♥ Home Run 1993 ♥ Note on soap magazine publication dates and content of articles/interviews regarding multiple soap stars: Many of the monthly or every other month (and sometimes quarterly) magazines back in the 1980's would be on the newsstands a long time before the date on the actual magazine. We've noticed, for instance, that DAYTIME TV magazine did an interview with Drake in late 1986 about his upcoming wedding, which was scheduled for December 1986, yet the interview didn't appear until the July 1987 issue several months later. Therefore, it might be a bit confusing to read about his "upcoming" wedding in an interview dated July 1987 when you happen to know he was married in December 1986. We've tried to date the articles to match the date on the magazine, regardless of when the events talked about took place. Hopefully it will make sense as you go along! We've also edited some of the articles/interviews to just include John's storyline, since this is a Drake/John website. We've left out comments and sections about other actors or storylines unless they're involved with John's storyline. This too should be very apparent and clear when we've done that so it makes sense and you don't have to skim through a long article to find the "John parts." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thumbs Up! When Marlena first landed in that pit on DAYS, we didn't care if she ever climbed out. The character had been so annoyingly self-righteous, she'd lost our sympathy. And her marriage to Roman was a joke - jumping from John's bed into Roman's without a backward glance was practically indecent, not to mention cold-blooded. But the longer Marlena languished in that pit, the more our interest revived. Flashbacks of tender scenes with Marlena and Roman reminded us why we'd fallen in love with them all those years ago. And Marlena's heartfelt talks with John, during which we (finally) discovered that this couple's love hadn't just evaporated after their passionate, turbulent years together, restored our respect and affection for them. John's poignant expression as he watched Marlena and Roman together after the rescue foreshadowed a tantalizing story. Thanks to scenes during Marlena's imprisonment, we see how and why she cares so deeply for both Roman and John. By resurrecting the past, DAYS has set the stage for an exciting future. SOAP OPERA DIGEST, 2/2/93 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♥ Editors' Notes It Doesn't Matter Which Woman: It always amazes us how DAYS OF OUR LIVES' John (Drake Hogestyn) seems to have chemistry with whichever female co-star he is paired with. We're enjoying the dramatic scenes between John and Marlena, but even though we know a John and Rebecca pairing is probably not the long-term goal for the show, John still breathes life into the possibility of it by connecting with Rebecca. So the question remains…is it true that any woman that John is paired with seems to work? No. It's just that Drake Hogestyn makes it work. SOAP OPERA UPDATE, 3/23/93 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♥ DAYS OF OUR LIVES A Texas-Size Heart Drake Hogestyn (John) moseyed on down to Dallas to meet with a hundred and ten of his fans at a country and western dance hall called The Stampede. When the joint got jumping, Drake joined the line dancers on the floor to try his hand, uh feet, at the Achy Breaky. He made it through the twisty bumps and turns just fine, but later confessed, "It's more complicated than I thought it would be." However, Drake put his best foot forward when the party ended and he was enroute to the airport. He had the driver detour to where Claire Smith, a fan in her 70's, was recuperating from a medical emergency. Claire had traveled all the way from Louisiana to attend the event but fell ill the night before and couldn't go. Thoughtful Drake put in a special appearance at Claire's daughter's house before heading back to Los Angeles. SOAP OPERA MAGAZINE, 4/6/93 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♥ The Twenty-Five Most Provocative Stars And Stories... The Nine Most Provocative Men In Daytime: It's no easy feat to incite lust in a woman, while stimulating her mind. But these men manage to do just that. On-screen they smolder, taking us to places that we can only reach in our dreams and the far-off corners of our imaginations. Off-screen, they challenge us, pushing the limits of how a daytime leading man should be perceived. In combining the two we find that rarest of delights... John, DAYS OF OUR LIVES, As Played By Drake Hogestyn: "John Black is a man," says Drake Hogestyn proudly about his DAYS OF OUR LIVES character. Of course, millions of admiring women never had any doubt. "He's not afraid to show that he admires women. He likes to be around women. He can also be a man's man and he doesn't pull any punches. He's very confident about himself." As is Hogestyn, which makes him so damn appealing. This former major league baseball player is in his eighth year on DAYS, starting as John Black, then Roman Brady and now John again (but he's really Forrest Alamain). As we anxiously wait to see who is the real father of Marlena's baby, the actor is glad to put his character's indiscretions with Marlena behind him. "Drake Hogestyn kind of had a hard time living the character of John Black with the choices John was making," he admits. "But I also understand that every man goes through times when he follows emotions instead of his head." He's also more than a little excited to be working with his new leading lady, Eileen Davidson (Kristen) and their on-screen chemistry is definitely leading them to supercouple status. "I'm having the best of times right now," he says. "She's a man's woman and she brings out the best in me. It's very exciting to work with someone of her caliber, to have her come on and things immediately start taking off. Whenever you do scenes, and cast and crew members start talking about them, it's a pretty good sign that you're going in the right direction. That makes an actor feel like you're putting out some pretty good work and that the audience is going to like it." SOAP OPERA UPDATE, 9/21/93 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♥ Soap Opera Bulletin... Late Breakers Q Report On Soap Stars' Popularity Who's the most popular daytime star? The annual Market Evaluations and television Q Report for daytime performers conducted this past June and July has just been released. Eighty-three daytime actors were rated on their familiarity and likability (Q) by over seven thousand respondents to the company's questionnaire. According to the firm's President Steve Levitt, here are the top twelve most familiar, likable and recognizable daytime performers: 1. James DePaiva (Max, ONE LIFE TO LIVE) 2. Drake Hogestyn (John, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) 3. Melissa Reeves (Jennifer, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) 4. Frank Dicopoulos (Frank, GUIDING LIGHT) 5. Walt Willey (Jackson, ALL MY CHILDREN) 6. John J. York (Mac, GENERAL HOSPITAL) 7. Jeanne Cooper (Kay, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS) 8. James Kiberd (Trevor, ALL MY CHILDREN) 9. Doug Davidson (Paul, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS) 10. Michael E. Knight (Tad/Ted, ALL MY CHILDREN) 11. Kristina Malandro (Felicia, GENERAL HOSPITAL) 12. Tracey Bregman Recht (Lauren, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS) Q Report Part Two: Based strictly on how widely known this same list of daytime actors are, the following actors were the best-known out of all daytime stars, but didn't make the top twelve because of lower likability ratings: 1. Macdonald Carey (Tom, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) 2. John Aniston (Victor, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) 3. David Canary (Adam/Stuart, ALL MY CHILDREN) 1. Susan Lucci (Erica, ALL MY CHILDREN) 2. Deidre Hall (Marlena, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) 3. Emma Samms (Ex-Holly, GENERAL HOSPITAL) SOAP OPERA WEEKLY, 11/9/93