Days: If Hack Writers Were Still Writing The Show...

[PhoenixRising05]

Sure they are fiction but people want to escape the real world and indulge in the lives of the characters os doing stuff like that is not the way to go. Just like you don't want to see or hear about it in real life, you don't want to see it on your shows.

[DrewH]

Well, I'll just go down the line from the most current head writer to the least current. First up, James E. Reilly:

-Storylines would take years to tell when it could easily be told in 3 months.

-None of the supercouples would be together right now (J&M, BOPE, LUMI, etc.)

-Shawn and Belle would still be longing for each other, while torturing themselves in loveless marriages.

-Max and Stephanie would be married by now, as would Patrick and Hope.

-Obviously, the storylines would be plot-driven and sequestered in their own little groups. No interactions outside storylines.

[R!ck]

And that's what a lot of fans of DAYS want. The ratings speak for themselves. This isn't 1985 anymore, most viewers don't have the time, patience or interest to sit and watch a character driven soap anymore. Big huge over the top plots bring in ratings (i.e ABCD during every sweps month)

Evidently they didn't. Have you looked at the 25-54 and 50+ ratings for DAYS? They are at historic lows. The 25-54 demos under JER were around a 2.2-2.5. DAYS now averages a 1.0-1.2 in that demo.

JER may have hit a record low of 2.3a few times but only in HH. Never once did he hit record lows in any other demo or total viewers. Hogan is the one who brought DAYS down to a series slow in Total Viewers, Households, 18-49 Viewers, 18-49, 12-34, 18-34, 25-54, and 50+

Was JER perfect? No

Did he have good balance and was he able to raise the ratings? Yes

He knows how to write a huge plot driven umbrella story and infuse it with character driven plots as well. That's what DAYS has been for 10 years and when you change the formula it's a recipe for disaster.

[PhoenixRising05]

I'm not bashing JER. Just pointing out that he helped get to this point. He burned fans too, just like Langan and Higley, and that is why fans find out easier now to tune out.

Fans wanted change. That much is clear. They wanted JER out since late 2004. You can raise ratings with character-driven stories. The ratings drop has nothing to do with that. All thsoe ABC shows crash and burn too after sweeps so where do their little plot-driven stories get them? Nowhere. Outside of JER fans, no one wants to see plot-driven nonsense. People want to be treated like they have some intelligence when they are watching a show. They don't want their show to repeat the same things everyday or to treat them like their idiots. That is what plot-driven stories do. Look at Y&R. Long-time fans are getting frustrated and it's only a matter of time before their ratings get affected. JER's first run was a good mix of character and plot-driven. So was early Passions and even some of Passions stuff now (minus the character destruction in the past few months). This all has to do with NBC and Corday being a bunch of dumb-asses. Hogan isn't perfect and no one is saying Days us. I acknowledge that. However, I will not glorify JER. I do like him and I like what is happening at Passions now (sans Fox/Kay/Miguel) but that show shouldn't have taken that long to get good and he trashed so many characters in the past two years on Days and Passions.

Hogan made a big mistake and talking so much so soon because now people think he is lying when that isn't the case. The cast changes and change in focus were thrown at him. If he had never spoken before getting further entrenched in his position, then I think many wouldn't speak as badly of him. Yes, he would be bashed but not nearly as bad.

Hogan could've wrote better stories during the shift in focus but when you are told to change gears and write for stories and characters you don't want to write for at that the moment...how would you feel? Your heart just wouldn't be in it. Now, Hogan should have just sucked it up but I can see why he didn't. He had alot of ideas that excited him and the fans and he was told to divert from them. All the signs are there that this is all on Corday, as well as NBC. Yes, Hogan takes responsibility but that is more like 10-20% responsibility. He should be getting as much flack as he is getting but, to each their own.

Now this thread wasn't about bashing a particular writer. It was actually supposed to be for fun so that we could all make up fun little stories about what past writers would come up with yet it has turned into another JER vs Hogan battle. Can we please just focus on what this thread was supposed to be about because I don't feel like going through another round of going back and forth on Days' problems and so on.

[R!ck]

So now Langan, Higley and JER are the reason fans find it easier to tune out even though JER has been gone a year, and Higley and Langan for five?

Hogan did everything he said he was going to do. His interview is around here somewhere. He stated way back in November that he was bringing forth the new generations, and boy has he ever. lol

Of course we can do that, but I only responded after your comment to me.

[Roman]

It is also amazing that, when no one had the patience to watch character-driven stories, that Days rose to No. 3 in the ratings, before Corday, NBC or both, stuck their fingers in The writing staff's business and the show tanked in the ratings.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, JER has been successful in getting show that he created cancelled, only to be moved to DTV where the budget will be slashed and it will come on only 4 days a week.

Maybe others want to see quads and triangles and plot-driven mess that had Days sitting at the bottom three when JER got fired (And Beth, Hogan and his team brought the show up to No. 3 with character-driven stories) but I am not one of them.

Sorry.

[PhoenixRising05]

It's ok, Rick. I just think we are seeing things very differently.

I like debating with you. It's fun. I just didn't want this thread to veer too far away from what it should be about. No harm done buddy.

[R!ck]

Now Now Roman, DAYS was only #3 for a single week and then tied with 4 other soaps for the #3 spot one other time.

[R!ck]

I still wuv ya Timmy boy

[Roman]

And Rick, the point is that it was still at No. 3.

Where was it at after JER backburned the vets for 7 months in that island story after the SSK (The same one that had Jack either dying or falling off of a cliff every other week)?

[R!ck]

Don't know, I stopped watching for like 4 months during that time

The same question can be asked about the current state of the show. Where is DAYS now that EJ has taken over the show and the vets have been ignored? JER and Hogan both had serious problems they needed to fix. I just hope DAYS can at least get back to a 2.5 agin this summer.

[Roman]

Rick, even though I don't think there is much wrong with the show now that the balance is being restored, I'm glad to see that you can at least admit that JER really did have his problems.

And the fact that you stopped watching.

[PhoenixRising05]

Thanks .

I wasn going to stay out of this for the night but one point you mentioned had me wondering...if JER was so great and things were so much better under him then why did you stop watching?

[soapfan4life]

I was actually thinking about this the other day, so I have a couple of thoughts, and this is not specific to any writer it is just a mixture of everything.

1. John Black we would still be finding out more of his past life and his name would be- Father John Black Alamain Brady Dimera Kiriakis Brady Horton Black. And I'm sure by this point some new family would have come to town to add to that list.

2. John, Hope, Bo, Marlena and Roman would all have some sort of brain chip in their head that would make them do things that they wouldn't remember.

3. People would still be talking more to themselves than to anyone else.

4. Sami would still be going around blaming John for everything that is wrong in her life.

5. I don't think that Max/Stephanie would even be in Salem-if they had come I don't think they would have stayed long.

[Roman]

They would have to continue John's name on the back of his tombstone, wouldn't they?

With the front of it saying "To Be Continued....."

Great post! I'm still laughing.