Days:CDN TV Guide spoilers for wk of 6/18

[GBB]

Marlena came on the show in the mid-70s as a practicing Psychiatrist. At a minimum, she had to be in her late 20s then, and that was 30 years ago. I know what her tombstone was retconned to say, and I don't deny she looks fabulous, but there's simply no way she is in her early 50s.

[IMissAremid]

I was not aware bringing up an actor's age and how that age relates to the believability of their storylines was a personal attack. I still don't think anything I've posted has been a personal attack.

[Pest Spray]

The kids thing seemed personal, as I was not aware that you didn't know about her infertility.

Age has never mattered on this show. People want Kayla to have another child now, she's in her mid-late 40s, isen't she? Hope should be, what, 33?, but she was SORASed. Age doesn't matter. Sami has a teenage son and looks too old to be Marlena's kid, just as Carrie looks too old to be Anna's, there are plenty of examples of this.

[MikeGoldy]

Sami so does NOT look too old to be Marlena's daughter; Ally Sweeney is 30, and Dee is 59. Believe me, they look like they can be mother-daughter. I like Marlena, and Deidre Hall has done great things for the show. But it's time for Marlena to act like a mother, and be there for her children. Unfortunately, and this isn't directed at you, some of her fans are so obsessed with her, and only want to see her, that it turns many people off, and they have grown to detest Marlena and Deidre.

[Pest Spray]

I don't want to see Marlena act like the sounding board for a character I despise. Sorry. I watch for Deidre, I'm honest about that. She's the reason I started watching, and when the show slowly killed itself, she's the reason I continued. Because I have an attachment to that character. I don't give a fig about Sami. I love Shawn and Belle (after years of despising them), I finally enjoy Bo & Hope again, I miss Jack and Jennifer, I'm intrigued by Nick and Chelsea and think they can go far as far as DAYS romances go. I want to see them, but I also want to see the character who's kept me watching this show, I want to see my favourite. Period. I've been watching Marlena be a sounding board and a prop for years now, and I'm sick of it. They need to let the character go and let Deidre do something else, or give her something to do - especially now with Stefano back.

[MikeGoldy]

The show could save a lot of money if Dee left; John could find romance with Kate, and Julie and Maggie could interact with Stefano

[Ridge]

I disagree with the whole idea of writing for the fab 4 only and being trained. It is a ridiculous claim and it goes back to what soap operas are all about. Firstly, it is not that Hogan liked writing for a different set of characters. He wrote for his own characters and ignored the rest. Worstly, they were all younger. His storylines for them sucked as well.

It is also incorrect to say that the show has been about Bo, Hope, John and Marlena for the past 25 years. Marlena has now been truly sidelined BARRING the SSK storyline and the off and on Alex North SL for a good 9+ years (since the resolution of the Kristen saga). When I started watching I watched for the ensemble and for many portions you knew that the show was an ensemble but Deidre Hall was always established as a main star, just as Erika Slezak, Susan Lucci, et al. That is what the show has done and that is why they are feeling backlash for not featuring her right. People can say they would rather see her backburnered than in crappy storylines but that just amounts to bad writing IMO. Why can Susan Lucci still be featured prominently on All My Children and Deidre Hall can't? Ditto for Kim Zimmer on GL.

In the past you would have at least 3 major storylines running parallel and each would hit a high point at consecutive intervals. That is how you feature a broad range cast with broad range, interesting stories and that is what people watched soap operas for, continuinity. When you remove that you ultimately have a different show. For some reason DAYS lost its ability to do that. Even during JER's first run this happened. Brash and Cwickly had the right idea but it backfired on them because they NEVER followed on cliffhangers and ended up having one storyline one-two days and then not on two days afterwords.

Take for example May of 1994. Forget that it is JER writing here. This was the beginning and pretty much the meat and potatoes of Maison Blanche. But at the same time Bo and Billie were about to make love for the first time; Billie busted Jamie's father right as he was about to molest her again; Vivian prepared to steal Kate and Victor's embryo right as they were about to be fertilized; Roman realized that Marlena ran off to John; Stefano held John prison but managed to have dinner with him and Marlena so she can see him drink poison pea soup; Celeste took care of mystery woman upstairs; Alan prepared to rape Sami but continously lost the opportunity; Austin and Carrie dreamed of their new life together. This period is often referred to as "Maison Blanche" but the show managed to feature ALL of those stories together. It wasn't all about Bope; Jarlena.

Marlena should be featured and CAN be featured especially with Hogan Sheffer writing now.

[PhoenixRising05]

Ok...back to the spoilers...which sound AMAZING!!