carolineg

11 minutes ago, Khan said:

IDC what anyone says: John Beradino was a stone cold fox.

No lies here.

1 minute ago, Khan said:

John could still be Roman, you know?  Of course, that would leave the question: who is Roman?  But, we'd never find out, because JT's Roman would leave to learn the truth, never to be seen or heard from again.   

He really can't.  The Shawn/Belle, Thersea/Brady incest would be too weird.  I might let it slide overall, tbh, though.  I can forget about Tater tot, but Shawn/Belle/Claire are kind of a thing lol.

5 minutes ago, Vee said:

I have said my piece about Drake before, so I won't again, except for this: I've always liked him, he always delivers what they want from him and he has always had incredible chemistry and warmth with people, from his love interests to young children like Christie Clark back in the day. He's unfairly slated, and he probably should've stayed Roman. You can say a lot about Drake but you can never say he doesn't give 100%.

Truth.  He definitely gives 100%.  There's a reason he's lasted so long.  He's just not a great actor, but I would rather watch him than GH's Julliard trained actors....just saying.  There is something serious to be said about someone that clearly loves their job.  He projects that in all his scenes.   Drake literally seems like a guy you want to have a beer with and that projects better than any acting skills.

28 minutes ago, Titus Andronicus said:

Hogestyn works in 1986. He's inexperienced as an actor and John Black is nervous, pretending to be something he's not, so it totally fits. And Hall played Marlena as a strong, confident individual at the surface, good at masking her fears. She's a believable therapist at this point.

I thought Hogestyn continued to do pretty good work through 1988ish. After Genie Francis leaves, Roman doesn't really have a direction, nor anybody really experienced enough to carry him.

There's a couple of good scenes in Two Romans - the rainy night where Roman and Marlena are warned that John could self destruct. And Hogestyn pulls it off in a solo scene. Two Romans might could have worked, if they'd just left John's past as an Alamain. Instead of their wont for the past 30 years, tieing him to every half-assed idea they want to push as the new truth.

I thought both Hall and Hogestyn did wonderfully well for the first two weeks in 2008(?) when John was back from the dead. Hogestyn toned down a bunch of his annoying trademarks and for the first time in a while, Marlena was back as a cool, strong leader. But of course, their story was nothing more than a prop for that ridiculous Santino and Colleen crap and John had no direction for months after. Until they finally decided to just drop the RoboJohn thing.

This is a great post.

His inexperience and natural nervousness worked so well in 1986.  Not to mention his rocking chemistry with Marlena.  And Marlena had been alone for a minute, so it felt okay. Marlena's fear that John was Stefano, but  still was into it works perfectly.  I can't complain about John's intro story at all.  I still think it was A LOT to believe Drake and Wayne were the same person, but whatever lol.  One is just six inches taller lol.

I thought John/Rojohn was a natural as Roman.  He had chemistry with everyone.  He was just very earnest.  Drake has good chemistry with women, friends, kids etc.  The Diana story got a little weird and I am not convinced the entire Isabella story wasn't rushed, but he worked. 

I liked the RoboJohn stuff initially.  Dee did some great work around John's death.  The back and forth got tiresome.  Some days Marlena was all in with RoboJohn and the next day she wanted a divorce.

2 minutes ago, Khan said:

TBH, I never cared even for that original retcon, as it felt random to me.  It was as if the writers had already exhausted all their other options and couldn't find one that was entirely satisfactory, so they just settled on making him Forrest Gump Alamain so they could move on.

I think the Alamain stuff just didn't age well.  The show was going for that family to be the next Kiriakis's or Dimera's and then they faded out, so no one cares now.  It probably goes back to the fact they wanted Carly/CC to be the next big lead and she up and left.  I liked John/Vivian together though.

1 minute ago, Taoboi said:

LOL!!! I know you had mentioned it in the Recast thread, but now I cannot unsee it. Must be my years of MP and SATC viewing, but it's uncanny watching her. Because I will be like...'she does more her head like that' or how she dots her eyes. Even her inflections on some words. It's really...just wow. 

Now I can see a difference, but when I was 15 I was sure they were the same person lol!  I do wonder if that effected PG's ability to get a job after SB though because she's a decent actress.

