♥ Never Ending Story 1990 ♥ 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." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♥ Roman Finds A Lasting Love... Unlucky In Love - Will Roman Ever Find A Love That Will Last Forever? Roman Brady has had some hard luck in the romance department. If you've been a viewer of DAYS since the early 1980's, you realize that his recent loss of Diana is only one of the many losses in Roman's life. When Roman came to Salem in 1981, he wasn't looking for love. He was looking for a killer - the Salem Strangler. Through his investigations, Roman became acquainted with Dr. Marlena Evans. Marlena was the target of the Strangler (her twin sister had already been killed by mistake). Roman was assigned to protect Marlena and eventually ended up saving her life. Roman and Marlena were falling in love and decided to take a vacation in Mexico when the ordeal was over. Roman told Marlena he couldn't give himself to her completely, however, because he was still legally married. Five years before, he had met a girl named Anna. They had a whirlwind romance and were married. Shortly after their wedding, Anna died in a boating accident. Roman found out shortly after that she was pregnant. Once Roman told Marlena his story, he realized that he had managed to put the past behind him. He was ready to love again. Marlena and Roman were all set to be married. Mickey had drawn up the papers declaring Anna legally dead and then, in typical soap opera fashion, Anna returned with their daughter Carrie. Anna told Roman a story about how she had been rescued by white slave traders and had spent the last five years a prisoner. Roman felt responsible for Anna and broke off his engagement to Marlena. When Roman found out Anna's story was a lie (she was really in cahoots with Roman's arch-enemy Stefano DiMera) he lost all of his feelings of guilt and married Marlena. Roman and Marlena looked like they had a marriage that would last forever. And to add to their joy Marlena became pregnant with twins. Shortly after Samantha and Eric were born, Roman had to go on an ISA assignment to stop Stefano DiMera. He was led to Stefano's island where he eventually fell off a cliff to his death. While everyone in Salem mourned for Roman, he was really alive and held prisoner by Stefano. Stefano brainwashed him and gave him plastic surgery. He was to have no recollection of his former life, he was only to be Stefano's "Pawn." Roman soon became a player in Victor and Stefano's pursuit for the Pawn, the Purse and the Power. He was traded to Victor Kiriakis and came back to Salem wrapped up in bandages. Roman managed to escape from Victor's home and was rescued by Patch. His bandages were removed, but he didn't know who he was. Marlena befriended Roman, known now as John Black, and tried to help him remember his identity. The closer John got to remembering his past, the more he blocked it out. He was beginning to believe he was Stefano! John and Marlena ended up running away from Salem with the KGB hot on their tails. It was in the mountains while on the run, that Marlena discovered the truth - John was Roman. Roman and Marlena returned to Salem and Roman slowly began to remember his life. It was not long until things were thrown off kilter again when Marlena climbed up on a window ledge to talk a patient down and ended up falling herself. She remained in a coma for a few months, but Roman's love eventually brought her back. Roman was not through with the KGB, however; it seemed he had somehow become involved in stolen treasury bonds while his kid brother Bo was in the Merchant Marines. While hypnotized, Roman started to remember clues to the whereabouts of the hidden bonds. With Britta's help, Bo, Roman and Steve were able to figure it out. The bonds were in Stockholm. The trio took off to Sweden where they came face-to-face with Orpheus, another bitter enemy of Roman's. The bonds were recovered from Orpheus, but he still had a score to settle with Roman. It seemed Roman had something to do with the death of Orpheus' wife and he was going to avenge her death by killing Marlena. Roman did all he could to protect his wife, but Orpheus finally won out. A bomb exploded in the Brady's home and Marlena was killed. Roman couldn't believe she was dead, however, and he was right. Orpheus had kidnapped Marlena and taken her to his island to become his wife and to be the mother of his children. Roman eventually tracked her down, but he got there too late. Orpheus had already whisked Marlena away on his jet. Roman stared in disbelief as he watched the plane