Members MarkH Posted October 12, 2009 Members Share Posted October 12, 2009 I can't tell you how much it warms my heart to see Maggie, just about every time I click past Soapnet when DOOL is on. Or Stefano/Victor. It makes the show feel familiar and welcoming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JackPeyton Posted October 12, 2009 Members Share Posted October 12, 2009 ITA! Its been great. I love that its happened and i dont care its because the show was "forced" into it by having no other vets. The show choose to feature these people as much as they have. Maggie is a major supporting character for the first time in 15+ years. She is involved in, well everything it seems. lol. I love that shes not just handing out menus anymore. She is a character. Sucks she doesnt have her own story, but really, i am more than willing to embrace this role. Its more than most 30+ year vets get on soaps. And the same goes for Victor. Then there is Stefano, what a change. No longer is he this cartoon. He has some depth and emotion and is real again. I am glad we got this. IMHO its better than John/Marlena doing the same story year after year and super couples from the 80's that dont work anymore being on the screen. the only soap using vets like days is Y&R and OLTL. Days may not have the amount of vets other soaps do, but the use of the vets outshines any other soap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gray Bunny Posted October 12, 2009 Members Share Posted October 12, 2009 WORD! I certainly wouldn't call DAYS terrible, but I definitely would not consider watching it day in and day out; there's just no action, no high stakes (that I care about), no real can't-miss moments. As you said, Salem is like a ghost town. Stefano is no bigger a threat than Victor, both of whom are just a broken hip away from a permanent relocation to a nursing home. I haven't watched DAYS on a regular basis since this past April, due partly to Soapnet's constant disruption of it; I didn't feel compelled to try to catch it at another time. But also, there's just no incentive to watch. Everything is so disjointed. Nicole's baby drama was intersting for the first couple months, but it kept on going... and her and EJ's relationship was always so volatile, you have to wonder why Nicole even continued with the scam. Why not "settle" for the bland but buff Brady? Elsewhere, the clusterf*ck that is Stephanie/Phillip/Melanie/Nathan is so uninteresting. Phillip's personality changes every week, Melanie is Chelsea 2.0, and Stephanie has shown no growth as a character (wasn't she brutally raped?) and the actress has no definitive characteristics that make her endearing. I must admit, if all 4 fell off a cliff a la Drucilla Winters, I wouldn't miss them one bit. Kate has been assassinated as a character to the point that jailtime is a MUST. Daniel is a one-note hornball in a doctor's coat. How many women has he boned since his arrival? It don't matter if she's 60 or 16, he'll do it. Why do Chloe and Daniel long to be together? The only reason we've seen is because they LOVE to have sex together. That is all. Then there is the other clusterf*ck known as Mia/Will/Chad/whoever else. I know there's some other teenybopper dayplayers sometimes featured (a present-day version of Mimi Lockhart or Jamie Caldwell's supporting roles as teen friends?) who don't have a real connection to the main players other than the newly recasted Will. Meanwhile, Sami's family is gone, except for an occasional stint from Roman or Caroline. Maggie, bless her heart, is front and center, but where is Mickey? I sure hope he still brings home the bacon because Maggie is still a freakin' VOLUNTEER at the hospital! I think another big problem is that all the recasts have allowed the characters' history to be swept aside. It's easy to forget that Brady used to be married to Chloe; that Brady and half-sister Sami used to despise each other; etc. There's been quite a bit of musical beds going on in the under 35 crowd, but they sweep their histories under the rug for their latest flavor of the week. (which reminds me, how many girls did Max go through?) I'm really hoping the return of Carly and Vivian will jolt my interest, but their mere presence won't be enough... there has to be good story and great interaction with the appropriate characters. If Vivian starts helping Chad get Mia back, I'll give up altogether Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gray Bunny Posted October 12, 2009 Members Share Posted October 12, 2009 Also, DAYS' production values are still decent... but we're slowly seeing some GL circa 2005-2007 production values creep in... The Salem pier and the Salem park have become communal gatherings, much like a stage play where one set of characters exit left while the next set enter right. It's very "Main Street" or the outside of Company. In fact, the Salem pier has mysteriously grown in space so that many characters can be featured at the same time. Much like how the exterior of Company would be renovated over night. And this past week when I actually caught an episode, I noticed that DAYS' audio department is slacking much like GL's did in their final years... it was DEAD SILENT on the pier. Gone were the sounds of lapping waters, chiming bells, foghorns or any other