Exactly 20 years ago today, NBC premiered a sitcom about a circle of friends living in Manhattan. Little did the network know, “Friends” would skyrocket in ratings, becoming one of the most popular sitcoms in television history. The show made David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow, Courtney Cox and Jennifer Aniston (real-life daughter of “Days of our Lives’” John Aniston [Victor Kiriakis]) household names. But do you remember The One (or rather five) “DAYS” stars that appeared on the Emmy-winning show? Soap Opera Network sure does, so read on for a super sudsy blast from the past!

“Days of our Lives” has been on fire lately with a plethora of steamy fall storylines, and something exciting has happened behind the scenes, as well: The show’s executive producer, Ken Corday, was awarded Operation Smile’s John Connor Humanitarian Award!

As previously reported, cast members of NBC’s “Days of our Lives” will once again take part in a special “Day of DAYS” fan event scheduled to take place on Saturday, November 8 at Universal CityWalk in Hollywood. This year the celebration takes place on the actual 49th anniversary of the daytime drama series, making it all the more special for fans looking to see their favorite Salemites in person. As always, the event is free and will begin at 10:00 AM with a “Day of DAYS” welcome party with cast introductions, followed by autograph signings, a cast Q&A session, photo booth fun for fans and much more.  The day will culminate with a preview of an upcoming episode of the drama series immediately following the cast Q&A.

“Days of our Lives’” Kristian Alfonso (Hope Brady) and “General Hospital’s” John York (Mac Scorpio) are currently sharing the screen, but not on a soap opera: The pair are the stars of new public service announcements bringing awareness to the fact that 37 million American adults are currently living without a high school diploma.

The chemistry between “Days of our Lives’” Hope and Aiden started out as a slow burn, but its since built into an inferno of flames searing through television sets across America. Never one to miss a hot story, Soap Opera Network sat down with portrayers Kristian Alfonso and Daniel Cosgrove, who opened up about the storyline and their real-life professional connection in their first joint interview ever! Read on to get the scoop — which they reveal in between plenty of jokes and laughter!

He’s had starring roles on “All My Children,” “As The World Turns,” “Guiding Light” and currently “Days of our Lives” as Aiden Jennings, but despite his long soap career as a serious actor you’d be surprised to learn what hidden talent Daniel Cosgrove keeps close to the vest. In a recent visit to the Burbank Studios, where “DAYS” is filmed, Soap Opera Network was given an exclusive and rare opportunity of witnessing Cosgrove beatboxing. Yes, you read that right.

In conjunction with the new season launch of “Deadly Affairs” starring Susan Lucci (“All My Children,” “Devious Maids”) on Saturday, August 16 at 10:00 PM ET/9:00 PM CT, Investigation Discovery has announced the return of its daytime soap block hosted by several adored past and present soap stars. The block consists of encore episodes of some of the network’s most scandalous series, such as “Wives with Knives,” “My Dirty Little Secret,” “Scorned: Love Kills” and “Evil Twins.” Taking in the soap block as hosts are “General Hospital’s” Lynn Herring and Kin Shriner, “Days of our Lives’” Mary Beth Evans and Wally Kurth, Lamon Archey from “The Young and the Restless,” Darnell Williams from “All My Children” and telenovela actress Katie Barberi (“Dona Barbara”). The block kicks off Monday, August 25 with “Sinful Secrets Week.”

As previously reported, former “All My Children” star Robert Scott Wilson (ex-Pete Cortlandt) is joining the cast of NBC’s “Days of our Lives” as a recast Ben Rogers. The actor replaces Justin Gaston, who in real-life is married to “The Young and the Restless’” Melissa Ordway (Abby Newman). Gaston was let go after his 13-week contract cycle was not picked up.

The Great White North is currently experiencing quite a “dramatic” invasion: Several stars from NBC’s “Days of our Lives” have crashed into Canada for an exciting promotional tour!

