetery where she was visiting his grave. She was thrilled and shocked to see him, but he had no memory of her. Since that time, they have struggled to find some common ground and have started to investigate the mystery of what happened to Steve during those 16 years.

The Deverauxs

In a summer 1987 storyline, Patch helped Senator Harper Deveraux (Joseph Campanella) to fake his death in order to better investigate an explosion that was believed to have been caused by Victor Kiriakis's mob connections. However, when Patch fired the gun, there was a real bullet. Harper went into a coma, sending Steve, Kayla, and the other primary characters in search of who had really staged the shooting and the explosion. Earlier that year, a person from Kayla's past had come to town: the senator's son Jack Deveraux (originally played by Joseph Adams, then by James Acheson), whom Kayla had met at an earlier time in Hawaii, when Jack had saved her life. After the senator finally came out of his coma, it was revealed that Jack was suffering from Hodgkin's disease, which was diagnosed as very probably being terminal. The Deverauxs hired Kayla to be Jack's private nurse.

The Deveraux family, including Jack, his father Harper, and stepmother Anjelica (Jane Elliot), moved to Salem permanently after Harper's unsuccessful presidential campaign, and Jo Johnson (Patch and Billy's mother) was hired as the maid. Jack and Jo formed a tight friendship after surprisingly being drawn to each other. One day, Jack (now played by Matthew Ashford) showed Jo a ring that he hoped to give Kayla as an engagement present, telling her that the ring was special to him since it had been a present from "his mother", who had died when he was young. Immediately, Jo recognized it as the one she had given her son Billy—Jack Deveraux was Billy Johnson. However, when Harper discovered that Jo was the mother of his adopted son, he was willing to do anything to hide it and to keep the truth from Jack.

When Jo told Steve the truth, though, he renewed his vow to protect his brother. Now that he found Billy, Billy was dying, and he could not even acknowledge their relationship. Steve/Patch decided to give Kayla up to terminally ill Jack, so that Jack could marry her and live the remaining time he had happily. Devastated by the breakup, Kayla accepted Jack's proposal and married him. Then, thanks to Dr. Mike Horton (Michael T. Weiss), Jack's Hodgkin's Disease went into remission.

Meanwhile, Melissa Anderson (Mickey and Maggie Horton's adopted daughter) developed a crush on Jack and also discovered that Jack is really Billy Johnson. Also, Harper Deveraux's true homicidal nature began to be revealed, as he was willing to commit any crime to keep his image intact. Harper erroneously believed that it was Kayla (not Melissa) who had Jack's adoption papers—and because he never thought that the working-class daughter of people who ran a fish market was a worthy match for his son, he began to poison Kayla.

Despite months of marriage, Jack and Kayla never consummated their relationship, first because Jack was ill and then because of Kayla's mysterious illness. Realizing that Kayla had married him largely because she believed he was dying, and because Steve had rejected her, Jack offered Kayla a divorce so that she could be with Steve. Kayla, still believing that Steve didn't want her, said that she wanted to remain married to Jack. Becoming suspicious of Kayla's lingering illness, Steve kidnapped her from the Deveraux home. Desperate to find his wife, Jack tracked Steve down, only to discover Steve in bed with his wife. Steve and Kayla swore to Jack that things weren't as he believed; actually things were exactly as Jack believed. Steve and Kayla, still in love with one another, began an affair, vowing to tell Jack the truth after he won the election to City Council.

The [...] of Kayla

On the night of the election, an unscrupulous reporter (financed by Harper Deveraux) produced photos of Steve and Kayla together. A furious and hurt Jack went home to confront Kayla with the evidence of her infidelity after months of her coming up with excuses not to consummate their marriage. The argument spiraled out of control, and Jack raped Kayla. Kayla left Jack and told Steve what his brother had done. Steve returned to the loft, confronting Jack in a violent fight that ended up with Jack plummeting off the roof of the building. Jack suffered extreme damage to his kidneys, forcing Patch to make the controversial decision to give Jack one of his kidneys.

Jack was loath to accept his rival's kidney, but ended up doing so. It didn't stop him from continuing to harass Patch and Kayla. Even while wounded, he approached Kayla, who was going in for [...] counseling and accused her of ruining his reputation. In the aftermath of the marital [...] of his wife, Jack lived in denial. He pled guilty only to a domestic assault charge, refusing to believe that it was [...]. Soon thereafter, he tried to locate Steve's missing brother Billy in order to torment his rival some more with hidden skeletons in his closet. In doing so, he unearthed his own baby picture at Steve's house and finally discovered that he was actually Billy. Jo and Adrienne tried welcoming him, and even Patch/Steve tried to welcome him as a brother. Jack, devastated by the revelation of his parentage, rejected them all.

