I never thought it about romance. I think it needs to be about CHARACTERS.

Who knows what Days is about anymore. But IMO it should be about characters and not people getting together. Yeah you brought up some good points, and yes Days is romanced-centered. But I think Hogan needs to write about characters and not couples. Write for some romance, that should have some role in it, but I think he neds to write good character-driven stories, and not exactly story or romance-driven.

I really am beginning to think there is more to this than we know...

One thing I think that Hogan needs to implant is what Days is about. Because people have changed it's identity so many times....

OK that I agree with you. My romance thing is more to draw the contrast between his seduction B.S. that I think is at the root of a lot of the problems he has in writing about sex/love. But ITA you need more than just that on a soap.

The thing about characters though is that I am fed up with him contorting some characters into unrecognizable shapes just to fit around his hackneyed plots so much so that you wish Dr. Marlena Evans could get to practicing psychiatry again so she could prescribe some lithium for all these bipolar Salem residents. but unfortunately that can't happen because like several other 40-plus characters Marlena has seen all her edges dulled and brilliance ignored under Sheffer as all these vets are used as nothing more than props and window dressing for stories that don't really involve them.

OK that I agree with you. My romance thing is more to draw the contrast between his seduction B.S. that I think is at the root of a lot of the problems he has in writing about sex/love. But ITA you need more than just that on a soap.

The thing about characters though is that I am fed up with him contorting some characters into unrecognizable shapes just to fit around his hackneyed plots so much so that you wish Dr. Marlena Evans could get to practicing psychiatry again so she could prescribe some lithium for all these bipolar Salem residents. but unfortunately that can't happen because like several other 40-plus characters Marlena has seen all her edges dulled and brilliance ignored under Sheffer as all these vets are used as nothing more than props and window dressing for stories that don't really involve them.

LMAO!! That is great and sadly true!!

The fact the show should be about characters is a given and not really something that even came to mind when looking at what a soap (or any program) is about. I mean that's the foundation/bottom line, right?

LMAO!! That is great and sadly true!!

The fact the show should be about characters is a given and not really something that even came to mind when looking at what a soap (or any program) is about. I mean that's the foundation/bottom line, right?

Yeah but in the past years people have written for couples and NOT characters. Bope, Jarlena...

But who should replace Hogan? Corday is running out of option. Beth was good as intern(as Phoenix has also pointed out in the past) but I am not sure if she would do good as official HW. Anyone can finish off a previous writer's stories greatly. And again Sheri was in a whole different era.

Well DAYS has lost me the first day Hogan took over! Hogan should not be writing for DAYS. His stories on ATWT was great!

Well IMO, around the first time Hogan took over the show was firing on all four cylinders. It's just that when her started his own stories everything began to fall apart.

While I'm not seeing how characters are acting out of character(I've seen my share on GL), I do agree that the show has a major continuity problem, so much that it seems as if half the population of Salem is bipolar.

I'm not a major Sheri Anderson supporter or even anti-Sheri Anderson (she destroyed my show when she wrote for it), but to those that say that Anderson wouldn't be a good fit for DAYS now considering that things are different; didn't she write for the show in the early 90s and wasn't it different than what the show was in the 80s? I watched a episode from the small Reily/Anderson era and from what I could tell there wacky no prisms or other wacky tales, just good ole fashioned drama (i.e. John/Marlena/real-Roman).

Well IMO, around the first time Hogan took over the show was firing on all four cylinders. It's just that when her started his own stories everything began to fall apart.

While I'm not seeing how characters are acting out of character(I've seen my share on GL), I do agree that the show has a major continuity problem, so much that it seems as if half the population of Salem is bipolar.

I'm not a major Sheri Anderson supporter or even anti-Sheri Anderson (she destroyed my show when she wrote for it), but to those that say that Anderson wouldn't be a good fit for DAYS now considering that things are different; didn't she write for the show in the early 90s and wasn't it different than what the show was in the 80s? I watched a episode from the small Reily/Anderson era and from what I could tell there wacky no prisms or other wacky tales, just good ole fashioned drama (i.e. John/Marlena/real-Roman).

But could those stories work NOW?

