Khan

Agree!

Well, think about it: in JER's twisted mind, John and Marlena's affair helped open the door for the devil to come and take control of Marlena's soul the first time. From a storytelling standpoint, therefore, it would make sense for the devil to return (after being defeated by John and Marlena's love) and seek vengeance by attempting to claim the soul of their now-grown daughter, who was the product of that "original sin," so to speak. It's like "unfinished business" and bringing the saga full circle at the same time. This is why everyone at DAYS should have held off on Possession 2.0 until Belle had cheated on Shawn with E.J.

Word. I'm sure James Wolk is a lovely person IRL...but yeah, he's bland. And he keeps getting these roles - "Ordinary Joe" is one; "Lone Star" is another - that require actors who can provide more layers than he's capable of. Yet, the networks keep giving him these chances...and he keeps proving the networks wrong. He'd be much better off working on the Hallmark Channel. That's another thing: OJ seemed to me like yet another one of those shows where the novelty of the premise is supposed to make up for everything else. TV series do not live by premise alone.

Or... They could just accept that the '80's are over and that supervillains belong in the past.

True. Although, if Ross Hunter had worked in soaps, I think he would have had the good sense not to let Henry Slesar go.

LOL!! But seriously. Wolk is certainly lovely to look at, but as an actor, he's about as exciting as mayonnaise. (I take that back. He's LESS exciting than mayonnaise.)

Ah, CAPITOL. That show had so much potential. But that damn John Conboy.

I realize times have changed and that production values aren't ever as important to good writing as good writing...but I totally hate those generic-looking sets, lol. It's as if DAYS is now taping episodes after-hours at some Ashley Furniture store.

I know I'm supposed to love that period of GH history, because there's so much rich material there - and God knows, too, it's like watching Shakespeare when compared to the show today - but...I dunno...I feel like the "heart" is missing. It's all cops and robbers, and spies and super-spies, but there's no "heart," or not enough of it. That's what I love about (what I've seen of) PFS' work. When she was on her game, she knew how to balance the '80's need for action with the '60's and '70's reliance on emotion AND keep it all within the realm of possibility, as either @vetsoapfan or @saynotoursoap once said on this board. And it's why, for the most part, I tended to prefer watching DAYS, because I feel like, in daytime, there's need to be more at stake than just whether or not the good guys will detonate the bomb in time, or rescue the heroine from being pushed out of the ski-lift by the crazed psychopath who wants to rule the world. (Man, if only PFS and Marland had teamed up, lol!) To me, GH in the mid-'80's is less a testament to good storytelling than it is to Gloria Monty's skills as a producer, director and editor.

I do know this much: between the time PFS left, in '81, until the time when she returned, in '85, GH was a mess creatively, despite the show being number-one. I've tried watching some of that stuff when I can find it on YT, and it's just a slog. Similarly, Laiman and Racina might have worked longer on GH, but I think DAYS was where they (and Sheri Anderson) did their best work.

If only we could photoshop Claudia Lonow and her idiotic expression out of that photo. And boy did KL's female cast need a splash of color, if you know what I'm saying.

And, of course, @Vee, you had veteran comedy writer A.J. Russell on staff as creative consultant or some such as well.

It might have been one of those situations where he was involved but, for whatever reasons, he didn't receive on-air credit - like, he was a "consultant" or something? I dunno, it's weird, lol.

I guess what he meant was he was there 'til '84 but not as HW? At least, not officially?

Good question, @Vee. That's always baffled me as well. My understanding was that Racina and Leah Laiman were GH's unofficial HW's for a spell, but that Robert J. Shaw received the actual, official HW'ing credit. Also, IIRC, Laiman and Racina did work for awhile under Pat Falken Smith until she returned to DAYS, as well as for the Corringtons, and for Anne Howard Bailey, who replaced them, before Laiman and Racina, too, went off to DAYS to work with Sheri Anderson.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: James Wolk can't carry a series.

DYNASTY could have left DALLAS in the dust, if they had had better writing.

Exactly. Exactly! EXACTLY!!

Agree.

Well, I could see "Dukes" and DALLAS working together, since I think both appealed to male and rural audiences.

Somewhere, in the Great Beyond, Mary-Ellis Bunim is looking at it all with a big smile on her face.

DAYS is desperate to find a new Stefano DiMera. And I mean DESPERATE.

Agree. Douglas Marland was big on using history to inform his storytelling, but he still took the time to craft stories that would engage viewers both old and new.

I could have, too. I didn't mind Jonathan not being Reva's stalker, though, because I don't think we had seen Jonathan as an adult up to that point. It seemed like the first time we were even gonna "meet" him was when he would be unmasked as the stalker; and to me, that's bad storytelling.

Better yet, Belle could think she's Samantha! She could have Marlena committed and assume her own mother's identity and everyone in town would be like, "Um, okay?". I'm a GL fan, too, and I would NEVER want anything like this Sarenee crap anywhere near my show! I mean, my God, Clone Reva was bad enough! And if this (Sarenee) is what happens when you get someone who knows DAYS and loves its' history on your writing staff, then fire Jamey A-SAP and replace him with somebody who ain't never heard of daytime television, let alone DAYS OF OUR LIVES!