The Riverfront Knifer

Later, a serial killer began [...] and maiming women in Salem. Both Kayla and Kimberly Brady were attacked. A few women were killed. Jack became the primary suspect for the Riverfront Knifer and was even arrested for the crime, only for Steve to discover that the real killer was Harper Deveraux. Due to the trauma that Kayla had gone through during the Riverfront Knifer attack, she developed hysterical deafness. When Jack saw what had happened to Kayla, whom he claimed to love, he finally let her go and secretly hired a specialist to fly to Salem to treat her for her illness.

At last free of all obstacles, and with Kayla healed from her traumas, Steve and Kayla finally married in a lovely outdoor ceremony on a yacht. The couple hoped to have happiness at last. Not so happy was Jack Deveraux who, trying to save his shattered reputation, struck up a relationship with Melissa Horton. Melissa was in love with Jack, but he was most definitely not in love with her. He only believed that the Horton name could salvage his image. Discovering that he was only using her, Melissa left Jack publicly humiliated at the altar.

Bring back the Hortons

As the show regained its popularity in the mid 1980s, it was decided to bring the focus back to the Horton family, which had been marginalized in the early 80s in favor of focus on the Bradys.

An outcast in Salem, hated for the villain that he was, left friendless and loathed, Jack purchased publishing rights to the local newspaper "The Spectator." The newspaper became his life, and it was there that he met the future love of his life, Jennifer Horton (Melissa Reeves). Laura and Bill Horton's daughter Jennifer had been brought back as a wild teenager, sent to live with Tom and Alice Horton, so as to provide the young girl with the stable home that her parents were incapable of giving her. Jennifer quickly became a popular figure and began a friendship with another new character, Frankie Brady (Billy Warlock).

Frankie was a teenager who had been legally adopted by Shawn and Caroline Brady. However, Frankie and Jennifer's teen romance suffered due to Jennifer's growing fear of inheriting her mother's mental instability, especially after she witnessed her mother catatonic in an asylum. These problems were exacerbated when Frankie began having a [...] relationship with his college professor. Feeling betrayed by Frankie, Jennifer broke up with him; when Frankie earned a scholarship to Columbia University, he left town. Jennifer went to Salem University and got an internship at the local newspaper, The Spectator. She also became involved with Emilio Ramirez (Billy Hufsey), who she later discovered was having an affair with the married Adrienne. Upset by this, Jennifer broke up with Emilio. Disgusted with romance in general, she wrote "Love Stinks" on her computer monitor at The Spectator. When Jack Deveraux read the bitter sentiment, he couldn't help but agree.

The "new" Jack and the Jack-Jennifer romance

In the aftermath of the Jack/Kayla/Steve triangle, Jack (under the portrayal of Matthew Ashford) had garnered increasing fan interest and had developed into a complex, conflicted character whose dark edge was complemented with a level of existential angst over his identity (after learning of his motley collection of dysfunctional parents) and over his growing realization of his guilt in raping his wife. Instead of whitewashing the [...], the writers exploited it as a source of great angst, guilt, and regret for Jack as he began realizing the enormity of the crime and the fact that he could never take it back no matter how much he wanted to. Realizing that his biological father had abused his wife and children, and that his adoptive father was a serial killer who had preyed on women, in addition to his own crime against Kayla, convinced Jack that he was unworthy of being loved by anyone and that he was most certainly unworthy of any relationship with a woman.

Enter Jennifer Horton and the beginning of one Days' biggest couples, Jack and Jennifer.

Having graduated from college, while working at the Spectator, Jennifer became increasingly aware that Jack wasn't all bad. He did in fact have a conscience. She became aware of the ways that he would surreptitiously help his mother, his sister, and even Steve and Kayla by anonymously donating money, sending gifts, or help even as he openly continued to reject all of his family. Jennifer became aware that his rejection of his family wasn't a rejection of them, but Jack feeling that he was not worthy of anyone's regard. She began to fall for Jack. And Jack began to fall for Jennifer, but he refused to acknowledge it because he didn't believe that a virginal ingenue like Jennifer should ever hook-up with someone like him.

When Emilio returned to Salem, he wanted to win Jennifer back. The uncouth Emilio felt that he didn't have the polish necessary to win a Horton and so he elicited the help of the urbane Jack Deveraux who agreed to play Cyrano De Bergerac to Emillio's Christian, as Jack gave Emilio the words (*his* words) to win Jennifer. The problem came in that it wasn't Emilio that Jennifer loved. It was Jack. Jack, however, was adamant that they couldn't become involved and used the excuse that he was her boss.

Feisty Jennifer wouldn't take no for an answer and pursued Jack for months, finally giving him the ultimatum that if he didn't admit that he was in love with her, she would marry Emilio instead. Faced with the ultimatum, Jack decided to admit to his love, only to arrive too late to stop Jennifer's engagement to Emilio. Haunted by the memory of his father's and their abusive pasts, Jack didn't again work up the resolve to confess his love until Jennifer and Emilio's wedding day when he dressed up as a fireman, pulled the fire alarm and absconded with the bride. Furious about the interrupted wedding, Jennifer was in no mood for Jack's confession of love... which he didn't make until she had fallen asleep anyway.