Jump to content

DAYS: Thaao Penghlis attacks the late James E. Reilly


Recommended Posts

  • Replies 127
  • Created
  • Last Reply
  • Administrator

Wow....first Hitler....now Manson........yeah....let's mention Reilly, who was just a freakin soap opera writer, in the same breath as those guys. Wow. <_<

Anyway, you guys can say anything you want about Reilly's work. But sometimes it's good to be tactful.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

LOL are you for real? There's more to life than money....

Just reading that made me feel sorry for you. JERk had his millions but in the end they didn't prevent him from dying did they? And what good will all that cash do for him now?

I'd rather have true love than all the millions in the world.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

SteveFrame, as always, is spot on.

Part of any reasonable discussion of soap history weighs up the positives and negatives of the legacies writers and producers leave to Daytime.

Both Gloria Monty and James E. Reilly warrant such examination, because they both brought a sense of excitement to Daytime and made their shows "must-see TV". However, they also had a deeply negative effect on Daytime that has culminated in the genre being in the pitiful state it is in today.

Monty's action-oriented plot-driven drama and the supercouple phenomenon brought up ratings, but it also had the effect of creating a new trend in Daytime- that people were watching shows only for their favourite characters and couples, and not for the show. And because of this, shows are held to ransom by rabid fanbases- something which Days in particular suffers from. You can see that shows all began copying each other as a result, with the notable exception of Y&R and a few others.

Reilly, on the other hand, began with some over-the-top but not wholly unrealistic storylines like getting buried alive (because you can get buried alive in real life!), but once the Possession storyline captured attention, the stakes rose.

To me, and many others, Reilly's legacy really did tremendous damage to Daytime.

Soaps used to strive to better themselves in terms of acting and critical acclaim, they strove to gain wider respect- which is what Y&R and AMC in particular were always very good at doing back in the day. The realism, social relevance and character development of Y&R were the main reasons the show stayed on top all those years. But the sensationalism, shock value and downright stupidity that consumed Daytime since the 90s and into the 00s has only destroyed the genre, because the stakes in those things are so high, and there are so many risks taken, that you have people coming in to see your latest stupid stunt and then once the novelty value wears off and reality bites, they leave in droves.

Soap viewers are an intelligent and informed lot with the memories of elephants. They don't like their intelligence being insulted. That's why the constant returns from the dead, undoing of history, far-out plots and stunts, etc can only get you so far. Hard-hitting realistic drama resonates far better with ordinary people.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I have to say I found the whole Melaswen story with the force fields and cliff hangers and sword fights and magnetic floors, and John and Brady being sucked into a giant fan and a skeleton with a cigar in his mouth to be a lot of fun. It was certainly better than anything GH, the award winning drama, was churning out with their umpteenth gang war. I don't think you can ever blame someone for wanting to create interest. Someone who creates interest is someone who wants to hook you and engage you and make you want to see more. That's not someone that's insulting me. The one who insults me is the writer who doesn't care his work is dull, typical and uninteresting and isn't willing to work for my attention. JER, crazy stories and all, never rested on his laurels during that period. He gave you an island surrounded by a force field, and then said "you ain't seen nothing yet" and had then had people run into a tidal wave. Then he said "tidal wave shmidal wave, I am gonna take half the people hostage in a castle for months. And then as soon as Marlena gets rescued, I am gonna give her amnesia, and bring back Wayne Northrop, and then I am gonna give the show this, and this, and this, and I am not gonna go with everyone else and give you a wedding where nothing happens...I am gonna have someone ride their motorcycle right through the stained glass window."

Was it all good? No, obviously not. But he tried. He tried to present something for the audience to watch, be it Jan Spears, or the Gloved Hand, or Marlena killing people, or 3 Romans on the show at once or whatever. TP is right in his criticisms of JER making it into a cartoon, but there is nothing inherently inferior about cartoons or genre fantasy or any of it. Was Dark Shadows insulting too? Now GH, that's insulting. Guiding Light and their amateurish production values--that's insulting. Someone trying to be sensational and saying "I want you to watch this" is not insulting me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrator

What? You didn't think mentioning Reilly in the same breath as hitler or Manson wasn't low? And to still call him a "JERk"? It's like, what did he personally do you ("you" as in people in general)? Oh yeah, he just wrote "bad" soap opera. You guys don't feel bad at all that he's dead? If Bob Guza died (just using him as an example of a writer whose writing I dislike), I don't think I can call him "Guza the Luza" again. Sure, I'll still say that I hated his work, but I'd do it in a "tactful" way. These people are just writers - they never hurt anyone, they never ruined anyone's life.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.



