DAYS: Frustrated by Hogan Sheffer

[IMissAremid]

It's interesting to read someone talk about the idea of Hogan Sheffer's writing showing he hates BLACK women. Because I've been saying for a while that I think Hogan Sheffer's writing shows he hates ALL women. LOL. He certainly has no clue what we want at the very least.

I mean as much as I totally agree with you about the China Lee stereotype being AWFUL, I don't look at her and see her as all that different from his promiscuous exotic island girl male fantasies that he had in Gabby in Tinda Lao and Leelee and Lola on Tony's island or the fact that the only substantial new female character he added to the canvas in the last year was a psycho ex-hooker (Willow). Since he started we have been introduced a string of prostitute dayplayers including Candy Cane, Jenna, Ilsa and the rest of Rawling's Angels; we have seen Chelsea fight with her parents and her reaction be trying to become a prostitute, Kate become Stefano's whore again just because she has no money (when we all saw her work her way up from that diner the last time she lost her cash), Billie pathetically sleep with her daughter's friend (thank god JP insisted they add to the story that Billie was at least drunk when this happened) to satisfy Hogan's Mrs. Robinson fantasies, Chelsea encouraged to sleep with Nick just to get her virginity over with (off screen) so she can be more like her cousin who came back recast with a skanky makeover; and since he joined the show we have been treated to Chelsea being sexually harassed by Dr. Rebert and needing rescuing from Nick, Stephanie being sexually harassed on her stewardess job (another male fantasy satisfied) and needing rescuing from Max, and the biggie, Sami submitting sexually as the price for her getting help saving Lucas and now submitting to an arranged marriage as the price for her getting peace for her family. I pray pray pray that a pairing with EJ and her no longer being pregnant will help Sami get her fire back because I can't stand this weepy and emotional "heroine" crap that Hogan is pushing for Sami now. I wish I could be optimistic but then I remember the way that he added insult to injury with the Santo and Colleen story rather than realizing the mistake of all of the EJ and Sami ickiness of the past and giving the Santo and Colleen love affair a pure and untainted quality those disappointed fans could embrace, but instead he colored the whole story with his mistaken assumption that "daytime is about seduction" so that instead of Colleen getting the opportunity to choose to assert her sexuality and decide on her own to leave the church we have Hogan trashing all the romance of the forbidden love story to up the tawdry factor and make Santo into a lech who has seduced an unwitting novice and tried to lure her into bigamy while we watch helplessly as Colleen, who of course gets to suffer at the tragedy at all (after all she is a female character on Hogan's canvas), and winds up

. I mean I liked reading Tess of the D'Urbervilles in my high school English class (hope you see this Miou ), but that doesn't mean I want to see these dark Victorian Romances with their themes of fallen women suffering at the hand of fate and fickle men playing out in my daytime soaps.

I mean all of these supposed love triangles on the show right now are AWFUL! And I'm STILL pissed at the inherent sexism of his theory of writing triangles as was expressed in SOD which is a "reformed bad girl" choosing between "swinging dick" and "good guy."

Chelsea is supposed to choose between the guy who lied about being married and befriended her with the intention of using her to help him bust some smuggling operation and the guy who boinked her mom?

Stephanie has to choose between her adoptive uncle who the last time they dated unceremoniously dumped her while she was in the hospital in her family's latest crisis at the hands of the DiMera's and this selfish douchebag who is using her and his way of expressing his love is only saying so after he's nearly drowned her in a hot tub?

Belle's choices are her ex-husband who as recently as May was kidnapping her and her child and putting them in danger by dismantling their boat's radio equipment in the middle of a typhoon and her fiance whose reaction upon her finally being free from said ex-husband and learning that her child was his was to shack up with a hooker?

Sami gets to choose between the man presented as her knight in shining armor and provider of blissful happiness who everyone who has ever watched DOOL save Hogan Sheffer knows is actually a man she has a rather stormy and dysfunctional and unhealthy history with and the other guy who Hogan decided to trash to prop the previously mentioned guy by making him a one-note mega-villain until SOMEONE at DOOL noticed the mistake and pressured Hogan to try and rehabilitate the character's image a bit (but not before ratings had sunk by .7 in the span of just 4 months or so).

Hogan sucks!

[ChangedBYSon]

THAT WAS MY FAVORITE PERIOD, TOO!!!

I long so much for those "Days".

The show was really emotionally INVOLVING and they didn't insult our intelligence as much.

The characters had a lot of depth and because of that depth, you really believed in them and

you couldn't wait to see what would happen in their lives.

Even when they brought on TEENS.....Mellissa Anderson, Bo and Hope.....their stories were so

well written and captivating. I just love that period of "DAYS".

