j swift

I enjoy the Sloan/Eric story, even though it is so islanded that it seems like they are on a different show.  I appreciate the occasional interaction with Paulina, but it seems odd that they aren't interacting with the Dimeras more often.  I find myself missing the Eric and Brady banter from a few weeks ago.  Side note: even I could see what an amazing figure Sloan has got, her body was remarkable today.

It seemed odd that Johnny isn't part of the scenes at the house today.  I enjoy his outsider perspective on his many bizarre relatives.  Wendy telling Johnny that she's interested in Tripp was not organic.  No woman her age would be so indiscreet.   

Sometimes DAYS is like The Sims, where you can't play too many characters on one lot.  So, there isn't a lot of interaction, or even reaction to the events around town.  Leo seems to be the only one who is up-to-date on everyone else's lives.  I guess not having a date for more than a year gives a guy enough time to focus on others.

I've always assumed that was the sign of the mystery being written by inexperienced writers.

The audience watched Rae shoot Michael. So, they wrote her into a corner.  Then, they had to make up another shooter who got to Michael before Rae in order to resolve the issue.  But, of course, it never absolved Rae of actually shooting Michael.  IRL, if you intended to murder someone and by chance they were already dead before you shot them, it doesn't mean that you're still not guilty of at least manslaughter.   However, given the inexperience of the writers, they hadn't planned the conclusion to the story in advance. 

I support the union, and I think scabs are immoral.  However, it is hard not to be amused by the errors that they made in basic storytelling.

It's always amusing to me when I see a promo for a cliffhanger, but I can't recall the resolution.  So, I have to ask, who killed Kyle?  Heck, I don't even remember who was Kyle?

I don't understand why Kristen pledged her support within the company to Gabi and Stefon for a ride back to the mansion, versus supporting her nephew EJ?

16 hours ago, te. said:

I actually love Rachel - she's such a spoiled brat that I'm looking forward to her teenage years. 

I like the idea of Rachel being a brat.

However, I think it is a missed opportunity to not only use Rachel as a source of conflict for her father's relationships, but to tell a story about how to socialize a child.  There is a rich history of brats in Salem, from Sami and John's relationship, the rocky start of Marlena and Brady's relationship, and Hope and Julie's relationship.  It would be a unique story in daytime, that is relatable to much of the audience, to only use a child as an object, but give them a story arc.

In anticipation of the responses, I disagree that the creativity, talent, or sexuality of the writing staff negates the possibility of exploring issues related to child-rearing. 

I enjoyed the magical Dimera family cocktail hour.  It had all my favorite soap elements (1) people assuming inheritance rights despite not being in the will (2) a bar cart filled with chilled champagne and the perfect number of flutes (3) adult illegitimate children suddenly changing their last name and (4) former prisoners and returnees from the dead with complete wardrobes and no luggage.

When EJ complained about Megan being dead for 30 years, I wanted her to remark that every Dimera in the room had been presumed dead at some point, it's a family tradition!

BTW I just clocked Kristen's ankle tattoo, that's a choice...

On 5/23/2023 at 7:35 PM, SoapDope said:

Speaking of those last seasons, why was Stacy Galina (Kate) considered such a find ?  Even when they did the 1997 reunion she was brought back with Gary's child in tow and given major airtime. 

Someone posted the scene on TikTok of Karen giving Val's eulogy, and the whole time Gary was looking back over his shoulder at Kate.  My reaction was, dude, keep it in your trousers at the memorial for the mother of kids!

I wonder why Megan's first stop out of prison was the Brady Pub?  Please don't tell me it was because she recalled her love of their chowder!

I predict it won't happen, but I would love to see Megan renew her rivalry with Roman for telling Bo that she had an abortion, and her classic put down to Tony when she told him that he was always jealous of her because he knew she was Stefano's favorite, even before they found out she was a Dimera (Do we capitalize the M?).

Also, @carolineg or @AbcNbc247 I totally missed the details on beard guy who wanted to put Dimitri back in jail (I skipped BS2).  He's also a Von Leuschner?  Are they related?  And classic DAYS script, nobody takes the opportunity to get more information on Dimitri when they had the chance.

I guess a Y&R example would be Chelsea.

Although she is played by an established soap actor, it would be difficult to predict that the one time foreign fling of Billy Abbott would get a whole family introduced and be a lead character for more than a decade.

However, she breaks one of my cardinal soap rules.  She's established as a world traveler, partying it up in Myanmar, but maintains none of those characteristics as she evolved.  When she was with Adam, she never seemed like a woman who once made a living conning men in Asian poker rooms in comparison to a guy who grew up on a farm in Kansas.  I get that she's reformed, but where's the knowledge and experience gained from being raised by two scam artists?

Malibu is famously restrictive about issuing permits for filming on private property, due to lack of parking and risk of disrupting the privacy of neighbors. In 2019, Malibu only allowed 19 permits for filming, permits in the area cost four times more than permits in LA, and no permits were allowed on Carbon Beach (where this house is located, because it is a gated community).  So, it speaks to the influence of the Bells that they were allowed to shoot anything on site.

When I was growing up his book Hollywood Babylon was very influential

Kenneth Anger, 96, Dies; Experimental Filmmaker Left a Pop Culture Legacy - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

For GL, I think AC Mallet was destined for main character status from the time he was introduced, given the exit of other stars and the amount of screen time he was given from the start.

Josh may have been planned as more of an antagonist, and certainly, his character traits evolved into a romantic lead once Billy was introduced, but there were signs from his introduction that he was going to change the focus of the drama away from the hospital and the Bauers.

On the other hand, I would have considered Harley to be a very minor character upon her introduction.  One would certainly have predicted that Cam would have more of a lasting effect.  But, she evolved, got a family, and slid right into the main character set.

