From www.nbc.com:

Newcomer Frank Mentier has been cast as "Jed,” a hot transfer student at Salem U. Jed will first air on Thursday, February 22nd.

With Chelsea and Abby going to Salem U as well, I wonder if Jed is the rumored brother of Willow the show was hoping to bring on, and will Abby use him to make Max jealous. There were some rumors that Connor and Abby would hookup, and with Bonnie and Mimi leaving soon, will Jed replace Connor?

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!

Thank you Mike!! I was going to response to PhoenixRising with this. There is no more "this all happened before". Hogan should concentrate on writing good soap. DAYS shouldn't worry about reaching its "target audience" or reaching out to set up a "next generation". There WON'T BE a next generation on DAYS, the show is as good as done in 2 years. For this reason we should be seeing GOOD SOAP. Casting moves should further solidify the shows historical position in soap world and lay the foundation for a memorable exit. NO ONE wants to see DAYS go off with an awesome teen scene or an awesome next generation. And that's JUST the way it is... point blank.

Thank you Mike!! I was going to response to PhoenixRising with this. There is no more "this all happened before". Hogan should concentrate on writing good soap. DAYS shouldn't worry about reaching its "target audience" or reaching out to set up a "next generation". There WON'T BE a next generation on DAYS, the show is as good as done in 2 years. For this reason we should be seeing GOOD SOAP. Casting moves should further solidify the shows historical position in soap world and lay the foundation for a memorable exit. NO ONE wants to see DAYS go off with an awesome teen scene or an awesome next generation. And that's JUST the way it is... point blank.

How about this?

Why don't you all just wait and see? My point is people are making a big deal out of nothing right now. Jed and Willow may be gone soon and all this will be moot. Connor isn't staying on and Benji is in and out. You all act like they added 10 new characters. Out of those that were added we are only sure that one of them (Nick) is going to be here for the long haul. I understand people worried but I think it's a little premature.

Hogan is writing good soap. The ratings have had Days in a solid 3rd/4th for over a month now. The show is getting loads of praise from critics. The ratings will come as trust in the show slowly builds back up. Let's keep the Days doom and gloom talk out of this. We don't know what will happen between now and 2009 nor do we know if that is the end for Days. Hogan and the show have to pull out all the stops but they can't stop building for the future either. Yes, I want vets featured and I would love to see the familiar faces but that is not all that needs to be seen. The show needs new blood otherwise it's going to be the same old Horton/Brady pimping and the like. I don't like that it's Willow and this Jed character but I understand the motivation.

It's not like Hogan is pulling a Langan and adding tonsa of teens and backburnering all the vets. The vets are front and center and we are seeing them all the time. If I see more new characters added, I will be the first to come in here and eat crow and worry along with all of you. All I am saying is don't jump the gun and get all worked up. The situation is not even close to being something to worry about yet.

The ratings have had Days in a solid 3rd/4th for over a month now.

That still spells cancellation in two years. We cannot have a solid stagnation. We need improvements. You keep saying give it time when time is the one thing we don't have here! NBC canceled PSNS 8 months in advance. Remember that.

That still spells cancellation in two years. We cannot have a solid stagnation. We need improvements. You keep saying give it time when time is the one thing we don't have here! NBC canceled PSNS 8 months in advance. Remember that.

ITA. Hogan/Corday/DAYS need to bring their A Game NOW. Which means giving viewers everything they want, basically.

Edited January 31, 200718 yr by HoganStaysAtDAYS1

ITA. There is zero room for error now.

If DAYS is gonna keep Willow, they should re-cast.

If DAYS is gonna keep Willow, they should re-cast.

Um, no. Annie is Willow.

If DAYS is gonna keep Willow, they should re-cast.

I think so too. Annie Burgstrede is awful and is not endearing to many people, except for a certain few. Like I said earlier, if someone else was playing her, maybe she would be more likeable. But AB is playing her as a one-note, one-dimensional b!tch. If people thought Jan Spears had no depth, Willow has her beat by a huge mile. Make me care about her having a bad childhood. Make me care why she had to start turning tricks. AB's acting is not making me sympathetic towards Willow. She's been on since September, and she really has no fan following. Why keep her? Remember Kit Fisher from AMC? Well, we have her skankier, uglier counterpart.

Burgstrede has that dirty wh0re-y, hooker look down though. And her look is very harsh, so I think it works.

I love writing for Willow in my blog, but I've aged her, made her NOT a hooker, and have her being played by Bree Williamson. It's pretty fun!

LOL, King, what you have is pod-Willow

It works for my purposes.

Thank you Mike!! I was going to response to PhoenixRising with this. There is no more "this all happened before". Hogan should concentrate on writing good soap. DAYS shouldn't worry about reaching its "target audience" or reaching out to set up a "next generation". There WON'T BE a next generation on DAYS, the show is as good as done in 2 years. For this reason we should be seeing GOOD SOAP. Casting moves should further solidify the shows historical position in soap world and lay the foundation for a memorable exit. NO ONE wants to see DAYS go off with an awesome teen scene or an awesome next generation. And that's JUST the way it is... point blank.

