Ron Carlivati In as 'Days of our Lives' Head Writer, Dena Higley Out, Sheri Anderson Thomas Returns as Consultant

Ron Carlivati has been named the new head writer of Days of our Lives.

Daytime Emmy and WGA Award winning former One Life to Live and General Hospital head writer Ron Carlivati has been named the new head writer of NBC daytime soap opera Days of our Lives, replacing the current team of Dena Higley and Ryan Quan.

According to Soap Opera Digest, Quan will remain at Days with a new title, Creative Consultant. Sheri Anderson Thomas, who served on the Days of our Lives writing team in various capacities, including head writer and co-head writer in the 1980s and 1990s, will also hold the Creative Consultant title.

"We look forward to the fresh and compelling stories these changes will bring to Salem," Days of our Lives said in a statement.

“Like Sands Through the Hourglass,” Carlivati tweeted tonight, a reference to Days' famous intro.

Anderson Thomas shared her excited in a message on Facebook.

"I was a huge fan of the show before I met my mentor, Pat Falken Smith, and was lucky enough to also be mentored by the phenomenal Betty Corday," she wrote. "I am am thrilled, and honored, to be returning, and especially with Ron who's a brilliant storyteller and great guy. Upwards!"

The staff changes come as Days of our Lives faces an indefinite future. As Deadline recently reported, discussions are underway for a 52nd, and possibly final, season. NBC's hire of Fox News' Megyn Kelly brought speculation of a morning talk show that could shake-up the network's daytime schedule.

At the recent Television Critics' Association press tour, NBC chairman Bob Greenblatt told Deadline about Days, "We haven't made decisions, but we like that show. I think we will know more in couple of months. As they age, these shows diminish, there is a lot of delayed viewing and very little linear viewing anymore, you have to keep looking at that."

'Days of our Lives' Writer Dena Higley: "Love Conquering All" Is The Goal of Stories

In the latest issue of Soap Opera Digest, new Days of our Lives head writing team of Dena Higley and Ryan Quan outline their vision for iconic NBC soap opera.

“I think for me, the goal this time, especially coming in after a certain period of a lot of dark stories, is that we don’t want to shy away from conflict and drama, but always with the goal of love conquering all,” Higley explains.

The scripts from the new writing duo began airing on September 6.

Adds Quan, “I just want to make the show feel like the show I grew up watching that had a mix of mystery and adventure and romance and fun.”

The Newest "New" Plan to Save 'Days of our Lives'

On September 6, the work of the latest head writing team at Days of our Lives begins airing. This go around, Dena Higley is paired with rising star Ryan Quan, which means it's time for the new new new new new (you get it) plan to says Days!

In the new issue of Soap Opera Digest, executive producer Ken Corday talks about what went wrong after the show’s well-received 50th anniversary celebration last November, how they’re fixing it (again), and the "synergy" and "symbiosis" that the new co-head writing team of Higley and Quan (Quigley?) brings to the table.

"After Christmas and January, it had really started to take a left turn,"Corday tells the magazine. "I was very concerned about the lack of romance on the show, the lack of focus on the show, and I made my concerns known."

"I have been waiting to do this interview for about six months because we wrote the shows coming up and taped them six months ago, and I knew then I’d be very excited about the show because it is reset," Corday says. "Dena and Ryan have done a wonderful job of resetting it and getting it out of that dark place it was in."

Find out more in the new issue of Digest, on sale now.

Josh Griffith Out as 'Days of our Lives'! Ryan Quan Is New Co-Head Writer with Dena Higley

Josh Griffith joined NBC soap opera Days of our Lives in 2015 as part of a co-head writing team with Dena Higley. As of today, Griffith is out, according to Soap Opera Digest. He will be replaced by promoted 38-year-old staff writer Ryan Quan.

Quan graduated from UCLA in 1999 and started off his soap career by winning Procter & Gamble's writing contest for college students. Quan was the writers' assistant for Passions from 1999-2005 and served as the show's website coordinator from 2005-2007.

Quan joined Days as a writers' assistant in 2007 and wrote his first trial script for the show in September 2008. He joined the writing staff full-time in late 2009.

Did Days dump the right co-head writer? Do you think Higley and Quan will make a successful team? Weigh in below in our Comments section.