DAYS: Friday, April 20

[DaysFanJean]

Being as I really liked Shayna Rose and her style, it will take a bit to get used to this wild girl. She is sooooooooo tall. I think she will mirror her father's nature which seems really strange being as how her mother raised her.

Loved Philip and Kate today. It was good to hear Philip be more like the Kyle Brandt's Philip that I fell in love with and also good to see that Kate was listening to him.

Monday, come on. I want to see what happened and just hope it isn't until Wednesday before it's shown.

[Josh]

Am I the only person who is not impressed with this new Stephanie???

[JER Soaps Fan]

Um, no, lol. I said earlier, I turned on the TV, didn't know who this trampy stand-in was, and called her "Random Bimbo No. 1."

She's got NOTHIN' on my beloved Shayna.

[JER Soaps Fan]

Oh, and FYI: she's not even beautiful. Oh, she may be "bangable," but she's TOO pretty, so she lacks substance or character, for me personally. I mean, take someone like the guy who plays Del on AMC. Cookie-cutter hunk. So he's too perfect in a sense that it's a fault, and he becomes instantly unrealistic and fugly. But Galen Gering from "Passions," with his eyebrow birth defect, or, say, Brandon Beemer, from "Days," with his hot bod BUT imperfect face, they're beautiful. it works the same way with women. Take, oh, Bonnie on "Days." A little chunky but HOT because of her imperfections and how she works it. But then you have Belle, who's just too perfect and innocent looking. Honestly, how could anyone want to have sex with HER?! She's just too sweet and sugary and DISGUSTING!!! Or, for another example, that Lana girl on "Smallville." WHAT a dog. I mean, somebody hit that girl with the perfect -- I mean, perfect-ly UGLY stick!

Okay, I fear I lost my train of thought...

I just don't like this new Abby. I mean, Chelsea. I mean, DAMMIT, Stephanie!! See, she's not even Stephanie because she could pass for a recast for the other two!!! THIS IS HORRIBLE!!!

[WillenFan21]

I have to disagree with you on that. I personally think shes more interesting the way she is now on the show than she was when Shayna played her. And IMO Shayna was the miscast.

[sungrey]

You ain't kiddin. Holy crap, did Hogan do a 180 on Stephanie.

[KBT]

Friday's show was pretty good, finally a little movement in the Sami/EJ/Celeste and Kayla/Steve/Dr. Kraft SL's.

First I have to be shallow here, but has Alison Sweeney ever looked better? When EJ ripped off Sami's shirt I was hoping for a slow mo with AS nice cleav. She really has turned out to be a knockout.

I liked how EJ wasn't totally stupid thinking Sami would just up and leave Lucas without being somewhat suspcious. James and Ali work so well off each other, too bad Lucas isnt the bad guy and EJ and Sami were destined to be together. I hate to say this but I dont like Lucas and Sami together and hope their wedding is a disaster.

I thought the new Stephanie was very good for her first day and I really don't care that she has turned "racer chic" as she called it. That does happen in real life afterall when sheltered, innocent teens leave home for the first time. I see it firsthand everyday living in dorms. I still would have perferred Shanya though. I hope this Steve mental hospital crap ends soon, hopefully Stephanie can make this happen sooner rather than later.

I honestly dont care about the island crap.....

[a2sassy]

I like NuStephanie too so far. I remember when they first recats her, someone said it looked like DAYS wanted to make her more of the "Danika Patrick" type racer and that's what they did. They couldn't have done that with Shayna because she just looks to wholesome, IMO.

Finally, someone remotely talked some sense into Kate. Phillip was dead on aboyt how Kate needs to stop telling Lucas every other minute about Sami. Let him learn on his own!

I too liked the EJ/Sami stuff but I wish she had dropped that match right then because I knoe she'll still be holding that match come Tuesday.

[MikeGoldy]

The new Stephanie is great, and I predict she will be a big star. The previous Stephanie was miscast in the role. I would love to see this Stephanie with Philip; I think it could really work.

[Ponz]

I didn't find nuSteph to be slutty. The writers obviously want this version to be more edgy & worldly than Shayna's and that came through loud and clear. I also don't see her as a carbon copy of Chelsea. Chelsea is more of an angsty, screwed-up type whereas this Stephanie is just a bit on the wild side. They are different sorts of "bad girls", IMO.

As for the actress, I thought she did ok. She strikes me as having raw potential but will need alot of guidance regarding her decisions. She seems to lack a natural intuition about the nature/tone of a scene, which someone like Ashley Benson displayed from day one.

I loved the banter between Kate and Phillp in this episode. The dialogue was great and Lauren/Jay played off each other nicely. This exchange was priceless:

Kate: Do you know anything about the couple staying in that room?

Porter: Uhh...some average looking guy and some hot blonde?

Phillip: That's them.

Kate: Lucas is not average! I am his mother!!

This may sound pedantic but one thing bugged me about this episode. When Sami lit the match above Elvis, they kept the focus on it for several seconds. By the time they froze the frame, the match had virtually burnt itself out. That kind of ruined the cliffhanger effect for me. They should have frozen on the flame when it was still flickering brightly.

[billyjill]

That part is a big problem I have with characterization these days.

[PhoenixRising05]

I agree with you about nuStephanie Ponz.

I didn't notice the flame thing but I went back and looked and it was like that. They did use that SFX ending where everything on screen turns white so maybe that made the flame seem less apparent. I do see what you saw though. I still think it was one of the best cliffhangers we have had in a long time though.

[Keith]

I'm saying nay to this new Stephanie. She seems generic, devoid of personality and an exact clone of Chelsea. She even looks like Mandy Musgrave. A decent actress, but the writing and wardrobe really aren't presenting the character the way she should be. Because let's face it, how many girls like the one we saw Friday do we see in television today? She doesn't look like a tomboy.

[PhoenixRising05]

That's because she isn't supposed to be anymore. Like Ponz and billykill said, her time away changed her. It is also believable that Max breaking her heart hit her hard. She had told Kayla about her luck with men and maybe meeting this new guy affected in a such a way that she changed herself to impress him. Or maybe she was just influenced by those around here in Dayton. Either way, I think this is who she was supposed to be but with the transition and all it got mucked up. I already feel more of a connection to her and between her and Kayla then I did with Shayna and I actually liked Shayna. Plus, she looks like more of a dangerous type and one who could pick up on her father's edge and recklessness.

Maybe with time the naysayers will jump on board but, overall, I would say the reaction to her is pretty positive. Not everyone is going to like her so it's cool. To each their own.

[Keith]

That's all well and good, Tim, I just don't see anything special about her. With Shayna, I saw personality and identity. I don't here. It's early, though.