distinctive sounds that let viewers know they're standing on a pier along the waterfront. Whenever you're in an outside setting, there must be ambient sound of some sort to help establish the setting. Sorry, just the film/tv maker in me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted October 12, 2009 Members Share Posted October 12, 2009 Probably the same reason she wanted Brady when he was in love with Chloe, or why she still wanted Eric after he had moved on. I think she wants what she can't have, because deep down she feels like she's worthless. The money and name probably don't hurt either. That's the way all the soaps are going to be if they stay around. Production values don't bother me that much although I know they're a dealbreaker for many. I guess I am still gunshy from the glorious Conboy production values that had horrible storylines going hand in hand. I do agree with a lot of what you said, although I don't mind that Victor and Stefano are older and still villains. They do need younger villains, but I hated the attempts at villain Tony and I hated the psycho EJ stuff even more. I guess they need to bring in a long-term dark male character. Like what Lawrence was years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JackPeyton Posted October 12, 2009 Members Share Posted October 12, 2009 I get a lot of what our saying, but as you admitted you dont watch every day. because there is a lot of details you seem to be missing and only know the overall story. You also admit to there being high stakes, just ones you dont care about. And you say Salem ios a ghost town but then mention plenty of vets and long time characters that are being featured now more than ever. i do however totally agree with you about Kate. her time has come. it came years ago. she needs to go. and i do wish Caroline & Roman were being used more but i am enjoying the Sami/Brady/bo/stephanie scenes we are getting. But i think the show has taken focus of the Bradys and im ok with that as they have placed it onto the Hortons and DiMeras and Kiriakis'. The Bradys dominated this show for far too long IMHO. Also, there is a lot more that goes into philip/melanie/stephanie/nathan that you didnt mention. the foundation has been set for months here. and yes its quad where the pairings are interchangeable, anyone can be with anyone, and thats kind of the point. stepahnie & philip have this long history and its messy between them but they love eachother, philip wouldnt mind a girl like melanie who is more care free, and melanie wouldnt mind a man like philip. then there is charming nathan that both girls have fallen for and he likes them both back. i find it interesting, esp when you add in Bo, Victor, and Maggie to the mix with their thoughts and views. then the will/chad/mia thing is very limited, its perhaps a b story at most 3 times a week. and the other teens you rbing up are not suposed to matter, they are only there so that the three of the teens the show does feature can have scenes with people besides eachother. its a dayplayer. nothing more. I really dont get what you said about Melanie not growing as a character. 90% of posters in the days threads comment on how much she has grown and how much she has changed. Also, maggie horton is a volunteer at the hospital? yes, on the side. but she owns multiple restaurants around salem. Mickey isnt on because JC retired and the show tried recasting and it failed. They really need to kill him off but at this point i guess they are just going with the "hes at work" or "he went out of town" way, lame. but i would prefer it over another recast. Its not easy to forget Brady was married to Chloe, because they mention it. Its been brought up multiple times in the past few weeks. Same with Philip & Chloe's history. They also had mentioned Sami & Brady hating each other and how they have let that go. The show also seems to use any past sexual encounter between characters for drama. They dont sweep it under the rug, aside from ones that should be like Nicole/Roman. And Max only went through 5 girls in the 4 years he was on the show. Chelsea, Abby, Mimi, Morgan, and Stephanie. and i believe he only slept with two of them. I just love all the character interaction and i think that getting rid of characters that held that back was great. I dont care if it was done because they had too. I dont care if the reason Sami or Stephanie turn to Bo or Caroline is because the show got rid of Kayla and Marlena. I like it. The interactions have been amazing. Salem feels like a community. I love never knowing who might end up with who next. The show use to isolate everyone into age groups. But its just different strokes for different folks. If you dont take the time to watch the show you wont care about the characters and if you dont care about the characters you wont care about the story and if you dont care about the story you wont care about the show. Im not saying that you or anyone else who doesnt enjoy the show doesnt see what i see or doesnt have every right to hate what you see. But the show wont please everyone ever. I love this thread tho. its nice reading everyones different opinions. Oh and as for production values, i dont mind them. Days had never been super awesome with its values. and operating under such a small budget i am