I was just reading a few posts on the NBC board (and SoapCity), and word is that when Drake was back at Days taping about a week ago, it was only for two episodes and John was still in the coma. Drake thought it was the first stages of John coming out of the coma, but he was wrong... and he isn't scheduled to work anymore for at least the next five or six weeks.

So, if this is true (it was also reported at TBTSNBN), looks like John will remain in his coma through May Sweeps.

Days knows that this is becoming a really big issue with fans, and by them keeping John in the coma even longer, it sends a message to me that they're having huge money issues. They can't afford to pay their 'name on the marquee' actors.

Kenny I don't see how that is possible. Hogestyn will get paid REGARDLESS of whether or not he is on screen. If he were on recurring status, then I would understand, but his contract entitles him to be paid by the show regardless of how much they use him....same goes for all actors contracts on all shows.

They are still paid regardless of airtime.

sigh, I swear this show refuses to give out any good news anymore.

I think it's a bit soon to jump on this as fact, #1. And #2, even if it is, I'm beginning to not even care anymore.

I'm really getting tired of bad news coming from DAYS all the time now.

WHY can't John just be out of his coma?! Is that hard to ask?

Maybe if they use the vets more, the ratings will rise and they won't have as many problems with their budget.

I'm really getting tired of bad news coming from DAYS all the time now.

WHY can't John just be out of his coma?! Is that hard to ask?

Maybe if they use the vets more, the ratings will rise and they won't have as many problems with their budget.

This year's ratings have nothing to do with it. They will make it worse for the future but the budget got slashed based on falling ratings of the past few years. That is why we are in this mess.

It's getting increasingly harder to remain positive about DAYS right now. I've stuck by the show since mid-January when most people agree that the problems started, and here it is, almost April. Personally, I want to know what the hell is going on over there, and no B.S. from Corday.

I think it's all pure business. In order to survive a company has to face a paradigm shift. It means rethink the whole concept. How to make this a profitable business and where to start building it. To my way of thinking, the big bucks actors have to take a back seat in order to gain fanbases for the newer way-less-costly ones. It will mean a temporary setback but as the fan bases are built and the stories draw fans in, a sprinkling of the big bucks characters for sighing will become a treat instead of a scream for a steady diet and eventually acceptance that they are like our beloved Mrs. H and beloved tokens of the past. It's the only way. There is no way Days can make a product that has saleability when it's top loaded with actors that drain a profitable budget. Just my way of thinking. It has to happen and so I'm willing to go along with it and watch as long as the stories are intriguing enough.

I don't get why - if they feel the need to backburner their star and leading man - they can't just bring John out of the coma and have them take an around the world trip for their honeymoon.

I am being realisitc. Just because John isn't on does not mean the others won't be.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure (and no, I don't know for certain, it's just that good ole gut feeling) we'll see Deidre maybe in the week of Sami's wedding (in addition to of course, the Steve scene) and that's about it for a while. She wasen't working the day Drake was last week.

They are still paid regardless of airtime.

I don't think they have to pay them until the end of their contracts though, which is 2008 for Deidre and 2009 for Drake. They have to pay them for their guarantee then, but I don't think they have to pay them if they're not on this month. So it's just prolonging it. And like I've said before, if they can't pay them then... they can (and should) sue their asses to the sky.

Edited March 30, 200718 yr by Pest Spray

I think it's all pure business. In order to survive a company has to face a paradigm shift. It means rethink the whole concept. How to make this a profitable business and where to start building it. To my way of thinking, the big bucks actors have to take a back seat in order to gain fanbases for the newer way-less-costly ones. It will mean a temporary setback but as the fan bases are built and the stories draw fans in, a sprinkling of the big bucks characters for sighing will become a treat instead of a scream for a steady diet and eventually acceptance that they are like our beloved Mrs. H and beloved tokens of the past. It's the only way. There is no way Days can make a product that has saleability when it's top loaded with actors that drain a profitable budget. Just my way of thinking. It has to happen and so I'm willing to go along with it and watch as long as the stories are intriguing enough.

This is what makes sense to me.

