Watch: NBC Cuts Off Final Airing of Days of Our Lives for Pre-Speech Coverage from Charles III

NBC cut short the ending of the long-running soap opera Days of Our Lives on Friday amid its final airing for special coverage of remarks from soon-to-be crowned King Charles III.

After 56 years, 10 months, and a day, the over-the-top drama’s run was set to end on the network. It will begin airing on Peacock Monday.

NBC executives simply couldn’t allow the drama to end on its own terms. At 12:57 p.m. ET, an actress professed her love for another character with a mere two minutes left in the show.

The character Gabi, played by actress Camila Banus, was informing her deceased former lover she was ready to move on while visiting a mausoleum.

A special bulletin cut off her dialogue and the video.

Viewers, some of whom had likely dedicated much of their lives to the show’s 20,759-day run on NBC, were greeted by Savannah Guthrie with news: Charles would speak soon – but not just yet.

“Hello from London, and as we come on the air, we are just moments away from the very first public address to the nation from King Charles III,” Guthrie told the network’s viewers.

Charles was not on camera, and his speech to Brits mourning the death of Queen Elizabeth II was not imminent.

Still, NBC decided that after it had given Days of Our Lives 29,892,960 minutes in its lineup, two more minutes was too much to ask.

Days of Our Lives ended its run on NBC on a Friday in September of 2022. Not with a bang, but with a whimper.

Its 1,793,577,600 seconds on broadcast TV ended with no ending at all, which is perhaps the best way to wrap such a drama: a cliffhanger fit for a king.

Watch above, via WNBC.