blow up. That was about all Roman could take. Not only did he have to face Marlena's death, but he had to do it twice. He threw himself into his work and became acquainted with Diana Colville, a friend of Mike Horton's who was in trouble. Diana was being terrorized by someone who was trying to kill her. At first she and Roman couldn't stand each other, but of course, they soon fell in love. Roman was kept very busy trying to track down the people who were after Diana. They discovered that it wasn't Diana the people wanted but the information she had about the prometheus disc. Diana's fiancé James had been killed because of the disc and now her life was in danger. Their adventure eventually took them to Greece (where Justin and Adrienne's wedding also happened to be). It was there that they discovered who this person was who wanted the disc. Roman had to shoot the woman to get the disc and Diana was stunned to find out it was her mother. Diana couldn't forgive Roman for shooting her long-lost mother. Once she got to know her mother a little better, however, she realized that Roman had done the right thing. Serena was only concerned with herself, and didn't care who got hurt in the process. Roman and Diana reconciled and decided to get married. Before they could, however, Cal Winters showed up in town claiming to be Diana's husband. This threw a monkey wrench into Roman and Diana's plans, especially since Diana had no recollection of this marriage. Diana claimed that Cal was out of his mind, but Cal had wedding pictures to back his stories up. Diana slowly started to piece things together and figured out that Cal was the man that she had almost married in Hawaii. She had called the wedding off and Cal went on a mission where he was captured and put in a prisoner-of-war camp. Cal would not give up, however. He hounded Diana and Roman until Roman finally had enough. The two got in a fight and struggled with a gun. Roman ended up getting shot in the throat. Cal was imprisoned, but the truth was soon revealed. Diana had accidentally shot Roman while she was aiming for Cal. After Diana's story came out, Cal was released. Carrie had a hard time accepting Diana back into her life. Diana was burdened with her own feelings of guilt and decided that Roman would be better off without her. She then left Salem and Roman forever. Roman couldn't believe he had lost another love. He did all he could to find Diana, but she didn't want to be found. Finally, he decided to go on with his life and threw himself back into his work once again. Perhaps he'll become involved with Marina, the trouble-making new woman in town. He always does seem to start off his relationships at odds with his partner. Whoever it will be, we are sure that Roman will soon find another love, and hopefully she'll stick around. THE BEST OF DAYS OF OUR LIVES, 2/90 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♥ DAYS Makes Love Happen... Building A Better Romance: The DAYS Way To Love Merely a year ago, DAYS OF OUR LIVES' Jack Deveraux and Jennifer Horton were hardly even acquaintances. Today, viewers sit on the edge of their chairs watching and waiting for Jack and Jennifer to kiss. What happened to those undeniably attractive but categorically opposite types? If you're an out and out romantic, you probably think they just discovered how right they are for each other when they began working together. If you're a savvy soap watcher who's been tuned into Salem for a few years, you've recognized the pattern. Like Bo and Hope, Roman and Marlena, Kim and Shane, Justin and Adrienne, and of course, Patch and Kayla, DAYS OF OUR LIVES> has perfected a formula for successful love stories, and more than any other soap, that recipe continues to reap a romantic, rich harvest. Basically, DAYS' way is simple - opposites attract. One of the twosome is "good" or from the right side of the tracks - Hope, Kayla, Shane, Justin, Mike - while the other is usually from the poor side of town and for one reason or another perceived by society to be "bad" - Jack, Patch, Bo, Kim et al. Through circumstance, these two unlikely lovers are thrown together, sometimes by work (Roman protecting Marlena, Shane asking Kim to spy for the ISA, Robin hired as Mike's superior at the hospital, and the currently hot Jack and Jennifer working at THE SPECTATOR), or sometimes as an act of defiance. When Hope became interested in Bo, and later Kayla found herself inexplicably drawn to Patch, in both instances their families were dead set against the couplings. Hope's father Doug even suffered a heart attack, having become