Hogan Sheffer report card

[aMLCproduction]

But honestly, I am not happy with the storylines. To me Days is just not what it used to be. I am tired of Sami and Lucas, sick of Marlena and John. The Dimera's came back, for what, to infight among the family. I mean yes, the dialog and interaction is A-1 but the storylines, is nothing to write home about. Days is purely boring to me. I wish LML would come over and write Days. She is doing a great job at Y&R although I know most would not agree

Hogan needs to be reassigned so Brash and Cwickly can come back and write.

It's official and I'll be the first to say it, FIRE HOGAN SHEFFER and while your at it FIRE KEN KORDAY!!

Any one else feel like this?(proably not),lol

[DaytimeFan]

I would give Sheffer a *B*...but when you consider that he replaced JER's terrible second run that isn't saying much. I think Sheffer got a lot of hype from his very successful stint at ATWT which has basically done nothing for DAYS. I LOVED the Brash and Cwickly era and would love to see them return.

The dialog under Sheffer is certainly less repetitive and the storylines aren't dragging on forever but he hasn't yet grabbed my interest with an umbrella storyline which gets everyone involved. To me DAYS is at its very best when there is a big event like a party/wedding/funeral/trial etc...something in which the whole cast is featured and no one is given outrageous amounts of screentime over anyone else. He's also utilized some of the vets better than other regimes, Suzanne Rogers for one has gotten some nice scenes and is said to be happy with her role in the show so that's saying something.

I think Sheffer has made some big mistakes in terms of the teen scene...the show doesn't need Stephanie and Jeremy because they're simply dead weight. He also tried (and failed) to give Patch & Kayla their 1980s glory...the 80s are over and so are they in my opinion (this is not a slight to the actors who are truly great but to the fact that the cast is bloated as it is and that cast additions are not what the show needs). I also think he's made a mistake in focusing too much energy on Shaun and Belle, trying to make them a staple couple is a hard task with the way they've been written, but I digress. He's wasted some great actors by putting them in recycled storylines (ie the fabulous Lauren Koslow! She's been absolutely insulted with this never ending vendetta against Sami).

Although I really hate LML for what she has done to my beloved Y&R I have to say that I actually think she and her band of hack writers and producers would do a bang up job at DAYS simply because LML is all about plot driven 'event' storytelling which has basically been the backbone of DAYS for nearly 20 years. I think the reason she's so reviled at Y&R is because she has not written character driven story on the most character driven soap on the air. In a word she's 'changed' Y&R and not for the better. At DAYS I dare say any 'change' would be imperceptible.

[Toups]

October - December 2006: A

January - April 2007: F

May to Present: C

The return on investment hasn't been worth it. Hogan's getting paid a lot of money and he's just not cutting it in the ratings.

DAYS can get a cheaper Head Writer and still get the same ratings. LOL

Corday needs to fire Hogan at the end of his cycle and use some of that money to pay the veteran actors.

[aMLCproduction]

Great post DAYTIME FAN. Hogan has really failed to gain my intrest and I am now at the point, once again I am thinking of taking it off my DVR schedule. I would Love LML and her team to come to DAYS. I think she has done wonders for Y&R. It moves very fast and something happens every single episode. I am always grasping for more, unlike DAYS which I think is so tired. Hogan is overrated. And he needs to step down from the HW postion

Great post TOUPS. Days was good as hell last year from bout Sept to DEC.

Korday needs to fire himself or hire Brash and Cwickly back I know they r cheap and they DID bring in th e ratings

[psychofan]

F's all the way across the board as far as I'm concerned. Never have I been so bored and disgusted with Days. I literally HATE IT. ...and until Hogan, it was my favorite soap.

[aMLCproduction]

WOW i am surpised so far that people feel the same way i do. I am stunned. I thought for sure I would be blasted. HOGAN haters UNITE

[JONNYSBRO]

Hogan is a very good writer but for the first five months had his hands tied. DAYS was going through major budget issues to point many vets had to be backburnered or taken off screen for months. The horrible budget issues have impacted him bigtime. I think the quality of writing is much better then under JER. The show needs a hook or something to get people tuning in which it is missing right now.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I know some of you will hate me for this, but I think Robert Guza would be a better fit for Days, than he's been for GH. He knows how to do the outlandish plotting and adventure-themed stories, Days currently strives to do well. Perhaps if he were paired with someone who knows the history of Days, it could be an unstoppable combination.