  • Recent Posts

    • That would require Dani to think about someone/something other than herself.. and we all know Dani only thinks about Dani.  Including her butting into Nicole's business instead of just being a supportive sister.
    • I also hope there will be a follow up to Dani noticing Vanessa with Joey. We need another scene of them two together. And does Dani have any knowledge of Vanessa's affairs?
    • One of the soap greats. I wish I had a stronger connection to her, but her major soap stints passed me by. However, the way veteran watchers have described watching her back in the day makes me yearn for the glory days of soap. As a DAYS fan first, her time on the show is basically an enigma. As years have passed as a member of this board, previous and current members have talked in fondness about her obviously major story with Dickie and David's death, but even more interestingly, her romance/friendship with Bill, and the fascinating tangled tale of her encounter in the park with Eric Peters. It's such a shame DAYS never swayed her back home where she belonged. Though I am more than thankful RC and JG didn't get their grubby paws on her, especially with the horrible example of how they saw fit to write Marie and Liz's relationship with all the nuance and sophistication of a pigpen.  SSH's remembrance of her was wonderful to read, so thank you to whoever posted. Could be cool too if any of her Clear Horizon material popped up. Does anything of that show exist?
    • All this! Especially the highlighted. If today was any indication to what's to come, I see Mona and Shanice roles being beefed up. I personally think they are going to test her out with Doug.  I initially didn't see it for Kat, since the Eva reveal, and few of her scenes around it. Made me warm to her for some reason. 
    • Agreed, pretty much with everything. The dialogue bugs the hell out of me. I don’t think a lot of it even works written out on a page, much less spoken. Even a veteran like TT can’t help but sound stagey with such purple prose. Re: the Duprees. I’m guessing that they’re holding their cards close to their vest on them for the various mysteries that will unfold, but I wish they weren’t so opaque and tonally weird as characters, especially in these make-or-break early days. (One reason why I wish they’d give up on keeping secrets from the audience and just allow them to speak freely, allowing the tension to come from what other characters don’t know.) Dani is giving Carly Corinthos realness, which isn’t a compliment. Oh, don’t get me started on the Black male characters and the tropes they’ve employed thus far. I had hoped a Black-created, NAACP-co-produced soap would be more cognizant of these traps, but nope. At least it seems like they’re playing the long game with Andre and Dani after all this feening over basic Ashley.
    • I feel like the reason they went with these two stories is because these are common stories told on soaps that allowed them to really tie the entire canvas in and help develop their relationships. I do understand the implications of having two cheating stories and these being Black characters but MVJ has always been clear that she wanted to show us the same way characters are featured on any soap. I don't think any story should be off limits just because the majority of the characters are Black. We have several positive representations of Black men so it's not like everybody is a cheater or a bad spouse. I also think the two stories and relationships are different enough that the stories don't feel similar in any way.
    • Well, on that point, I am one fan, and I know I'm not alone in this, who thinks that it is possible to have a time or times on a show where the ratings do not reflect the show's popularity & I think that is because it is possible for the metric to be broken. 
    • The Anita scene with Ted was written all wrong. Dani should have come in like she did, all guns blazing, with Anita showing up and ushering Dani out, as she stays alone with Ted. He's ready for more fury, but at first she treats him like her son, not just some man Nicole married, she's confused and heartbroken, needing explanation. Then, she drops the motherload and tells him to get his damn act together like she did. Anita came off completely one-note. And with both Dani and Anita in the scene, the self-righteousness just made both look like harridans who wouldn't shut the hell up. Very disappointed in that scene. The scene with Eva was much better. It could be good if somehow Vernon starts to soften towards her and that puts the first signs of strife into their marriage. We need something interesting to happen with them, for once. Mona was the MVP today for me. I love Leslie and especially Eva, but I was firmly on Mona's side today. She deserved to get her two cents in. The scenes just left me wanting more of her and her inner life. They should really drop Ashley, Derek, and Tomas and put Mona, Laura, and Shanice on contact stat! I don't get why Leslie continued to lie about where she got the money Ted gave her though? What purpose would that serve? Faint hopes that Mona would still forgive her, I guess? Kat really gets some of the best lines. Through all the bitchiness and judgment, she has a talent at keeping me on side because somehow she's never come across unlikable to me, where someone like Dani, even Anita, falls. The scene with her, Martin, and Nicole was a necessity. Things are coming together to making that part of the family feel more like a family. Now I anxiously await Kat and Ted having a one on one confrontation. It would be perfect if it happened to be in the new Ted's first scene/episode.
    • They’ve been really nailing the fall out super well and your whole post really highlights some of the great parts and ramifications we’re seeing.
    • I like that this episode highlighted the ramifications of what Eva and her rotten mama did. They were so focused on Ted and Nicole, not even realizing that other people would be affected. Eva thought nothing of what she did to Mona bc she was sure no on would hold anything against her but Mona is right in that they ruined her reputation with the Duprees. They dont blame her but they will likely never trust her judgement again. She has to walk by them feeling the guilt and shame that she'll never live down bc she unknowingly played a role in the hell that was unleashed. Not to mention the trauma and trust issues she no has bc she genuinely viewed Leslie as a friend   And poor Laura nearly died when she had that car accident and then had a heart attack and infection bc she was poisond. She's been recuperating for 3 months. She missed her trip to Hawaii and no idea what impact this has done on her relationship and her own plans but no on was thinking about that.   Eva and Leslie need to be made to feel like ish bc this was bigger than just Ted and Nicole
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy