DAYS: 2 Big Firings...

[Ridge]

I know anything is possible but it wouldn't make sense to bring back Carrie if she and Austin are finally leaving together. Bringing her back with Austin in town made sense since they were apart.

If this is the end as it must be, then Austin and Carrie should at least have a grand exit. And they should have their baby too. It would be a nice send off to DAYS' memorable characters.

It sucks but I don't see the doom and gloom in it either. The show has survived and hopefully it will continue to.

[King]

It will survive, but this is just a horrible sign of things to come, IMO. In a few years, DAYS is going to be unrecognizable if these cuts continue.

This budget cut sucks. I hope DAYS fares better than GL did/has.

[jjjg]

This is dumb. Instead of getting rid of the vets with history like C&A, they should be getting rid of the characters that suck.

[SteveFrame]

Getting rid of the characters that we all consider that suck won't save them any money. Many of us warned months ago that it would be the vets who got cut, and not performers like Melvin or Hutzler. Getting rid of them won't help. Unfortunately it has to be actors like Clark, Ashford, Peck, etc. who are in the upper or 2nd tier of pay. Now they have gotten rid of at least 5 from that tier: Clark (fired), Ashford (fired), Peck (fired), Cook (leaving on his own), and Reeves (leaving on her own).

I do feel Evans will be next, because she would be in that level too. Then the other 4 could be lesser paid stars that could make up the rest of the difference in the 700,000 dollars.

I do think they will have to cut some to recurring though (i.e. Taylor, Rogers, McCay) to have some money to play with. They can still call on them to appear about as much as they are now, but won't have to pay them at all unless they do.

The way Matt's letter read, 10 would go, and I take to mean not even recurring for those. So we may still see more. I wished he would have elaborated on it a little more. Because if he means that 10 characters will go, then if Shawn is one of those, then we may not even see a Shawn recast. Just thinking out loud there.

[RionPassions]

ITA--I'm not impressed with some of the posts in this thread. I'm pissed enough to stop watching. Christie Clark is the only reason I started watching Days again after the SSK story ended. DAMN IT! I'm furious and upset with this piece of [!@#$%^&*] show...I'm glad I haven't been too attached to it in the past few years. It will make quitting the show AGAIN even easier.

[Ryan]

I'm actually very upset with Clarke and Peck being let go. For some reason, DAYS believes that Carrie and Austin can be with no one but each other and I hate that. Carrie was around LONG before Austin came to town. I hope she snagged up by another soap.

[PhoenixRising05]

I agree Toups. I love CC and have really liked Peck this time but my God people who did you honestly think was going to go? Where else can they go with Carrie and Austing? They have to be together since Days devoted practically the last 9 months to them reuniting so it wouldn't make sense to break them up. I would rather see this then them break up or have them have nothing to do. Bringing them back was a great idea but it has failed more often then succeeded. Only recently are we seeing the real Carrie and Austin. They are a supercouple but they have not had a impact on ratings this time around at all. They did in the 90's but now very little. Their return did nothing but give us Caustin fans some good memories. I am not saying fans of them should be mad because beleive me I am too but they are not the show. We don't know if the cuts will get worse after this-this may be the worse of them. Let's not jump all over the place until we see the changes as a whole when all is said and done.

Agreed 100%. People are way too quick to turn soaps off nowadays. This is nothing like 10 years ago. Now if one actor or couples leaves the show is predicted to suck and all the positive buzz goes down the drain. Yesterday everyone raves about the show and today they are going to quit watching because two people are leavin. I love them too but it is a show and an ensemble. The show comes first for me and cutting people like Abe, Lexie, Chelsea, etc does nothing to help. You make not like them but this is business and if your love for Days is dominant over everything else and you want to see this show survive then you just have to deal with it. It sucks and I agree with that as you all know I love them both but the sky isn't falling and Days is doing very well. As long as they are given a happy ending and the good writing continues, Days won't suffer at all from any of those leaving so far.

I agree again and sorry to quit replying to all these posts but other people have mentioned my points for me. Big name people need to go and people had time to prepare themselves. This news actually makes me feel better about Pinson because I don't think she is on the same level pay wise although I may be wrong. Koslow is who I am worried about now but I can see her taken a cut too like some of other big names will do. This is not the end of the world unless this is the only two people you watch. In that case, then I am sorry but I don't think this is going to hurt Days. I wish they would've at least kept CC but life goes on. I am not going to panic until all these changes are completed and we see the changes as a whole.

[Jane1978]

Sorry, but I think this is somewhat logical step from Hogan and co. I´m sorry for AP and CC but their return was solely Reilly thing. He wanted them back. He brought them back and even got rid of Nicol, who was much better suited into a triangle with S/L/A than Carrie and at the time much more popular. And he did what he does best, he destroyed them. If someone is angry that they were let go, they have to be first time angry at Reilly, because it is him who shoot down their potential. I´m not at all surprised Corday believes he will have a better luck with a fresh and unstained S/K, than with tired and already overplayed A/C or destroyed and totalled J/J.

