DAYS: Interesting Corday Interview from 1999...

[KLN]

Yahoo! Chat with Executive Producer Ken Corday

April 27, 1999

Ken: Hello fans and viewers across the nation and thanks all for being here tonight to talk with me. I'm excited about it and most of all I'm interested in what you're doing.

R_Shuster asks: What has been the process of your evolvement into the executive producer position at DAYS? I read that you were the gopher for the producers in the 70s?

Ken: 19 years ago I started writing music for the show as a college graduate, in 1981 I officially joined the show as a producer; so almost 20 years now and the involvement has always been a family involvement.

Ken: For no other reason than that I came to the show and there's not a day that goes by that I'm not greatly thankful for having both my mother and father in this business.

Ken: One thing leads to another and I think the rest, I came in around episode 3400 and we're approaching 9,000 today.

mickey939 asks: Your office has received hundreds if not thousand of calls and letters begging for you not to pair John and Hope in any way. Why have you disregarded our feelings on this subject?

Ken: Good question, your feelings are NOT DISREGARDED, this is not a story about John and Hope, the story is about John and Marlena and the story's about Bo and Hope, so we feel as you do that the coupling of John and Gina, although somewhat titilating it's somewhat destructive in literal as well as figurative ways.

Ken: But, they loved each other as those persons.

a_days_fan asks: Are the writers ever going to explore Eric's past? I think it would be interesting if it somehow mysteriously tied into Nicole's.

Ken: Very intuitive question...I agree.

Ken: I don't think his past necessarily involved Nicole but it would be interesting to see something from his past come up and we haven't disregarded that thought.

R_Shuster asks: Mr Corday, what role do you play in the development in of stories and what we see on the air?

Ken: Thanks for the question...the development starts with the head writer, Sally Sussman Morina, from that point to the point that is seen daily, I am involved as executive producer in overseeing that story and approving it, which has been an easy thing to do with Sally since she's so cooperative and such an understanding writer.

Ken: She and Tom Langan map the show week to week and discuss it with me before it goes to script or outline so the 3 of us know where the show will be 6 months to a year from now, then it's a week to week process in seeing the five shows that are scripted.

JennyMC782 asks: Ken, thanks for taking the time to talk to us. Now that Mike & Carrie have slept together (thank you ) what will this mean for their future?

Ken: Well I think the most interesting stories are the most ironic and this one is a straight story about people in love that finally bear their passions, it has more irony than intersest since they've finally

Ken: professed their love for each other, its a moral dilemma and a very important one....

Ken: Will she adhere to her marriage vows and scoff her emotions or will she truly believe that Austin's the right person for her in her entire life?

deets19 asks: Mr. Corday, the fans miss the music montages that were such a staple in the 80's and early 90's, please tell us we will see some for John and Marlena??

Ken: Okay, just for John and Marlena we'll make a special exception and have montages at their wedding, but as you said they were a staple in the 80's and early 90's and we're about to go into a new millenium here.

R_Shuster asks: Are you ever planning to do another "Cruise of Deception"-type story soon? That was fun, exciting, dramatic, and campy all at the same time, and it was voted Favorite Days story of all time by online fans. Why no another one??

Ken: Thanks, and interesting question. I'd love to do another road show where you take half the cast if not the enire cast away from Salem, be it Greece or Rome or a cruise,

Ken: but there's too much going on in Salem right now, as things calm down in the fall maybe we'll take a New Year's cruise, but we have a hot summer first!

Booger_Barbie_Dolly asks: Are you going to give us anything exciting to look forward to? I mean exciting like Marlena in the cage type. Something that will make us happy though and entertain us and keep us glued.

Ken: Yes, definitely.

Ken: Look to the Bo/Hope story to do that for you this summer, great surprise and mystery in that story.

number1_soapFAN asks: Why didn't you go after Eileen Davidson and try to get her to return to DAYS?

Ken: Very simple, it was discussed when she was offered Y&R and so soon after her departure as Kristen and Susan and all the other personalities, it would've meant re-taping the show and giving her character more time, and it wasn't in the plans...we had always felt that she'd be moving on to prime time or features so when she came back to Y & R, we felt it was appropriate because we couldn't revisit that character, not enough screen time for a character like Kristen to come back,

Ken: a day could come that she does return but it's not something you haphazardly do, thus she ends up playing a role on Y&R and we miss her.

megan260 asks: Ken, do you ever get negative feedback about the kookiness of the story lines? i.e. Marlena as the Devil. And what was up with Mike and Carrie's bed spinning in the sky?

