for as long as I've watched Days I've never seen Hope as a strong woman. There have been recent strides by JER to re-cop her, but even then she didn't do a thing. I don't see Hope acting any differently.

for as long as I've watched Days I've never seen Hope as a strong woman. There have been recent strides by JER to re-cop her, but even then she didn't do a thing. I don't see Hope acting any differently.

Actually, for those of us that have watched longer, you're pointing out exactly what was so disappointing about Hope's return- JER didn't write characters. He wrote idiots for the sake of storyline, and Hope was lumped in with those idiots (eventually Bo too, once Reckell returned). The only time I've seen Hope as a strong woman during her second run was when Brash/Cwikly wrote her. They 'got' Bo & Hope.

In the 80s, Hope was a spitfire- headstrong, tough, and took no guff from anybody. Noone could tell Hope Williams what to do and anyone who tried (including Bo) could expect her to do the exact opposite. That eyebrow going up used to mean something.

I find the Hope/Patrick story really dumb and tiring too, but the fact is it's there and Hogan has to deal with it and write through it. In the meantime, I think he's done a good job in a handful of days making Hope and Bo come off significantly smarter than before.

I also am actually gripped by the Shawn/Belle drama, and I have never liked them together. I don't like MM in the role and hated KS, but I think she's doing okay lately with Hogan's new material. So we'll see. The odd thing is, this is supposed to be a new supercouple but neither MM nor BB (who I like) come off as 'supercouple material' to me.

DAYS has turned back into the soap I feel in love with and Hogan Sheffer in his first week has shown that DAYS *CAN* produce quality material that rivals the best from the other networks.

I am so happy that this soap is making the transition back from industry joke to industry up and comer!

The fans seem happy, the critics seems happy and it only looks like DAYS star is going to keep rising. Hogan Sheffer was gift from god and literally will be the man that saves DAYS OF OUR LIVES *for real* this time!!

I can understand the comments about Hope. The same thing could be said for Jennifer. Originally, both girls had more spunk and gumption than you knew what to do with. After all, Jennifer ran away from boarding school and lived on the street for a bit before coming to Tom & Alice. Jennifer was the type of girl to sneak out to a party and was not against putting superglue in the shampoo bottles of a couple of mean girls at school to keep them from going to a dance (which Jennifer then attended on the arms of the other girls' dates).

Hope, as originally presented by Alfonso, was a spunky & spoiled rich princess who wore *far* too much make up to appear older (that's where the "Fancy Face" nickname came from) and was prone to stomping her foot her foot when she didn't get her way and arching an eyebrow when she was determined to do something she was told not to. She was like a daytime version of Blair Warner (but less self-absorbed). She was headstrong and impetious and would attempt to come to Bo's rescue if he needed her help. Hope was Bo's "partner in crime" (so to speak). And she was evenly matched with Bo in the head-strong department. THAT's why Hope was so HUGELY popular in the 1980s. I'd like to see that girl back.

I don't think Hope *OR* Marlena are really strong women, to be honest. No matter if it was JER, Morrina, or B&C, they're always waiting for a man to save them. People always talk about Marlena and Hope being so strong, but I don't think we've seen that in at least the 13/14 years I've been watching.

The only woman in Salem for the last 13 years who have come across as strong and independant is Kate.

I hate Sami with EJ. To me they look thrown together for the sake of the story and have no chemistry at all. He is suave and worldly and she is raw emotion, no polish at all. Terribly awful in my view.

ICAM, Jean.

I"m so hooked on the show now.its crazy...and after reading the spoilers for the weeks ahead, the show is just going to get better..I'm so glad the show is in hogan's hands now...love him

Hope lost her son less than 10 months ago. If she is not the same person as before, I think that is to be expected. Most women are never the same after something that tragic happens to them. I think if she lost her old spunk completely that would be very realistic. I hope that doesn't happen, but I don't want Hope to go on like she never lost her son.

Well, some women who lose sons become stronger and live each day in his memory because as long as she lives, he lives through her. If she is strong and honorable, she is honoring his memory. To me a weak woman doesn't try to rise above her sorrow and do the best with her life that she is given. Wallowing in self-pity or loathing is pitiful and trying to run away is sad and pitiful. My beautiful, fun, loving son whose face of his 16 years smiles at me every day and I wouldn't give the world for those 16 years and his wonderful memory.

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I’m loving the show, but I can definitely see how incredibly similar it is to Hogan’s As the World Turns. But I think the two shows have a lot in common so it works well. A few things I’ve noticed…

- Sami is the new Katie and it looks like EJ could be her Simon. They are *so* cute together and *so* much fun. It’s like Sami has aged fifteen years (she’s no longer ten! Yay!), but she still has that great bite to her. I must say that Sami!Katie is much better than the version of Katie we get now. She’s far too me!me!me! and she’s lost her fun side. I definitely miss Hogan’s writing for her.

- This isn’t necessarily a good thing for Maggie fans, but she’s totally the new Lisa. Of course Hogan didn’t write for Lisa, but I think we’ll be seeing her regularly at her restaurant. Unfortunately he has no use for vets, so I wouldn’t expect to see them except for rare occasions like deaths or holidays, if that.

- Barbara Ryan has arrived! Kate is a carbon copy of Barbara, which is basically what she always was, except it works better here somehow. I think Barbara became cartoonish and extreme, but Kate has always been more of a schemer so it works better. And from the looks of things, Phillip will be her Paul. By the end of Hogan’s reign I fully expect all of her kids to hate her.