[AD_23]

I am [!@#$%^&*] pissed!!! I was looking forward to the new era of Days, but not now. I will agree that Austin and Carrie's return was a flop, but give them something else to do besides interfering with Sami and Lucas. I think I am done with Days. I tuned back in for their return and now I guess I will leave with them.

[bleu]

I guess I'm used to more established, talented actors getting the axe before the crap ones. Look at the SSK. Most of the victims were vets who were beloved by millions for years. Of the teen set, only Cassie was killed off. All mourning of the beloved characters we lost was shoved to the side in favor of watching KS and JC wallow through scenes. The continued to be on every day like they had been for the last five years or so. But there wasn't any room for vets.

The dye was cast years ago. We've got a newly-introduced young group that probably won't go anywhere (Chelsea/Stephanie/Abby/Max), and we'll lose our longtime favorites. I'm not personally upset at all by Christie and Austin leaving because they've been boring, but I'm sure not happy about losing Matt again for the third time in as many years. But a wholy hateable, unrootable character like Chelsea remains.

I can only hope for better balance with characters were invested in as well as the new ones. I have hope because of Sheffer. I trust that we'll get some good returns as a result. We've got Patch and Kayla, and they're quickly becoming the very best thing about the show. I'm sorry that Carrie and Austin are leaving, but it was an easy pick. Their return was boring and retread.

[SteveFrame]

The more I read the more I get scared for Days future. As I have said I am not watching, but I don't want to see the show go off the air either. As much I hate Patch & Kayla, I do hope that Hogan can make them interesting. I loved many of their old stories because of the others that were involved in them. And I feel Hogan can do that.

With the budget cuts and the cast departures that are having to be made, Days will almost in some ways have to reinvent itself just like GL did. I know that GL lost a big core of it's audience because of it's cast cuts and budget cuts, but they have been able to hold on to a core audience - very much made up of some die hard fans and some new ones.

Many can say that Austin and Carrie didn't make a big difference in the ratings. That is probably a true statement to a degree, but these last few weeks that I have not been watching, much of the buzz I have read about the show was about them. They have helped to maintain the show at the rating it is now. They were the ones who have mostly been on along with Lucas, Sami and EJ, and the other quad with Patch & Kayla thrown in some too. I am basing that on what I have read and not what I have seen. But saying that they have helped Days maintain it's 3rd place spot in the ratings.

Whether that fan base is a big one or not, add them to the J/J fan base, and others who are just fed up, Days could lose a substantial number of viewers when these departures take place.

Beth is going to have to work to hold on to the current set of things, and then Hogan is going to have to come in with a bang. If he can set up some hot story that wants to people to tune in then he might succeed. But he has got to get it going before J/J and A/C go. If not he will have to lure in new viewers to take the place of the others.

I don't envy Corday at all in making the decisions that he has had to make. There was no winning for him. To make the cuts he needed to make, he had to anger some fan base. He was damned if he did and damned if he didn't.

[Ponz]

PR, you can't blame people for tuning out if their faves get shafted. It's all very well saying this is an ensemble show but the fact is, the overall quality is not yet good enough to keep people around when their faves are gone. IMO, Austin and Carrie being written out is a sensible decision since their return bombed. But I can totally understand why a fan of A&C would just be done with the show right now. Why the hell should an A&C fan be interested in this crap with the gloved hand? Why should they be interested in the seemingly never-ending Shimi/Shelle triangle? Or the constant pimping of Max/Chelsea/Stephanie?

Hopefully, Hogan will restore some real quality to the show. But until this happens, most people will base their viewing habits on whether or not the characters THEY WANT TO SEE are being featured.

[Toups]

Do I have favourtes? Sure.

But I don't really care who stays or goes. All I care and want is good story telling. That is the bottom line. Stories trumps characters, IMO.

[dayslover]

I do like the kind of storytelling, at least most of the time. But the characters I care for are going away. I loved Jennifer and Jack, but them leaving didnt mean I was leaving the show. Then the news came that Farah, Kyle and Jason are leaving. Those where my favorites too. But then I was still watching the show because of some other people. But with my most favorite couple Austin and Carrie leaving, I don't see a reason for now.

I still love Ashley Benson ,Martha Madison and Brody Hutzler. But I don't care about John/Marlena, Kayla/Patch, Stephanie/Chelsea/Max or Billie and Roman. And I dont like another EJ/Sami/Lucas storyline.

So how will Days get my interest?? Only to bring a good Shawn recast, get Max and Abby together, let Lexie be a DiMera again and bring back Eileen Davidson. and ofcourse keep Austin and Carrie. Until then I don't think they keep my interesest for 5 days.

[bellcurve]

DAYS should have done this during the Serial Killer Storyline in 2003/2004. That would have been the perfect way to clean house and trim the fat. But then again, the show would be cancelled.

DAYS has needed a reinvention since Reilly left in 1997. The dark storytelling from that era was fabulous, but can never be recaptured. Tom Langan did his worst to do so and it ended up flopping. Let's not get started on Dena Higley(aptly known as HACKLEY!), and Reilly's Not So Successful Second Run.

But I'm not completely convinced DAYS fans will stick around if their couples are constantly getting broken up. Hogan needs to give them new obtacles besides the endless love triangles FIRST.