DAYS: Friday, June 1st!

[DrewH]

I'm with those that say that Bryan Dattilo is just not leading material. There are just some of those of those actors that can't muster up to be leading material and Dattilo is one of them. He will always just be supporting in my mind. The character's not a leading character nor is his acting.

Out of the younger males that I could see being leads are: James Scott, Brandon Beemer, Blake Berris and Darin Brooks. Jay K. Johnson is like Dattilo. He just comes off to me as a supporting actor that will never be able to get up to leading status.

[Shawn]

Out of all the "newbies" on the show, James Scott has the most leading man potential. He just has a way about him that draws the viewer in. That's gold right there.

[KBT]

I will start off with a WTF casting choice of the guy who plays Jeremy HORTON. Did DAYS lose the person/people who have been doing the casting the last 4 to 5 years? For me his look makes me cringe, his hair looks fake and I just don't want to see a Ken Doll on my screen all day. I got that stupid song from the 90's in my head while watching his scenes (I'm a barbie girl in a barbie worlddddd, so fantastic its plastic or something along those lines. Come on barbie let's party!). Anyway, this was a huge casting mistake yet again. DAYS seems to be on a downward trend with casting decisions such as Annie Burgstede, Joy Bisco, this new Jeremy. With that siad I really liek this Jett guy and the new Stephanie is not that bad, but her character is very one note. I still perfer Shanya Rose though.

I don't mind seeing this new summer story as long as it doesn't dominate the screen.

The only other negative about Friday's show was EJ getting manhandled! I enjoyed him getting punched but its hard for me watching someone tall as James Scott and see his character get beat around and not try and hit them back. Peter Reckell looks like a tough guy, but next to James Scott it shouldn't be as easy to get rough with him. I know this may sound kinda picky, but when Lucas punched EJ, I was laughing because James is a foot taller than Bryan and to me I just can't imagine that beign realistic. I enjoyed the story, but just in my head I guess I would like to see EJ say something along the lines of others being short or weak compared to him.

I am loved the Dimera Mansion scenes. The dialogue was top notch, with all getting little zingers in. Tony had some great one liners and Thaao delivered perfectly. I was LOL when he yelled for Sami and then looked under the couch for her, I also liked his tax paying line and the jab at the Salem PD. I was just glad to see the DiMansion again!

This week was great and next week looks amazing and not just because of the huge return either!

[Ponz]

Bryan is not the macho romantic hero type nor does he try to be. His strength has always been the heartfelt, emotional scenes (eg. Lucas's reaction to Will's kidnapping, finding out that Sami was raped, that Carrie was cheating on him etc.) . It doesn't make him less talented or valuable to the show than Peter or Drake but just that he brings different qualities to the table. The macho types are a dime a dozen on daytime so that's not a bad thing, IMO. The mags have given Bryan alot of recognition in recent years so he must be doing something right.

[Drew]

looking back on older clips and looking at what I saw on friday ... to me it seemed to be the same set, just now it's gold/beige instead of that dark green colour it used to be.

The foyer was the same, the staircase rounded like before, there seemed to be that area where the maid came from between the staircase and the door, the living room had the double doors, had the big glass doors that Sami smashed through, etc.

[Ilovemydays]

Jeremy...*shudder*

I like that DAYS is having more ensemble pieces but DAMN, does Salem have the worst soap police department ever!

Letting Lucas sit in?

That lame interogation?

Police brutality?

But the worse was when EJ took off out of the department and John and Bo seemed barely interested.

John: E.J. Just hauled ass.

Lucas: What?

Bo: Damn it.

At least Lucas followed EJ but I thought it was a little odd that after EJ told them Sami was in danger John and Bo didn't follow him too.

[IMissAremid]

I'm not going to quibble with you whether Bryan is more or equally talented than the other actors if Drake is in the equation, but I don't know how you could think Bryan is just as valuable to the show as Peter or Drake when Lucas hasn't had a story that didn't involve Sami or Kate in how many years? The only reason I see for the character having survived 14 years was it allowed TPTB to continue to exploit the Sami-Kate feud in Austin's absence.

