Your Plan to Save Days...

[Paul Raven]

With the news that(possibly)Dena is out as headwriter,it means another direction for Days.

Everytime a new writer takes over,posters (mostly)decry their vision for the show.

I'm asking for your opinion and ideas of what Days should do to get the show back on track.

What characters need to return ,or leave Salem?

New characters?

Should Bo/Hope and Marlena/ John be frontburner?If so,what stories can they be given? If not,what would be their role on the show?

More Hortons? Who would be viable on the canvas right now?

Is Stefano's return a good or bad thing?

Should the show go back to more traditional soap storytelling or is Days too identified with the more'far out'type stories to change?

I'd like to see specifics-not just 'more Steve/Kayla'

Also,let's keep ideas in line with the current budget situation.

I know there will be a lot of cool ideas.Who knows,maybe Ken Corday might hire a SON poster as a result!!

[Toups]

I would bring back the Jim Reilly era from the 90's by redoing his type of storylines.

1. Must have female villains/schemers

- like Sami, Kristen, Vivian

2. Must have heros/heroines who take down/expose the villains

3. Triangles and Quads

- you have couples who want to be with each other, but can't; obstacles are in their way (ie. the villains/schemers)

4. Rotate 5 storylines

- balance your storylines so your show is never boring

5. Have outrageous storylines involving central female characters (Sami, Hope, Marlena.....you HAVE to use your 3 biggest female leads)

- whenever DAYS is the talk of the industry, the ratings always go up

6. Plan long term

- at least know what you're doing 1 year in advance

I'll post my specific ideas later.

[CassieFan]

1 . Sami needs to stop being a cry baby. It's like in every freaking episode they find a reason that Sami crys. That's not the original Sami. Bring back the bitchy Sami.

2 . Move to another network. NBC doesn't respect soaps.

[Kstaff]

Offer Corday a sweet retirement package he can't resist, send him on a world cruise, and put Ed Scott in his place.

[Evan]

1. Bring back Matt Ashford and Missy Reeves, or at least Mr Ashford, DAYS needs Jack Deveraux back.

2. Reintroduce the Hortons

3. More romance, adventure, and villains

4. A big SL involving almost all the cast is required, something like CRUISE OF DECEPTION from 1990.

5. Less newbies and teens, more of the vets/couples older fans know and love.

[Sapounopera]

Dr. Daniel Jonas leaves town. It's a shame that SC was wasted as a stupid character with no connections to Salem and was paired with Chelsea.

Chelsea Brady leaves town. This show has too many Bradys, and Kate is too young to have an adult granddaughter.

Recast Max with a person who can act and not one of Joey Tribiani's students. Max should evolve into an anti-hero, a rather bad boy who wants to become rich and he doesn't feel that he deserves to be a Brady. Have him change his last name. Hire Tom Pelhprey (ex-Jonathan, GL) to play the part.

Get rid of Josh Taylor. Bring back Wayne Northrop or write Roman out.

Lindsay Hartley (Theresa, PASSIONS) can play Sarah Horton. Get her involved in a storyline with Bo, Hope and Philip.

Bring back (for a few episodes) Matthew Ashford (Jack), Missy Reeves (Jennifer), Jaime Lyn Bauer (Laura), Doug & Julie, Marie Horton in order to introduce us to the new Hortons.

Grayson McCouch as Dr. Mike Horton, Robin Christopher as Dr. Robin Jacobs Horton, Billy Miller as Jeremy Horton and a young Michelle Horton.

Robert Gentry joins cast as Dr. Bill Horton for a few episodes in order to bond with Lucas only to find out from Sami that Lucas is not his son after all. Lucas dies and Kate and Sami become the Kay and Jill of the show. With E.J. and Sami's kids in the middle.

PLEASE forget about Stefano, John, Jawn and the Dimeras. I would write all of them out and turn Marlena into a sophisticated doctor and a caring mother again.

Have Kayla leave town or die so that Steve becomes the person he was before he met her.

Hire Tika Sumpter (ex-Layla, OLTL) as Abe's daughter and Tobias Truvillion (ex-Vincent, OLTL) as a guy who was in prison with Lucas and whom Kate hires to terrorize E.J. and Sami.

Bring back Ben Carver (Jonah's adopted son with Wendy) as a part for the younger crowd.

Turn Nicole Walker into a tabloid reporter-gossip queen, someone like Emily Stewart or Leanna Love. Pair her up with Mike Horton.

Recast Mickey Horton with John Reily.

