September 10-14, 2007

[PhoenixRising05]

Oh, well, how can Hogan Sheffer possibly do his job with Ken Corday in his ear for the past year? As for JER, he is the one Days writer that Nielson fans and even fans that don't give a damn about writers, producers, etc would know. He is possibly one of the most influential TV writers of the past 20 years because he started a trend that has slowly killed daytime. His version of Days led to many copycat stories that ultimately resulted in several shows loosing ratings. His "shock and awe" storytelling caught on like wildfire and is part of why Days and other soaps are in the toilet.

I do not want Days to return to nothing but triangles and keeping couples ripped apart for 3 damn years over simple misunderstandings that can be resolved under a more competent HW in one scene. Days is past that now. Days does not need JER nor does it need Sheri Anderson. No more writers need to be brought in in an effort to recreate the magic of their past eras. That is the worst thing the show can do. The show has a good HW and, when left alone, he can write great. Could he use a co-HW? Yes. This show can's afford another transition.

It's remarkable how a year ago everyone, even non-Days fans, was calling for JER's head and now people are trying to justify bringing this hack of Days and daytime in general back to mess it up even more? NO WAY!!! I would rather watch my show go out with dignity then have him at the helm again. He is the one that helped put Days in a position to be saved. He is the same writer who still refuses to resolve many of the stories on his own show that have been going on for 8 damn years!! He doesn't give a damn about fans and teases them by giving them a payoff and then putting a new obstacle in front of a couple.

His drivel is not needed. His main focus is Passions. Let him stay there. Days just needs the right people on the frontburner and in good stories. Hogan can do it and Ed can help. Plain and simple.

[a2sassy]

I can't say I'm shocked by Days ratings. I know I can't sit through the Santeen/vendetta crap! I feel that was just a stupid, STUPID direction to go. I will never understand why Sami and EJ are at the forefront of this s/l with the vets sitting on the sidelines.

As for Hogan being Days "savior", it's clearly that's not what he is. I mean the show has taken hit after hit with him as HW and doesn't seem to be getting better IMO. I don't even like John and Marlena but they need to be on. Viewers tune in to see the vets that they've watched for years, not these newbies who they don't know nor care about. And those 700,000+ viewers that left are NEVER coming back.

[Manny]

Was Beth M. fired before or after Ed Scott came on board.

Because if Scott fired her, then he's a jerk too. I could actually have seen Beth to be the best shot to save Days, but now she's gone...

[sungrey]

I say that because of the stupidity of NBC, which has done some really, really dumb things with its daytime lineup over the years.

[sungrey]

And don't think many, many people have just begged to see Brad writing B&B. He's so busy trying to get CBS to put the show to one hour that he keeps bringing on new characters only to write them out six months later because he has "no room" for them.

Poor B&B. The acting is great, but Brad fell far, far from the Bell tree.

[billyjill]

Manny, to my recollection Beth was fired before Ed Scott came along. I agree that was a mistake, as was firing Peter Brash and Sofia Landon Geier (before Scott too ... I'm guessing Sheffer's idea as he replaced them with folks he worked with from ATWT). This new team of writers has no connection to Days and are all unlikely to question Sheffer's vision.

Sungrey - gotcha, the thought just really really frightens me.

[Euclid219]

Alison and James being at the forefront isn't the problem. Sami and EJ have had fewer episodes this summer than they did last, and the vets have had more. The problem is multifold - Hogan's version of Sami is unrecognizable, his version of EJ is in insult to all the viewers who liked the character last summer, there are about a half a dozen newbies at the top of the episode counts that no one has any interest in, and the vets should be more central to a story that is supposed to span more than half of DOOL's history. There isn't just one thing that Hogan has done wrong, there are many things, but for me the straw that broke the camel's back was the wimpification of Sami (who I have loved under every other HW) and the villification of EJ (who as of last summer was the best new addition in years).

Newbies certainly should be used more sparingly (actually, unless they have greatly improved in the past 6 weeks, this set of newbies needs to be pink slipped) and the vets should be used more. Beth Milstein's return is badly needed because last summer DOOL was awesome, and this summer was such a disaster that I gave up a show that I have watched since birth. DOOL needs a new HW or at least a coHW for the current one, ASAP.

