March 19-23, 2007

[R!ck]

Not really Phoenix, During Jan-May 2004, DAYS had highest numbers of the year

2004

Jan:..............3.8 (Marlena Revealed as The Salem Stalker)

Feb:..............3.5

March:..........3.3

April:............3.2

May:.............3.2

June:............2.9

July..............2.9

August..........2.9

September:...2.9

October:.......2.8

November:....2.8

December:....2.9

2005 also saw good numbers during Jan-Feb, and average #'s in March and April

January:.......3.1

February.......2.9

March...........2.6

April:............2.5

May:.............2.6

June:............2.5

July:.............2.6

August:.........2.6

September:...2.6

October:.......2.5

Nonember:....2.6

December:....2.7

And then of course JER's 2006 also saw some of the highest #'s on the year in Jan-March

Jan:.............2.8 (JER)

Feb:.............2.6 " "

March:..........2.6 " "

April:............2.5 " "

May..............2.4 (Ghost Writer)

June:............2.6 (Beth Milstein)

July:.............2.6 " "

August:.........2.6 " "

September:...2.5 (Hogan Sheffer aka The Beginning of the End)

October:.......2.5 " "

November:....2.5 " "

December:....2.5 " "

January 07:...2.6 " "

February 07:..2.4 " "

March 07........2.2 " "

[R!ck]

In TWO years, JER only averaged a 2.5 monthly rating four times. All the rest were above that. So I guess even though a lot of internet viewers thought he was a shitty writer, the general viewing audience Did Not, because ratings were much better.

Hogan has been there 7 months and he has managed 4 monthly averages of 2.5 and two months at a 2.4 and 2.2! Yet people are still making excuses for him.

In November and December it was in transition, and half of the cast left (Half the cast was cut in 2004 too and the ratings didn't drop) Then it was the budget, Then Ken Corday, Then stuff behind the scenes, Then the vets were on vacation. Then a voodoo curse that JER had Tabitha put on the show...

Hogan Sheffer is the reason the show is in the pits. Like it's been mentioned a hundred times before. Alfonso, Hall, Hogysten, and Reckell all have contracts. Those contracts guarantee that they are paid for 3 days a week. It's up to the head writer to balance out the show and write a good story with the 3 days he does have them, instead of writing for only half the cast and using them 5 days a week. He is the HW, He has a responsibility to the viewers to write a show that we want to tune in and see. Hogie has been poison to DAYS, and I can't believe that no one sees that?

He needs to be fired ASAP and bring in a writer who can create buzz worthy storylines and bring DAYS back to what it once was. Beth Milstein, Sally Sussman, Cwickly & Brash or JER would be 100X better than this man who is slowly killing DAYS.

[KLN]

You and your assumptions about Corday getting in the way... *sigh*

A poor excuse is better than none, I guess.

If Corday's really in the way that much for headwriters, then who's to say that Hogan Sheffer isn't JUST FINE? Who's to say that the issues the show is having right now aren't all coming from Corday getting in the way of Hogan's creative ideas? If that's the case, Reilly isn't needed. Corday just needs to back up.

People are so quick to jump on Hogan, blaming him for the messy state of the show right now, but when it comes to Reilly and the mess he made, all blame falls on Corday. Who's to say that Corday isn't at fault in BOTH situations? I mean, really... what's good for the goose is good for the gander.

Reilly focused on the right characters, but put them in crappy stories. At the moment, Hogan is writing decent stories, but focusing on the wrong characters. Maybe if they were brought together to co-headwrite...

Anyway, I think it's very obvious that budget issues are getting in the way of what Hogan wants to write. It's not so much the writing that's bad -- it's who they're focusing on. He's being limited and restricted as to what he can do, being held back. That, of course, is JMO.

[KLN]

I wasn't. I knew everyone was being over-eager.

Days is in serious financial trouble. Rising costs and lower ratings... at some point, there has to be a break. It was a big deal when NBC kept the show last year during the intense talks with Corday/Sony, only to end up slashing the budget by a massive amount. There was no pussyfooting around. And whether Corday wants to admit it or not, he really can't afford to use his big name stars the way he used to.

[KLN]

LMAO! That just strikes me as funny.

JER was a proven hit more than ten years ago. In the subsequent ten years, he's succeeded at nothing long-term. He's lost it. Either that, or he doesn't have the energy enough to use what he's got left.

[KLN]

...but the fact still remains that it was a re-used trick. He's ran out. You can only ride on that merry-go-round so many times before you have to hop off and try something new.

[KLN]

And now you have, LoL.