ICAM. The closest thing we've seen to Romance recently, IMO, was Santo and Colleen on Wednesday - right down to him taking off her shoes. I swear I half expected him to kiss her foot when he took that first shoe off, and I wouldn't have minded one bit if he had! It is exactly what you said Aremid: the build up, the touches, the loving someone so much it hurts, getting lost in one another's eyes - and only having eyes for each other. When you almost feel like you're intruding just by watching but the passion is so intense you can't look away. Seduction, yes, but romance and passion too. And it's most surely not about grabbing, groping, pre-teen sex talk and things that come off like two dogs in heat! Sami trying to convince EJ she wanted the babies to be his - a strong woman sure of herself and her sexuality and pulling her man in with the tone of her voice and the look in her eyes - THAT was romantic and sizzling hot! Bo and Hope dancing while Doug played the piano was also romantic.

So SOMEONE DOES know how to write romance, or we wouldn't have been given those scenes, but they are too few and too far between and we mainly get trash where characters seem to have to tell us how hot they are or how much in love they are. If this was a book, I wouldn't mind that, but it's not, so I expect to SEE it - and I know the majority of Days cast is more than capable of portraying it!

Phoenix you made a very good point when you mention the '93 affair storyline - esp tying it to EJami and Lumi, and fact is that Days HAS BEEN shifting back and forth and giving us a wishy-washy mess! Between that and the inconsistencies and character flipping, it's been maddening! And I agree that Days shouldn't focus on one couple or one group especially at the expense of the vets.

I think I'm in the minority when it comes to Sheffer. I can honestly say I didn't start to like his writing at all until sometime in mid to late April, and even since then it's been very up and down with some days being brilliant and others being pathetically bad. For whatever reason the DiMera days seem to be the strongest, and I seriously don't think I'm seeing it this way just because I love them. There are other characters I love too, and most of the time they are also better when they're on during a DiMera day. I don't, however, think Sheffer is the problem - at least not with that aspect of the show.

Honestly, right now I don't know if he should be replaced because I'm willing to see how the recent changes will impact the show. I like the idea of a different co-head writer to help balance Sheffer out: Beth M? Sheri? I don't know, but I'd think a woman who knows the history of the show, understands the concept of romance and drama and who's willing to reign him in if he goes off on a tangent would help a lot. At the very least it doesn't seem it would hurt.

Another great post. We have such great posters here! I too don't think it would be best to change HW at this point in time, but agree with a change in co HW. We do need, however, some script writers that know Days. Bad move getting rid of Gier, Brash & Cwikly. Is there such a thing as a continuity writer?

Ed Scott needs to tell him that he needs to write for John, Marlena, Bo and Hope. Hogan needs to realize that they must be in front burner storylines. You absolutely cannot have them sitting around reading freakin letters!! If Hogan doesn't like writing for them, then that's too bad. Force him to write for them or bring in a Co-HW who will write for them.

I 100% agree with you, Toups. We don't need another transition period with a new HW; the one we have just needs to make some changes. I also think it would be a great idea to bring in a new Co-HW, someone like SLG or Brash.

ICAM. The closest thing we've seen to Romance recently, IMO, was Santo and Colleen on Wednesday - right down to him taking off her shoes. I swear I half expected him to kiss her foot when he took that first shoe off, and I wouldn't have minded one bit if he had! It is exactly what you said Aremid: the build up, the touches, the loving someone so much it hurts, getting lost in one another's eyes - and only having eyes for each other. When you almost feel like you're intruding just by watching but the passion is so intense you can't look away. Seduction, yes, but romance and passion too. And it's most surely not about grabbing, groping, pre-teen sex talk and things that come off like two dogs in heat! Sami trying to convince EJ she wanted the babies to be his - a strong woman sure of herself and her sexuality and pulling her man in with the tone of her voice and the look in her eyes - THAT was romantic and sizzling hot! Bo and Hope dancing while Doug played the piano was also romantic.

So SOMEONE DOES know how to write romance, or we wouldn't have been given those scenes, but they are too few and too far between and we mainly get trash where characters seem to have to tell us how hot they are or how much in love they are. If this was a book, I wouldn't mind that, but it's not, so I expect to SEE it - and I know the majority of Days cast is more than capable of portraying it!

I agree with you about Wednesday's show--THAT was romance. And it finally got me interested in Santo and Colleen for the first time all summer. So now we know that someone on the writing staff (I have no idea who wrote Wednesday's show) CAN write romance; hopefully, we will see more of it. Compare the Santo/Colleen scenes to Lucas and Sami's juvenile sexcapades last week--I can only speak for myself, but I was far more entranced by Santo's kiss on Colleen's neck than Lucas's Kama Sutra position.