1 minute ago, Khan said:

No, I'm not talking about soap opera fanfic.  I'm talking about writing an original screenplay - one which mixed sophisticated comedy with psychological thriller - that was inspired by, if not outright stole from, the original Roman/Marlena/Salem Strangler story.

Lol!  I would assume your soap opera fanfic would be amazing.  I think the bones of the Roman/Marlena story are great.  It's very old school and classic.  No one would notice.  Tbh, it's sad it all didn't work out for them because it was a very good concept.  I mean, bummer that Drake and his abs showed up.

1 hour ago, Taoboi said:

Wow @carolineg. I see TempHarmony and she really does move like Kristen Davis. I agree.

Lol I thought I was alone in this world think PG and KD looked so much alike.  And they both were Spelling productions so it is highly confusing.  I was sure Brooke from Melrose Place was playing Gabi on SB for awhile...lol

23 minutes ago, Khan said:

I must admit there have been times when I wanted to, um, "pay homage" to their original romance - icy blonde psychiatrist meets her match in the rough-around-the-edges cop who's assigned to protect her from a maniacal serial killer - with an original script of my own.  I don't think anyone outside of DAYS fans would notice, do you? 

If it happened before I was born I assume it's fair game.

Were Roman/Marlena the original plan?  Or were they a spoiler for her and Don getting back together?   It seemed like the show was leaning into a reconciliation and then just stopped it.  The show wasn't wrong.  I am just curious if the plan was to make Roman/Doc a supercouple.

1 hour ago, vetsoapfan said:

The Sonny Saga could have tolerable if it had remained a B story, and ended at its appropriate time, 25 years ago. But the show has just harped on my and retread over the same ground ad nauseum. Enough already, geez!

It's like The Reva Saga on TGL: neverending and increasingly ridiculous and annoying. Reva the Ghost. Reva the Amish Amnesiac. Reva the San Cristobelian Queen. Reva the Clone. Reva the Time Traveller. EGADS, make it stop!🤢

Even as Brenda's #1 Fan the story got tiresome.  It's one thing to be young and be confused about Sonny/Jax-it's another to purposely play them off eachother at 40.  And at some point Brenda was doing that full well knowing they would fight over her. 

Anyhow, Sonny never really evolved.  It's always been the same seduction routine.  I understand there is some trouble living up to iconic storylines/pairings that happened right off the bat, but ugh.  I get why Brenda/Carly love him, but he is a great B character not an A character.  

13 minutes ago, Soapsuds said:

If we are talking about Days (even older Days) is it a thread derailment?🤣

Given the current state of Days, I would assume this thread would be lucky to have a watch post about Never Say Never: The Deidre Hall story.*

Message me if anyone finds that movie for free!!

12 minutes ago, Khan said:

I give Possession 1.0 a (slight) pass, because I feel like there was a point to the story, even if it was a point that I didn't exactly understand or agree with, lol.  But one of the WORST things you could do as a writer is tell a story with NO point, and I'm afraid that's the category where the others you've mentioned belong.  If crap like Virtual Eden or Melaswen had a point, then it totally passed me by.

Agree 100%.  Even if you didn't agree with the point, the Possession had one.  It was a very clear lovestory underneath it all.  JER gave it a very obvious beginning, middle, and end-even if I suspect it changed half way through to make it more Marlena/John centric.  It will never be a story I like, but it was well crafted overall.  

3 minutes ago, Michael said:

Dario! (I knew what you meant, lol.) I knew there was another quick exit that I couldn't figure out.

McPherson & Taylor brought Jack back, though. He arrived as their run began. 

In retrospect, and not having seen Anna's intro, it's tough for me to imagine Roman having been with Anna at all! 

I still can't buy Roman/Anna but we never saw the romance so no big deal I guess.  It does sorta track now with Roman/Kate.  

ETA-Anna's intro was bizarre.  It involved white slavery.  

37 minutes ago, Khan said:

First of all, it's not that I love WN, lol.  (Although, I thought he was pretty hot when he played the chauffeur and Fallon's boytoy during the first season of "Dynasty").  But, I loved his initial pairing with DHall/Marlena.  In fact, it reminds me a lot of the old Tracy/Hepburn movies, with DHall's Marlena as the sophisticated, cerebral psychiatrist to WN's Roman as the blue-collar, goes-by-his-gut cop.