Ken: That fun part of growing through the 90's of going through a soap opera and reinventing yourself , yes I do get questions everyday, I do think we'll have fun with that kookiness but certainly a bed spinning in the stars is about as much fun as it gets.

SoapieD asks: Do you ever intend to bring back Jack, Jen and Laura Horton????

Ken: Who knows, could be sooner than later.

benfanatic asks: Any plans for an Austin and Sami pairing? I think they make a GREAT couple!

Ken: Thanks for your interest and opinion, you'll have to stay tuned on that one.

a_days_fan asks: So which lady on DAYS is Nicholas Alamain going to catch the eye of?

Ken: Who's Nicholas Alamain? last time I saw him he was ten years old? How come you're asking this question?

Ken: The answer, very simply: ALL OF THEM!

nydc26 asks: Mr. Corday, why does it seem that the show refuses to acknowledge or adhere to past history? Yes, times change and the show must move forward, but isn't history and continuity an ESSENTIAL ingredient in comprising a CONTINUING drama/ daytime SERIAL.?

Ken: I think I know the question here and the answer is always: We do adhere to the past, the two main families on the show are the Hortons, from 34 years ago, and the Brady family from almost 20 years ago; so maybe the critique should be more aware of their homework,

Ken: Otherwise we wouldn't have Mickey, Alice, Shawn, Caroline, and Laura still on DOOL in important parts.

shortcake60 asks: Are they ever going to find out the truth about who killed Franco?

Ken: Yes and yes.

Looney_112 asks: Lets say Days got cancelled like AW, what would you want the last shot to be of and why?

Ken: What a sad question and obvious answer...the last shot would be the last grain of sand running out of the hourglass, silly!

Detail4Me asks: Mr Corday, do you even care about the viewers that have stuck with you through thick and thin or are you only interested in the youger viewers..it sure seem you don't care for us anymore?!

Ken: In answer to that question, we care about every generation of viewers whether from the 60's 70's, 80's, or 90's...each are equally important and each should find a storyline to identify with everyday but most importantly we still have Alice!

Josephine_JMfan asks: Mr. Corday, will John and Marlena's wedding be on LOCATION?? like a tropical paradise or something romantic like they deserve after 13 years?

Ken: No, I think the wedding will be in Salem, because they want so many people to attend and the world will want to be there, but perhaps the honeymoon will be someplace more romantic.

suzirobby asks: Mr. Corday - I have the utmost respect that you are still opening with the voice of Tom Horton - just so you know!

Ken: Gracious thanks for that and may he watch over all of us for all the rest of our Days.

benfanatic asks: Ken, do you read the mail us fans spend so long to write? And what is the most fan-supported couple?

Ken: Most fan supported couple, is either Bo and Hope or John and Marlena depending on which way the wind blows that week, in answer to the fisrst, I can't read every letter there are too many, but the most important come to my question, the fan mail is gone over every week and broken down for us.

CamanDays asks: Mr. Corday, with all honesty can you please once and for all tell Bo/Hope fans if there is any hope for a future for this two together, as a couple who can kiss and hug and be happy?

Ken: Well we know there's hope already but there's even more than just hope in this storyline and we know Bo and Hope are star crossed so don't give up.

number1_soapFAN asks: Do you feel that the industry has a blacklash against Days when it comes to the Emmy's? Last year it should of won Best Show and Eileen Davidson for Actress!

Ken: Oh boy, this is an answer that can only get me in trouble but yes I would've loved to see Eileen win and yes I'd like to see the show win, it has only been 22 years and 12 nominations since we have, but lets not talk about backlash.

DaysFan_VA asks: Can we look for more screen time for the Wesleys'? By the way...that's your best casting coups in quite some time.

Ken: Yes, yes, yes!

Ken: We love them as much as you do,

Ken: and are more surprised everyday by what they are accomplishing.

CamanDays asks: Mr. Corday, interesting that the characters you mention come on once a month at the most, this show does disrespect so much history, are we to believe that Stef loved someone else besides Marlena? We are the ones doing our homework, it's your writers who cheat us.