Get rid of Chloe. And Nick.

Bring Morgan's mother Priscilla Hollingsworth. She has lost all of her money, but she still pretends to be very rich. She wants Morgan to end up with Philip, but M. will be involved in the Max, Stephanie, Jeremy storyline.

Priscilla will go after Victor and Roman and the part will be played by Susan Walters.

Hire William DeVry as Kate's lawyer and Hunt Block as Larry Welch (for a few episodes).

Make the storylines last for YEARS not a few weeks.

DAYS is not a soap opera for stupid people. Give the show some class, some humor and some interesting dialogue for a change.

[Astrotruf]

I don't think there's much hope, really. Nothing's going to substantially raise ratings. I just don't think it's going to happen. People have been complaining about the same thing year after year for the last ten years. The writers come and go. Nothing really changes except the steady decrease in ratings.

But the same thing can be said for every show.

[MarkH]

Speaking as a non-DOOL viewer, some of what you describe makes good sense. And the rest definitely seems like a formula that would appeal to viewers of classic, campy Days from the 80s and 90s.

But...I'm afraid this sounds a lot like Marceline's "nostalgia" train...the very thing that is both enthralling and concerning OLTL viewers right now.

Also, it continues the tradition of high camp and grand adventure. While this can lure classic viewers...and maybe particularly young viewers...I do not see it as a formula to lure in a broad cross-section of viewers.

On the one hand, this formula would let DOOL attract DOOL-ish viewers, and Y&R attract Y&R-ish viewers (the two shows are such polar opposites). On the other hand, if the goal is to attract a broader audience...then I think they need to not just go down that nostalgia train.

See, even the big bolus of viewers from the 80s and 90s is older now...more mature. Even they may not be drawn in by cartoons anymore (e.g., Reilly's Passions).

I DO NOT mean to disrepect your opinions here...I totally understand the love from which they come. I just think that DOOL is in such trouble right now, they need to think about a broad audience...not a niche audience from the past.

Thus, I think SOME of what you describe needs to be brought in. But I also think there might be room for a front burner story for Doug and Julie or Mickey and Maggie. It think a WELL DONE version of Bo and Hope's baby dying (not bringing in a hide-the-perpetrator angle) or a WELL DONE version of an autism story has room on the canvas too. So I like your idea of doing 5 stories at once...but some of them need to be for classic soap viewers who want emotionally engaging tales and not just "oohs" and "ahhs".

I just think that the show needs to draw in the broadest audience possible. They need to build a bigger base...not alienating the core, but not JUST playing to that core.

[Ryan]

1. I would find a way to remove Ken Corday as having any kind of power at the show. I do feel he loves his show, but sometimes when you love something you have to let it go. His poor management has left DAYS a financial mess, and creatively he brings nothing to the table. If the Dobsons can be forced from power at Santa Barbara, so can Corday.

2. Find an EP that's willing to do what's best for the show, and work with a team of writers that can utilize the history and create excellent material.

3. Get rid of some of the deadweight, and eliminate some of the sci-fi nonsense (ie John's memory on a disc)

4. Find a delicate balance between the camp and non-camp.

[edgeofnik]

This was my favorite annual headline in the soap rags... "The New Plans to Save DAYS!!!!" or some variation. The problem is that if you're constantly changing plans, a show can never develop.

[detroitpiston]

Get rid of Corday, make Scott the EP, and bring JER back as a consultant. Other then that, cancel it.

[Ryan]

Oy vey...you people and your JER agenda....I love it

[tylerbo20]

hmmm where do i begin

first who will be the new head writer?? if its JER i would love it cause i love his stuff unless its another writer from days's that knows its history like Tom Lang just kiddding ill die...

characters that need to return are of course Vivian Alamain evil of course (there is no real bitch on the show anymore)

heck return the alamain family as evil people again

Stefano returns and goes evil, john to return his memory or marlena wakes up in the shower and the entire past year has all been a dream and john was dead.(is that asking too much)

its hard cause days has a big cast and wanting to bring back so many loved characters or even more hortons which i would love will ruin the cast right now

theres soo many that arnt being written for Anna/Tony/Maggie/Micky/Kate/Roman/victor whos just laying there...list goes on..

[Dan]

Run down Ken Corday?

[Ponz]

I've given up hope that any new HW would share my creative ideas. My basic plea to him/her would just be:

1) Research the history of the show

2) Commit to a clear and consistent long-term vision

3) Stay the hell away from the message boards