carolineg

I just laughed out loud at this. I never thought about it, but Cassandra James does have very stilted way of delivering her lines. Terry's fine and all. I just never got behind the D story of her romance with day player Yuri. Are they still together? Actually no one answer. I don't care lol.

I liked Chelsea at certain points in her run. I will say it's to Rachel Melvin's credit that Chelsea ever became semi-rootable after killing her little brother. Not really on topic, but it's very strange the show went to all the trouble to retcon J.T. into Bo's kid only for Chelsea to mow him down and he surprisingly never should up alive again lol. Yes he was in a coma for months right before he was killed off. Marlena would weep at his bedside and have dreams of her and John being together and it was extremely corny. Marlena was still used sparingly with other characters, but half her scenes were arguing with Drs telling her to pull the plug on John or having this idiotic dream sequences. I felt like Sheffer either didn't like John or just didn't know how to write for John/Marlena as a couple. I think Sheffer wanted to make Marlena darker and she was a bit after John's death vowing revenge on Stefano and all that. Since John was only gone for a few months I have a feeling the network or some higher up may have stepped in and forced HS to write Drake back in. Yes, they also got rid of Marlena's penthouse set around this time (2007) because it was too expensive. Marlena just moved out and sold it off screen while John was in a coma and I was so devastated because I still miss that set!

It truly was. It makes me mad all over again. For those two to go out with a re-marriage in a hospital room and John with paralysis? Ugh. At least it was rectified a few years later, but I remember being furious at the time. It showed such little respect for Deidre/Drake and Marlena/John who help carry the show for decades. And of course both of them handled it like class acts (at least publicly).

Higley seemed to hate John/Marlena or at least Marlena lol. It was so disappointing to watch John be RoboJohn for so long and then he gets his memory back a day before they leave. And he's paralyzed. It was an awful way for them to go out. The 2011 John/Marlena white collar story I suppose could have been good. I liked it brought Carrie/Austin in to help them fight the charges. Unfortunately, it was boring to me and I don't think that's exactly Deidre and Drake's bread and butter as a couple. Wacky life threatening villains are for better or worse. I totally forgot Daytime Confidential used to rip Molly Burnett. I think that's why I thought she was universally hated. Not anything to do with this thread, but it's strange how both Melanie and Chelsea became footnotes basically in Days history when they were dominating so much screen time a decade or so ago.

As always @dc11786 you have made great points and thank you for the insightful post. A few things I would touch on to reply is that: -I do believe Drake was fired when he was killed off. Deidre said in a few interviews she was hysterical after those scenes and thought that was the end of Marlena/John. I can't imagine how she feels now. So, even if the plan was always to bring John/RoboJohn back I don't think the actors were aware of it. Someone may know better than me, but that's how I took the public statements made at the time. -I really do see your argument of stripping down the show without the weight of supercouples and sci-fi, but Days went too far, IMO. It became almost unrecognizable and it was jolting. I don't think that period without them was bad really, it just lacked the core of what I loved about Days. Although I have had numerous people tell me that they did really enjoy this era. -Maggie vs. Marlena isn't really a thing to me. It did seem clear to me they gave much more prominence and value to SR after Deidre left, but as you said, they don't really fill the same roles on the show. It was nice to see SR get some meaty material after years of being an afterthought. -I actually think the return of CC as Carly wasn't the shot in the arm the show was hoping for. I admittedly hate the character of Carly so can't be objective. I think it's pretty obvious her return really flopped with viewers though. -I had no problem with Ali being bumped to lead as it seemed like a natural progression. I do think her real life pregnancy did make it difficult even though, as you stated, the Sydney switch was the best story in years. After dumping John/Marlena I would have probably really tried to woo Christie back as Sami vs. Carrie is what the show should have focused on. -I tend to agree the idea of 2011 re-boot was great, but the show didn't have solid stories for the returning actors. The John/Marlena plot about John losing his money over insider trading or something was boring. Carrie/Austin didn't really have a lot to do. It did seemed like the show was focused on getting these characters back first and then writing later. John/Marlena's story was pretty dull until Kristen showed up again. -I will always like Melanie. Yes, she got a lot of story, family and love interests and I can see how it would be annoying to some, but she brought a freshness and vitality to the younger set. I do love Rachel Melvin and Shelly Hennig as well. I also agree Kristen Renton was good. It's a shame it was widely gossiped she was sleeping with upper management because I liked Morgan.

Oh, I am sure they are fine now or that story wouldn't be in the book. It was noticeable to me that they did avoid pairing Tamara with Mo when she returned as Kim, but since that character was a mess anyhow it probably doesn't mean much. IMO, that was the best backstage tea from his book, so don't rush out and buy it thinking there is more lol. It was a pretty interesting book though. Thanks for recapping Brad's trajectory as a character. I honestly forgot about most of the Felix/Brad/Lucas triangle. I agree about Britt/Brad feeling false. You are so right about the actors not gelling organically. I am also one of the people that didn't think Britt(or KT) was all that special.

They did re-hire Wayne as another character in 2005 and that was a huge mistake. I would prefer that Alex North was just forgotten. They even used old Roman/Marlena flashbacks for that story which was tacky. As for why I'd re-hire Wayne as Roman, I think I've explained my reasoning in multiple posts and I still think it would be a nice ending for Marlena. To be absolutely honest, I would have made John the actual Roman instead of hiring Josh Taylor period.