At the time, I thought, "Anyone's better than JER... anyone's better than JER." But, I hated Sheffer's work on ATWT, so...

Does anyone else think that the show was way better when it was being ghostwritten last spring and summer? I thought it was awesome, in comparison with how it was before and after.

Edited August 24, 200718 yr by koos

Hogan does not need to be replaced but he needs a stronger co-head writer. He was great with Carolyn Culliton. She was awesome with Hogan. Would love to see them reunite.

Hogan does not need to be replaced but he needs a stronger co-head writer. He was great with Carolyn Culliton. She was awesome with Hogan. Would love to see them reunite.

They were a great pair.

I think Hogan would do much better with a Co-HW like Paula Cwickly or Beth Milstein. Kind of like the DAYS equivalent of Carolyn Culliton.

Ever think we could get a worse headwriter if Hogan left? When Dena Higley was writing, most here were so excited to get JER back..he was great during the Serial Killer storyline, but he ended up doing horrible damage to the show...And his second run was a huge let down...

I'm very disappointed in Hogan's writing, mainly because he hasn't lived up to the hype..When he first got hired, many were saying he'd be a godsend for Days..And he was great when he first started, but after December the show just went down the drains...and then it got good again during May and June, to get bad again when the letter reading and Touch the Sky storyline began...I do think Ed Scott joining will help Hogan out a bit, maybe he can give Hogan some good pointers..Also hopefully Hogan being busy doing Soap Net show, made the show suffer a bit..and with that done he can get back to writing a good show..But i do agree that a new co-head writer is needed..

I'm just tired of new writers coming along, and having to deal with transition periods...I'm willing to give Hogan more time to learn from his mistakes and prove why he's got so many emmys..

At the time, I thought, "Anyone's better than JER... anyone's better than JER." But, I hated Sheffer's work on ATWT, so...

Does anyone else think that the show was way better when it was being ghostwritten last spring and summer? I thought it was awesome, in comparison with how it was before and after.

You are not the only one who loved the transition period. I don't know if it was Beth's doing or just the place things were in the stories that made it good or just that that was back when we had better screen writers who knew the show's history so much more than all the hacks that Sheffer brought in.

I don't think Hogan should be replaced because we need stability on this show. He does need someone to help him, someone who KNOWS this show up and down. He also needs to have someone who can PACE a story well and build up the angst so a story that starts with promise doesn't fizzle. Stories need to have a beginning, a middle and an ending, all of which should make sense and be true to the characters.

The ratings are terrible and there is a lot wrong with this show, so we complain. We get the occasional really good show followed by oh, about 8 or 9 average to poor shows, followed by a good one, then another 8 or nine average to poor shows.

Sometimes a few good shows are strung together...Maybe even a week's worth of shows now and then...followed by a month of not such good ones.

Strange.

The actors are good, but they either don't have stories at all or their stories are mediocre, sometimes even the fans aren't too interested in watching and if they weren't loyal to the actors and the characters they play...

Edited August 25, 200718 yr by KathyC

>> The problem is Days has fanbases who refuse to let the HW write.

Replace DAYS with the name of any other soap currently on the air, and you have a problem that, quite frankly, has a tremendous lot to do with the decline of the genre as a whole.

Far be it from this card-carrying Quolaholic (GL) to level a blanket condemnation against ALL soap fanbases, but really, people: there's a reason why they are writing these shows, and you're not.

>> He loves going back and re-watching 80s episodes of DAYS and is very enthusiastic about the show which are great characteristics in a HW.

They're also great characteristics of a continuity coordinator or even writer's assistant. A head writer, though, needs to possess the ability to weave multiple stories together and sustain their quality over a certain period of time. Hogan Sheffer just can't do that. He couldn't do that at his old job, and he can't do that now.

Reading the fall previews for DAYS in the current SOD, I'm not impressed; and honestly, I don't know if a better Co-Head or EP is the answer. It might be too soon to call for his resignation, but, either Ken Corday or Edward Scott has got to sit Hogan down and tell him, "Look, no more free lunches. Your learning curve is officially over. Either get it together (and come up with stories that make people want to tune in), or get out."

Edited August 25, 200718 yr by Khan