j swift

I share your surprise, and it is a lingering concern about the book that both characters are referenced as strident and judgmental by the author, without a source validating that is how they were interpreted by the audience. As I mentioned, I could see why women at home might align themselves with Delia over Jill. But, I think we can all agree that the Claire Labine's intention was to portray both women, and their choices, as being aspirational.

Did production give Ron C any time to catch up with scripts after the strike, or did they go straight back into production? Also, there was a suggestion in the monthly forum that today's episode 5/3 (or portions of the episode) might have been filmed out of sequence and inserted into the schedule to air on this date. Do you think that is possible?

I just read an interview with Drew Carey who said that he won't retire as the host of The Price is Right anytime soon. I was surprised to read that he's now hosted it for 17 years. Do you think there are Gen-Z'ers who only know him as a game show host, not a sitcom star?

My favorite monologue is from Raven when she is leaving Monticello and "giving" Jamie to April and Draper. "I want to fly, but not on a plane. No, No, I want wings of my own. That's why I call myself Raven. See, I was the one that took that name when I was a little girl. My real name is Charlotte. Can you imagine? But, one day I was sitting on the lawn and I saw this beautiful black bird with shiny wings fly by. I wanted to be that bird. So beautiful. So free. With beautiful black wings..." The build of the theme song also makes the dialogue really powerful.

I was bamboozled. Once Eric said he could “kill” Leo, I was certain we were headed into a “who shot Leo?” mystery. Which would serve as the jumping off point for the baby reveal, and perhaps Nicole's exit. I did not count on Eric being such a simp. In my head, I thought Paulina would fire EJ. Who would then frame Eric for shooting Leo. Melinda would be re-hired (because there's only four lawyers in Salem), and she would prosecute Eric, covering the fact that she shot Leo to save Sloan. While Sloan would defend Eric, and grow closer to him after confessing that Leo was blackmailing her over Jude. But, keeping quiet that Jude was Eric's son. Leo would recover, free Eric, and Nicole would leave EJ due to his lies, take the baby and head off into the sunset.

The “ifs” become impossible to predict under these circumstances. Because, IF RH was not going to be cancelled, then maybe Nancy Addison would not have left when she did. And, IF RH was to continue, we don't know much longer Tachina and Yasmeen had on their contracts. And IF RH was to continue, we don't know if they would have made further personnel changes in production, which may have affected Ron and Michael's motivation to leave. So, while it is fun to think about the possibilities of RH in the 90s, there are too many unknowns to predict with any certainty.

My original point holds. The conventional wisdom that taping in advance has an effect on the quality of DAYS has yet to be proven. And, the idea of changing stories due to the perceived whims of the audience is an illusion. For example, notwithstanding the timetable, if Ron wrote toward what he thought we wanted, I doubt we'd see Leo five days a week. 😉 @janea4old With regard to whether Greg Vaughn was using exaggeration for the purpose of humor, let's look at the facts already in evidence. We know that they tape multiple episodes per week. We also know that they only tape a certain number of weeks per year, with many weeks being dark. Last year, the WGA strike started on May 2. At the time, the head writer said that he had written scripts through the end of the year. So, they are currently filming Christmas 2024 episodes in May 2024, just like they were doing last year. We also know that Ari Zucker last filmed in late January 2024, and her final episode with air in July 2024, which maintains that they are taping 6-7 months in advance. So, extrapolating from those facts, by December they would film episodes set to air in June 2025, not December 2025, as suggested by Mr. Vaughn in the podcast interview in question. His “joke” is therefore understood as “IF” they kept up their current pace, then they could film the rest of 2025. Yet, it got misconstrued on X (formerly known as Twitter) that, in fact, they would keep up the pace, despite the lack of any evidence that they plan to do so.

I recall that the characters were supposed to be going to Eugene's home in Haiti. I think 90% was filmed on a set in a sound stage. Except for the cliff was obviously an exterior, but I don't recall that it was actually a remote location, more likely just Malibu or Newport filling in as the island.