[Toups]

Some of his colleagues that he works with are black people. If he hates black women, he wouldn't have brought them over to DAYS with him!

You were making valid points about story direction and story choices, so why did you have to go there and try to insinuate things like that about Hogan.

[DaysFanatic777]

YEAH!! Remember when they introduced Hope and she was this fiesty, hard to handle, but extremely likable teen that had a thirst for bad boys. Melissa was a girl that just couldn't make up her mind to save her life, and bad luck followed her around. Bo was this over the top big shot, but really, underneath, had a soft heart. They would introduce new characters back then through their families (WOW, What a concept), and you would get to know them slowly. Then layer by layer they would peel back portions of the characters till finally, you were hooked. They took their time with romance, because they knew a secret:

We wouldn't watch the show at all if we didn't care about the "people" we were watching. Romance could only happen between two characters the audience actually enjoyed.

Who likes Stephanie??? I mean really?? Jett??? Jeremy???? There is no character development, just plots and teens acting like over-grown five year olds. I'm done with the younger set on here.

This show needs to get the vets back on front and center, and slowly introduce some teens. The last time they were half way good at it was with Sami and Lucas. IMO, it was because Sami's storyline revolved around her mother's (Marlena's) infedility, and Lucas storyline revolved around his paternity (Bill Horton's Love Child). Since they were so tied to vets, we cared.

Take a note Hogan....Please take a note.

[ChangedBYSon]

I didn't say Hogan hates black women.

I SAID that my mother stopped watching the show, because she feels he hates black women

by the way he writes them.

I happen to know that Hogan doesn't hate black women--but he's very insensitive and "sexist" in writing

for women PERIOD. That's what I do know, and it's hurting the show's ratings with female viewers.

If you're going to write controversial material, then you have to really THINK IT OUT and try

seeing it from the perspective of the people you're writing about.

And though I do know that Hogan doesn't hate black women---I do find myself not watching the show,

because I hate the way black women are portrayed on the show.

[PhoenixRising05]

Ok. I will keep this short and simple.

HOGAN IS NOT THE PROBLEM. KEN CORDAY IS. LOOK BACK AT THE PATTERN OF THE PAST 10 YEARS. ONE CONSISTENT FACTOR...KEN CORDAY.

That is all. Oh, and, frankly, the show needs realism. It needs adventure. However, romance and people sitting around will not bring in ratings. You need all that but you also need action everyday. That is what fans in today's world want. Those that count in the ratings are not like us. They don;t appreciate the character interactions, family moments, etc. They want action and drama and don't care if the right people are at a wedding or whatever.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

How do you expect to gain viewers if you alienate your core audience (which Days has done) and refuse to give them a sample of what they want? If people didn't care about character interactions, family moments, and character-driven stories, then Y&R wouldn't have been the #1 rated soap for the past 20 years.

[ChangedBYSon]

I so agree.

And as I said before, "to me", Hogan is a brilliant writer, but daytime is "Female Driven"

and he's literally driving all types of women away from DOOL.

The numbers bare me out.

[KSlater]

Great post IMiss. ITA about Hogan's lame-ass portrayal of women on the show. I've been a Hogan supporter for the most part (support that has dwindled to almost zero now), but since the beginning of his time with the show, I've been constantly disappointed not just by his portrayal of women on the soap, but the for the lack of "punch" at the end of his "big" storylines. Couldn't we have just one story that makes us say "wow" instead of "oh geez"? Just one. His stories start off with promise, get good momentum going, and then like the Sacramento Kings in the fourth quarter against the Lakers, they fall apart despite the talent on the team because of the bone-headed, wimpy decisions on the coach's part. Sorry to use the sports analogy -- I'm a frustrated Kings fan (I'm one of those obnoxious, screaming fans in Arco Arena) and Days makes me feels the same way the Kings do. I cheer, cheer, cheer at the top of my lungs for the team (the talented actors) but constantly get my enthusiasm squashed by a coaching staff seriously lacks something in the decision-making process. (Is it Sheffer, Wyman, Corday, the janitor, my Aunt Suzie--who?) The team then chokes at the most crucial moment and loses the game they had no business losing.

Maybe with Ed Scott this will change. I hope so because personally there are a lot of good things the show has going for it right now. I'm seeing a lot ugly things posted on other sites blaming certain actors, two in particular who I won't name but you know who I'm talking about. These two talented actors have been working their asses off for this friggin' show. I hate to see any actor get bashed or blamed for things they have absolutely no control over.

My evil twin Miou appreciates the shout out IMiss.