more than willing to accept community places and living room sets only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vee Posted October 12, 2009 Members Share Posted October 12, 2009 The problem (and for some people, the boon) is Days has such a small, tight-knit grouping of characters now, either new people or longtime characters who have been mostly relatively divested of their families. The ensemble feels like that of a half-hour soap. And yes, maybe that can be considered healthy for show or story, but it doesn't feel very textured, in-depth or exciting onscreen. It feels stripped and compressed. Phillip, Melanie and Stephanie in a love roundelay with only Victor and Maggie to shake their heads and cluck their tongues - who cares? That could go around and around and it always is the same, like a sitcom, like Saved By The Bell. Sami and Rafe, talking to...who about their problems? Relating with which family? Brady and, uh, Maggie again? Stefano, the big bad of Salem, reduced to essentially playing a slightly more cross Emma Snyder for EJ? And now we hear Carly and Vivian's story may revolve around more random new people, none of whom may even be a Nikki Alamain! The thing is, it would not take much to perk the show up. Simple things, like letting Stephanie's parents appear on recurring and get involved to open up a story, or letting Will go bad and ally himself with Stefano against his mother over some tiff. Open Melanie up and let her do more than hang with the same five people. Let Chloe be a vixen and get involved with Phillip and Brady, who can find a purpose again being pitted against the DiMeras (who he is kin to). Let Carly and Vivian play with grown-ups, and not just fight over the young kids - that's all everyone is doing, is clucking over kids. And Daniel Jonas, of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gray Bunny Posted October 12, 2009 Members Share Posted October 12, 2009 Completely off-topic from the original discussion, but I sure wish Melissa Reeves (ex-Jennifer) would relocate back to L.A. purely for selfish reasons of my own as a viewer. She was the epitome of Horton goodness; the next Horton woman to take the torch from Alice (I don't discredit Maggie, but Jenn was pure Horton; not married into it). If we had another long-time Horton back onscreen, and shift the focus of Hope's roots to her Horton side, we could have that Horton feeling back. Have Doug & Julie move in to Alice's house and look after her. Yeah, we won't see Alice, but they should make use of the Horton house set; it's been there since Day One! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted October 12, 2009 Members Share Posted October 12, 2009 I think Melissa said recently she might be willing to return to DAYS. I just wonder if they could afford her, or if viewers could accept her without Jack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gray Bunny Posted October 12, 2009 Members Share Posted October 12, 2009 That's because I said *Stephanie*, not Melanie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gray Bunny Posted October 12, 2009 Members Share Posted October 12, 2009 I would accept her sans Jack in a heartbeat! For me, "Jack & Jenn" was all about Jenn. Hell, Mark Valley could reprise the role and I would be fine as long as Missy Reeves was back as our dear Jennifer Rose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted October 12, 2009 Members Share Posted October 12, 2009 What about the blonde Jack who wore those tight blue jeans and seemed like he was on his way to a gay porn movie? Would you accept him? No, seriously, if the price is right, then I think they would be smart to bring her back, if they know what to do with her. I think both she and Jack might have been better off in stories of their own anyway, at least after it became clear the only story DAYS would give them was Jack being killed/dying and being presumed dead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soapfan770 Posted October 12, 2009 Members Share Posted October 12, 2009 Hmm maybe Days has enough money to spare to hire either Dax Griffin and Liza Huber or Christopher Douglas and Kam Heskin to play Jack and Jennifer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vee Posted October 12, 2009 Members Share Posted October 12, 2009 I wasn't aware Missy Reeves had escaped Scott's panic room and was being allowed to walk amongst the public again off a leash. I'd always love to have her back. Failing that, there's absolutely no reason not to reintroduce Jack, Abby and possibly a young JJ. Imagine the tortured dynamic of Abby trying to live a normal life with mischief-maker/antihero Jack getting into trouble all over Salem. They played him very goofy in later years, but Matt Ashford's bone-chilling OLTL stint proved he can play anything and Jack should be restored as a gray, sly and ambiguous mover and shaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted October 12, 2009 Members Share Posted October 12, 2009 I heard she mentioned this in a recent interview. I'd love to see Matt Ashford again on some soap. DAYS really destroyed Jack during the Reilly years, I'm not sure if they can ever go back, but he's a great actor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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