Sorry, but I think you are wrong. Sheffer is doing the only thing which can to save the show. Tries to create a good show with a characters people can care about. I believe this whole idea that there are tons of old fans who would tune in if someone big from past returned is wrong. S/K are back and it didn´t have any major impact on ratings. We´ve had A/C and it didn´t have any impact on ratings. Those old fans are simply gone. Away. Jaded and lost forever. IF DAYS wants better ratings it will not get it by bringing any old characters back, even massive featuring of the golden four will not help them, because fans who still loves them already watch. The only way to rise ratings and save the show is to bring in new viewers. Give them their own B/H, their own J/M, their own supercouples and big romances they can watch from beginning, because admit it, nothing compares to thouse first two or three years of couple when they are coming together for the first time, and has their first kisses, first lovemaking, first everything. That´s the stuff which turns viewer into fan.

IMO, the future of the show is in the hands of Sami/Lucas, Shelle, Chelsea/Nick, Abby and Max and other characters in those generations, and of course Hogan´s because he has to give them stories wonderfull enough to rise interest.

I believe this whole idea that there are tons of old fans who would tune in if someone big from past returned is wrong. The only way to rise ratings and save the show is to bring in new viewers.

I def. disagree with you. I kind of agree with you on the old character thing. I was not saying we should bring back oldies instead of newbies. But I think we need to keep the newbies out, and write for who we have right now. When things get dull, bring on a newbie. But Willow, Jed, Nick, Benji, and Connor as well as the recasting of Shawn and Phil (some peeps may not have seen JKJ as Phil...or remember him if they did) is a LOT of new faces to handle. Remember your average fan is not as dedicated as we are.

Also, we aren't going to get any new viewers. That goes for any show. Soaps are dying. We need to get the people back who used to watch. Soaps have a horrible, horrible reputation, and no one wants to watch them.

Edited January 31, 200718 yr by King

I think so too. Annie Burgstrede is awful and is not endearing to many people, except for a certain few. Like I said earlier, if someone else was playing her, maybe she would be more likeable. But AB is playing her as a one-note, one-dimensional b!tch. If people thought Jan Spears had no depth, Willow has her beat by a huge mile. Make me care about her having a bad childhood. Make me care why she had to start turning tricks. AB's acting is not making me sympathetic towards Willow. She's been on since September, and she really has no fan following. Why keep her? Remember Kit Fisher from AMC? Well, we have her skankier, uglier counterpart.

Totally agree. Yesterday when Willow was telling Hope about no family, no insurance, no job I kept feeling like I should be sympathizing with her but all I could really feel was repugnance for those huge lips! And those crazy eyes! I used to have the same problem with Lisa Rinna's lips, and I liked her. So when you have a character you don't like played by an actress you don't like and you're constantly distracted by such obvious physical features (I almost said flaws, but I realize some people like Willow's look)--well, I really don't think I'll ever be able to enjoy her scenes. It just makes me glad I can't watch her in high def. Having said all that about the poor girl, though, I think DOOL is helping that look along with all the lip gloss and harsh eye makeup so maybe they want this kind of reaction. My opinion, though--recast her, please!

Sorry, but I think you are wrong. Sheffer is doing the only thing which can to save the show. Tries to create a good show with a characters people can care about. I believe this whole idea that there are tons of old fans who would tune in if someone big from past returned is wrong. S/K are back and it didn´t have any major impact on ratings. We´ve had A/C and it didn´t have any impact on ratings. Those old fans are simply gone. Away. Jaded and lost forever. IF DAYS wants better ratings it will not get it by bringing any old characters back, even massive featuring of the golden four will not help them, because fans who still loves them already watch. The only way to rise ratings and save the show is to bring in new viewers. Give them their own B/H, their own J/M, their own supercouples and big romances they can watch from beginning, because admit it, nothing compares to thouse first two or three years of couple when they are coming together for the first time, and has their first kisses, first lovemaking, first everything. That´s the stuff which turns viewer into fan.

IMO, the future of the show is in the hands of Sami/Lucas, Shelle, Chelsea/Nick, Abby and Max and other characters in those generations, and of course Hogan´s because he has to give them stories wonderfull enough to rise interest.

Great post. The next generation is the key. Bo/Hope, Marlena/John, and Steve/Kayla have been through so much. They can still be front burner but Days needs the up and comers now more then ever. You want the audience to go on a journey, like they did in the 80's and 90's when we saw these great couples come together. Now, you want to see the same with Abby/Max, Sami/Lucas, etc. Watching these couples bond and come together will draw fans in like it did in the 80's and 90's. Returns are great but they have done nothing lately for days. As for these new characters, Nick is the only one with staying power (Willow did get better yesterday) and the ratings have not gone down at all since these new characters showed up. I think many fans see that most of these new characters are not long haul characters and, the one that is, Nick, is one that has been accepted.

Th majority of recent fans know JKJ. He only left in 2002. It's not like he left in the early 90's so I can't count him as a new face. Fans have already took to BB as Shawn. Bottom line is great writing gets you ratings. Days is slowly inching up because of that. Slow inreases are easier to maintain. Also, another thought, if some of these new characters do stay, people may end up liking them in another year and all this is forgotten. People despised Nicole and look what happened. You never kno. But Jane is right. Hogan is handling all this the right way and the best way for the future. 2009 may or may not be the end for Days. No one knows for sure and to start acting now like it would be and not building the future and investing the audience in the future would not be a good idea. Besides, the next generation is played by great actors now and he majority of fans love them and are invested in them now.