I would only want James Reilly back at Days with a co-headwriter to ground him.

Toups says that his second go 'round at Days sucked because Corday limited him. I feel the exact opposite. I feel as though his second run at Days sucked because he had too much freedom. I mean... why else does PASSIONS suck? He answers to nobody at Passions. The reason his days at Days rocked in the 90's was probably because he was on somewhat of a leash (remember, this was before he became a BIG name writer and had his own show).

So, with the grounding of a decent co-headwriter, I'm giving it a maybe -- only because I loved the 90's on Days more than anything I've seen before or since in the world of daytime. By himself, with free reign again? Hell no.

[Jane1978]

Sorry, but what do you expect Reilly would do? NBC will not miraculously rise DAYS budget. All people who supported him and his vision are already gone from the network. His power diminished the minute Sheraton Kalouria left his position as VP of NBC daytime and the company didn´t even bothered to hire someone new. So, he would be facing exactly the same situation as Sheffer does. A show with already given deadline and most hostile fans possible, who cares only about their fan favorites and vets he unfortunatelly doesn´t have money to show.

Yes, maybe some of his cheap stunt would bring in viewers, but they would left immidiatelly after. Just look at GH, they had wonderfull sweeps, yet their numbers are even lower than in January. Not even those cheap gimmicks works anymore. I believe Sheffer´s stories are still much better than most of Reilly´s stuff. If his S/K story was given to J/M their fans would be excited and praising him right now. And the same is true for all couples.

All soaps are dying, because there is no new audience available and the shows are more and more depending on slowly eroding groups of hardcore fans who watch only if their couple and/or favorite actor is on, but doesn´t care about the show as whole at all. As long as their favorites are on they are willing to overlook almost anything (the prove are Reilly´s numbers), but they have zero loayality to the show. That´s what happened with DAYS. All those groups suddenly left. But it doesn´t have anything common with stories and/or quality of the show, those people wouldn´t be watching even if the show was written by group of Oscar winners.

I´m sure if Langan or even Dena Highley came back and by some miracle got budget big enough to use the vets more, its ratings would jump back into mid 2´s again. But it would only postpone the inevitable. If there isn´t some radical change, and a new timeslot for soaps when people actually can watch the show and aren´t at work, school, or out with friends, all soaps will be soon or later forced to follow DAYS trend till it´s bitter end.

[KLN]

Right. If the show can't afford to use the actors, they can't afford to use the actors regardless of the headwriter. Reilly would be facing the same exact issues as Sheffer, IMO. The budget was slashed just as he came onboard.

Still, for the first time in a very long time, I'm very confused as to what's going on behind the scenes at Days. Some things make sense, while other things just come completely out of left field. Right now, 1 + 1 = 27.

[Ponz]

If JER were such a brilliant ratings grabber, his own show wouldn't be in the toilet. His bag of tricks is empty and I doubt any soap will ever go near him.

I don't get this nostalgia for Reilly. As disappointing as Hogan's writing may be, it does not make the steaming pile of crap JER produced in his second tenure any less a steaming pile of crap. Yes, he got better ratings than Hogan (he also had a much bigger budget to spend). So did Dena Higley. I don't see anyone campaigning for HER to return.

May was still Reilly's garbage, Rick. The alledged "ghost-writer's" material aired in June/July. Beth Milstein's tenure was from August to October.

[PhoenixRising05]

You call those numbers not stagnating? The show always has higher numbers in January. Every show does. It doesn't matter who was writing. I have watched Days since the 80's and I have noticed since JER left the first time the show always goes into somewhat of a rut and period of inconsistency from late Jan-around May. That doesn't mean the show sucks but you always get that feeling that they are holding back something. The only two exceptions to this were the coronation and aftermath of that in 2001 and last year was somewhat enjoyable but that was in large part due to the Zack story. Pretty much every year since 1997 (and even then things slowed down after the first part of the year) has seen a period of hit or miss for Days that often gives you a draggy feel. The pace definitely slows down and picks back up around May and then the show rolls. B&C's stuff never aired until March 2002 so everything else was Langan. January 2002 was good but Feb and March were very boring. It wasn't until Sami's wedding that year that the show got exciting.

I agree so much with what Jane said and with alot of what Kenny said. I do think Corday interfered with the SSK story but, other then that, I think the rest of the mess was him. Once Corday messed up JER's SSK story, it was clear he didn't know where else to go. Corday forced him to change his original plan and then later forced traditional stories on him and he just couldn't conform to that. I don't even think a co-HW could help but this is a moot point because he is never returning. His return would onyl drive away more viewers.

