Three years after his real-life death, NBC soapie Days of Our Lives has decided to revive the character of Stefano DiMera.
The character that was originally played by 87-year-old Joseph Mascolo will now be played by Stephen Nichols, who previously played the role of Steve “Patch” Johnson.
Mascolo died in 2016 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
According to the new storyline, DiMera has “risen from the ashes once again” after undergoing surgery to look like Johnson and will now have to assume his life in order to carry out whatever nefarious plans he has for the people of Salem.
The show is known for its far-fetched storylines involving identity swaps, characters returning from the dead and characters having their memories stolen and stored on floppy disks.
Fans didn’t seem too happy with this idea, however, there are those willing to give it a chance.
According to a recent report by CNBC, the show’s entire cast was released from their contracts last month and the show was set to go on an indefinite hiatus at the end of the month.
Although NBC had not cancelled the soap, they were still in negotiations with Sony to potentially renew the contract and had not yet reached an agreement at the time the news broke.
The soapie is usually shot eight months in advance so there are currently enough episodes to keep the show on television well into 2020.
(Compiled by Kaunda Selisho)
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