[nhee]

I took Days off my DVR this week. I realized that for the past month I had been FF thru almost the entire episode everyday. When I thought about it, there really is no story I am interested in seeing where it was going.

I had put in on my DVR at the beginning of the summer as I had seen everyone raving about how good it had become.

The only story I was semi interested in was Sami & Lucas. They have ruined it having EJ in every single scene. I don't see the chemisty people see in Sami & EJ. They creep me out when they are together.

Oh well. primetime starts soon!

[Toups]

SacTown fan eh?

*Flashback in*

2002 Western Conference Finals - Game 4......Marv Albert with the call, "Horry for the win............YEEEESSSS!!!"

*Flashback out*

Sorry, just had to bring that up.

[KSlater]

Is EJ the problem? Is this why people are tuning out in droves? I'm being serious here. I'm a big James Scott fan. I think he's a talented actor. And I'm an EJ and Sami fan--no creeping out for me. Maybe I'm not a "true" Days fan (even though I watch the show everyday) because EJ doesn't bother me one iota.

But is the feeling so strong against this pairing or even against the actor(s) that it's causing "true" Days fans to tune out permanently from the show? I hate even asking this question, because I'm afraid of the answers.

But I'm wondering, is one character responsible for the downward spiral of an entire show? I wouldn't think so, I would think it was the writing. But blame game is flying fast and furious right now. Be honest.

[KSlater]

You're a meanie Toups! Don't ever mention that Horry person to me again . . . aargh

Ah the agony of defeat. . . we know it too well here in Sactown.

[ChangedBYSon]

I LOVE E.J.

After Marlena, E.J. is my favorite character (for reasons you'd never believe if I told you).

I think E.J. and Sami could have been a super powerful storyline if it had been "carefully planned"

and written right.

They do have chemistry.

And James Scott (who I feel as though I HAND PICKED myself) is the best leading man in daytime

bar none.

He's superb.

I just don't know.....I think Hogan has been under severe pressure by different forces behind the

scenes and he's messed this up because of the interference.

PERHAPS.

I honestly don't know.

But I do know that E.J. and Sami are both "ratings bonanza" characters who aren't being utilized correctly.

I wouldn't have done the TOTAL "Rachel Cory" switcheroo with Sami in just 1 Year. It de-fangs her.

I would have kept Sami a scheming, manipulator but I would have MATURED her and gave her some

"heart", but she'd still be a bitch.

And why isn't her son involved in the story more? So much could be done with him.

He could be gay and Sami could have a real problem with that.

[PhoenixRising05]

I never said don't give them what they want. What I meant was you can have that be the driving force of nearly every episode like it was in Days' glory years, the years that so many fanbases long for. Days is not Y&R. JER brought a whole different kind of fan to the show. It was a fan that wanted action. A fan that wanted to see drama. Of course, it's a fan that also wanted over the top and campy stories that thrived on shock and awe type stories. This was brought up a great deal last Fall when Days was under Beth's guidance and even early on in Hogan's run. We had fantastic character interactions, payoffs, romance, mystery, etc. These were the things all the fanbases wanted. The balance was great and all supercouples were featured and what did it get the show? Nothing. It stayed stagnant for the most part. That proved to me that it's all just about entertainment and it also showed me that JER's style conditioned many fans into not caring about the basics of what a soap is about.

Unfortunately, this is what so many of the fans who count in the ratings for soaps feel like nowadays. They just want gripping TV. They don't want to see Bo and Hope making out on the couch or Hope meeting Alice for coffee. Sure, we die hard soap fans want that. Sure, us message board frequenters want that because we discuss these things at length. Sure, the die-hard Days fanbaser loves that. However, the general soap fan of these times doesn't give a rat's behind because that is sleep-inducing material. Hell, that feeling has even made it's way on to this board and others, although in a minor fashion. I saw some in the Days threads here and on other boards saying they were bored with some episodes recently that featured character interactions, family moments, and the like. That same thing happened last Fall too. Some were advocating for Days and how good it was last Fall and some argued it was boring. Well, last Fall was full of those character interactions, family moments, etc so that shows that this feeling is making the rounds to even the most critical of us soap watchers.

Times have changed and what worked in the past does not work anymore. I don't think anyone really knows what will for sure being the numbers up, at least for a long period of time. I actually think execs need to lower their expectations for ratings now because I think by the middle of next year everyone but Y&R will be between 1.5-2.3 at most. The past two years it seems that every soap but Y&R goes through a period of bleeding out viewers and then stabilizes only to go through the same thing the following year. It's sad but all soaps are in trouble and I don't think anyone can figure out the mystery as to how to get numbers going in a more positive direction.