The budget is bad. Really bad and I don't think this gets through to people sometimes. All I hear is cut the newbies or young characters to have the money for the vets but the vets make so much that isn't going to help. Steve and Kayla get as much airtime as they do because they took massive paycuts to return. If they hadn't, they wouldn't be here and I think Days may be lower then a 2.2. The sad reality is we will get more of the vets but we may be resigned to seeing yearly long periods like this of not having them from now on.

I will say one thing...Days has issues but if people think JER, Higley, and Langan's garbage is better then this then I don't know what to think.

[KLN]

Meh. People always look back and reminisce with rose-colored glasses. At the time of the "Salem High" invasion, I don't think there was a single happy fan. Now, everywhere I look, I see people who talk about how they looooved the Salem High days and they'd cut off their right titty for Kirsten Storms and Jason Cook to return.

As time goes by, the memory of what was wreched slowly fades away. The truth is, Reilly's sucked since 2000. And his ratings were no picnic, either. In fact, HIS ratings are what caused NBC to slash the budget in the first place. "Down" has been the trend for more than ten years, so who's to say that if Reilly were still here, the ratings wouldn't be just as bad or worse than they are now? Given today's social climate and more than a dozen other important reasons, the ratings are going to continue to sink regardless of who's writing the show or how great it is. It's sad, but true. If people aren't home anymore, they aren't home, and nothing is going to change that.

Anyway, Reilly can't write his way out of a generic store-brand ziploc bag.

[PhoenixRising05]

Exactly Kenny. I remember people were criticizing the show last fall and how boring it was and so on and now they look back and say they loved it. You go to other places on the net and people that hated Bope's separation story last year after Zack died now say it was good. You just can't win with some of these fanbases.

The other thing is I am sick of people saying Beth should be writer. She only wrote a month's worth of material and one could say that her stuff seemed better due to the fact that she was ending storties and cleaning up the mess. That same principle applies to Y&R. LML's first 5-6 months or so were great but she was also ending alot of things and moving things into position, just like Beth was. I like Beth. I really do. I know her work and watched during her time on Days' staff but we don't know what she would've done had she had to write her own stuff and create her own stories. Like Kenny and Jane said, she or any other writer Days gets wouldn't be able to use the vets as much either. It's the budget. It's not all on Hogan. Yes, he could pace things better and so on but if he can't use the actors he can't use them. It's sad but it is what it is.

I always said Days is the hardest HW's job there is. It's been like that since 1997. People always expect more then they get and there are so many factors to deal with like fanbases, alot of vets, and so on. It's a hard job because Days has so many characters that have been around for years and been through so much you almost don't know where to take them, especially when the audience can be fickle at times as to what they want and what they accept.

It's a tough situation but what started out as Days crashing is now widespread. Look at all the shows who had great sweeps. They are even lower then they were before sweeps started in some cases. That isn't good. It's not just Days, it's the genre. People aren't home and there are other ways of viewing soaps that don't get counted (mainly Soapnet). People just don't have the time anymore either. Maybe soaps can find different times or some other way to go about staying on the air because it just keeps getting worse. Even Y&R is dangerously close to going under the 4.0 mark.

[Alix]

Women 18-34 Rating

1. Y&R 1.5/10 (same/-.1)

2. GH 1.4/9 (-.2/-.2)

3. DAYS 1.2/8 (+.1/-.1.1)

4. PSNS 1.1/7 (-.1/-.7)

4. OLTL 1.1/7 (-.1/-.3)

6. AMC 1.0/7 (-.1/-.3)

7. ATWT 0.7/4 (+.1/-.4)

7. B&B 0.7/5 (-.1/-.5)

7. GL 0.7/4 (same/-.3)

This is horrible !

[Poloma S]

Never understood why people expected Hogan to be Days's savior. He had a little over a year at ATWT when he was on fire (his first year). But look at who he had around him, seasoned writers with whom he welcomed their contributions to the overall storytelling.

Afterwards, ATWT was uneven at best, when periods where it was very good and periods where it was just plain stupid. Hogan definitely had his share of misses (big time) and just crazy, bizarre storylines.

His good reputation came from that first year he was on top. Sure, ATWT won four Writing Emmys, but JFP has won two Emmys for GH so far. It's all about writing two great tapes, and Hogan played the game.

I don't think he should have been the pick for HW. He was old news by the time he got canned from ATWT five years after he first took over.

If anything, NBC should have just kept Beth Milstein around as the HW.

Just MO.