In late 1994, strange things, like vandalism, drought and bee attacks started happening in Salem. Kristen Blake (Eileen Davidson) was the first to suspect the culprit, Dr. Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall), renowned psychologist and town pillar. Kristen shared her suspicions with John Black (Drake Hogestyn), who initially dismissed them. But eventually the truth came out; Kristen was right. Marlena had a good reason for causing all this havoc--she was possessed by the devil. Viewers, who knew Marlena was possessed before the characters did, saw Marlena's transformation every time her eye color changed to a glowing green and her voice became distorted. Marlena finally was freed after an exorcism and a battle between John and the devil for her soul. This may have been one of the cheesiest storylines in soap history, but it was hugely successful. Thanks to this story, DAYS was the only soap to gain viewers in 1995, the year the O.J. Simpson trial pre-empted soaps for weeks. Despite its popularity, longtime viewers point to this plot as the moment when DAYS jumped the shark. No matter what anyone thought of the storyline, there's no arguing it was very memorable, and that's why it had to make our list.
In late 1994, strange things, like vandalism, drought and bee attacks started happening in Salem. Kristen Blake (Eileen Davidson) was the first to suspect the culprit, Dr. Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall), renowned psychologist and town pillar. Kristen shared her suspicions with John Black (Drake Hogestyn), who initially dismissed them. But eventually the truth came out; Kristen was right. Marlena had a good reason for causing all this havoc--she was possessed by the devil. Viewers, who knew Marlena was possessed before the characters did, saw Marlena's transformation every time her eye color changed to a glowing green and her voice became distorted. Marlena finally was freed after an exorcism and a battle between John and the devil for her soul. This may have been one of the cheesiest storylines in soap history, but it was hugely successful. Thanks to this story, DAYS was the only soap to gain viewers in 1995, the year the O.J. Simpson trial pre-empted soaps for weeks. Despite its popularity, longtime viewers point to this plot as the moment when DAYS jumped the shark. No matter what anyone thought of the storyline, there's no arguing it was very memorable, and that's why it had to make our list.