For me, an ideal storyline would be to have WN's Roman in a love triangle with LR's Billie and LK's Kate.  It'd be a very interesting tale about how mothers and daughters are often in competition with each other.  And even though Kate would be, for me, the more appropriate choice for Roman, in terms of age and everything else, I'd still have her ultimately step aside and allow him and Billie to be together, thereby putting her daughter's happiness ahead of her own.

 

Early Roman/Marlena is amazing.  They are so likable.

I honestly don't see Roman (Wayne's version) in a triangle with mother/daughter.  He seems too blue collar and pragmatic for that.  I honestly had a hard time picturing him with Anna.  She seemed way too glamourous for him (no offense to Deidre as Marlena is glam as well, just more down to earth)

Just now, victoria foxton said:

I thought you were talking about her first run. Carly, Diego, Taylor, Quinn and Jack were all let go By Marlene Clark Poulter and Darrell Ray Thomas Jr.

Got you.  They did interact a bit in their first run for sure.  Carly was a big part of the Tale of 2 Romans and she and Bo had that Mayan wedding.  Anyhow, the show did back off their interaction after that.  I am not sure if it was an actual personal issue or just the fact Deidre Hall did nothing for the entirety of 1992

6 minutes ago, victoria foxton said:

I think CC was there for quite a while after Dee's return. It's all very hazy, and maybe i'm wrong. But CC there over a year and half. 

She left in summer of 2011.  They didn't overlap.  I had to google it because I wasn't sure lol.  It looks like Days fired her.

22 minutes ago, jam6242 said:

Drake seems like the nicest guy in the world, but his pairing with Deidre was the worst thing for me as a fan (along with the writing) because of his acting.   I know I'm in the minority with current viewers, lol.  Marlena was one of my favorites before that and I still have affection for her.  I was starting to enjoy her again when John was killed off.  I don't think it's a coincidence that Deidre has not been Emmy nominated since their pairing.

I get it as a fan.  I am not sure it's doing either of them any favors, but I literally think they are iconic and in love-so I am not objective lol.  My feeling is Drake would have been dumped years ago without the pairing, so good for him.  I think the pairing is more a disservice to her more than him.  Unfortunatley they boxed Drake in by not making him Roman and you can't go back now with Shawn/Belle and Brady/Thersea having kids.  No writer has ever nailed down John's origins.  I have no idea why they didn't make him Roman's twin.

20 minutes ago, vetsoapfan said:

Knowing that I have watched soaps for several decades, someone asked me recently what I thought were the WORST storylines ever told on daytime TV.

I tried to compile a list, but became overwhelmed quite quickly, because there were so many to choose from. The Tale of the Two Romans, The Garden of Eden, Melaswen, Marlena's Possession, Princess Gina...DAYS has had a lot of absolute, painful stinkers

I just don't see how anyway you look at the tale of 2 Romans it makes sense.  It is the jumping off point for the endless Days ridiculousness.  It made Marlena and the entire Brady family look like idiots and they still haven't reconciled who John really is.  I don't think anyone came off likable in the story at all.  It really started the trend of RealRoman being an ass to Marlena.

7 minutes ago, vetsoapfan said:

TPTB have seemed to honor and cherish certain male actors over their female counterparts for a long time now. I seriously doubt they ever would have dropped John Beradino from his contract, yhet they had no qualms about releasing Emily McLaughlin and Rachel Ames.

The show bent over backwards to pamper and appease Tony Geary, but never showed Genie Francis the same respect.

And as for your comment that Sonny should not be a lead...YES! A thousand times, THIS. I just fell in love with you, LOL. The show should indeed be about the personnel of the hospital. How it got to center around a greasy, Teflon mobster who never pays for his heinous sins, I will never know.

Sonny/Brenda/Jax?  Awesome.  Great story.   Sonny can lead his own B stories, but if I was in charge Sonny would have been gone in 1997.   It was the perfect end to his story.  The mob robbed him of the life he wanted the most.  It was fitting.  But here we are.

