James E. Reilly: Freak or Visionary?

[Jane1978]

Everybody knows I´m not Reilly´s biggest fan but I do think he had some amazing ideas. Unfortunatelly, he got very lazy very soon and it showed. I think his last really good storyline was Aremid.

That said, I really don´t think getting back to the hard heavy serious realistic drama is the right thing to do. Let´s look at primetime. What succesfull show is not campy? Heroes? Lost? Desperate Housewives? Grey´s Anatomy? Nip, tuck? I always thought stories about those so called real life social issues are the most boring thing ever. I love the soap escapism. I think it´s a part of what makes US soaps so uniq. But most writers today forget that even the most stupid and crazy storyline has to be just a background for the one thing which is really important and that´s a romance. Soaps are about romance. Posession was succesfull because majority of J/M thought of it as romance story for their couple. Cruise of Decemption was full of plot holes and sappy as hell, yet it is still remembered because it was primarily a romance story for J/J and B/H.

That´s the reason why all lately attempts to bring this escapism back to DAYS failed. Even Reilly during his second run forgot this rule and Melaswen wasn´t about any big couple reuniting, getting together and fullfilling their love, but just contrary, about a hidden agenda and poor attempt to force thirdparties between most popular couples. And the same is true for all writers. Heck, Sheffer´s stories are so full of action that being written by Reilly one Sheffer´s episode would make atleast two weeks worth of story for JER. Yet, Sheffer is even less succesfull. Why? Because there is nothing behind it.

[EricMontreal22]

Oh totally--and the ratings were good and solid (I believe it was just behind AMC as 3rd or 4th soap for a while under Labine). But when the ratings started to slip the network got worried I guess and saw that DAYS wer eclimbing (and to be fair, I was only a casual GH watcher who was riveted by the AIDS story but even I realized for that period the show was VERY heavy and serious and dark for a good while and following immediately with a big umbrella story abotu Alzheimers may not have been the best idea--though it woulda been nice to see eventually).

Ratings dont' always reflect quality as we all know--OLTL was always right smack dab in the middle when Malone and Griffith and Gottlieb had their brilliant period with it despite awards and critical raves. (still rarely are there examples of great writing causing a soap to be in the BOTTOM ratings, excep tin some cases when a soap was on its last legs anyway)

Janes gotta sorta agree and sorta disagree. I think DAYS has always been about melodrama and romantic escapism--more so than other soaps probably. That;s its feel and I think it's true that one reason Reilly's 90s arch was such a hit was he brought back the supercouples--I mean Sami's love triangle ran for liek 3 years no? At a snail's pace but that seemed to be the old school approach audiences wanted. That said it's not for me and my fave kinda soap opera is the Agnes Nixon model--best shown by when she wrote her own shows, or AMC under Broderck in the mid 90s or OLTL under Malone in the early 90s. Those had social issues (homophobia, racism, etc, etc) but always balanced it with characters you cared about, romance, family and, something that Agnes Nixon's soaps really pioneered--humour, even if sometimes some of the side stories/characters verged into camp it was a good balance.

(And you're right about primetime shows except that primetime soaps have almsot always thrived on bring out the campier aspects of soaps--ie Dynasty or Melrose Place, I think that's way harder to pull off on a day to day basis and not leave audiences exxhausted and bored--they need a bit more of characters and situations you can relate to... Brothers and Sister sis probably a good example of soap opera twists, and erevlations but a lot of socail issues too btu told THRU characters, not thru PSA style writing)

ANyway I think my point is there's room for more escapist campy soaps and more realistic issue driven ones. My problem with much of JER's writing is--liek I said with Passions I woulda happily loved ot watch an over the top wickedly campy soap. But the actual writing just wasn't there--conversations that don't have clever lines but instead say the same thing over and over for weeks till I want to smack my head against the wall, endless stories with no momentum so that when we get over the top shock moments they lose any power, etc

[billyjill]

Well, let's not mix up camp and cheese. Camp is willful bad taste, they know something is recognized as bad taste and they play the hell out of it basically just to be contrary to the mainstream aesthetic. "It's so bad it's good." Cheese, ala many of the 80's style stories, is not exactly camp. Cheese doesn't necessarily set out to flaunt anything, it's just lightweight and rather ignorant of reality a lot of the time. At the time of the 80's I don't think you can argue that the action adventure style on Days looked much different from a lot of mainstream movies, etc, that came out at the time. The 90's were just a more overtly ironic decade, the point was subversion. Rocky Horror is camp. Armageddon is cheese.

I think as far as social relevance goes, it's falling out of fashion to be preachy on television anyways. Most shows try to incorporate relevance simply to make the story resonate, not to be shown as an afterschool special. Bottom line, I agree that whatever stories they tell have to matter in terms of the characters' relationships, and on this show probably romance should be a big part.

[EricMontreal22]

True though I think when writers wrote stories like Days of Our Lives' character comes from the future, or GH's aliens some camp is intended...

Otherwise I think you're dead on...

[RuAsRuAnAu]

Not only is the Luke being a homosexual story on ATWT preachy, it's too preachy (story and dialogue). Disliking someone b/c they are a homosexual is a fact of life (and there is nothing wrong with that), so I am surprised Luke is not facing more adversity from conservative and religious Oakdalers. The story is being written this way: Liking someone who is a homosexual = GOOD PERSON (Liberal); Disliking someone who is a homosexual = EVIL PERSON (Conservative).

