Khan

Agree. It's like GH knew it needed to move on from the "Spy vs. Spy" era, but it wasn't sure how to do that; and in retrospect, hiring back the EP who was responsible for that era's success might have seemed like a good idea "on paper," but it probably would have behooved them more to hire someone who would've brought a fresh perspective to the entire show, which is exactly what Wendy Riche later did.

But, when the affair happened, I felt that Sami, at the very least, should have been more torn between supporting/defending John and supporting Roman's need to have his family back. Instead, it seemed as if Sami immediately blamed John for breaking up the family -- which, again, seemed strange to me, because, in a way, John was her family. (Actually, it was a perfect opportunity for Roman to turn into a darker, more complicated character -- after all, how would you feel if you found out that another man had assumed your identity for years -- had, in fact, slept with your wife, raised your children, formed close and personal relationships with your parents and siblings -- with no one raising any eyebrows? -- with him becoming more Stefano-like, demanding that his daughters be loyal only to him; and Sami and Carrie unsure over whether to support Marlena staying with Roman out of some sense of duty, or "following her heart" and going back to John after Isabella's death. But, whatevs.) Yeah, it's as if JER and his team either didn't know or didn't care that, technically speaking, John was a bigger presence in Sami's early years than Roman had been. Just one more reason why I basically never cared for JER's simplistic take on DAYS. And as for Carrie...? Well, like you said, she was older and remembered more clearly. If anyone needed to show loyalty to Roman, it needed to be Carrie, because she was old enough to remember him with Marlena.

Well, Mac did have a defined purpose in the beginning -- as Robert Scorpio's estranged, irresponsible kid brother, with a shady reputation as a longshoreman. The brothers Scorpio hadn't seen or spoken to each other in years, which suggested they shared some deep, dark secret. (Didn't Mac kill their parents in some plane crash or something? Or did I dream that up?). However, JJY was such a wan actor that I think TPTB, including Gloria Monty, realized right away that he couldn't pull off playing the ne'er-do-well brother of their spy hero, so they had Mac and Robert making up over their differences and moving on, and Mac remaking himself into an entrepreneur, with the opening of the Outback. And then there was the romance with Dominique Taub, who was living in fear of husband Leopold, who was mixed up in some cartel with (I think) Harlan Barrett and Faison, and...it was all so interminable, lol.

Sami's attachment to Roman over John never made sense to me either. From what I remember, it was John, and not Roman, who virtually raised Sami. If anything, Sami and Roman's relationship needed to be more complicated, with Roman fighting to regain prominence in Sami's life, and Sami resisting out of a sense of loyalty or devotion to the man (John) who'd been there for her formative years.

Unless, that is, they betrayed him -- because, to a man like Stefano, loyalty was everything. So, if there was a situation where John, as Stefano's son, had gone against daddy in some, significant way...? Yeah, I could see Stef "punishing" him by brainwashing him into thinking he was someone else. (Or...John went along with the brainwashing, because he desired Marlena. It's just that the brainwashing ended up working a little too well for Stefano's liking, lol.)

I tell you, if that "Re-possession" mess doesn't end with Marlena renouncing her earthly ways and joining the convent....

I've disliked Mac Scorpio almost from the beginning, when it was all about him and Dominique and that slick-as-hell Keith Washington song that still makes me ill every time I hear it.

Stefano DiMera would do just about anything to anyone, including his own children, if it served his purposes. That's what made him so powerful as a supervillain...and so frustrating to me, too, if I'm being honest.

That's suggesting his second (or, for that matter, his first) stint ever went right -- which it didn't. I don't know if I could ever say JER was a great, or even a good, writer. In fact, I think the Laurelton mystery on GH, which I've heard he was largely responsible for, proved that his kind of storytelling always carried flaws that were deep and hard to overlook. But, IMO, Reilly's second stint at DAYS, along with the bulk of his work on PASSIONS, was simply the product of a writer who had lost what little skill he had in the first place. If JER was ever at the top of his game -- and I guess you could argue, from a ratings standpoint, that he was -- he wasn't anymore by the time he returned. In a way, it's not too unlike what had happened to Douglas Marland toward the end of his life and career. Of course, the difference is that while Marland's final year on ATWT was morose, it was still highly rated; whereas, Reilly's final years on DAYS and PASSIONS, respectively, which were tasteless, were not. That sentence right there is exactly why I wish NBC and Sony would just can DAYS already. Because, one possession was bad enough.

What, they aren't already? (God, I hate that show so [!@#$%^&*] much.) I've said it before, I'll say it again, and I'll keep on saying it 'til Errol has the good sense to ban me I'm on this lonely planet no more: the only John Black backstory that will ever make sense to me -- aside, of course, from him being the real Roman Brady after all -- is that he is Stefano's (illegitimate) son, whom daddy employed to impersonate Roman (probably to keep him from some great love that Stefano either felt was unworthy of the DiMera name, or wanted for himself, or both). DAYS can continue to dance around what is so obvious until it fades to black forever, but I'm stubborn and plain don't give a [!@#$%^&*].