1 minute ago, vetsoapfan said:

I don't trust the soaps to keep anyone on canvas, no matter how beloved by the fans or important to the shows' fabric they are. They've written out Laura multple times before. Still, I hope you are right about them not letting her go...AGAIN.

I agree with you yet again in that Laura should be a wise, talk-to; the tent-pole, heart and center of the show, surrounded by family. Lucky, Lulu and even Lesley (as much as Denise Alexander wishes to appear) should be around her. The show needs a strong core family again; one which is NOT driven by mobsters, killers and general degenerates.

I have no idea how behind the scenes antics go, but the optics to me have always been GF is expendable to TPTB.   I don't think she's going to be written out at this point, but I never thought the show has valued her as much as it should.  

But this show has been off the rails for years.  I am like a charter member of the Sonny Corinthos fan club (it's lessened over time, but the feeling is still there).  He should not be a lead.  The show is about a hospital not mobsters.  I have no idea how we got to this place lol.

1 minute ago, Khan said:

No, she's definitely no Charity Rahmer.   

DHogestyn is capable of delivering better performances as well, but I think he and Dee suffer from the same issues that plague most soap actors today: OTT writing and little (or no) direction.  Nothing will EVER save bad writing, but if you give a director more time to work with his/her actors, they can at least help them modulate their performances - here's a hint: the more OTT the writing, the smaller your performances should be - and find the emotional throughline in every scene.

How do you figure out how to play a devil Possession?  I have never thought Drake was good.  Charming, good looking, and likable?  Yes.  He has that innate ability to generate good chemistry with co stars as well and the man has a rocking body for someone who is in his 60's.  But he has recently taken his performances from older, hot action hero to wacky grandpa and I can't....Marlena and John are a fabulous supercouple and still have great chemistry.  I still think their 70 year old asses get it on all the time lol, but they lean into the cheesiness too much.  Marlena had excellent scenes with Will the other day and it showed ability but then she hams it up with John a day later.  I adore the fact the DH's still want to act and be on our tv screens everyday, but I also wish they wouldn't pander so much to the Jarlena fanbase and to be clear I am in the Jarlena fanbase🤣

2 minutes ago, vetsoapfan said:

I've hated most of DAYS' story choices for the last 30+ years. I don't think the current writers on any soap opera are capable of telling erudite, thoughtful, well-crafted stories. Nor are they capable of writing three-dimensional, intelligent, believable characters. To be honest, I'd rather the shows come to an end than continue indefinitely in their present, crippled state, although this sentiment always invokes a chorus of protest ("I don't care if the show is a steaming pile of doo-doo. You would just shut up and accept it the way it is, if you were a REEEEEEAL FAN!")

Grunt, LOL.

I am going to probably get hate on this but I think the Tale of 2 Romans is the worst story Days has ever done.  Sure there are failed stories like "Garden of Eden" and what not, but this messed with such iconic history it's ridiculous.  I know Days had a renaissance and bump in popularity in the 90's, but I don't see how you can't point to that story and say this is where it all got bad lol.  To this day, if you asked me to explain it I couldn't.  

2 minutes ago, vetsoapfan said:

Again, I agree, except that I do not believe the current PTB have the will, interest, talent and ability to write continuing storylines for stable, mature, evolved "older" characters, even though their evolution would be totally understandable and desirable in real life. We've already seen how Laura, Scotty, Bobbie, Monica and so many others have been put out to pasture and/or discarded completely because the show can't or won't write anything for them that is "traditionally exciting."

My concern is that with unimaginative producing and writing, the show won't keep up with good, evolved, stable characters long term, and will end up letting them go the way GH phased out beloved vets like Audrey Hardy.

I don't think Laura will be phased out.  I like the fact the show isn't trying to sell you a new, passionate romance with Laura.  It's not going to be Luke/Laura so why bother.  I wish they would bring Lucky/Lulu back to anchor her more though.  I really think there is a place for Laura on the show to be that steady main character.  A wise talk to.  I don't want to put her prematurely out to pasture or anything, but it just feels right for Laura to be that person. 