The pairing with Brady was weird, but Molly Burnett always seemed so joyful and gave it her all. I have seen people even making fun of her teeth and I literally found nothing offensive about the girl. She had spunk even if Melanie wasn't the most defined or clear character.

Exactly my thoughts. Sami was going through major struggles and so were other parts of their family and John/Marlena just weren't there? It was so out of character for them to be off screen. It was a noticeable hole and I don't think most Days characters have that impact. Sami would say a lot of times that she would just call her mom and get advice. We've known Marlena for years. Sami's guilt trip alone about her problems would make Marlena immediately fly out to assess the situation lol.

Woah, first off I am like the only Melanie stan on this board. Love Molly Burnett lol. In all seriousness I don't know why people hate Melanie. But as far as everything else I agree. Sami was either crying or pregnant. And the John hate is annoying because they made up approx a million times and she named her son after him, but I do get it's an easy trope to go back to. I think Ali and Ari did a good job holding the show together in the absence of Drake/Deidre, but it felt immediately more like home the minute they were back.

Yes. I remember it being Nicole's last scene and being totally confused. It's rarely brought up but I knew I saw it lol. I don't know if Eric even knows about it, but that actually could have caused drama.

I want to say the first time Ari left many moons ago her last stuff was having a one night stand with Roman. I am not sure if it was ever brought up again, but my eyes remember seeing it lol.

I get where you are going and it would work for Chris. But it doesn't work for Roman. I also found Billie/Roman and then randomly Roman/Nicole super creepy lol. Roman is just a different character than Chris in almost all the ways. It will always be a mystifying casting decision

I don't really have much of opinion on Brad. He never felt very well defined to me and seemed like Brit's sassy sidekick. I do think PS and the writers need to up Brad's game if he's going to be believable in a romance with Lucas though.

Yes! I got that sense too. I wasn't sure if it was the writing at the time. He just felt a lot more subdued than Lucas already feels on this first day. I do sometimes wonder if Carnes didn't want to overshadow Perry Shen, who isn't the greatest actor. Van just practically ran circles around PS today.

Yes. Ali carried the show for those years, but Maggie moved more into the Marlena role and was heavily focused on. It was a weird time, but EJ/Sami/Nicole did have a lot going on. They also fired SN and MBE a few months after they fired the DH's so it was very transitional. A lot of people did enjoy that era though.

I agree. It's a different take for sure, but it made me feel like Lucas would be more of a presence this time around. Oh, I didn't find anything objectionable with his performance. I actually felt Carnes sometimes faded into the background in some of his scenes. I would have been happy with Carnes, but I am happy with Van too. I did like the Carly/Lucas scenes a lot.

I liked Carnes too. He was more subtle than Van. I do feel like Van will expand the role of Lucas more if writing allows of course. It's obviously early, but so far I agree with the recast.

Yes.

Oooh I really did hate young Spencer, but I thought Betchel was supposed to be obnoxious on purpose (as is Rachel). Violet is supposed to be the most sweetest, lovable little girl on the planet. She's not lol.

I would get rid of both of them honestly. It's one thing if the show is saddling them with this material, but they both want to have this boring, chaste, modest 1950's storyline. Like go find a Hallmark movie career or something. They are boring as hell. I am going to say that little girl is the most annoying child on soaps. She makes Rachel from Days seem tolerable.

Van already seems like a more commanding and vibrant presence than Ryan Carnes in the role of Lucas. So far so good. I am not advocating violence at all or violence between children, but I wish the boy Violet hit decided to hit her back hard lol. Sorry that's mean. Violet's existence in Chase/BLQ's lives age them up so much. They are young and newly married. This story is lame for them. I liked the Lucky/Sonny scenes, but I always had a soft spot for JJ and MB's interactions. These are the days where I can't stand Joss. Trina/Gio had a minor disagreement like normal people have sometimes. Joss didn't need to step in and stage an intervention. UGH The Portia/Ava scenes were interesting too. I am not sold on the Portia villain turn, but it's nice BK gets material she can sink her teeth into. Wringing her hands over Curtis for months was boring AF. A pretty good overall show today.

Well, hopefully everyone is more adult and reasonable now, but I doubt it. The Chad Duell stuff was separate. I think MB was really upset about DG's firing and just blamed the new young guy that got hired and had nothing to do with the decision lol. Although 2024 carolineg does think Mo might have had a point about CD 😂

The way Mo retold it in his own words made him sound like a petty jerk (and Steve by extension). I can only image the actual truth. I absolutely get being in a bad mental place, but I don't think you can go around bullying your co-worker either unchecked. Anyway it sounds like the two of them made up. I just think it very clearly explains things you saw onscreen at the time and why TB got the hell out of GH when her contract was up.

I read it awhile back during lockdown, but Mo said he and Steve would basically bully her by joking and making fun of her because they were unhappy with their storylines at the time. He doesn't go into specifics about what storyline (I assume the Alcazar stuff). I believe Mo made her so upset she started crying over it and then he felt bad. Apparently him and TB talked about it and are good now, but he blames it on being in very bad head space at the time. I was shocked he openly admitted that because it did not make him seem like a great guy or coworker. There were a few other tidbits of conversations he had with VM and some other costars that sounded insulting, but I guess they either laughed it off, didn't care, or just didn't say anything.