Production of the 55-year-old daytime drama also was put on indefinite hiatus, leaving its future in serious jeopardy

Actress Jennifer Aniston who was honored with a star the the Hollywood Walk Of Fame Induction Ceremony on February 22, 2012 in Hollywood, California.

The future of NBC’s “Days of Our Lives” is in doubt after the entire cast was released from their contracts and the daytime soap was set to go on indefinite hiatus at the end of the month.

Cast and crew of ‘Days of Our Lives,’ winners of Outstanding Drama Series, pose in the press room during the 45th annual Daytime Emmy Awards at Pasadena Civic Auditorium on April 29, 2018 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images) 
 

Tat means that the actors about to lose their regular-paying gigs include John Aniston, the 86-year-old father of Jennifer Aniston. John Aniston first started at “Days of Our Live” in 1969 and later returned to play mobster-turned-legitimate business mogul Victor Kiriakis in 1985.

Other stars who have been released from their contracts include Kristian Alfonso (Hope Williams Brady) Nadia Bjorlin (Chloe Lane), Mary Beth Evans (Kayla Brady) and Deidre Hall (Marlena Evans), as TVLine first reported.

The 55-year-old drama — the longest-running entertainment show in NBC’s history — has not been cancelled, but the move is “decidedly ominous,” TVLine reported. The show won’t go off the air at the end of the month because enough episodes were filmed months ahead of time to air through summer 2020.

NBC could choose to renew “Days,” but TVLine questions whether that is likely, given that the show has no guarantee that some of the more popular cast members would return. If the show is renewed for another season, producers could go back to the cast but ask them to sign new contracts at a lower salary, TVLine added.

The show is set in the fictional Midwestern town of Salem, and follows the lives of the Horton, Brady, Kiriakis, Hernandez and DiMera families.

Entertainment Weekly said “Days” still has a rabid fan base but, like a lot of daytime dramas, ratings for the show have fallen since the glory days of soaps in the 1980s.

The Luke and Laura romance on “General Hospital” in 1981 moved 30 million to tune into the episode featuring their wedding and to make the ABC soap the daytime leader with an average of 14 million daily viewers, the AV Club reported.

But since then, the number of daytime series has fallen from 15 to four today and some, like “Days,” have remained in constant jeopardy, according to the AV Club.

Of the remaining four, “Days” only averages about 2 million daily viewers, the Hollywood Reporter said. The other shows are CBS’ “The Young and the Restless” and “The Bold and the Beautiful “and ABC’s “General Hospital.”