[daysfan]

B+

He could be better, I suppose, but he's remembering history. Some of it, at least. I love Days under him and he's mostly brought back the Days I once loved and lost years ago. Alot of stuff now days is sensible and fantastic.

He's alot better than JER, Higley, or others IMO. Yeah the vets were backburned but I feel alot of it was Corday and budget.

Yeah ratings are down but I don't care anymore though I would like higher ratings. I love Days right now and just want to enjoy it while we still have it!

[aMLCproduction]

lol I dont hate u Y&R turner. Anyone would be better that Hogan I mean almost anyone

[IMissAremid]

Aside from the black hole of Jan-April, I have liked the pacing under Hogan's term and I think the dialogue is generally snappier and wittier (occasional groans when they've used Elvis left the building like three times in the past month or pry it from my cold dead hand twice in like two weeks on Shelligan's Island notwithstanding).

But I ***HATE*** the way he seems to write characters to fit plots rather than write plots to fit the characters so there are always HUGE continuity and consistency issues not just over a period of months but often week to week or episode to episode; the fact that he only took an interest in DOOL history once the DiMeras started coming back; the pimping of Lumi at the expense of EJami; the utter lack of romance to compliment the face-sucking that goes on; the sexism and chauvinism that has colored so many storylines and plot points although thankfully things are getting a little better since May (today's island harem girls still piss me off though); Willow Stark being shoved down our throats FOREVER; the total lack of emotional payoff to major plot points like Marlena finding out John's kidney was stolen, Sami telling people she was raped and to me the biggest crime of all of this was them spending months and months of this show wasting airtime trying to get viewers emotionally invested in Chelsea and Nick getting together and then not even showing a second of the night when Chelsea lost her virginity to him while for some reason we did get to see when he slept with Billie... Not that I even care about Chick at this point since the show has made it clear it doesn't, but I'm just annoyed they wasted my time with that crap and that was how it turned out.

um yeah I could go on and on.

eta: oh and I think I will because I thought of something else... where are all the bitches? I hate Hogan's idea of Sami being redeemed is that she is watered down to a weepy and emotional doormat to Lucas and Kate is pretty pathetic now too. It's a shame.

[Toups]

Even so, nobody forced him to write the sanitarium and Tinda Lau storylines. Those were Hogan/Meg's ideas. They couldn't come up with anything better? I expected more from Hogan.

[Ponz]

Overall: D-

Individual scenes & dialogue are vastly better than under JER. Unfortunately, Hogan has no clue how to pace continuing drama. He lurches from one plot point to the next with little build-up, not enough exposition and no follow through on the "payoffs". Big plot twists (eg. Stefano's return, the Andre reveal) play out like total non-events. And 10 months into his tenure, I've yet to say "wow, that's a great idea" to any of his stories.

Hogan is basically the opposite extreme to JER.

*JER had a destructive vision for DAYS. Hogan has no vision.

*JER's plots moved at a glacial pace. Hogan's move at lightning speed.

*JER ignored the fanbases. Hogan panders to them.

*JER had characters endlessly repeat the same conversations. Hogan has important scenes take place off-screen.

*JER doggedly persisted with unpopular stories. Hogan hastily drops them to the detriment of continuity.

DAYS needs a HW who can strike a balance between these extremes.

[daysfan]

I actually agree though at first I liked the S/K story.

Jan-April was hardly bearable except for a few points, but in Hogan's defense if he had something different in mind at first mabye he was just writing what he could come up with on the spur of the moment.

Also I wonder if Hogan might have tried to somehow "test" out using JER's slow style of writing? It obviously didn't work if he was trying it but I do think if things are really good slow writing *possibly* could work. Just a theory.

[Toups]

Hmmmm......how about Hogan and JER team? LOL

They're still paying JER until 2009 so why not bring him back to team up with Hogan? Let's see if they can balance each other out. LOL