DAYS: Discussion for the month of March

[Toups]

Discussion for the month of March

[Antoyne]

For the first time in a while I'm pumped for Days on Monday!

Is it bad that I'm not feeling the loss of J&M or S&K?...Like at all..I honestly feel with the exception of a few who I won't name, the actors who are left have stepped their games up and have adjusted nicely to their positions as the shows new leads..I'm excited to see how this new Will performs..I personally didn't hate the old, i was quite indifferent to him, but hey recasts happen?

[DaytimeFan]

I don't feel the J&M or S&K losses either. At all. Zippo, Zilch, Nada.

I agree, the actors who have pushed to the front, well most of them, have done great work.

I mean, Suzanne Rogers has had actual work to do! Sensational!

[Antoyne]

Yes MAGGIE!

Yes KATE!!

[Antoyne]

OmyGod..

Stefano/Victor/Kate in one scene!! Yes! Yes!

[quartermainefan]

That would truly be a triangle from hell. Poor Kate, one guy is the psychotic murderer who places your mind on a DVD, and the other one is the world's crankiest murderer who rips your head off if you say hello wrong. Not that they would have it so easy with her, considering if you piss her off she vows to inflict mental suffering on you.

Yeah, Days needs to pursue this because it would be fun.

[JackPeyton]

Rafe/Sami/EJ/Nicole/Brady & Daniel/Chloe/Lucas w/ Kate, Maggie, and Victor throwen in is fantastic.

Still love Philip & Stephanie too.

Like the nuWill. I hope he hooks up with Mia.

I couldnt agree more.

[SouthOfSoap]

Besides Roman, Abe & Lexie, Tony (not for long), Caroline & Alice - who else is on the backburner? Its laughable but because the cast size is relatively small we get to see all the characters on a fairly regular basis - most balanced the soap has been in years!! lol

[Cat]

I watched Thursday's episode and it was actually... OK. I thought because it was Hackley, it would be a hot mess. But I am liking the different friendships and relationships criss-crossing about the canvas. Like, for example, Hope went from scenes with Bo, to Max, to that surfer doctor I cannot stand. I assume he's the one Bo has been dreaming is making love to his wife?

Arianne Zucker... I mean, I'm sure y'all are sick of her because she's probably on every day. I just watched Thursday so I can say that I love her as a lead actress. She exudes charisma. Don't know what's going on with all the babies but I'm assuming she switched Sami's for hers and... why?

I'm psyched because I hear that the Kiriakises may be back as a core family on the show. I will say that this does NOT feel like the Days I know and recognise. It feels like a Days spin-off, or a streamlined Days. Something is missing, and some of these youngsters are all very new to me. That Melanie chick looks like she is wearing a wig cast off from Mad Men. They don't have my heart and, consequently, some of the heart feels like it is missing from the show. Not that J&M and S&K necessarily had that heart... it was part of a whole, you know? But maybe Days needed to shed some of its burden of history in order to move forward? And I say this as somebody who loved both vet couples back in the day and look back on Days with rose-tinted nostalgia.

Still -- as a stand-alone, it was a watchable episode. Now I'm going to wash my mouth out with soap.

[JackPeyton]

That is actually what has me loving days right now. Everyone pretty much has a relationship - and scenes - with almost everyone else. Brady & Nicoles friendship is great as is hers with Chloe. Maggie's interaction in the Daniel/Chloe/Lucas storyline has been great. Melanie & Maggie are always fun together. Philip & Brady & EJ all fighting with eachother. And so much more. Salem actually feels like a community now.

Ari is.... good. She is overexposed and overused, but with Ali being gone so much in the past few months i undertsand it. Now that shes back there seems to be a balance between Chloe, Sami, and Nicole as lead's.

As for the baby - Nicole was prego by EJ - as was Sami. Sami kept hers a secret and then went into the wtiness protection program. Nicole lost her baby and faked the rest of her term and was going to adopt Mia's baby. Then she found out Sami was prego by EJ and planned on giving the baby up - so Nicole had Dr baker switch the babies. Now Nicole has EJ & Sami's baby and the Nun's have Mia's baby. Now idk whats gonna happen from this point on but i think it would be smart to pair Mia up with Will. Then let the truth come out.

Victor, Brady, and Philip have been used so well. I am loving it. I just wish Bo had more scenes with them - Chelsea too for that matter.

[Jane1978]

The one thing I really like now the show is very dynamic. The neverending days are back, but most of the characters are moving from scene to scene during an episode so it´s not so glaring as when JER wrote the show.

In some ways it´s really funny because with the limited number of sets the characters are cyrcling the same places days in days out and the show seems to totally ignore the fact there should be some traveling distances between the places, so the characters are able to get anywhere between segments, Maggie´s farmhouse and Horton´s cabin included. Still, it´s much better than when the characters used to spend an entire episode (or more episodes) on the same set, rehashing the same things with the same characters.

[JackPeyton]

I agree.

Days are long now, however they are moving. There is a morning, afternoon, evening, night. They work the hell out of the few sets they have (Bo's house, Maggie's House, The Di Mansion, The Cop Shop, Brady Pub, Cheatin Heart, A Titan Hallway & Office, The apartment hall & one room, and Sami's condo are about all there is). But they make it work. Your are right tho, its as if all these places are next door to eachother, but that doesnt bother me.

I also like how they focus on pretty much 2 stories a day.

[Cat]

I have to say, they really do make some of the sets look great. Bo & Hope's living room looks like it has acres of space. And Days is also a soap that has bedrooms (or at least a close-up shot of a couple in bed) so that none of the Love in the Afternoon stuff is sacrificed. Ed Scott really trained the crew well because most things tend to be lit beautifully, with everybody bathed in balmy, golden light.

And the incidental music also gives the show some of the plushness it no longer has.

I still live in fear that Higley will bring down Days's house of cards, though. She is one lucky hack thus far, thanks to the ratings -- but karma can be a bitch.

[SouthOfSoap]

I'm not convinced Hackley is writing this - well, maybe she is writing the Bo/Hope story. I am enjoying the storylines too much to believe she is responsible for it. I think Whitesell & Tomlin are driving the story.

[Jane1978]

Actually, the bedrooms returned with Gary Tomlin. And he is also the reason why there are some more sets used per day now, even with the budget being so small. I quess his Passions days really tought him how to squeeze maximum from the small money and limited studio space. For example, with Scott there was usually only Brady Pub, forcing characters from different storyline discussing things on the same set. There was also no workplaces, no living room for Morgan and a lot of times no cop shop as well.

I mean, Scott made some really great things like the plane crash, but I quess he really wasn´t used to work under the severely limited condition DAYS has now. He never worked anywhere but Y/R and that´s like a completely different universe.

Tomlin made some really good decisions regard the show´s logistic, so even with the limited sets stories can be told properly. Some sets like the Cheating Heart, the Pier or the Park are now smaller and reshaped, but they look like permanent so they can be used anyday needed. The Titan lobby looks to be permanent as well, even if they had to strip down some addition parts like the elevator. And of course the Hospital reception is completely remodeled.