Probably because, JJY has a hard enough time playing Mac without throwing a dual role into the mix. Frankly, there's so little going on in soapland these days that I'm truly excited about; and played-out Felicia coming back to PC, with or without Mac, is just one more reason why I am so, so done with today's soaps.

So, if GRC had simply practiced a little birth control, we might have been spared Stone Cold? (I'm joking. I'm sure GRC doesn't regret having her baby. I just wish...nevermind.)

Agree...and disagree. On the one hand, yeah, the supercouple formula, as DAYS had employed it throughout the '80's, had grown stale. I mean, there's only so many times you can tell the story of a young, star-crossed couple on the run from some mustache-twirling villain before the whole thing begins to feel old hat. But, on the other hand, supercouples had been part of DAYS' brand since Bill/Laura and Doug/Julie in the '60's and '70's; so, to suggest that DAYS needed to eliminate supercouples altogether -- as even I, myself, have suggested in the past -- would be another way of suggesting that DAYS needed to stop being DAYS and become an entirely different show -- which it didn't need to. It just needed to regain some depth it had lost in the action/adventure-heavy '80's. Unfortunately, instead of returning to its' more nuanced, character-driven roots, DAYS, under JER, turned in the opposite direction, becoming more shallower than ever, without even the well-told, if not wholly relatable, action/adventure stories of old to keep it interesting.

That's what happens when 1) the man who portrays him isn't the world's greatest actor (sorry, fellow Drake fans, but you know I'm telling the truth) and 2) you take away the character's identity and reason for being, then spend the next 30-or-so years rewriting and rewriting and re-rewriting his backstory to the point where it's convoluted, illogical and simply not worth mentioning or even thinking about anymore. To put it another way: John Black has stagnated as a character, because, thanks to that idiotic show we call DAYS OF OUR LIVES, he has none. In retrospect, I think TPTB were better off turning John into a villain, or at least an anti-hero, once they decided he wasn't the real Roman Brady. Maybe, that way, WN's Roman might have retained some relevance, who knows? Because, as it is, John Black's impostor Roman turned out to be a better Roman than the genuine article himself.

I've been on Twitter a lot recently, and as far as *I* can tell, there's been tremendous pushback to the idea of there being a "crisis" at the border; just as there has been pushback to the ridiculous "Why hasn't Biden held a (solo) press conference yet?" noise; just as there has been pushback to the "cancel culture"-related issues (i.e., Potato Head, Dr. Seuss) that the GOP has tried to drum up. If the majority of Twitter users are concerned about anything, it's that we still have right-wingers (including state governors and other politicians) who refuse to adhere to CDC protocols regarding COVID or accept any vaccines, thereby jeopardizing our chances of finally getting past the pandemic.

Even when AMC was doing silly stuff like the Silver/Goldie/Damon Lazarre storyline, there still was this sense that everything that happened on the show was within the realm of possibility. However, the Natalie-in-the-Well storyline seemed to upend all that. I mean, one sister assuming the other sister's identity (and husband)? And they're not even identical twins, like Adam and Stuart? In what universe, AMC? AMC still had its' moments of brilliance afterward, but for me, the show never felt quite as "real" again.

I read that story this past weekend. My favorite part: when she cries police brutality and the other people in line at the bank are like, "Nope!".

nm

But that dress. I needed an antihistamine after seeing that dress.

Agree, with all of this.

Good, lol. If it isn't working out, then it's only because the public (including yours truly) is *slowly* catching on.

Agree. We (Democrats) should have learned our lesson after what happened to Al Franken.

FFS. At this point, putting on an Indian head test pattern in place of "The Talk" would be an improvement and a blessing. Just CANCEL this !@#$%^&*] already.

It's like the media is saying, "What do you expect us to do? We have to go where there is news, don't we!?". Of course, the problem *there* is that there's a difference between challenging and not challenging the GOP on the bulls**t they keep pumping out. The media constantly resists challenging the GOP on anything in the name of "both sides!" and "many viewpoints!" and "objective observers!" because they know where their bread is buttered (Republicans pay their salaries and give them access, too...all while trashing them to the general public); but of course, that's b.s. as well. Journalists have a responsibility to report the news AND to report the truth where the news lacks for it. That's their function in a democratic society. Point blank, period.

THE DOCTORS is another soap I just couldn't (or can't) get into. The Rita Lakin/Rick Edelstein era seemed pretty good (although, I think I caught only the tail end of it on RetroTV). However, the Pollocks' era in particular grated my nerves. Everyone had to be dumbed down in order for any story to work; and oh my God, those *endless* flashbacks that were obviously used to pad out episodes. Even the Douglas Marland era wound up disappointing me (and as a Marland fan, I hate admitting that, too). Instead of wrapping up the show's interminable plots and starting his own, he spent most of his time there keeping them going to the point of insanity (mine, not theirs). By the time his work had concluded, I was just done.