James E. Reilly Has Passed Away

[daysfan]

HOLY COW! OH MY GOSH!

As much as I bashed the man at times, he had some really good stories on Days during the 90's, made Passions intriguing at times no matter how stupid it could be, and even had some good moments during his second run on Days, and no matter how much anyone hated the man, you know this is sad news for his friends, family, and Daytime.

RIP JER.

[Faulkner]

Too shocking for words.

RIP...he certainly was one of the last great innovators of the genre.

[quartermainefan]

Terribly sad news. 60 is still young.

[Ms. Chandler Quartermaine]

OMG...Im just shocked...may he R.I.P.

He gave me Passions, and for that I'll always be thankful..I loved that show

[DaytimeFan]

Absolutely shocking news. So very sad, 60 is quite young.

JER, whether you loved him or hated him, got people talking about daytime. He saw DAYS through the greatest comeback to hit daytime, ever. He also had the great joy of bringing PASS, his own creation, to the screen and see it run for nearly a decade.

Love him or hate him, JER loved daytime and had vision. Whether or not one cares for his vision is immaterial for in these contemporary times in which the industry is so lacking in vision, JER had a bold one. For that, he'll be missed. Rest in peace and God speed.

[sungrey]

What's scary in this is how similar his death was to Doug Marland. Wow.

[ClassicsSoapFan]

I really hate to hear this.

His stint at GL with Nancy Curlee and Stephen Demorest was one of the best eras that show ever had. They won an Emmy and a WGA to prove it.

Sad!

[MTSRocks]

HOLY [!@#$%^&*] HELL. RIP JER. I may not have always agreed with his writing style, but I do have some respect for what he experimented with towards the daytime dramas. How [!@#$%^&*] depressing!

[detroitpiston]

Wow. RIP JER

[UCLAN]

I am shocked. 60 is young. My prayers to his family. I became hooked on Days because of his stories. I thought he was the best. I loved Passions in the beginning despite the fact that Another World was bumped for it. I thought his ideas were new and different. He will be missed

[Sapounopera]

Very sorry to hear this RIP JER..

[Y&RWorldTurner]

RIP, JER. Your contributions, though controversial, will never be forgotten in the realm of daytime television. My condolences go out to his family, friends, close co-workers, and Toups.

I started watching GL in the early 90's, during one of its great golden eras, which was really the first time I was ever loyal to a soap. Anyway, JER was Co-HW with Nancy Curlee and Stephen Demorest during that period, even though I give Nancy and Stephen most of the credit for that time, I can still say JER was one of the first writers I started off my soap watching life with.

[Days4Life]

RIP, JER. When he was good, he was brilliant.

[Angela]

No matter how I felt about the man overall as a writer, he was innovative and when he was good he was pretty damn good.

And just 60, sigh. RIP.

[quartermainefan]

I think his untimely death is a good reason for a reappraisal. Soap fans have a very narrow view on what is acceptably soapy or proper soap material (islands with force fields are a no no, etc) but one thing I have to give JER is he tried to entertain with crazy and wild stories. Whether it was a mystic Chalice with which Alistair could control the universe, or Sami masquerading as a man and selling John drugs while betraying Philip in Iraq, JER tried to give you your money's worth. When you think about the supposedly best written soaps on the air (award winning GH) and the fact that year after year they don't try to give any story, I really appreciated all the hours of entertainment JER gave me, mermaids and all.