1 hour ago, Khan said:

Agree.  I know from my years of watching that DHall is capable of a lot more than what we've seen since the mid-'90's.  But I also know that the writing after her initial return has done neither Dee nor Marlena any favors.  The Dr. Marlena Evans Black of 2022 is in no way the same Dr. Marlena Evans Brady who took on the Salem Strangler and Stefano DiMera in the '80's.

Do you hate the Tale of 2 Romans as much as I do?  Do you feel like it went on forever and explained nothing?  Do you think making John not Roman is one of the worst mistakes Days has ever made?  Do you find Isabella unbearably obnoxious?  Probably not, but these are all the things I think of when watching that crap story.  It's like Days had gold when they got Dee and Wayne back and that was the story choice.  Plus, they just decided to not use them for about a year until Marlena decided she wanted to [!@#$%^&*] John again.  I know there is a lot of talk about just writing a soap yourself if you hate things and I am not a writer, but I legit could have crafted a better return story for two icons in the early 90's.

6 minutes ago, vetsoapfan said:

I agree 100% that in real life, a stable, steady, uneventful pairing like Laura and Kevin would not only work, but be a great thing. As I age, myself, I don't look for or expect ROMANTIC FIRE! ENDLESS PASSION! NEVER-ENDING DRAMA! I just want peace and tranquility. But that doesn't work with couples on soaps, alas.

I still root for Kevin and Lucy too, but if the show ever gets a good producer and savvy writers again (I know I am dreaming in Technicolor) they could make anything work, even Laura and Scotty. If not, *I* will take him! LOL!

To me it makes sense.  Laura had all the fire and passion.  I like that she's grown up and not chasing a teenage dream fantasy and wants stability.  Laura always craved stability even with Luke.  She was down for adventure, but she wanted a home, a family, peace as well.  It works for me.  I get that Laura is an icon and people might want more for her, but I prefer this to women like Brenda* who is still holding out for her teenage fantasy with Sonny to work at 50 years old. *I am not speaking ill of my girl, but you know what I mean.  He's not leaving the mob Bren!

8 minutes ago, Dion said:

 

I like them too and I tend to agree with everything you've said. And the best part about them is that they just let each other be. That may be a bit boring but its nice to have a couple who isn't all up in each other's business all the time.

Right?   I know they aren't the most exciting, but Laura/Kevin have had a lifetime of drama and it feels alright for them to choose to have a nice, steady, stable relationship.  Laura isn't 17 anymore.  It not all fun and games.  It seems like the mature choice for a 55 year old woman. They aren't being sold as a great supercouple.  I get that's not what soaps are made of, but I like it more than, say, Carly running around in circles with Sonny making the same insane choice hoping it will work out this time.

3 minutes ago, vetsoapfan said:

Weak, incompetent writing has done in many a fine pair or would-be storyline, alas. I blame Frank and the writers for most of the show's failures. Genie and Kin could pull it off with the right support from TPTB.

I like both of the characters too, just not as a couple. On soaps, when there's no fire, no passion, no spark, boredom sets in and the characters are backburnered or settled into "old-people, tent-pole" status. GF and JL are too charismatic individually for that fate.

Yeah, it probably doesn't work for a soap, but Kevin/Laura make sense to me.  It really seems like a real life couple that were just tired of the drama and found a nice, easing coupling.  I still stan for Kevin/Lucy, but I don't find Kevin/Laura bad.  I just think Scotty/Laura puts Scott in a Jax like corner where they know their love interest loves someone else more.  Kevin doesn't have the Luke baggage Scott has.  

3 minutes ago, Khan said:

Agree.  I know from my years of watching that DHall is capable of a lot more than what we've seen since the mid-'90's.  But I also know that the writing after her initial return has done neither Dee nor Marlena any favors.  The Dr. Marlena Evans Black of 2022 is in no way the same Dr. Marlena Evans Brady who took on the Salem Strangler and Stefano DiMera in the '80's.

Yeah.  I am definitely not saying she's the best actress to ever be on daytime, but there was something much more subtle about her portrayal.  She has some talent.  I just think Drake almost de-elevated her or she just gave up because her and John ham it up all the time.  And I know they are milking their fanbase with their nonsense, but DH could do a lot more.  I mean I just really assume she's like [!@#$%^&*] it at this point and cashes her check.