Days needs to stop being the Days of EJ's Life and ratings will climb. No offense to James Scott, but the character now makes me turn off the tv if he's on. Evil and especially sleazy, creepy evil is better in small doses and occasionally the good guys need to win.

I totally agree with your post....

I really liked EJ for the first few months he was on........Now the character is repetitive, sleazy, and just plain annoying......

It doesn't help DAYS if people KNOW PASSIONS is being canceled and isn't getting replaced with anything.

And I'm pretty sure anyone who reads USA Today or the internet knows DAYS won't be on NBC past 2009. Couple that with the SLOW, BORING storytelling that is being offered up these days and, well...

I'm sure Passions will go under the Sube's 1.2 ( september 1999 ) : the worst rating ever for a soap

I am hoping Days gets it together real soon. Although I actually do enjoy the characters I am seeing daily, I miss J/M B/H J/J alot as well. The stories are stale already with what we do see everyday, hint hint thats why the stories are stale. Being on everday makes it go too fast and you end up with way too much filler. Bring Shawn and Belle home already, Wake John up, Bring Jack back permanently, get rid of the fluff charcters, bring on an adventure with the super couples. If that means bringing more Dimera's back, even better!

It's not just one soap -- from what I see a number of them are in trouble. Latham started with some good stories on Y and R , but perhaps taking on Executive Producer wasn't such a good move. Under her watch, we've had VR leave, now two other actors, letting Eileen Davidson go. Ratings are following. ATWT is becoming All Teen Woes Today. DOOL is little better. Passions is now a lame duck. AMC still faces major exoduses of pets after letting vet talent go. OLTL can't seem to keep its contract negotiations from upstaging the onscreen drama. GH may be getting a spinoff, but seems to be stuck in repetitive, predictable storylines about the mob. I'd comment on GL except I don't even know when its on in Chicago.

Soaps really are in bad shape. I think most of us have seen it coming but its still sad. The fact is they are trying to build a new audience where one does not exist. Quite simply most young people today are not into the soap genre. I work with teens I know what they like. The few that are interested, were raised the same way I was - watching them with a parent or grandparent. That is the only way soaps are going to survive is by maintaining the audience they had/have. Instead they seem to be doing everything in their power to turn away this audience for one that does not exist. Basically they are killing themselves with their need to bring things down to a teen level when teens are not even interested in these stories. ABC daytime is the worst. I really believe their numbers would be way better if they would just get rid of the shocking plot [!@#$%^&*] and focus on basic storytelling. Unfortunately trying to get Frons to realize this is like trying to teach a pig to read. I have more faith in the pig and thus have the strong feeling its only going to get worse.

Soaps really are in bad shape. I think most of us have seen it coming but its still sad. The fact is they are trying to build a new audience where one does not exist. Quite simply most young people today are not into the soap genre. I work with teens I know what they like. The few that are interested, were raised the same way I was - watching them with a parent or grandparent. That is the only way soaps are going to survive is by maintaining the audience they had/have. Instead they seem to be doing everything in their power to turn away this audience for one that does not exist. Basically they are killing themselves with their need to bring things down to a teen level when teens are not even interested in these stories. ABC daytime is the worst. I really believe their numbers would be way better if they would just get rid of the shocking plot [!@#$%^&*] and focus on basic storytelling. Unfortunately trying to get Frons to realize this is like trying to teach a pig to read. I have more faith in the pig and thus have the strong feeling its only going to get worse.

ITA! Excellent post!

Frons is to busy trying to push ABC Vision! IMO which does not contain SOAPS.... unless they can use a SOAP Story, to power another agenda that ABC may have.

Latham is murdering Y&R so these ratings aren't surprising. All the good bits from last year were thanks to her being teamed with Kay Alden and Jack Smith. I was a big supporter last year, but now that I see how it is with just her I know what a hack she is.

The show is EXTREMELY plot driven and they aren't giving these actors good stuff to do. Instead of all these new characters they need to reestablish the core families and characters we care about. The only new character needed and that fits (Ji Min) is severely wasted. It's like anything good or that we like they avoid.

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Latham is murdering Y&R so these ratings aren't surprising. All the good bits from last year were thanks to her being teamed with Kay Alden and Jack Smith. I was a big supporter last year, but now that I see how it is with just her I know what a hack she is.

That is precisely how I feel about Jean Passanante on ATWT, practically word for word, LOL.

Soaps really are in bad shape. I think most of us have seen it coming but its still sad. The fact is they are trying to build a new audience where one does not exist. Quite simply most young people today are not into the soap genre. I work with teens I know what they like. The few that are interested, were raised the same way I was - watching them with a parent or grandparent. That is the only way soaps are going to survive is by maintaining the audience they had/have. Instead they seem to be doing everything in their power to turn away this audience for one that does not exist. Basically they are killing themselves with their need to bring things down to a teen level when teens are not even interested in these stories. ABC daytime is the worst. I really believe their numbers would be way better if they would just get rid of the shocking plot [!@#$%^&*] and focus on basic storytelling. Unfortunately trying to get Frons to realize this is like trying to teach a pig to read. I have more faith in the pig and thus have the strong feeling its only going to get worse.

Your post is right on time...But why cant they(the powers that be) see this?WHY?! I dont undertsand it i truly dont!.....I want the soaps to stay on the air,but the powers that be are killing them!I just read Ken Corday's comments about days in SOD....Why would he as a E.P. and owner let Hogan write out the big 4 for MONTHS...He says it was always the plan...WHY?! Shame on S.O.D. for not pushing the issue..I would have asked why would you do this.have u not learned anything from the PAST?!"..As much as we complain about the current wirters of the soaps my question is this:Who do we get to replace the current writers?Do we reach back in to the past and get people like Marliyn Thoma,Sherri Anderson,Pam Long?Do u think that would work?

Compared from the week February 12-16, 2007

1. Y&R 3.9/14 (-0.7)

2. B&B 2.9/10 (-0.4)

3. GH 2.5/8 (-0.7)

4. AMC 2.3/8 (-0.5)

4. ATWT 2.3/8 (-0.3)

4. OLTL 2.3/8 (-0.3)

7. DAYS 2.1/8 (-0.4)

8. GL 2.0/7 (-0.3)

9. PSNS 1.3/5 (-0.3)