Ken: Good job on the homework, you're right, Stefano does only love Marlena, don't read too much into the Gina story.

DeAnn9 asks: Mr. Corday, please allow me to follow up on your comment that you care about every generation of fan. I'm from the supercouple generation. That's why I watch Days. The music and the supercouples. When you say you destroyed the supercouples concept, you're telling me that my generation of fan doesn't matter.

Ken: No, your generation matters more than most of the demographic being from the 80's and yes I did try to destroy the misconcept of the supercouple in that EVERY couple on the show is equally important,

Ken: and that the supercouple of other disturbing superiorities steal air time from the rest of the cast, there are couples that are still driving the show but none of them have a blue cape and red S on their chest.

nydc26 asks: Mr. Corday, I was just wondering what were/are some of your favoite storylines and/or the ones you've been most poud of?

Ken: The most proud of is the original Bill, Laura, Micky story cause it broke a lot of ground, lasted a long time, gave us Mike Horton and put us in touch with an audience of young people for the very first time.

Ken: Second to that, the story of Doug and Julie and that brings us to the couples we have on screen today with a few important exceptions, most of who can be seen on either General Hospital or The Nanny.

DeAnn9 asks: I really would have loved to seen more on the breast cancer storyline. It's a shame it was just a foil for the Mike/Carrie storyline. Patrika is so amazing and deserves more of a chance to showcase her talents.

Ken: We were equally surprised by her intensity and accomplishment in that small story.

Ken: I agree she should have more air time but we must be careful to not put ourselves in the role of public service storyteller.

number1_soapFAN asks: Currently on The Bold and Beauitul, a female lost her baby. The death was a Billie rip off and now she os getting a new baby which is a Kristen/ Susan rip off! Do you take that personally?

Ken: No, not at all, I don't watch that show but I have great respect for the Bells and it's very possible ten shows could come up with the same idea at the same time.

tarin24u asks: Will the characters of Belle and Brady be aged soon??

Ken: Yes.

Ken: Probably sooner than later.

DeAnn9 asks: If tradition is so important, why has John not supported Sami by attending her trial and sentencing ONCE. He raised that girl. Roman didn't despite what you and your writers think now. I watched back then and I loved Drake Hogestyn as Roman Brady.

Ken: As Roman has given Marlena to John, John has given the family responsiblity to Roman for being Sami's father...he and Marlena are Sami's parents not John, besides John has other headaches to contend with these days.

KariAnn3 asks: How did you discover Jensen Ackles?

Ken: With great luck,

Ken: he totally walked in from Texas and it was our good fortune to be the first to know him on television.

Madeline_Ashton asks: I realize that Deidre Hall wants more time for her family, but why is she absolutely WASTED when she is working and onscreen????

Ken: I can't agree that her talent is wasted...Marlena's as wonderful today as she has always been but pursuant to your level of interest, Marlena will have a major story this summer, as will John, and you won't be disappointed.

Ken: WE'RE TALKING MAJOR!

ElecWoman asks: Is there a chance that Days will remember that Marlena also had missing years? Gope acts as if she is the only one who understands John's missing years, when the rest of us are wondering why these facts are forgotten.

Ken: Good question, she'll probably be the last to deal with her missing years and soon as John and Hope realize who they are and what their past were and weren't it might be time for Marlena to face the same problem; however that might be more up to Deidre Hall than us, that could be a long way off.

Lynnster63 asks: Mr. Corday, will Shawn Douglas be aged? Please say no.

Ken: No.

SoapCity_Rose: Ken would like to asks the fans some questions. He interested in hearing your responses. Please answer his questions using the box at thee bottom of your screen.

Ken: Do you think its a John/ Gina story or is it a John/Marlena/Bo/Hope story? Please respond.

Ken: Would you like to see Brady, Belle, Sean-Douglas and a few other younger Hortons or Bradys become more important in the fall? Please respond.

Pasta_9min asks: How about John telling Brady about his mother Isabella. Remember those tapes that John and his Isabella made to show Brady.

Ken: A good idea, Brady may not be quite old enough for those tapes, perhaps in the fall.

jesshowell asks: Ken, what characters do you think are most important to the show right now and in the future?

Ken: Right now and its future can be different, right now the most obviously important are John, Marlena, Bo, Hope, Sami, Austin, Carrie and Mike

Ken: following that Eric, Nicole and Lucas.

