DAYS: New male character

[Mason]

I agree that it hasn't gotten awful, like Langan's teen invasion was, but I just don't want to see it going there again, where all the young characters are front and center, especially new young characters. I agree that Hogan has improved Chelsea (although I'm still not to the point where I like her yet), but Max and particularly Abby have almost regressed. It's just making me nervous that so early in his tenure, Hogan's bringing on new, young characters that we don't need.

[David_Vickers]

Kayla's NOT backburnered IMHO. Also Maggie, Caroline, Grandpa Shawn, Hope & Kayla are MUCH MORE DEFINITELY better characters than Willow and the actors playing them are far better actors than Annie Burgstede!

I agree wholeheartedly.

Who gives a f u c k?!!?!?!?!? I guarantee most DAYS viewers don't!

Matt Ashford is by far a better actor than Annie Burgstede. I wonder what are talents really are. LMAO.

[Mason]

This DAYS fan definitely doesn't.

Well, so far, the only talent I've seen from her is the talent to annoy the utter hell out of me.

[Bree]

Kenny posted some pics of Frank on the NBC boards and he doesn't look like AB at all. If he IS Willow's brother, he definitely got the looks in that family.

[Mason]

LoL, that's the truth! Although that's not saying much considering...

[PhoenixRising05]

Oh I agree Hogan. I worry a bit about too but so far it's not even close to that point. I don't think it will come to that point but, if it does, I will be the first to address my concern.

As for Max and Abby, characters can't regress when they had very little development in the first place. Both characters had hardly any personality under JER. Max was the ladies man trying to settle down a bit in Salem and was also driven by his career. Outside of that and his flings with Chelsea and Stephanie, that was all we had as far as development. Abby was nothing but a fly on the wall. She was always just "there" in scenes. She had little to no presence. She may not have alot of story right now but she has personality. People may not like it but at least she is not the quiet girl that is standing off to the side or just acting as a confidante. They are slowly building Maby and what I see is Jennifer the sequel with her. She is all Missy and she has some Jennifer-like traits too. I was always hoping that would happen and Hogan is slowly developing that. Chelsea has been likeable to me for a little while now but Hogan matured her to a point where we actually can invest in her in one way or another. She still can be rude or snarky but we also are seeing what drives her. She wants to be loved and that is what has always been at the core of Sami too. The characters are well-rounded now for the most part and developing layers. Now they are definitely more interesting and you feel like they are real people so you can identify better with them.

[Days4Life]

ITA. While Hogan has shown some character growth with Chelsea, Max has just become background for Mimi and Abby is mind numbingly boring. I like Nick, but they need to move beyond the Lonely Splicer storyline. I'm not saying we're returning to Langan's teen invasion; I hope Hogan is much smarter than that. But the memories of that time are so awful! I came the closest to dropping DOOL then that I have in my many, many years of viewing.

[Days4Life]

I need to clarify what I said about Abby being boring, because I actually love Abby. She's Jack and Jennifer's and they were one of my favorite couples. The writers, however, have been using Abby as background for Chelsea for too long. Abby is smart and beautiful and deserves her own story instead of just being Chelsea's conscience. Hopefully, this new guy can act and will be much more likable than Willow and maybe he can be used to break Abby away from the Chelsea/Nick relationship. Unlike many, I'm not seeing a Max/Abby pairing--at least not yet. In fact, I don't know what they will do with Max. The younger set will be off in college; Shawn/Belle/Philip are all in the Claire storyline. I don't know what Hogan's plan is for Max, especially if Mimi is not recast.

[King]

No one used the word "regress." They've gotten less likable and less interesting. And they have.

Listen. You guys can argue on the favor of new faces and blah blah blah. You can say Marlena and the Brady's were new faces and new characters and were hated and blah blah blah. There is one difference. DAYS was riding high in financial heaven then. DAYS has about 12 months to prove its worth or it is donezo. DAYS needs to stop obsessing with gaining new viewers and START worrying about getting older viewers who are in their thirties through sixties.

You and others seem to harp on the fact that new characters are ok as long as they are core family members. I don't know where you get this. A new face is a new face. If an old viewer turns on DAYS and sees Nick or Benjy and has no idea who they are? Boom. They turn to Y&R and B&B, see faces they know, and they're gone. They are not going to stop and wait to hear that Nick is a Horton. No one cares. These new characters combined with all the recasts going on are not good. Everything needs to be in moderation. The writing could be 100% flawless, emmy worthy, amazing, excellent, and unbefreakinglievable, and the ratings will NOT, NOT, NOT go up.

Anyone complaining about the new faces now is smart. They know where this is headed - into the direction of ratings stagnation and cancellation. Screw Eileen and Joe and Louise! Forget about them. Leave them off, if you want too. I don't want to hear about budget issues. Write for the characters you have and stop OBSESSING on new faces and characters!

[Mason]

Actually I did. But becoming more irritating is what I meant by it.

[King]

They have gotten irritating. It's upsetting. I used to be a big Mabby fan. I think I was the first person to pair Mabby in the DAYS blogs here at SON. And now, the show has me hating them both so much, I don't really want to even write for either of them! They suck!

[Mason]

I agree, in the last couple of months, my interest in Mabby as a couple has somewhat waned, but it's only because of how both characters have been written lately. Abby obsessing over Max who doesn't even know she's alive doesn't do much for me.

[King]

And Max is so unbelievably DUMB and cluess, and coming as a complaint from someone who used to be a JER fan, uhhh yeah it's bad.

[DrewH]

While I can see where you guys are coming from referring to the teens, I have to disagree. To me, Chelsea, Abby and Max have all been given character. They seem like real people now. Chelsea is now tolerable. Abby actually has something to do, although she's falling back into Chelsea's background a bit. Max, on the other hand, I will agree with you has gotten the wrost out of those three. I liked Max when he first came on. He had that bad boy edge to him. Now? Not so much.

As for bringing back the old characters, sure, lets bring back all of these high cost actors and make the show look like a cheaper version of GL. The show is doing just fine the way it is without Mascolo or Davidson. I won't even mention Sorel, because to me, Vivian is not need, nor will she ever be needed on this show again. That character's ship sailed years ago. But back to what I was saying; the writers are smart not instantly bringing back these big characters. Use what you have and for the most part, aside from the 3 new characters that were introduced since Hogan started, he's done just that. He writes for John, Marlena, Bo, Steve, Victor, Kate, Sami, Lucas, etc. And even when he's writing for these characters, people still b*tch.

No one can be satisfied it seems.

[Mason]

No one here has said they weren't satisfied with Hogan's writing. All we're talking about is the fact that we don't like his new characters and the way he writes the young characters (or some of us, anyway). It has nothing to do with the actually quality of the show overall right now.