Of all the valid reasons to criticize DAYS, advanced taping is the least of their crimes. Also @JAS0N47, correct me if I am wrong, but the basis for this entire discussion feels like the misinterpretation of a joke made by an actor on a podcast. Given that we know they just filmed Doug's memorial in April, which was a milestone episode, airing the first week in December 2024. It seems like an Occam's razor situation. Which is more likely? Greg Vaughn made a crack about DAYS taping far in advance that got misconstrued on X (formerly known as Twitter). Or, that the production will be able to produce 12 months' worth of stories, written since the WGA strike, between May and December. The simple solution is most often true.

It is ironic that Nicole's first story is about the unhoused, considering that 75% of Salemites live in a hotel, or an ancestral home with twelve roommates. Speaking of which, does Ava know she doesn't need to move now that Tripp and Wendy are off on an extended vacation? Also, wasn't Nicole's first story about Paulina and the radiation? Nicole looks amazing today, not work-appropriate for a journalist on the beat, but lovely. Do we think when they drink a martini on DAYS it is just water and an olive? If so, that's pretty vile. Still no clue how Titan and Dimera are business rivals. The focus of their businesses seem disparate. Now, Rita's got a backstory at Dimera? We know more about her than Stefan. Maybe Salem Square is like a side-view mirror where things are bigger than they appear, because how do Eric and Nicole not notice Sloan or hear her say out loud that Eric is Jude's father?

May I ask you to clarify your point? Are you saying that while in the past ABC might have censured stories about gay youth, there is no evidence of a network or advertising effect on LGBT storytelling today? Or are you making a larger point? Because I fail to understand the reference to block taping in this regard.

I could also understand if the production felt that it would be distasteful to show a young boy being bullied for his sexuality during daytime. We can see Aiden's reaction, and we can have compassion for the situation. Perhaps, we don't need to hear the censured version of schoolyard taunts that would be allowed to air in the afternoon? After all, anachronistic language like “fairy” wouldn't have the same dramatic impact as what would really be yelled in schools today.

The idea that the male author of the book about RH history referenced Mary and Jill as strident and judgement 48 years later inspired this idea. Second and third wave feminism were not yet written about in 1989, but it would've been so interesting to have Ryan, Lizzie, and Nancy Don embody the ideas of how feminism had evolved since Mary and Jill in 1975. For example, the choice to postpone parenthood in order to establish a career was a contemporary romantic obstacle in the mid-70s. But, by the mid-80s, women were being told that they could have it all, babies and a career. So, using the perspective of progress would've created intriguing fodder for stories between the generations of women. Then you throw in the intersectionality of Zena, whose race and poverty did not afford her the same privilege to pursue whatever she wanted, and you could've had some radical stuff for daytime. Unfortunately, most network executive felt that the audience only wanted stories about wealth and international intrigue because they always underestimated the fan's intelligence.

Besides Lucas, I wonder who is left on the canvas that knows EJ raped Sami? I don't think she ever pressed charges or even told her parents at the time. As I recall, the incident was never referenced directly as sexual assault. There was just a lot of watered down discussions about having to save Lucas, and feeling pressured, in order to imply ambiguity around consent. This is clearly an example of a time when the audience was more astute than the scriptwriter.