Lucas is a supporting character and that's all he'll ever be and it's not just because he's not a macho romantic hero type. Jack, for example, was also not the macho romantic hero type but he could carry stories. The character of Lucas has just been written for too long as a weak mama's boy/overcompensating and insecure loser that I don't see how he could ever become a leading man. Maybe Bryan does have it in him to do the leading man thing, but I don't think it will be playing the role of Lucas Roberts.

But I do agree with you that Bryan does heartfelt, emotional scenes well. That will just be an added bonus for me if TPTB wind up sticking a fork in Lumi.

[King]

The Y&R Ten Years Ago May 1997 thread got me thinking................

May '97 on DAYS was the month Marlena found out Kristen's plot about Susan and when Kristen locked Marlena up in the secret room.

Which means the end of June is the ten year anniversary of Kristen being exposed and pulling the gun on John and Marlena and was like .1 away from tying Y&R.

Now, we are tying GL at the bottom of the barrel.

Isn't that so depressing?

[Days4Life]

Those were the days! I've watched DAYS for over 30 years, and that "Secret Room" storyline is my favorite storyline ever.

[PhoenixRising05]

It truly is depressing. No soap is what it used to be. All the soaps lost chunks of audience both because of bad writing and changes in viewing habits, as well as an increase in viewing choices and the like.

I loved the secret room story and one of the reasons why the payoff gave Days such great ratings is that JER built investment and suspense well back then. That was the case for every story. The Jack/Jen/Peter triangle was one of his lesser stories IMO and he still salvaged some good stuff out of that. It's sad to think about how far it has fallen but, as much as I loved JER's first run, anything from the 80's and early 90's before he came on pretty much trumps it for me (with the exception of the possession and Maison Blanche). Those years were what Days is all about and they helped build what JER could use to make the show successful. JER did alot for Days but I also think he first run did hurt Days and daytime as a whole. Days kept trying to strike gold again with the supernatural and campy, thereby losing the identity many long-time fans came to recognize. JER brought new fans to the show but many longtime fans did leave and, when they came back, they started leaving in droves and still never stopped because Days kept trying to mimic the success it had with the sci-fi, campy, and supernatural it had in the 90's.

Other soaps tried to mimic it too and they lost ratings in the long run. AW was forced by NBC to start being like Days and that bombed. Then, just when soaps start going back the traditional route somewhat, JER returns to Days and strikes gold again with a serial killer with minor supernatural elements. Regardless of what happened behind the scenes, the story once again pushed longtime fans away (those that returned over the years or stuck with the show through it all) and attracted new ones who bolted just as soon as the story lost steam. Again, other soaps tried to copy the story and style and it bombed and they lost ratings all while Days started losing fans in droves.

It's because of JER's two runs and the results of them that Days is having trouble right now. Recent fans and fans of the 90's are having trouble adapting to a more traditional, grounded style and longtime fans that tuned out are reluctant to trust again and are both jaded and bitter over being burned so many times. It has made so many fans (not on SON) turn into nitpickers and they come off looking like they complain just to complain. That is why whoever is HW is going to have major issues at Days because, in the past 10 years or so, it's very hard to please everyone or a fair majority. B&C were the only ones to do it and they were unfairly ousted.

[DrewH]

I was going to mention Matthew Ashford and Jack, but IMissAremid already did it for me. I'm not saying that Bryan can't be lead beacuse he's not "macho." Have you seen Byran without his shirt off? He looks pretty macho to me. Where I'm talking about is the way the character has been written and Bryan's overall acting. It hasn't impressed me enough for me to say, yes, that is a leading male actor. James Scott on the other hand has done that for me in less than a year that he's been on the show. Bryan's been on for 15 years and while I do see growth from the time he's been on, he's still medicore to me.

[King]

I would definitely disagree with that, although I can see that argument.

[King]

dubs

[Ridge]

I definitely disagree with that as well... It's also a blanket statement for people who just accept anything a show throws at them. People need to realize that many fans were watching before JER I and JER II. The problem with DAYS right now is not lack of acceptance for traditional, grounded style it is lack of acceptance for unbalanced and sometimes boring writing.

[King]

I would agree. Haha.