March 5-9, 2007

[Josh]

There was basketball last week??? Those ar elast weeks ratings right???

[daysfan]

But you see that was one of JER's biggest problems: Though he had stories, alot of them during his second run were not good ESPECIALLY the John and Marlena stories. If they are going to have horrid stories then I would rather see them not on then on and their characters being ruined.

Technically, airtime means nothing. It's the stories that mean something. Deidre Hall or Kristian Alfonso can be on five days in a row yet nothing at all happens. When vets do air it's a good sign, but it needs to have something to do with their stories. Airtime is when they are on Days, and they can be on as just a character standing around. I hope when they do air their stories move.

But you do make a point. Bo and Hope really need a story and fast too. Like I said, their airtime technically means nothing.

As a blog writer that is treated as a series, I totally see why Hogan does not have a story for them. Sure he may be a ten times better writer then me and that means he can come up with stories either but to be honest in y blog up until now I have been dead out of ideas for what to do with them.

I feel for J/M alot can be done(such as John'ss identity and Days could copy off of Drew's blog and go into Marlena's family history more), but for B/H it's just hard because we know their family history they have been in triangles one of them has been brought back from the dead with amnesia and a person has impersonated one of them and one of them has had a long lost child so hardly anything is left but I know that if Hogan gets creative he can do something....

[Ridge]

What you're saying is all good and true but Hogan never should have said he was going to write for them if he wasn't. That means he had a story to tell and had intention. There are A LOT of storyline options for these characters, that is why this is a soap opera, the storyline options are endless. And I disagree with the whole "Seeing the vets in a bad story is worst than not seeing them at all". That's not true, and these ratings prove it. When you turn the channel and you see these familiar faces you are more inclined to keep the channel there rather than when you switch it and see younger unfamiliar ones.

What Hogan is doing now is really unremarkable. ANY writer can come to a new show and write for a new group of people, unfamiliar ones and younger ones. It takes a GOOD writer to respect the history of the show and TRY and write for these characters that have warmed our hearts for years.

[DaysFanJean]

The core characters under contract or recurring are really what holds the history of the show, the "feel" of it together. Without scenes with Marlena where she would be but isn't really is poor writing. Even not having Caroline pop into Sami's story now is poor writing. Just those two alone would help keep Days real. Marlena not suffering over John's lost kidney or being more involved with Sami's impending wedding are sore oversights. Just one scene with a caring family senior member would make a trememdous difference. Personally, I love the younger characters, but they still need family anchors as they are not the elders, yet. Kate is supposedly going to have a family dinner with her children. That's neat, but Kate isn't the character folks are missing as she has been involved in more stories. Of course, will we have Saint Patrick's at the Pub with green beer and Shawn Sr. singing????? It would have been today, but guess not.....saved by the Saturday event LOL.

[Ponz]

Well said, Jean.

[R!ck]

I agree Ponz, Great post jean

[PSPCindy]

I couldn't disagree more.

EJ is a highlight for me. JS is a gifted and talented actor who has an amazing range. I wonder who would have ever imagined that he could take his suave and charming manner and translate that into an inisidiously evil villain. I suspect not many. EJ is far from a one note villain. He has affected almost everyone in Salem on different levels while never showing any violence except for one brief scene. AMC squandered the talent and the popularity of JS. But Days is making good use of them.

One thing that could and should be done to improve the enjoyment of the show is the have one happy storyline. Now there is not even one. My main complaint is the behind the scenes turmoil that has affected the pacing of the storylines. I think many of the problems we have felt are due to things that were not forseen. And the effect of the remarks by the NBC Daytime President announcing the demise of the soap genre on the network cannot be minimalized. They were devastating. Many viewers are reluctant to invest in a show that may well be gone in two years or less.

But Hogan Sheffer has the talent to bring the viewers back in. If he tells compelling, entertaining stories viewers will follow. I will continue to watch and see what happens.