so distraught about the prospect of his little princess with the motorcycle-riding leather-jacketed, long-haired Bo Brady. Ironically, it was brother Bo whom Kayla defied when she insisted on pursuing the romance-wary Steve Johnson. Bo knew Steve from their Merchant Marine days, and the two had been as close as brothers. However, when Britta Englund came along, her treachery broke up the friendship, when she romanced both Steve and Bo. The brawl that ensued culminated when Bo put out Steve's eye in a knife fight. Obviously, Bo had sour memories of Steve and didn't want him near Kayla. Once the key members of the love affair are determined, it is inevitable that other romantic interests seem to fall to the wayside. Hence, Emilio doesn't seem to have much of a chance in the "Who Gets Jennifer" game. Neither did Don Craig once Doc discovered Roman, nor did Angelica have a fighting chance with Justin once he fell head-over-heels for Adrienne; and honestly, did anyone think that the return of Britta was going to sidetrack Steve and Kayla for long? In fact, if anything, the third wheel has the most thankless role in these pseudo-triangles because they're strictly used as shoulders to cry on, if the truth be told. The next step in the infallible DAYS formula is simply time, a key ingredient as DAYS' Supervising Executive Producer, Al Rabin, confirms. Letting the lovers simmer, elongating the moment when they can at last openly and honestly admit their love for each other, is agonizingly wonderful entertainment. For as long as possible, our lovers are too proud to confess their real feelings, or one of them doesn't think he's good enough for the other, or for a multitude of other reasons - anything from death threats to religious differences - one of them fights the inevitable. But neither can fight the attraction. And cleverly and artfully, DAYS teases the audience with enough moments where the two almost get together to make every viewer virtually writhe with pleasure. True, those moments provide great entertainment for the audience, but more than that, they lay the foundation for the long-term appeal of the couple. For example, there was the first time Mike and April were stranded overnight on the island in the river; or when Kayla nursed Steve's wounds after he was beaten up and she had to look beneath his patch; and do you remember when Shane interrupted Kim's bath following their day of riding, to offer her some soothing bath salts? Even Justin's pretending to be a construction worker rather than a Kiriakis was an enticing time, hinting at the romance still to come. Which brings us to the most recent recipients of the recipe - the unlikely Jack and Jennifer. They seem to fit the formula to perfection - "bad" Jack (some might even see him as unredeemable) being transformed by the love of "good" and pure Jennifer. Already his good side is starting to come to the fore, in the same way Steve's goodness came to the surface whenever Kayla was around. And in both cases, Steve and Jack don't feel worthy of the love Kayla or Jennifer want to give. In Jack and Jennifer's case, we're still in the developmental stages. They've only recently shared their first kiss, but in keeping with the secret of DAYS' success, the build-up and follow-through for that one kiss was terrific. With these two, you can be sure the best is yet to come. Another current love story on the brew involves Roman and Isabella. They are only beginning to recognize their attraction, and even though Roman sees the potential dangers by getting involved with Isabella - which is her undetermined relationship to Roman's nemesis, Victor Kiriakis - Roman cannot help but reach out to this beautiful young woman. (OOPS! This is wrong. In our opinion it would sound better to say "and even though Roman sees the potential danger of getting involved with Isabella" not "and even though Roman sees the potential dangers by getting involved with Isabella.") Will she reciprocate? If this is DAYS OF OUR LIVES, you can count on it, but don't be surprised if the way the story is told offers new wrinkles and twists. After all, were Roman and Diana in any way a duplicate of Roman and Doc? You may wonder, is DAYS OF OUR LIVES the only soap that brings fans romantic couples? No, but from the results, they are one of the soaps that does it the best. Whether you buy into their formula, never noticed the similarities, or have but just don't care, you can't knock the soap nor their track record. As the old adage says, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Allison J. Waldman, SOAP OPERA UPDATE, 4/9/90