James E. Reilly (born July 15, 1948 in Bountiful, Utah) is a writer of American soap operas. Bountiful is a city located in Davis County, Utah. ... The first TIME cover devoted to soap operas: Dated January 12, 1976, Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes of Days of our Lives are featured with the headline Soap Operas: Sex and suffering in the afternoon. A soap opera is an ongoing, episodic work of fiction, usually broadcast on television...

Career

Reilly created the NBC soap Passions in 1999 and is still head writer. Before that, he was the head writer of Guiding Light from 1990 to 1992, Days of Our Lives from 1993 to 1997 and Sunset Beach in 1998. He also worked as a staff writer for other soaps prior to that, including The Young and the Restless. It was his work at Days of Our Lives, however, that garnered him the most fame and acclaim. Passions is an American television soap opera created by veteran soap opera writer James E. Reilly. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Days of our Lives is a long-running American soap opera. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The US soap opera Sunset Beach aired on NBC at 11:00 AM from January 6, 1997 to December 31, 1999. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

In the summer of 2003, he returned to Days of Our Lives where he wrote before he was finally fired in the spring of 2006. He currently writes for Passions. He is known for his outrageous and/or supernatural plotting. In late May 2006 NBC announced he was leaving Days of Our Lives again and will be replaced by former As The World Turns head writer Hogan Sheffer. May 2006 : ← - January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → May 1, 2006 (Monday) Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association outraged Vatican by planning to ordain another bishop, Liu Xinhong in Anhui Province. ... As the World Turns (ATWT) is the second longest-running American television soap opera, airing each weekday on CBS. It debuted on Monday, April 2, 1956 at 1:30pm. ... Hogan Sheffer (born June 12, 1958 in York, Pennsylvania) is an American Daytime Emmy winning screenwriter. ...

In recent times he has become quite unpopular with fans of both series for his storylines, which have finally broken past the realm of "believable," even for Days and Passions fans. He also has unoriginal and predictable storylines, Passions Vendetta being one of them, where the mystery monk ended up being Alistair Crane, or Passions Red, where the mysterious white robed lady was Rachel Barrett. Many fans guessed who the identities were the first few days of the storylines starting. Alistair Ephraim Crane is a fictional character on NBCs daytime drama Passions. ... Rachel Barrett is a fictional character on NBCs daytime drama Passions. ...

Departure From Traditional Story

When Reilly started writing for Days of Our Lives in 1993, one of his first story choices was to have one of the show's heroines, Dr. Carly Manning (played by Crystal Chappell), buried alive. The culprit was villainess Vivian Alamain (Louise Sorel). Critics of the show panned Reilly for the uneven storytelling. For example, even though Vivian allowed Carly to have water, she stayed in the coffin for weeks. Also, Vivian had the forethought to program the coffin with speakers so Carly could hear Vivian taunt her. Finally, after Carly was freed from the coffin, she returned to normal, and did not have any traces of claustrophobia or schizophrenia. Carly was written out shortly after. Reilly would use this same story for his soap opera Passions involving heroine Sheridan Crane (McKenzie Westmore). A pregnant Chappell on the cover of CBS Soaps in Depth Crystal Chappell (born August 4, 1965) is an American soap opera actress. ... Louise Sorel Louise Sorel (born August 6, 1940 in New York City) is best known as villainess Vivian Alamain on the NBC daytime serial, Days of Our Lives. ... Claustrophobia(cla-stra-fobia) is an anxiety disorder that involves the fear of enclosed or confined spaces. ... McKenzie Westmore (born McKenzie Kate Westmore on April 26, 1977) is an American actress/singer who plays the role of Sheridan Crane on the television soap opera Passions. ...

In 1995, Reilly would start what would arguably be his most infamous storyline when he wrote another heroine, Dr. Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall) as being possessed by the devil. The storyline continued for a year, and involved her lover (who was a priest in his past life) exorcising the demon from Marlena's person. This story was interrupted many times due to the O.J. Simpson trial, but the show's ratings rose during this time mainly due to the possession storyline. Deidre Hall Deidre Hall aka fashionista. ... Orenthal James Simpson (born July 9, 1947, San Francisco, California), publicly known by his initials as O.J., and nicknamed The Juice, is an American former college and professional football player and film actor. ...

In 1997, Marlena's ex-lover, John Black (Drake Hogestyn) was set to marry Kristen Blake (Eileen Davidson). However, unbeknownst to him, Kristen's surrogate, look-a-like Susan Banks, married him instead, in an Elvis-themed wedding that she planned. John thought he was marrying Kristen, but Laura Horton (Jaime Lyn Bauer) accidentally hit Susan, causing her false teeth to fly out of her mouth, landing in Vivian Alamain's champagne. Since Kristen did not have false teeth and Susan did, the secret was out. Donald Drake Hogestyn (born September 29, 1953 in Fort Wayne, Indiana) is an American soap opera actor. ... Eileen Davidson, in a still from Days of Our Lives. ... Jaime Lyn Bauer (born Norma Marvhne Bauer on March 9, 1949 in Phoenix, Arizona) is an American soap opera actress. ...

He left Days in 1997 and started writing the show Passions in 1999. Examples of storytelling on that show include a centuries-old witch named Tabitha Lenox (played by Juliet Mills), who wreaks havoc on citizens in the small hamlet of Harmony. Charity Standish (Molly Stanton), a teenage girl from the hamlet, became a zombie. Charity was also sent to Hell, the door to which was one of the character's closets. This scenario has lead some fans to coin a phrase, "Better than Hell in a closet." 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Juliet Mills - Juliet Maryon Mills (born November 21, 1941) is a British character actress, most famous for her roles on shows such as Nanny and the Professor and Passions. ... Molly Stanton in Twins Molly Stanton (born March 13, 1980 in Los Angeles, California) Before acting, she attended U.C. Berkeley for part of her freshman year. ... A participant in a Zombie Walk event in Calgary This article is about the undead. ... Medieval illustration of Hell in the Hortus deliciarum manuscript of Herrad of Landsberg (about 1180) Hell, according to many religious beliefs, is a place or a state of pain and suffering. ...

Reilly The Recluse

He has a mysterious, reclusive persona in the soap press -- rarely or never photographed. He has also gained a reputation as hardly, if at all, meeting the actors who play his characters. If he perceives them as ungrateful, or not liking the storylines he has written, he usually writes the actors out in a usually unconventional fashion. He parodied this reputation in an episode of Friends, when he wrote Joey Tribbiani's character, Dr. Drake Ramoray, as falling down an elevator shaft after Joey bragged that he wrote his own lines. Friends is a sitcom about a group of six friends living in New York City. ... Joseph Joey Francis Tribbiani, Jr. ...