I agree completely. It is distracting to have a character in every story have a sudden midlife career change. Because it screams, “we're trying to solve old problems”, rather than showing that they have new ideas. For example, there's nothing about Willow not being a nurse that's going to add depth to the character. Similarly, Carly bopping around between a magazine, a diner, and a hotel doesn't intrigue me at all. The dialogue has improved. The show has much more humor. But, they are calling too much attention to solving minor concerns, given an audience that is traditionally averse to change.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/1986/09/02/bobby-ewings-return-is-nothing-viewers-havent-come-to-expect/ A couple of theories that don`t turn up in TV Guide include the Rotating Miss Ellie Theory, which posits that it`s impossible to confuse ”Dallas” fans with casting changes. After all, Barbara Bel Geddes was Miss Ellie when the show was hatched in 1978. Medical problems put Bel Geddes on the sidelines, and she was replaced for a time by Donna Reed. But, eventually, the original Miss Ellie, eminently decent and dumb as a post where her fussin` and feudin` boys are concerned, returned to Southfork. Then there was brother Gary, played for two seasons by David Ackroyd and two more by Ted Shackleford, who eventually moved the role to ”Knots Landing.” Gary was the lubricous Miss Lucy`s dad, and a megawimp even when compared to his sniveling brother, Bobby. Meanwhile, actor David Wayne played ”Digger” Barnes for a season, and was then replaced by Keenan Wynn in the demanding role of Bobby`s father-in-law. But ”Dallas” steamed ahead despite the changing faces, with J.R. protecting his fortune, and his wife Sue Ellen sneaking drinks, and the whole family sitting on that veranda, waiting for J.R. to foreclose on their futures. Clearly, a show with this staying power and an audience with a certifiable weakness for buying ranchettes in northern Idaho sight unseen isn`t going to have any problem if Bobby comes back as an Evil Twin, or the Six Million Dollar Mope, or an Alien Life Force. After eight seasons, the premise of ”Dallas” is stretched so tight the writers might as well start freezing characters to rise up later on, or get into some serious, Tarrant County, Texas voodoo. Why not? How many worthless Asian oil leases can J.R. sell to his friends? How many of J.R.`s business partners can Sue Ellen get into the sack? As a people, as a society, we waited for the answer to ”Who Shot J.R. back in 1979-80 with the same numerical fervor with which we followed Geraldo Rivera into Al Capone`s vault this year. We deserve what we get. One way or another, we`re getting Bobby Ewing.

It seems like a structural issue that the next generation (i.e., Ryan and Johnno) were written more superficially, and with less regard to lasting character traits than their aunts and uncles. It was an inspired idea to age them when they did. But, having watched at the time, neither character would've inspired me to follow them regardless of plot, like Maggie, Jill, and Roger. I mean, Maggie could've slept with an endless array of patch-eyed megalomaniacs and I would've watched. Which is why I was so pleased that the book quoted her triumphant line to Dave about never liking pastrami any way. It is ironic in retrospect that Claire Labine was critical of the “Murder Week” plot when interviewed by the New York Times about the next WGA strike in 1988. I understand her point, and like "Kirkland's Hope" it became lore. But those scabs may have bought the show more time by demonstrating that it could compete against Y&R. That sort of context made me appreciate the book, because it wasn't just filled with POV's that we've read before. Except, of course, when the book republished articles filed with POV's that we've read before.😉

Agreed Ilene Kristen's stories about how Ryan's Hope was filmed straight through versus how One Life to Live filmed in blocks according to which set was used, was fascinating. Especially, in light of recent discussions about DAYS and contemporary soap production schedules. They filmed each episode in 40 minutes, and actors who couldn't keep up were dropped (like Frank Latimore aka Ed Coleridge). She later starred in many prime-time series including 7th Heaven which ran for 10 seasons, so she was very successful (and a little bitchy).

She didn't contribute, but the book details the character's arc and Michael Levin spoke positively of her talents.

I found it on the tellytalk forum. I was most taken by Stephen Birmingham's Gaslight inspired solution. While it wouldn't have created more opportunities to tell stories about Bobby for future seasons, the idea of Mark turning into a villain is fun. And, who knew there were five types of liquid paper?

That's why I couldn't find it… You're a peach, thanks

The weather is less windy and foggy up in Montecito rather than in downtown SB. That's where Oprah, Prince Harry, and presumably the Capwell mansion would have been. But, as you could see, it's no place for an oil rig or a floating casino.

I unsuccessfully tried to find the SOD issue when they asked various soap writers how they would solve the Bobby in the shower cliffhanger that was published prior to the reveal of the dream season. It was a great idea for a story to see how others in the field would've solved the issue, and I wish they had done that more frequently. If anyone can find a link to the article, it would be fun to read it again.

@Vee I get your point, but, arguably, Paulina didn't know what EJ did when she appointed him as DA, while everyone in Port Charles knows that Anna was accused of treason when she was offered the job of Police Commissioner. Not that two wrongs make a right, but there is more plausibility in EJ's case, even through the author of this story gets less respect.

What's your understanding of EJ's motivation to stay in the role of DA? He only accepted the job because he couldn't be CEO. Now he is CEO. So, why does he want to work both jobs?