DAYS: Thaao Penghlis attacks the late James E. Reilly

[FrenchFan]

I agree with Toups. A dead people has to be respected. You can hate JER's work (I do, really do) but call him names now that he's dead is not a god thing to do. By the way, I still think he was a nice man (from what I've read)...I have never thought I would defend him someday ^^

[Kstaff]

Somehow the logic in all this is backwards. It's OK to call someone names while they're still alive to hear it, but not OK once they're dead and they CAN'T hear it?

I think Thaao was spot on, and he was giving an opinion of the man's work. He didn't call him any names. It's absolutely hiliarious how angelic people suddenly become when they've passed on. Yes, Reilly was a man. No, Thaao didn't call him names. Good grief, Frances Reid raked Reilly over the coals, and no one is calling her arrogant. The thing is....she did it while the man was still alive. That's the only difference.

I don't know what the man was like personally. I do know there was some of his stuff I liked and some I abhorred. But, I didn't have to work with his work or put up with it. I would give actors like Thaao, with years under their belts, some credit for knowing about which they speak.

By the way, Manson's not dead yet.

And Marlena, how many times have you sat down and talked with Thaao? Just out of curiosity, since you seem to be so infuriated with him.

[All My Shadows]

Well, to completely honest, I don't see how it's ever right to call writers and other PTB names, whether they're dead or alive. In some cases, the person might have given interviews in which they've done themselves no favors (Brian Scott Frons, I am talking to YOU, mmkay?), but most of the time, I don't see how it's really warranted. I never did like people referring to ATWT's Passanante as "Pissanante" because it's really...just pointless and childish, I guess? It's silly to say that those names shouldn't be used just because they're dead. Those names also shouldn't be used when they are alive.

Ooooooh, I completely forgot all about that. It's so easy to forget PC's existence. Ridiculously easy.

[Vee]

I do not respect 'a dead people' like Hitler, sorry.

Not that JERk is Hitler, but we've been over this.

[pamela1965]

thaao is right and i support him !!

[MarkH]

Please take this as a joke...I don't think DaytimeFan will EVER stop calling LML "Hack Bitch From Hell"

I totally agree on the bolded part above.

Indeed, I believe that it diminishes the credibility of all soap fans when this occurs. I also agree that I am not sure death is a relevant dividing line, but I think name calling is ... well ... I want to say 'immature', but I don't want to be insulting ... at any time.

[marceline]

Well getting back to Penghlis, I think he's perfectly within his rights to say what ever he wants and to be judged for it. IMO Reilly's death is still a little fresh for some. He could've been a little more sensitive. But I'd hardly constitute this as an "attack." The subject line made it sound like Penghlis was digging up the man's grave and screaming obscenities.

I know I'm a broken record on this but Victoria Rowell, Cady McClain, now Penghlis...I for one welcome this trend toward honesty or venting if that's what you want to call it. It gives the audience a chance to judge for themselves.

[Mitch]

Hmm, I call that throwing anything at the wall and seeing if it sticks. So what, there is a tidal wave (off camera) so what, Marlena is brutally murdering people (but not really), so what if we see non actors Hogysten and whatever his name was stuck to the floor, none of it made any freakin' sense! All of it was thrown at the audience but none of it came together. You can be as outrageous as you want to be but you have to connect the dots and it must make sense...within the world that the writer created. I dont get why people think he is such a creative writer when he just pulled things out of his ass (for what it is worth, I never saw his first run on Days that people laud) Like we havent seen islands before on a soap??? (also for what it is worth I thought that the island was a much more entertaining part of the story then the murders which got monotonous.)

And what was the one thing he forgot to throw at the wall, any sort of human emotion..(true I know its hard to have any emotion when your lead actors for the storyline are the robotic Hogysten and the Fembot Hall..but the supporting people were good to go..) A great writer could have taken this storyline where two families were attacked from one of their own, and spun it into a epic story where friends turn against friends in their suspicioun, and where people act out in ways (good and bad )they never would have if they werent under attack. Murders came and went so fast and so many that the characters and the audience were bored with it. I think that is the difference between good fantasy like Dark Shadows, which, for the most part, created a world where the rules were followed and the characters acted consistent and as normal (in a soap sense) as one would in their world.