OK, Kristen leaving prison in a catsuit was funny and damn entertaining.

I was reminded that DAYS is not trying to be anything more than a silly distraction, and I have reset my expectations. 

There's plenty of other media that is much better equipped to comment on current events.

While nobody has earned extra credit so far for recalling how the character was introduced, Mimi is a perfect example.  Yes, she was cast for the summer story with the other teens, but her family expanded and lives on in Salem to this day.

3 hours ago, Khan said:

Frankly, the Quartermaine mansion was never among my favorite soap sets in ANY iteration.  To me, it's a set that designers just can't ever get right.  (The less I say about that stupid spiral staircase in the '70's and '80's, the better.)

The creepiest room in the whole mansion was AJ's nursery in the attic with the killer skylight, no wonder that guy turned out to be a reprobate.  Who paints a nursery grey?

16 minutes ago, Gray Bunny said:

I'd jump ship if I worked for DiMera, since the head of the company is constantly changing and their business origins are murky at best. 

I'd stay with DiMera over Kiriakis because I'd prefer to be transferred to the office in Rome rather than Athens in this economy.

Chad was introduced as a minor plot point in the baby switch story on DAYS.  He was Teen Mom Mia's baby daddy who created some conflict when he began questioning what happened to his child.  Cut to a decade later, I don't believe Maggie could pick Mia out of a lineup, but Chad has become a romantic lead and now is part of one of the legacy families.  We can tell it was unplanned because Chad is such an un-Dimera name.

Who else played a minor part and became a lead?

I don't mean a b-story that made it to center stage for a small period of time, like when Paul's secretary Lynne on Y&R got married.  Or, someone like Marco Dane (OLTL), Shane Donovan (DAYS), or Billy Clyde (AMC)  who was such a hit with fans that they found more stories for him over time.  But, an actual blip of a character, almost an extra, like Tiffany Hill (GH) that suddenly became the focus of the show.

Extra points if you can recall the context of how the character was introduced.

I appreciated the dynamic when Dimera and Kiriakis were competing businesses. 

The focus of both conglomerates was never clear.  I recall when Kiriakis was in the shipping industry, they owned Savanah Wilder's recording company and distributed drugs.  I guess Dimera holds Basic Black and focuses on beauty and fashion, (which seems like a bizarre fit for both the characters of EJ and Stefon).   But, I liked the brief time when they were in competition because at least it brought some conflict into the business storyline, and it created opportunities for Romeo & Juliet/rivalry-type plots. 

I'd also really like to revisit the idea of how Maggie is coping with the more nefarious sides of the Kirikas business now that she's in charge.  It could either go more Mafia Momma, or she could try to clean it up, with Alex and Xander working beside her like the angel and devil on her shoulder.

But, I guess that's just as likely as someone on the Dimera board objecting to either EJ, Stefon, or Megan being CEO given that they've each been recently presumed dead for long enough to not be aware of the latest trends.

Generally, the lack of discussion of COVID, the loss of one million Americans, the complete disruption of our lives, and how it has changed the workplace, is odd for me in all forms of media.  Compared to the war in Iraq or 9/11, it seems so shocking how few stories we see about COVID on tv and in film.  I think it is the most historic event of this century, but more time has been spent on the origin stories of superheros than COVID.

But, specifically for DAYS to have a black police officer never mention how she could choose to be involved in law enforcement after the death of George Floyd and the defund the police movement is astounding.  I would be fine if Jada defended her career to Talia, but for there to be no discussion at all is an egregious error. 

I guess the only progress we see in daytime is rather than scrapping stories because of the perception that dramatizing current events is exploitative, now we just ignore them.  Fear of a backlash has resulted in stories of viruses being solved by orchids and the only drugs in town are found in the local bakery.  

I was intrigued by the return of the Q mansion so I went and watched the episode.

The highlight for me was Joss and Trina's friendship.  I really like those two together, and I hope the recast has as much chemistry to keep up that bond.  Female friendships are some of my favorite scenes in soaps and I enjoy how organic these two women seem as college buddies who are navigating their first adult relationships; while still maintaining other priorities and not just pursuing a guy and fixing his life. 

Peacock's response to HBO/Max changing their name to just Max

Shawn shooting his father is a missed opportunity to say something about the misuse of guns in law enforcement.  They tried to make it seem like it was cool that Patch somehow got three guns in a foreign country and then gave one to Chad as a civilian.  As opposed to including some dialogue about Shawn pulling the trigger without notice is not proper police practice. 

I know someone will counter-argue that the current writer is incapable, but I've grown weary of that discourse.

There's a lot of chatter that the house is ugly, but I think it is stunning.  I guess it depends on the angle

Also, there's been some discussion that part of the price includes the art, in which case it's a bargain

Meanwhile, Colleen and Bradley's home is also not too shabby.

And by the looks of their 11 million dollar NYC co-op (all cash), Bradley definitely has a more maximalist style than than his brother

4 minutes ago, Khan said:

Well, I guess that's what happens when the sands clump up in the hourglass.

that's very clever

@carolineg I wonder if we're supposed to think everything is sequential and the biscuit incident was two days ago, or if we're meant to think that more time has passed between episodes?

On the one hand, Roman, Kate, and Shawn are still in Greece and Tripp is still in Seattle.  Jada is talking to Talia as if her crimes happened just a few days ago.  And Sloan hasn't seen Colin since their initial discussion. 

While on the other hand, Wendy spoke to Li as if she was in Seattle for weeks.  Gabi's divorce is already filled (while Sarah and Xander's took weeks to complete).  And, Nicole is already taking prenatal vitamins when she conceived the day of the biscuit incident.

I know time moves differently in Salem (e.g. Brady aged while in Salem, but Stephanie never aged while living out of town), but it feels longer than two days.