DAYS: Week of December 22nd

[Soapsuds]

LOL..Yet, Days is ranked #4 for last week. I guess some most be liking it. I actually like new Brady. It must be because I enjoyed the actor on Passions. And look who he replaced...the awful Kyle Lowder...who B&B stupidly hired.

I was wondering what had happened to you. Glad to see you posting. I've got to give you credit. You always supported Days no matter what crap was shown on air. That is true devotion to the show. I cant say the same about my ATWT.

Dont lurk.....post.

[detroitpiston]

Yeah, it was.

[MikeGoldy]

[PhoenixRising05]

So, a cliffhanger justifies it? It's a Christmas show. People don't tune in for cliffhangers. That ending with Stefano last year was just as wrong, if not worse, then this. Do you think people want to tune into a Christmas episode and see someone jabbing a syringe into a man in a lab? Yeah, didn't think so.

Also, are you talking about the same Steve and Kayla that were complained about for most of 2007? The same Steve and Kayla I had to read post after post about on this board and others about how they weren't needed and were a waste? I love them and, yes, they are supercouple, but that argument makes little sense IMO given the circumstances, especially since that was their first Christmas back. I doubt most of the audience even gave a damn about them at that point.

[PhoenixRising05]

I agree completely.

And, Soapsuds, thanks for that. I guess part of it is I tune in and have lower expectations then most. No show will be what it was ever again. Y&R and OLTL are great but, compared to 10 years ago, they are nowhere close IMO. If people continue to expect what they once had, most of what is put out there will be hated. People set themselves up to hate things half the time. I just try to find some form of entertainment in all the soaps and I'm successful. I find more in some more then others but they all will be gone soon enough anyway so why bother hoping for something that will never come, meaning why hoping they will ever reach the quality bar they once reached on a daily basis.

I give Days credit. They are taking a risk and so far it's paying off. They are going to lose fans but they lost fans in the 80's when they pushed aside vets and they did the same in the 90's when they alienated long-term fans for JER's storytelling. It's going to happen. They banked on new fans and it worked the first two times and, so far, it's working this time. Who knows in the long run but, right now, Dena Higley and co can sit back and chuckle with the numbers they have, whether you like what is going on or not. Keep in mind I know ratings don't equate to quality but just stating the facts.

[Toups]

How an episode ends is important to me. I know it's not a big deal to most people, but I do look at tags, I look at episode breakdown, how the scenes flow, how the show is structured, basically how the episode is written.

So when things don't click, you bet I'm going to bitch about it.

Yeah, a cliffhanger justifies it, just like in 1994 when Marlena levitated.

Yeah, but audiences who knows the history knows who Steve/Kayla are. I never watched them in the 80's/90's but I did know some of their history, so that's why I wasn't too upset with them getting the final shot. But like I said, I would've prefered them getting the 2nd last shot.

All I'm looking for is for the show to be entertaining, which to me, it's not right now. If I think the show is good, I'll say it's good. Like from Oct 08 to Jan 09 - the show was picking up steam and the show was exciting again. Hogan/Ed finally had the show going up. Was I comparing the show to years past? Um, no. I was just enjoying the moment.

With fluctuating numbers? One week your 7th, then 3rd, then 6th, then 4th, then 7th, then 3rd, etc, etc..... Yeah, I wouldn't be sitting back and chuckling about that.

[PhoenixRising05]

Actually, for most of the year, Days has been the only show with a + next to them in terms of Vs where they were last year. They had great numbers the whole month of October and held a 2.0 through all of November. That and this month thay have seen nothing but increases in a time when they fired two big stars and in a time when very little in the way of major plot development has happened. Complaining on the boards has been on the rise for two months and the show has not gone below 2.0 and has gained in viewers during a time where stunts drive ratings and most other soaps see a - sign next to their name. So, yeah, I would chuckle. I would laugh out loud because somehow they are pulling this off and it's not because of a holiday.

I will just disagree and move on but I just had to make that point.

[Toups]

Yes, DAYS has been doing better these past couple of weeks, but let's take a look at this as a whole.

Dena's first "official" week: April 28 - May 2, 2008 (33 full weeks)

Number of weeks here total up to 32 because NBC didn't count 1 week in the weekly averages.

Total Viewers in the +'s vs last year: 19 weeks

Total Viewers in the -'s vs last year: 13 weeks

HH in the +'s vs last year: 9

HH in the -'s vs last year: 15

HH same vs last year: 8

W18-49 Rating in the +'s vs last year: 5

W18-49 Rating in the -'s vs last year: 23

W18-49 Rating same vs last year: 4

The big number here is Dena Higley having 23 out of her 32 weeks in the -'s in W18-49 demo which is DAYS' bread and butter.

Total Viewers is better but only by 6 weeks.

I wouldn't be laughing if I were Dena.

[PhoenixRising05]

True enough, Toups, but alot of that was due to Ed Scott's BS this summer too. Dena was getting great numbers during the strike. The show was still getting 2.2's into April. She had clear direction to her stories until May and he uprooted everything. Once he left and Tomlin and Whitesell came in, the show got direction again and that is when the numbers began to improve more consistently from that point on despite all the cuts and working around them. That is what I'm talking about and that is why I think the people at Days can laugh. If you look around the boards, people are complaining left and right yet the numbers have been going up or have been stable for two months now. That is something to hang their hat on, whether you or anyone else likes it or not.

Again, doesn't mean the quality is out of this world but it is what it is.

[JackPeyton]

lolz.

Sami & Rafe

[brimike]

I see both Toups' and PhoenixRising's points, and much like ABC's weekly press releases, numbers can be spun any way you want.

I'll say this much though - NOBODY at Days is laughing right now, or "sitting back", for that matter. And it's got nothing to do with ratings.

Always good to see you, Phoenix!! Miss you around these parts!

[Antoyne]

Loved Victor today...I really could just listen to John Aniston read the phone book and be entertained..Enjoying Brady vs. Phillip round whatever it is..At least they actually look related now with EM in the role.

[Toups]

Yeah, the Victor/Philip/Brady scenes were the best today. Victor doing Donald Trump was kinda funny.

I can't believe we're getting Max/Chelsea again. I'm starting to think they should just get rid of Max because they can't seem to pair him up with anyone else other than his nieces. What a waste of DB.

[SouthOfSoap]

I don't think that is telling in itself whether Dena has done well. Those numbers need to be compared against (a) Hogan Sheffer's run (b ) all the other soaps this year. Daytime is in serious decline and if Dena has managed better then the genre as a whole and stemmed the rate of decline of her predecessor, then she can at least smile, if not laugh.

Also, what is the similar stats for viewers in the W18-49 like, if I may please ask?

[Antoyne]

I'm not sure why they feel the need to keep Max in that age range to begin with...Has he ever even been chem. tested with Chloe? I'm just so confused as to why they think the only viable women for him are his nieces..and why the Brady clan has no problem with their brother blood or not, going back and forth between their daughters...