Ken: In the future we might see a younger generation in the year to come with some surprise young visitors from the past.

AliMoyni asks: John/Gina BAD, John/Marlana GOOD!

Ken: We agree with what you're saying but this is not a story about John and Gina, the past might unlock a safe future for John and Marlena and Bo and Hope otherwise we wouldn't be going there.

Josephine_JMfan asks: PLEASE DO NOT RAPIDLY AGE BELLE AND BRADY!!!!!!!!!!

Ken: How old do you think Belle and Brady are now? Please respond.

Ken: Are Belle and Brady old enough for a story?

Ken: I see them as teenagers already.

JennM_DOOLfan asks: I don't think the children should be aged!! They are aging too quickly as it is...but Will is a little too quiet for his own good...my son resembles 'Will' and turned 5 today (hint!)

Ken: Yes, isn't he cute!

Ken: He doesn't need to have any lines when he's that cute.

jfer021 asks: Show more of the Bradys and Hortons that you already have. Have an actual John/Marlena story with a separate one for Bo/Hope. This one isn't cutting it. It is awful. If you must bring teens in, bring in Sarah Horton or Andrew Donovan. I want to see more of Belle, Brady, and Shawn-D as they are.

Ken: Okay, we understand what you're saying and the story is more about John and Marlena than John and Gina and more about Bo and Hope than Gina and John.

Ken: They still could be teenagers in soap opera years.

DeAnn9 asks: How would you assess Sally Sussman Morina's tenure as headwriter?

Ken: We're still the number one show and she's picked up right where Jim Reilly left off,

Ken: and done very well for almost two years.

Ken: Thank you, I agree, the future of the tree of Days will be watered by future generations.

sweetsue45 asks: what has happened to the tradition of DAYS? The sense of family, romance and friendship does not seem to be there? Do you see a change??? and if so why ??

Ken: No, I don't see a change and those three words sum it up pretty well with romance being the most important...it's always the first trip around the block that's most interesting and it's always the first romance that any of our charcters have is the most enduring.

jleewheat asks: Lisa Linde is a real find! Are many of the viewers rooting for her to come out on top?

Ken: Yes, she might have her own spin-off if we're not careful; but seriously, this is a sad story about someone who is not very well mentally and can't ask for help.

Ken: Thus it will be Mike Horton's epiphany to deal with this problem.

Booger_Barbie_Dolly asks: Mr. Corday, Don't the falling ratings concern you? I've heard that if "Passions" isn't a success, that NBC will get out of the soap biz. Is that true? How do you feel about it?

Ken: I tend to look for the silver lining in the cloud, no NBC is not anywhere close to getting out of the soap business...the soap is as popular now as it was 2 years ago or 4 years ago.

Ken: I sincerely and honestly believe with all of my passion that the Neilson meter as a whole is both inarticulate and inadequate in canvasing the whole soap opera audience much to the diress for all the soaps to say nothing of all the networks and sometime in the very near future, NBC, CBS, and ABC will be forced to find another meter for public opiion that more directly tells our current appetite.

JennM_DOOLfan asks: Mr. Corday, the way you have had Sami bottom-out and begin to redeem herself (with that one tragic lie about Lucas there to catch her) is excellent, very effective and believable. Any chance of us seeing another character (Say, Bo Brady), repent and repair, and not repeat?

Ken: Thank you for the kind words...we find Sami a character, a dynamic character, capable of many more twists and turns in her emotional make up,

Ken: and yes, perhaps a character like Bo, Hope, Marlena or John would be best suited to a similar trip to hell.

Ken: But right now we have no plans for any such swift character changes, the character of Sami has come a long way and has taken a long time.

Ken: The same will be true for any of our other core characters, should they or would they, follow a similar course.

R_Shuster asks: Are you ever going to bring back old characters whom we miss for either short-term or long-term appearences? We would love to see Melissa counsel Bo about his current status with Hope!

Ken: The answer is yes, some of our favorite old characters from the past will be making appearances to Salem this summer, being that there's a wedding!

Ken: And in the month to come, given the state that Gina/Hope is in, I believe she'll need all the counseling she can get (i.e. Doug, Julie and Kimberly).

benfanatic asks: Mr. Corday, what couple are you rooting for in the end?