There's talk about all shows lacking identity (acting like a monolith), so you want all of them to have romance, at all times?

[RuAsRuAnAu]

Romance is overrated. You want romance to be a big part of every story?

[billyjill]

So from my saying "Romance should probably be a big part of Days" you got that I want not only every story on Days to be a romance (as if its even feasible), but that I want every soap to be 100% romance?

Can you read?

TPTB at Days themselves are the ones who have cultivated the Romance Show image. In the 80s it was its calling card and in the 90s though the style shifted they were more than happy to keep using the biggest couples from the previous era as the main players in the new backdrop. You mention niches, like it or not romance is a big part of Days' niche. Whether or not I think romances are the only worthwhile stories to tell (which is so false its not even funny, and I have no clue where you got that assumption) is beyond the point, it's part of what fans consider unique about this show. Did I say it should be every storyline? Do I think it should be every storyline? No and no. But romance is sorely lacking on this show, it could be a hell of a lot better than what Sheffer is churning out (he himself admits it's his weakness, and IMO pilfering the Days vault for old supercouple clips is not making him better at it). In addition the word "relationship" can, and in my post did, refer to family, friends, coworkers, etc, too. My point was that this show needs to be more character-based, so that whatever stories are told are vehicles for the dynamics of interpersonal relations between characters the audience attaches itself to. This came up in this thread because Jane said JER's stories were successful because they too were in her opinion ultimately vehicles for relationships. I think it's just a reality that including romance as a significant part of that picture will probably help stabilize the (particular) audience of this (particular) show than if you didn't include it. Mixing up other kind of stories into the mix will actually help the durability of the big romances on Days in the long run, if you ask me ... but you didn't, since you assumed something quite off the mark about what I happen to think instead.

As for other shows, I don't want ATWT or AMC or Y&R to turn into Days any more than I want Days to turn into one of them, and I again can't fathom how you extended my post to other shows.

Regarding the ATWT storyline mentioned, problems in that storyline do not negate the fact that in television and indeed in fiction as a whole, there is a careful watch taken up again preachiness compared to how stories were told even a decade or so ago. It's a trend; that does not imply that there are zero instances where preachiness can be found (reaching, much?). You can look up articles in literature mags and fiction blogs about it, equal representation for different points of view and struggles with moral relativism are the new frontier for much of storytelling in a variety of mediums.

PS -- For the record, despite being a liberal I hate it when television makes conservative = evil, and I've taken up that issue in my criticisms about this show in some form or other in various places around internet soapland. So if you're looking for a springboard for any grandstanding try someone else's post.

[JackPeyton]

I was actually all against this storyline when it started because i HATE preachy storyline. However i dont think its come across like that at all. Lily, his mother had a huge problem with it. Holden his father on the other hand, was okay with it. They showed both sides well. And img lad they are not going with that whole people int he town hate him because hes gay. And i dont think they ahve brought politics into it at all. oh and btw, disliking someone because they are gay (or a certin race, a male or female, etc...)= not okay.

anyways...

I think he lays in the middle of the two extremes. He isnt a freak, but he does have far out there storys. Soemtiems they work, Sometimes they dont. I dont know who and i dotn feel like looking now, but someone posted that he has great storys, but is a bad writer. i agree. i think he is a great idea man.

[Shawn]

JERk is the worst thing to hit daytime next to Dena Higley and Tom Langan.

The possession storyline on Days, though a ratings smash, destroyed all credibility of a once respected and award winning show. Days under his reign became the laughing stock of daytime, where no one was taken seriously by their fellow daytime alumni. Great actors were forced day in and day out to mutter utter garbage that viewers were supposed to buy. Personalities changed, making favorities unrecognizable, storylines were plot driven, and every story dragged as slow as molasses, with every character talking to themselves about their schemes and flashing back every day to the previous episode, making fans wonder if TIIC really thought that little of their intelligence/memory.

Its only now that Days is going back to what made it a landmark of daytime, but its taken 14 years to heal the mortal wounds that JERk inflicted upon Salem.

For that, the man should be banished for all time from network television, movies, and pretty much any type of media that you can imagine.

[JackPeyton]

i disagree. The posession was a stunt yes - and it worked. i woudlnt say it ruined all credibility... and the show countenued to win awards long after it most soaps have dove into scifi here and there and thatw as one of days first jumbs. the show was great after that as well with the mansion, the killing pool storyline, and others.

it wasnt until JER return that he ruin cha, you could tella ctors were not happy, etc...

and honestly its not his fault it has taken them 14 years. He was gone for many of those years. They just never got a good direction before. Now they do.

I actually dont think it was til B&C that Days was ruined. JER just ruined it further with his 2nd stint.

[Shawn]

B&C slipped up with the horrific entrance of Rex and Cassie yes, but they also wrote the brilliant return of Tony, and the heartwrenching episodes where Bope had to give up JT. Don't forget the incredible Salem High Graduation episodes either. They weren't perfect, but they were scores better then those that preceded them since JERk took the helm.

[Ponz]

What awards? Outside of the younger categories and the solitary lead nom for Eileen Davidson, DAYS was completely frozen out of acting noms (let alone wins) in the 90's. SOD and People's Choice awards don't count.

[Shawn]

THANK YOU!

Fan given awards have lower prestige then being recognized by your peers, as harsh as it sounds.

[juniorz1]

In a word: VISIONARY.

[JackPeyton]

why dont they count? Its not the an emmy means anything anymore, aside from in name only.