From what I saw of JER is that he was lazy and sloppy..and yes, kind of mean spirited (in his writing.) He reminds me a lot of his fan, Krazy David Kreizman who dropped storylines in the middle, didnt pump them for their full emotional impact and went back and contradicted himself over and over again while trying to "shock," the audience.

Speaking of GL, I will take their production proceess if they continue to treat their audience with respect and provide us with emotional satisfying stories rich in history like they have the last two weeks. Phillip comes home while filmed in Peapack trumps all of JER's shitty plot twists which make no sense filmed on Days overly dark sets, any day.

However, while I thought the Passions he/she storyline was boring (I think it touched on way too many of JER"s uh, issues, for him to wring every bit of sleaze out of it he could) I did like "some," of Passions which I did think was making fun of soaps in a "we love this stuff cause its so stupid," way. It just never gelled enough to sustain interest.

[Dr Neil Curtis]

i agree with you about the name calling, but personally I don't think people who never like the guy's work should feel bad about his death. Really and truly we suppose to rejoice when people leave the world and cry when they come in, according to the Holy Bible. James fanbase is just as large as the people who detest his work. I for one, liked some of his writing, but when people bring up his "great" writing they always bring up his 90's work: Possession, Maison Blanche, Aremid, The Secret Room, Eileen Davidson to the fifth power, etc.

[juniorz1]

Yeah, the Girls 12-17 demo. Just the demo advertisers want- part-time McDonalds drive-thru workers.

Wait a minute. Sadly, at the time, that was true!

[Angela]

Bringing up serial killers in the same breath of a controversial head writer is a bit much. There's pure evil and mass murder and there's just somebody being "bad" at their job. I don't think it's completely off limits to criticize a dead person, I just think it should be done in a somewhat more respectful manner particularly if the person is not what we estimate as evil (I think JER was the grandfather of the destruction of daytime but I don't think he was evil). Giving them some credit before or after you talk about what they screwed up on. Personally, I'd have respected the insults or honest criticism more if it came while the person was alive. That's really where chutzpah (msp) comes in.

93-96, he was pretty good and normal. Buried Alive. Maison Blanche. Aremid. Gothic, really nice stories and very eye-catching. I don't know where I'd categorize Possession, probably with the good, but it was also probably the jump the shark moment.

[jimmyk311]

Why is it you knuckleheads on these soap boards putting y'all panties in a bunch and fuzzing when an actor is speaking the facts? I mean, it's ridiculous.

I guess soap news must be really slow these days?

Currently, with the way the daytime genre is and the hungry to find honestly in this genre, why are we having bitch fights over an actor's opinion on a person, whether they're alive or dead? Thaao was asked a question and he answered it; Why get mad over that? Just because a soap star is being frank dosen't make them bitter or unprofessional. People need to take a tic tac and go to the gym once in a while.

Thaao is looking at DOOL and daytime from for his POV and I agree with him on a couple of things.

Even thought people such JER and Monty did helped and fu#$ked up daytime in a lot of ways, the blame should also go the execs and owners as well for not being preparing to have people ready to take over their spots or take dayime soaps to the next level.

Just because a person is gone doesn't erased what they did good or bad in their lives or career. Soap fans need to face facts; daytime writers, to name a few, such as JER, Higley, screwed actors out of storylines, awards and jobs because of their egos and daytime execs, such as Corday and Frons fired seasoned actors to push their "youth marketing" to viewers and pleased their egos as well.

Soap fans need to stop kissing ass and jumping to conclusions like Nelson Branco and do research before we rant and rave.

[Rakesh]

We're speaking our minds just like you and others. I for one don't kiss anyone's ass. I speak my mind, if you don't like it, deal with it. But that doesn't mean that people can't reply to my opinions and speak their minds. By the way, Thaoo is the ass kisser here. He knows damn well he cannot insult Corday or his ass will never live to see any 'Days.' I'm sure his astrologist told him that too!

[juniorz1]

People, people Please! This has gone on long enough. I'm sorry, but I'm with the camp that doesn't understand all the outrage. So JER is dead- that doesn't mean people can't criticize his writing style or his effect on the genre. It's not as though Thaao accused him of child molestation.

[detroitpiston]

Amen!