Ken: In the end I'm routing for what Tom and Alice stood for and still do and in the end I'm routing for the same couples you are....the ones we love the most!

Josephine_JMfan asks: Mr. Corday, is there a possibility that Marlena is the REAL Princess Gina, and that is why Stefano keeps looking at his Queen Chess Piece?

Ken: Absolutely not.

Ken: Try again.

clp1117 asks: I agree with you about the Nielsens, they are antiquated and have been for some time. But do you ever read the fan boards on-line and perhaps even the mountainous fan mail you receive in regards to our complete dissatisfaction with the current storylines? Do you care? Or is it the fans versus Corday and Co?

Ken: Oh please for the opening two lines, of course I care, disatisfaction isn't the same as disassociation...sometimes we have to have conflict in the story and sometimes the viewer must be conflicted as long as you're staying tuned, know that everything will work out.

Looney_112 asks: Mr. Corday, when will we see Hispanics in Salem, they will be the largest minority in a few years

Ken: Thank you for your question and I respectfully submit that in the next few months you might be pleasantly surprised when a stranger comes to town....a stranger who has far reaching storyline implications.

JennM_DOOLfan asks: Mr. Corday, will John Aniston be returning on a permanent basis? I would love to see him square off against Stefano!

Ken: Good question, stay tuned, I think we're going to see more and more of Victor.

R_Shuster asks: Why are you ignoring Abe and Lexie? And please don't say that you aren't because you are. We watch the show, we know when our favorites are being sacrificed for bad annoyign characters like Nicole and Taylor.

Ken: A heart felt question, one which I cannot deny; however, by this summer/early fall Abe and Lexie, I promise you, will be involved in a major storyline, the likes of what you and they have never seen before.

Ken: Which will play out in many years.

Ken: I'd like to thank everybody for being involved with this, I know there were many people who's questions were not answered and for that we can only blame time.

Ken: Please write to us..in the summer to come and May, I think you will have some shocks in the Mike/Austin/Carrie story and you better hope that Alison Sweeney plans to stay with DOOL and Sami lives to tell us all.

Ken: And more importantly that John wakes up and realizes that Marlena is his future and Bo is able to snatch Hope from the jaws of hell

[KMan101]

Hehehe. I remember reading that a while back. I love how they called him on his crap. He's still a double-talking

moron.

Thanks for that Kenny! I needed a laugh this morning

[DaysForever]

Thanks, Kenny.

Well, he was right about the ratings. Are they ever going to get a new ratings system?

[GBB]

Wow, he talks like a used car salesman running for mayor.

Ugh.

[Jane1978]

It´s wonderfull to see in how many questions he doesn´t have even slightest idea what is really happening on the show. He just repeats his mantra "stay tuned, there will be a great storyline soon, they will eventually get back together, you have to be patient, the wonderfull storylines are about to begin." I also love the way he supports any HW he has at the time no matter what crap they write, yet he starts do diss them a minute after they are finally gone.

Does anybody remember that Question/Answer thing he used to have on DAYS site called Ask producer? It was so sad to see some of those people actually believing him and having some hope for the future. It eventually disappeared because it started to be very obvious to everyone he is not the one who is controlling the show or is able to give any straight answers.

[KLN]

Oh, I remember that! I must've written in a hundred and one e-mails, and not a single one of them were put up.

I remember virtually every e-mail was negative, though. Remember that? People hated everything... JOPE, Nicole/Eric, Princess Gina, the flying bed, all the ridiculous, idiotic, stupid sh!t from Sally Sussman Morina and Tom Langan's eras. And he would reply to every e-mail as if he hadn't read a word of it. "Glad you're watching, though. We must be doing something right. Stay tuned!" Every reply would end with "stay tuned" and I just wanted to smack the holy hoo-ha out of his dumb ass.

[PhoenixRising05]

I remember this and when he use to answer questions.

Corday to this day still doesn't know what is happening on the show. It's funny how he asked about aging the teens and what people thought of the Gina story. It's like he was hoping fans mistunderstood the purposes behind those moves and that they didn't hate the story. Corday always loved the idea of the teens and supported the invasion and then when he fired Langan he acted like a hero.

All he does is double talk. The one thing about Corday is at least he has the vets still around and does make sure history is honored for the most part but, otherwise, he has trouble acknowledging there are problems with the show until it's too late or too much damage has been done, leaving a big mess behind.