DAYS: Corday speaks in SOD -

[KevC1980]

Well once again i'm glad Corday is talking..and i'm glad we are going to see the focus shift in May...I miss Bo, Hope, John and Marlena so much...and actually don't mind Tony returning, it will be cool to have the dimera's be a force to be reckoned with...and to have EJ have someone he can plot things with, as opposed to having his hands in everything..I also think Stefano will be back soon...its just a matter of time...

[Ridge]

I don't think anyone here is saying that S&K are the reason for the ratings backlash, that is Corday. And Corday made it seem clearly that Hogan was writing what he wanted to write which is why he said Hogan will be shifting the stories ASAP. Undoubtedly amongst all of this Hogan is going to be hurt. He has been already... his silence has furthered that. Whether it was Corday that instructed him to write crap or it was his choice it is Hogan's reputation going down the drain. Luckily he still has time to change it.

The back burner thing is not DAYS sole problem which is why this interview hopefully isn't all they have to offer. Steve and Kayla story made no sense, still doesn't and is uninteresting. THAT is the problem. He mentioned that the vets will be back in a story but not necessarily together. Well you know what, THAT sucks too. No one wants to see isolated stories like we are seeing now. For heavans sake Hope and John are good friends and not once have we seen her react to his coma, go to visit him or even try to help. That is not what DAYS is about. And that is just bad writing on HOGAN's part. I don't see Corday telling Hogan "omit all type of family reactions to this story". I mean where are Caroline and Shawn? Yes it is nice to see Maggie but there are others too and Maggie is just a Nick sidekick sometimes. Cohesive story telling is what this show needs and that will mean a storyline that brings them all together and that should include Steve and Kayla.

[Ridge]

IA about that too. This storyline could have been a good opportunity to create Sami as "the next Marlena", but Marlena was painted perfect in some senses and that is what Stefano was drawn to as well. EJ likes Sami scheming but we've seen this for almost 10 of the 13-14 years that Sami has been on. It was time for maturity and that would have meant Sami telling Lucas up front and then perhaps battling whatever real feelings she may have had for EJ and the two of them tackling him together. That would have been a good story to watch and a hard story to tell that any good HW could have handled.

[Days4Life]

I'm cautiously optimistic about all this. I hope Corday is smart enough to keep a good balance going. Yes, I would love to see more of the Big 4 (I'm actually surprised at how much I miss John and Marlena) and I think they are definitely needed, but the younger cast is also important for the future of the show (thinking positively here!). They shouldn't disappear. Nick/Chelsea/Belle/Shawn and all the other young cast need to be involved in umbrella stories with the vets and they will be more accepted then, instead of just having them all frontburner and ignoring every one else. Balance, balance, balance...Corday and Hogan need to make that their mantra.

I hope Hogan is busy thinking up great NEW stories and a satisfying explanation of the Dimera/Brady feud. I also hope he's doing his homework concerning Tony, because I loved the original Tony and would enjoy having him back. But JER's last incarnation of him--well, I think we all pretty much feel the same about that! I couldn't even accept that caricature as Tony and although the Andre bait and switch is an easy way out, I kept hoping for an Andre reveal anyway. I'm sure Stefano will be back as this story can't be told properly without him. And I'm with Kenny and a lot of others--I'm still angry about DAYS not snatching up Eileen when they had the opportunity. With Elvis Dimera in Salem, the story of Kristen and Susan is crying out to be told. But, water under the bridge and all that--except if ED should get dropped by B&B, Corday needs to be sitting on her doorstep immediately!

I'm wondering if the new plan will impact Adrienne's return much, although she will probably be recurring anyway. I also think this plays into TPTB suddenly agreeing to release Ashley Benson from her contract. I don't know what this will mean for Max; I know he has a lot of fans, but if there's no Abby reacast he's pretty isolated story-wise.

[Ridge]

IA, Eileen's return is doubtful since I'm sure they are just beginning to make her feel cushy at B&B but I would accept the right re-cast. There are several awesome actress that can pull off Kristen.

[Days4Life]

Great post. This is exactly the problem. DAYS is all about family and friends and great relationships. We want good stories that make sense and have a beginning, middle and end--no endlessly going in circles. And we want interaction and reaction in the stories. Don't isolate everyone in their own little worlds.

