What a difference a day makes, especially if the day is Aug. 19 and we're talking about "Days of our Lives."

The changing of the writing guard took place on that date. Dena Higley and Josh Griffith were brought in to write the soap opera's 50th anniversary story lines. They replaced the former head writing team of Gary Tomlin and Chris Whitesell.

Executive producer Ken Corday was left the legacy soap by his parents Ted and Betty. Less than a year after the show debuted, Ted died. Betty, who knew nothing about the soap opera world, took over. She kept her post until she died in 1987. That is when their son took over. In his 2010 memoir "The Days of Our Lives: The True Story of One Family's Dream and the Untold History of Days of our Lives" Corday talks about having to deal with rumors of cancellation over and over. So whenever there are threats of his show's extinction, Corday knows what to do. Often that does men changing head writers. To keep production costs down, "Days" has a five-month lead from script to show.

In the next few weeks we will see fan favorites such as Patch return to the canvas. We will also see the start of a serial killer plotline. Will the victims come back from the dead? Corday says anyone who dies after September is not making a heavenly return. Also, characters such as Rafe and John are back where they belong, doing what they should be doing. Cutting Rafe from the police department and having him run a bar was fairly dumb. So he gets back on the force. As for John, he returns to the ISA, a CIA-like organization.

The children are changing as well, especially those of Dr. Kayla Brady and Steve "Patch" Johnson. Teen Joey will first appear on Aug. 28, and he'll bring with him his long gone father, Steve, who has run away from his home in Salem, and his mother Kayla. Steve's return will kick off a new beginning for "Days of Our Lives," as the new writers' story lines begin. This, along with the return of characters, is all leading up to the big 50th anniversary celebration in November.

In October, Hope Brady's daughter, Ciara Brady, will become a teenager along with Aiden Jennings' son, Chase. Hope's daughter has rapidly aged just in time for her father, Bo Brady, to return to Salem after being absent for more than 2 years, and November will see Theo Carver and Claire Brady as teens.

Claire will return to Salem as a teenager with her parents, Belle Black and Shawn Brady, who have been gone from "Days of Our Lives" for years. Recently, Ken Corday spoke out about the aging of the young children in Salem.

"By aging these children into young adults, we're making them more relatable to our audience and more dramatically exciting. These are not ancillary characters, but young leads. None of them will be a goody two-shoes. Each is somewhat flawed."

Just when he thought everything was in place, Corday learned that Higley, one of the head writers, was taking a leave of absence. No word on why or if and when she will come back. There are rumors that a writer now working at "The Young and the Restless" could be moving to "Days." Both shows are produced by Sony.

To find out more about Lynda Hirsch and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.