If DOOL's ratings weren't so horrible, CBS's soaps all being down .3 since last year would be the big story. Also, Y&R has taken almost as big a hit in the past year in the demos as DOOL. Since they haven't lost a companion soap or changed time zones, and with the remainder of the CBS soaps permanently residing in the demographic basement, that should be a worry for whoever programs CBS daytime.

[DaysFanatic777]

Well I agree and disagree.

I think Corday is an complete fool, but there have been times with him at the helm when the show did do well. Remember the late 80's and most of the 90's. Besides a ratings bump from 1990-1992, Days stayed competitive until he let Langan have full control. The man allowed the show to become damaged beyond belief. He is not a good EP, he's not even a decent EP, so don't get me wrong. I remember when Betty Corday produced the show, and all I can say is the difference from the casting, to the lighting, to the location shoots....it's just an astounding difference. When Ken took over, the show started lacking warmth. I know some of this has to do with budget, but most of it has to do with just hands on involvement.

So Ken isn't His father or mother. He's no Bill bell, or Agnes Nixon. I don't think any of us assume he is at that caliber, but there are no producers on that caliber left in daytime anyway. So, I think since other shows have EPs of equal lack luster qualities, and all of them, now, are higher rated and more watched than Days (Which just takes my breath away), you can't blame one horse at the helm for this type of fall. Hogan's stories have fallen flat with viewers. They suck. It's not even a matter of debate really. Even If some had the potential to be dynamte, he involved the wrong characters. Wyman's poroduction was cheap like a backstreet french whore theatre. It was awful and made the whole thing feel cartoonish for years. Ken's over involvement did confuse the two as the two men just mentioned as they did their jobs horribly. You had two men who are overrated, working for a man who was simply born into a soap family (what luck). Everyone deserves blame.

This isn't a day to pick a pony and assign who gets what part of the lashing. It's time to admit that they all could have done better, and didn't.

[Money]

Both OLTL and DAYS deserve the ratings they got. They're unwatchable, and sadly, OLTL just got a new head writer. The continued direction of both shows leaves me with little hope.

[juppiter]

Great post DaysFanatic.... definitely the biggest hit DAYS took was when Corday let Langan have total control. I think it lasted 3 years, and the show still can't recover from those three years... it sucks.

I know every new EP/HW DAYS gets is hailed as the savior of DAYS, but really hopefully Ed Scott will be that. Corday needs to back the [!@#$%^&*] off already.

[skiman12082004]

What more can be said about how horrible it is to see Days in last place? I truly feel bad for the show and feel the show is in better shape than it has been in years. Is it perfect? Hell NO, but I don't think these ratings are representative of the quality of the show right now. The show better turn things around quickly ratings wise or 2009 really may be the shows swan song.

[RalphOrtiz]

Last week was the first week that Days was the only soap on NBC, and here in NYC its timeslot has changed to 2 pm, competing with OLTL and ATWT. Has the time slot changed in other cities too? I wonder also how those two factors will affect future ratings.

[mamasita]

This numbers are fantastic for ATWT. ATWT along with GL and GH were the only gainers this week. While OLTL lost viewers, ATWT gained.

It reached #4 twice this week:

Wednesday

1.Y&R 5,168,000

2.B&B 3,549,000

3.GH 3,343,000

4. ATWT 3,070,000

and Friday

1.Y&R 5,660,000

2.B&B 3,647,000

3.GH 3,126,000

4. ATWT 2,888,000

It shows that when a soap treats with respect a subject like homosexuality like ATWT has been doing with the Luke and Noah story, people are going to react in a positive way. Also ATWT is becoming more cinematographic (more like a movie in a visual way), like Friday's episode, it was amazing to see this episode being worked so well, specially when Carly goes to old town and starts walking around while Jack and Katie are getting married.

[sacha]

The results are still bad for b&b. do you think it can reach again 3.0?

[ZaraB]

Some markets rearranged the schedule again, putting DOOL back against both OLTL and ATWT.