Disasters striking the homes and businesses of soap opera towns is nothing new. Sometimes, it’s a chance for shows to freshen up and redo familiar sets, other times it’s a chance to just get rid of them. But when the Horton family house burned down on Days of Our Lives this week, it struck a particularly painful blow to longtime viewers.
The good news is, it looks like the show is going to take this opportunity to explore Alice and Tom’s past and teach an entirely new generation of viewers why they were so beloved and so important not just to Salem, but all of Days of Our Lives. To that end, the show’s delving into flashbacks to their early years together!
DAYS OF OUR LIVES, Frances Reid, MacDonald Carey (1990s), 1965-present, (c)NBC/courtesy Everett Collection
Frances Reid and Macdonald Carey played Salem’s beloved Alice and Tom Horton from the show’s start until their deaths.Credit: NBC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
Soap Opera Digest reports that Sydney K. Smith and Zach Chyz have been cast to play young versions of Alice and Tom in these flashbacks, roles that were played for decades by Frances Reid and Macdonald Carey, respectively. Back when Days of Our Lives first began, the Horton family was the central family of the show.
Alice and Tom Horton were just about the only stable couple in Salem and their love endured right up until their deaths — Carey’s in 1994 and Reid’s in 2010. Their increasingly sprawling family, on the other hand, has always been a mess… But that’s part of what makes the show so much fun to watch. As other families like the Bradys, the DiMeras and the Kiriakises have moved in, the Hortons haven’t quite been as front and center as they used to be, but their presence is still felt — and not just because Salem’s Horton town square was named in their honor!
In fact, all the other major families have their share of Hortons in them, meaning Salem’s beloved first couple and all their descendants will live on as long as the show does. We’re reminded of that every Christmas when the Hortons hold their annual tree decorating party. It was a tradition started decades back by Alice, and the ornaments they hang on their tree began with those of her and her beloved husband, Tom.
So while we’re heartbroken that Doug and Julie lost their home, a house so important to the history of Salem, we’ve still got hope that Alice and Tom’s legacy will live on forever, their beautiful ornaments will somehow survive, and Young Tom and Young Alice will give us a whole new appreciation for the characters who began Days of Our Lives nearly 60 years ago.