Bill Bauer

Days of Our Lives. It was so incredibly good in the 70s and early 80s but then it got so bad that I jumped ship for ATWT and GL. When those got cancelled, I tried going back to Days because I missed watching a daytime soap but it was as bad (actually worse) as I remember it being in the mid-to-late 80s. So I didn't stick with it long. Since then, I'll go back to it periodically hoping it will be good but it never holds my interest for long. I really want it to be good. It just seems to get worse and worse.

It's ironic that a company that produced and brought us so many great shows ended up killing them and seems intent on keeping them buried.

The worst I've ever seen in the history of soap operas was James Lipton as Dick Grant on The Guiding Light. He wins the Emmy for Best Use of the Teleprompter.

If you're referring to the time they first slept together, I don't think she was drunk. It's actually on Youtube and her motivation for having sex with Hal was portrayed as her grieving over Craig. I think death is a big part of soap opera so I very rarely have a problem with soap characters being killed off. The only exception I have to that is when major historic characters are killed off to give lazy, uncreative writers an excuse not to bring them back on canvas. Days has been very guilty of that in recent years with David, Bill, Laura, et al.

It probably wouldn't matter to him. After all, this is the show where people fall in love with serial killers. They could be the new supercouple.

So he's abandoned all hope and jumped ship?

I can't believe I'm saying this but, at this point, just pull the plug and put it out of its misery.

Wow. They're going to kill a character that's been a part of the show since 1966 for the sake of creating storyline for a character who will be forgotten this time next year? Of course, nobody really dies on Days but Laura might be in danger of staying dead since the current writers and producers seem intent on erasing Hortons and history. I tuned in to see Laura and I can't believe this show is still on the air. The writing and acting are horrible.

Just a year later, Robin Fletcher committed suicide. That was a pretty big deal because she was a MAJOR character and had been born and grew up on the show.

I was just watching the episodes leading up to Tad's murder. He attempted to rape two different women in the same evening (Sierra, Meg). Really, dude? It was like he was trying to rack up as many criminal offences as he could before heading out. It's really hard to believe Iva would have gotten involved with someone like that even if she was young, naive and suffering from low self-esteem. I have to disagree with you there. Although it was very dry, I thought James had a good sense of humour. Also, in the early years, James was fighting for the Stenbeck fortune. He was also always fighting for Paul.

That's because it was MUCH better.

I couldn't agree more. They should have left him dead back when Paul shot him. And I really enjoyed the character/actor.

Just my opinion but I thought Hugh Marlowe was a horrible actor. He delivered his lines like he was a sports broadcaster or something. He was monotone and, as others have pointed out, always flubbed his lines. I didn't necessarily dislike him, I just found him kind of grating. I think they should have gotten rid of Jim instead of Mary (although I don't think they should have gotten rid of either).

It was syphilis. Not that it matters much.

Yes, she did. The best material available out there to show the closeness of Kim and Betsy's relationship is the 1979/1980 series of episodes. The way they clung to each other after Dan's death was pretty poignant.

LOL. I can just hear Beverlee McKinsey saying "nouveau riche". Only she could say it in a manner that would deliver all the term's implications.

Sure does look like her. I'd put my money on "yes".

Ok. Thanks. I don't know anything about that. Grant wasn't well-liked?

Why do you think there was tension?

Wow! That's it! Thank you so much for that, Sean. I can't believe I remember that scene from my childhood although I remembered it just a bit different (of course). It must have been one of those 70s soap moments that traumatized me. There were several. Even as a kid, I couldn't figure out how the knife went in the way it did. As an adult, the physics are even more puzzling. I remembered it as the knife laying on the counter with the blade outward. I guess that's how my child's mind made sense of it and remembered it. Looking at that video, I'm not sure how she went from cutting sausage to stabbing herself in the stomach. Even with the jolt.

Nice to know my imagination isn't as morbid as the writer's. Thank you for the information, soaplovers. I knew someone here would be able to help me. Do you have any idea of the month/year of that episode? I'd like to try and find it on youtube or something.

I watched the chat even though I was a very casual watcher of Ryan's Hope and I really enjoyed the interview. The people interviewed seemed very likable and down to earth. I have a question for Ryan's Hope aficionados: Does anybody remember a storyline where a pregnant woman was on a boat and fell onto a knife on the counter when the boat started rocking causing a miscarriage? I remember this very vaguely from my childhood but don't know if I imagined it. That seems very gruesome.

He's not dead.

I tried it but reality kept getting in the way.

I agree with you so much on so many things, we must be around the same age! What the hell happened to creativity and risk-taking? It's like we've gone back to 1950s-style censorship (just censoring different things).