As previously reported, Daniel Cosgrove is joining the cast of NBC’s “Days of our Lives” in the role of Aiden, but what you may not have known is that the actor is playing Salem’s newest attorney. The actor is scheduled to first air on Wednesday, January 22 as Aiden gets more than he hoped for when he butts heads with Hope Brady (Kristian Alfonso) over their children.

During the east coast broadcast of NBC’s ” Days of our Lives” on Wednesday, November 27 fans will get a chance to watch the show while tweeting live with actress Lauren Koslow (Kate ), who wants tweeters to provide her with their best and most creative idea of what her character is texting to Hope Brady (Kristian Alfonso) during the episode. The lucky person whose idea is selected will win a follow from the actress on the social network.

On Thursday, October 17, several LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) organizations and individuals celebrated Spirit Day, which asks people to take a stand against bullying and show support for LGBT youth by wearing the color purple. NBC’s “Days of our Lives” took a stand and showed its support as cast members donned purple shirts, jackets and even ties.

With more than 30 years under her belt portraying Hope Brady on NBC’s “Days of our Lives,” Kristian Alfonso has signed a new contract with the daytime drama series that’ll keep her in Salem for the foreseeable future, reports Soap Opera Digest.

In a posting last week on its Facebook page, shortly after word that the Supreme Court of the United States had found the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional, the NOH8 campaign displayed a photo compilation of “Days of our Lives” cast members posing in support of the charitable organization whose mission is “to promote marriage, gender and human equality through education, advocacy, social media, and visual protest.” The photo included actors Blake Berris, Eileen Davidson, Greg Vaughan, Kristian Alfonso, Bill Hayes, Lauren Koslow, Deidre Hall, Suzanne Rogers, Freddie Smith, Joseph Mascolo, Nathan Owens, Kate Mansi and Galen Gering, among others.

As noted in our recent interview with Greg Meng, co-executive producer, “Days of our Lives,” the NBC Daytime soap opera is releasing “Days of our Lives Better Living: Cast Secrets for a Healthier, Balanced Life,” a new book that delves into five better living topics – nutrition, exercise, style, inspiration and balance.

“Eighteen nominations later and here we are,” said Ken Corday, executive producer, “Days of our Lives,” in an exclusive interview with Soap Opera Network shortly after the NBC Daytime drama series nabbed its first Daytime Entertainment Emmy Award in 35 years in the category of Outstanding Drama Series. The last time the show won in the category was in 1978, per the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

The top winners from yesterday’s 40th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Awards most likely partied hard in celebration of their wins last night, but that didn’t stop them from showing up on today’s episode of CBS’ morning show, “The Talk!”

As “Days of our Lives’” Kristian Alfonso (Hope Brady) will tell you, she’s really done it all when it comes to soap storylines — so much so, it’s even tough for her to name a favorite! “I can’t remember all of them, but one that comes to mind very quickly is the Princess Gina storyline, when Bo and Hope were in New Orleans, the storyline when we went to London and Bo and Hope got married, but it wasn’t just about them getting married, it was about them finding the bad guy and them on an adventure and them in Miami, the prison storyline, nighttime Hope when she was basically drugging herself and not realizing it, the storylines that I’ve had that involved Billy and Chelsea,” she lists. “There are so, so many!”

For the past couple of years NBC’s “Days of our Lives” has been holding its “A Day of Days” fan event at Universal Studios CityWalk, where fans of the drama series could meet and great some of their favorite stars and get signed autographs. Unfortunately, this year the network has decided not to continue that event, and instead opted to branch it out a little bit (similar to how ABC canceled Super Soap Weekend, which turned into the Soap Nation Tour). Earlier this year, in a posting on the soaps operas Facebook page, the network said, “Ask and you shall receive! NBC has heard your requests and we are taking our yearly fan event on the road! Instead of holding our event at Universal City in California, members of the ‘Days of our Lives’ cast will be traveling to a few cities around the country. Dates and cities to be announced soon!” That “soon” is now.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock lately, you’re likely already aware that Greg Vaughan (ex-Lucky Spencer, “General Hospital”) is joining “Days of our Lives” as a recast Eric Brady. What you didn’t know was his first airdate, or his characters new holy profession. Say what?