I don't think they have to pay them until the end of their contracts though, which is 2008 for Deidre and 2009 for Drake. They have to pay them for their guarantee then, but I don't think they have to pay them if they're not on this month. So it's just prolonging it. And like I've said before, if they can't pay them then... they can (and should) sue their asses to the sky.

I've been wondering if this is the reason we haven't seen much of Bo and Hope. I think their contracts are up soon and since they had a lot of screen time during 2006, they may have used up all their guaranteed days.

Oops--double post.

Edited March 30, 200718 yr by Days4Life

Yeah that is why getting excited to people returning to tape is pointless. It could have also been a two day thing like Hope. DAYS has serious issues. nuDAYS sucks and it doesn't seem like there will be anything done to change it. I'm not even that big of a fan of Drake but his role in DAYS over the past 20 years has been undoubtfully relevant. John/Roman have been an integral part of several major happenings on this show. The coma thing should have lasted like 2 weeks max now. Many people really just think John is off the show and you can't blame them for feeling that way.

What is worst about all of this is that there is no indication that the current BAD storylines are going to be resolved. So you've got the combination of bad story telling and NO resolution.

Outside of John and the big 4's missing airtime and non-storylines, DAYS problems are with thier current story telling. That is what is contributing to their downfall and that is why budget can not be attributed to be their major problem.

3+ months into this storyline (and realistically-- women do not get amniocentesis at 3 months pregnant which is where in a rela timeline she is), Sami and EJ have had over 20 conversations about the same thing. EJ has become almost invincible, but reiterates the same things over and over again; Lucas has been sidelined completely, brain completely out of the window (and where is his penis that Hogan promised him??) and still nothing has happened. Nothing fast about story telling here.

Steve's storyline is painfully re-hashed, boring and Stephen has been forced to ham his way through. Again storyline sequences are playing over and over again between Steve and Kayla without plot development at all. Nothing going on seems relevant to 1# Where Steve was, why he was missing and what happened to him 2# What the DiMera's wanted with him. It all seems to be leading to nowhere or an "unplanned" climax or resolution. For DAYS this is pathetic because over the past 6+ years we have seen many promising storylines end this way, from Marlena's discovery that she was the twins' birth but not biological mother to the who killed Collin (but really didn't) storyline to the worst of all the SSK storyline. A good planned out storyline drops bits and pieces along the way giving fans something to thrive on and a desire to learn more. What possible reason could the DiMera's want Steve anyways. To do more bad deeds ala John, Hope, etc?? So this storyline is both slow... and lifeless.

Shelle have been going on forever, Phillip in and out, caring endlessly one week and not at all the next 3.

Chelsea and Nick's storyline is the only one moving along at a fast pace. The focus on all of these young (very) characters is not helping. New characters no matter how much of the future they are should be introduced slowly and with the current cast.

The new faces and these uninteresting stories all are what are hurting this show.

Granted all that, but I do believe there has been a shift at least in movement this past week. I can feel something building up and about to explode. This anticipation is getting exciting to me and I hope that this is something other fans feel, too. I have to admit to a bit of a downer about John's coma lasting so long though, because it was in my mind that he would be the catalyst for most of the stories.

Hogestyn will get paid REGARDLESS of whether or not he is on screen. If he were on recurring status, then I would understand, but his contract entitles him to be paid by the show regardless of how much they use him....same goes for all actors contracts on all shows.

They are still paid regardless of airtime.

Thank you Mitch! It seems that everyone just turns a blind eye whenever someone states that

I don't think they have to pay them until the end of their contracts though, which is 2008 for Deidre and 2009 for Drake. They have to pay them for their guarantee then, but I don't think they have to pay them if they're not on this month. So it's just prolonging it. And like I've said before, if they can't pay them then... they can (and should) sue their asses to the sky.

If they work more than their 1-3 per week guarantee, they are reimbursed at the end of their contract/cycle. But otherwise they still get their weekly/biweekly paycheck for their contractual guarantees.

"It not be the size of the paycheck but the frequency of it that matters" Drake Hogysten on the reason he stays of soaps.