- The great comedy! This is something I’ve been greatly missing on ATWT since Hogan left. Despite his new-characters-under-the-guise-of-recast and sometimes crap storylines (those damn teens), ATWT was always good for a laugh. Things like Katie and Henry working out a custody agreement for their pet rabbit Snickers were so cute. Now we have Lucas and Will (and by extention Sami and EJ) to provide those great comedy moments.

While I’m on the subject I must say how pleased I am with the Roberts family. Will, Lucas and Sami have an insane amount of chemistry and they are by far one of my favorite families in daytime. I’ve always been annoyed by Lucas, but now I can officially say I’m a Lumi fan.

The one thing Hogan won’t be able to change is my dislike for Belle and Martha Madison. I think she’s a decent actress, but so annoying for some reason. Especially when she cries, which is often. She sounds like a dying animal or something, it’s torturous to watch. Loving the new Shawn, but since he’s with Belle I’m forced to watch her scenes. I miss Charity Rahmer. I also can't say I've changed my opinion about Diedre Hall. She is *so* blah to me.

ITA with this. The reason you will not like Martha Madison is because she is almost a carbon copy of Deidre Hall. I feel the same way.

Now if Days were to recast Belle with the girl playing Willow, I would be a Shelle fan. Madison just doesn't work for me.

I don't think Hope *OR* Marlena are really strong women, to be honest. No matter if it was JER, Morrina, or B&C, they're always waiting for a man to save them. People always talk about Marlena and Hope being so strong, but I don't think we've seen that in at least the 13/14 years I've been watching.

The only woman in Salem for the last 13 years who have come across as strong and independant is Kate.

Exactly!

Actually, for those of us that have watched longer, you're pointing out exactly what was so disappointing about Hope's return- JER didn't write characters. He wrote idiots for the sake of storyline, and Hope was lumped in with those idiots (eventually Bo too, once Reckell returned). The only time I've seen Hope as a strong woman during her second run was when Brash/Cwikly wrote her. They 'got' Bo & Hope.

In the 80s, Hope was a spitfire- headstrong, tough, and took no guff from anybody. Noone could tell Hope Williams what to do and anyone who tried (including Bo) could expect her to do the exact opposite. That eyebrow going up used to mean something.

but we're laying this on Hogan Sheffer, like he's writting her differently somehow. This is the Hope Brady I've seen since 1998. And from what I know about her post 1994 return stories, it's not much different there either.

I'm really enjoying DOOL. I didn't think I'd watch this show again. I had not watched it in 15 years. Now I can't miss a day.

It is better. And right now, I have five reasons to watch. Deidre Hall, John & Marlena, Martha Madison, Kyle Brandt and Brandon Beemer. I can't belive that I'm actually sad about KB leaving because I couldn't stand his Phillip for a long time. But they've made Phillip and Belle into a couple to root for lately. They're fun, KB and MM seem sure of themselves and each other in their scenes, and I'm actually sad to see them break up.

I hope KB does well in whatever he wants to do in the future because he's proven that he can rise to the challange when the opportunity presents itself.

I am LOVING the show. Everything is just on a creative high.

In regards to the issues being discussed in this thread, Hope has not been written as tough consistently for years. She was under B&C and during the jungle adventure in 2004 she was pretty strong. Other then that, she has been a victim most of the time. I think we need to give Hogan and his team time to work on the characters and it's unfair to nitpick one week in. As for Sami, her and EJ have been close all summer so them almost having sex does not bother me. She is attracted to him and is still vulnerable so it's beleivable and, in this day and age, people have sex at the drop of a hat regardless of how they usually act. Samis is maturing and wants to start fresh so maybe her bahavior is changing too.

We all just to sit back and watch and then evalute the characters and all after about 6 months or so. Only then can we properly judged. There are parallels to Hogan's ATWT but there are also differences. I think it is important to keep Hogan's work on ATWT and his stuff right now separate because, like he said, both shows are different. After a few months, I think then we can compare what is going on but it is a little too early to take anything apart or compare anything IMO.

Great show today.

I was half expecting Samantha to turn around and walk back into Kate's office and catch them screwing on her desk. That kills me. Samantha has opened her legs for several men in her day, but wasn't Kate a hooker? How does she get off saying Samantha is a bed hopper?!

Love when Samantha yelled "[!@#$%^&*]!" That and rolling her eyes was so ghetto, and it was great.

I'm getting used to Marlena again. And, since I've been watching her since the 70s, she was a strong woman. She would have to be with everything she's gone through. Roman dies, comes back with a different face, then she dissapears, comes back to Salem, finds out Roman isn't Roman , her real husband was held as a prisoner for seven years, and then comes back home, only to divorce her and then leave Salem, and then "dies" while on assignment, only then to come back injured. Yeah, she should have stayed a strong woman after all of that.

Hope Williams was such a spit-fire, that was what attracted Bo to her. She ahs been written like garbage since she came back the second time, so maybe the writing team can go back into her history and regain her backbone. But first, she has to stop with the blame-Bo-don't-blame-Bo crap she's been doing for the past year.

Kyle Brandt. Take it easy, my man.

FF just needs to go. If this is the ebst she is going to do, she should be let out of her contract. I wouldn't mind if the girl playing Lauren was recasted as Mimi. In just her brief scenes, she acter circles around FF. That whining has gotten on my nerves.

Can't stand Kate. I'm so glad both Philip and Victor let her have it recently. IMO, she is not a strong woman. She's a gold-digging tramp who still does not get the fact that her grown children don't need her he;lp. And how does she always get away with her dirt, but everyone else gets caught?

[!@#$%^&*].