[Rhiannon]

Beth Milstein would be a welcome addition as Co-HW or HW at this point......

Days is on EJ overload and it's showing in the ratings, people miss the Veterans of the show I know; but EJ here, EJ there, EJ just about everywhere is chasing away viewers too....I'm included in the group of viewers that Days is chasing away with the constant EJ pimping.....

That is so true about it being just about everyone on Days against EJ, except for Bell. Shawn. and Claire because they are stuck on that island....It's like someone took a vacuum or Willow's lips and sucked all the energy and spark out of Days, there are a few decent days here and there; but for the most part it feels like Salem is a really dark, dreary, and depressing place that nobody (viewers and characters included) wants to visit anymore.....

[Ponz]

EJ wouldn't be so annoying to me if he actually had genuine RIVALS. Instead, we have Steve in a mental institute, John in a coma, Marlena not even on-screen and Sami trying to dupe him with amateurish scheming that he will see through in a heartbeat. As someone pointed out, even the fire was more about EJ/Willow than Bope. There is no battle between good and evil because EJ has absolutely everything going his way. And that only compounds the doom and gloom feeling.

[DaysnPassionsFan]

Wow! Those numbers are absolutely horrible.

[ZaraB]

Since DOOL changed timeslots in Chicago, I haven't been getting to see it as much --- but this sounds VERY familiar to me as an OLTL fan. It sounds exactly the same thing that happened with OLTL and Spencer. Higley developed a writer's crush on her character, and refused to give him any competition or any real setbacks, other than a dead horse in a poker game - and centered just about all the stories on him. With Scott as EJ, you've had a bit more fan reception from the start. (There was a general Spencer hate before a love to hate when Higley was forced to write him out. I was expecting to see Spencer somehow even to blame for world poverty.) To some extent, that is the DiMera legacy--but there ought to be some variety.

[sungrey]

I think some of us are at a loss for words. I for one was someone who championed Hogan taking over (I never want to see James Reilly's name grace another daytime drama, but that's another story), but I'm wondering what's up myself. Is it the loss of the Big 4 not being on air? Too many newbies? Stories just not being executed properly?

I think the framework is there. I'm not pinning this on Hogan, at least not yet. I'd like Ken Corday to stand up and explain for once why he feels the need to screw everything up so that writers (well, except for one) don't get a chance to put their stamp on the show.

Until then, I firmly remain a Sheffer supporter. I'm the happiest I've been about Days in years, at least since the Brash and Cwikly era.

[dragonflies]

So it looks like Days will get another new character, cause whomever wins the new "I Wanna Be a Soapstar" gets a gig on Days.

Just what Days needs, another new character

I agree what was said about EJ. He has no real rivals. What's makes me wanna root for him? I can't love to hate him, cause he always wins

[Angela]

I look at DAYS and basically outside of Sami and Lucas it's a new show. There's EJ, Patch/Kayla (they're new to a lot of fans), Willow, Chelsea/Nick, Billie, nu-kid playing Shawn/Belle. And that's basically the show. I think they had EJ do too much villainism too successfully in to short a span. It would have been better if he was slightly incompetent, and had more of a conscience even, and then Stefano had to come out of the woodwork to do the work right. Scott does nice work in the role, but what's there to look forward to when all you have there is a puppet master (EJ) who gets and does everything he wants? Hogan said he wanted to move Sami out of the "rut" she's been in for so long with Reilly and other writers - honestly he hasn't, it's the same old junk. This is not a new Sami.

I think DAYS probably has also underestimated the audience's desire to see B/H and J/M. Stinky story or not, the ratings never sank this low when they were airing much more reguarly, the show had been #1 in 18-34 since August 1995 save a handful of weeks, now what is it? 5 weeks in a row not #1 in 18-34.

If they're not facing financial problems, which Corday says they're not - it's stupid not to have brung back Mascolo and let PR, KA, the two DH's air more than what 3-4 times a month.

[R!ck]

Excellent post Rug, and I agree with everything you said.