[DrewH]

I'm just glad we got an indepth interview from Corday. It's been too long since anything's been said, that I was starting to get scared. Yes, Corday has failed us several times, but I don't care. I'm just happy to have some direction now. We know Tony's coming back. We know the Brady/DiMera feud will be revealed. J&M, B&H and D&J are going to have airtime. This all just makes me so happy.

And I don't blame Corday for his dig at Steve and Kayla. He probably thought bringing them back would instantly raise ratings. It didn't. DAYS fans are not the same people that watched the show back in the 80s. Half of the audience had no freaking clue who Steve and Kayla even were. They never mentioned them for the past 15 years, so why even bother bringing them back? I don't blame him for not wanting to make that mistake again. DAYS gained most of it's current fanbase in the mid-90s and on, so those are the characters that need to return.

[dayslover]

I think if they want to play out the Dimera-Brady thing, they need a few characters back with the original actors. I'm thinking of:

- Carrie Brady (I think the can make Carrie work without Austin or Mike)

- Kristen Dimera

- Stefano Dimera

- Tony Dimera

- Lexie Dimera

Maybe even:

- Peter Dimera (only if Jack & Jennifer are returning)

- Patrick Lockhart (only if they want to explain his stuff when he joined the show)

- Vivian Alamain (if they want Stefano back for more afther the storyline)

[bleu]

Awww...there's no Bart love here. Poor Bart!! I love him and get a huge kick out of him, so I'm glad he's coming back. I'm also very happy that Tony is coming back. I believe that Stefano is coming back too. He has to in order to REALLY play out the Brady/Dimera feud. There is no way long-time fans couldn't watch that. Especially if Hogan is firing on all cylinders.

This interview provided a lot more candor than we've seen from Corday in the past. The Plan to Save Days came a lot quicker than it normally does, and I imagine that is because Corday wants to maintain it's marketability. I share the same frustrations as almost everyone else here. He insists on going this angle with third-tier actors WAY too much. He knows fans don't like it. Why does the cycle keep repeating itself? It has never proven successful in the past. You keep the vets and let the newbies establish themselves with the viewers. End of story. God, it's so not hard. The only thing that made sense to me was budget troubles, but again, I just wanted Corday to be forcoming and honest about it. For once.

With all that said, I'll thrilled about the interview as a whole. Hogan had amazing stuff going for a few months, and then everything shifted. I think we're in for a great May and a great summer. I also think Corday is serious this time, and we'll finally get to see the people we want to see. So yay!

[Mason]

The Brady/DiMera reveal cannot be done without Joe Mascolo's Stefano in the picture. It just won't work without him plain and simple.

Tony returning is a joke as far as I'm concerned. After JER's hack job on him, I would be fine with never seeing him again. Damnit Corday, it should have been KRISTEN, NOT Tony!

And don't even get me started on Bart (vomit)....

[leevo64]

I have a brilliant idea... fire Hogan Sheffer! The man obviously doesn't have the good ideas he had for ATWT (which he didn't really catch the ball on until a year later), and all I've seen so far is the Reilly stories with better dialogue and slightly stronger characterizations.

[Mason]

Bite your tongue!

[Angela]

Don't know if this was already posted, but the Hogan Sheffer opinions part of the article:

DIGEST: It seems you gave Hogan the freedom to tell new stories when he came.

CORDAY: Definitely.

DIGEST: But those stories didn't include characters who are integral to the canvas, like B, H, J and M.

CORDAY: You know, he's not even here a year. In actuality, his stories did not start airing until last October, and then I let him basically run with the ball. So sometimes it's too much of a good thing. Letting the head writer have his reign is something you have to do, and then letting the head writer realize that we have to get out of story is also something that I have to do and he has to do...We don't have time now to experiment, to try things that in the past have been a tough sell. There are no-no's in daytime: Don't kill babies - we did that a year ago. Don't tell stories about people in mental institutions - we're doing that now. Try to keep people in town as opposed to "island stories" - doing that now. And don't put a lot of unfamiliar faces not only on the front burner, but as the hub of the story, the center of the wheel. So lesson learned, back to basics here.

[Ridge]

Wow Angela, so that pretty much puts everything to rest. Hogan deserves all the lambasting he gets... and to all of those ATWT fans who said he did the same thing... You were right.

Not that Corday should be believed though! Hogan can't just stand around after Corday goes and says something like that!! Speak up man!!

[Ponz]

Wow! He's pretty much laid all the blame on Hogan.