Is Gary Tomlin responsible for the DAYS surge?

[DRW50]

I think they're afraid of rocking the boat. They may also not want to harken back to the Reilly DAYS, which he generally pulled off, but which may be seen as a bad imitation if they do it.

[Toups]

I think Tomlin's trying a different approach this time. Sunset Beach only last 3 years and he didn't last long at OLTL (about 2.5-3 years).

[bellcurve]

I think that's what's missing for me, in terms of me seeing what everyone else sees in DAYS. I don't think DAYS needs to go overboard with the camp(i.e. recasting Celeste with Joyce Guy or something like that), but DAYS used to be such a fun, interesting show to watch that it still seems so out of place to see these scenes without anything fun happening. And Tomlin has his Ph.D. in Soap Opera Camp.

Frankly, I find the show boring as hell. But if this works for the fans, then go for it.

I've seen bits and pieces of it and I'm SO happy they at least did something with that drab hospital set. Also, is Melanie a nurse?! Really?! I like the young guy who plays Mia's baby daddy. He has alot of presence. I still think they need to recast Will. That guy is terrible. And come on- is Ari Zuker gaining weight or do the DAYS hair and wardrobe people really hate her?!

[DRW50]

The hair and wardrobe aren't very good, but she's about to go on maternity leave.

[bellcurve]

Oh sh*t! I missed the memo! LOL.

[DRW50]

I do think they could do more. There's some with Melanie, who is unintentionally campy almost all the time, and there's some good stuff with Kate/Stefano. Possibly with Vivian too. Unfortunately it's so difficult to do camp.

[Guest dc cubs]

I agree about the humor. Days needs more of it right now. Having Vivian back on the show could help with that but I don't want them to go overboard. Towards Vivian's last run on the show she was used mostly for comic relief and it demeaned the character.

Here's a quote from Louise Sorel in her TV Guide interview with Michael Logan.

TV Guide Interview with Louis Sorel

[Sindacco]

Wait, you like the new hospital set more than the old one? I hate the new one with those ugly orange/brown walls. Or new and new, it's been there for almost a year now.

[bellcurve]

I like the brown walls mixing with the green from the previous set. I feel like the old set was too green.

And no one bothered mentioning how Melanie became an insta-nurse. Did the show even explain it?

[PhoenixRising05]

She's not a nurse. She's a nursing student. She started out as a candy striper and slowly came to like what she was doing and, eventually, enrolled in nursing school. The show has even shown her studying and has had Nathan helping her study. It's actually been a nice progression.

[bellcurve]

Fair enough. Thanks for the info!

[juniorz1]

That Louise is a true gem. I admit I giggled remembering and visualizing Vivian dressed up as Elvis. Priceless.

And Carl- I don't think Melanie's brand of camp is unintentional. I think Burnett plays it exactly how Tomlin & the directors want her to. IMO, she's one of the most watchable parts of the show and definitely the show's only interesting ingenue.

[Shylock]

I tuned back into Days a few days ago and it was the same non stop garbage-fest that it has been. There's no real feel of purpose or importance to what they're doing.

And firing Steve and Kayla was the worst move they could have done, because there was still a story to tell with Lawrence Alamain who, apparently, is now dead.

And this surge? It did 2.4's when Ed Scott had full control in that month of August. And the show was riveting then and had a sense of direction. Then that got cut short. It's sad he didn't get to do what he wanted, because they very well could be in the 2.5 range about now. Instead it's the same 2.0 to 2.2's they were doing at the beginning of last year with the NuJohn stuff. This whole "surge" crap is overblown.

[JackPeyton]

I couldnt agree more.

There is a scene from months ago where Stephanie calls her a whore and Molly played it with zero camp, at all. It was pure raw emotion. The hurt, the pain, the shock, and knowing it was true. Fantastic scene.

Molly herself is very light and bubbly and bouncy tho, and a lot of that does come through in melanie, but she can play it without that.

[UKBoi]

Huge unpopular opinion here, but I think Molly Burnett is one of the big highlights of the series for me. I dont know if it's necessarily Tomlin that's steered the show back on track, but it's definitely the most focused and consistently watchable soap on air right now. I like that the characters that are coming back are back for a reason, rather than just moulding the storylines around X and Y coming back and islanding them in their own story. There's a nice mix of different age groups and I like that pretty much everyone has a story. Cutting John, Marlena, Patch and Kayla was such a smart move.

My only peeve is the production values, everything has this soft, pinky look to it that really irritates me. But then I suppose it's too much to ask that every show is as visually beautiful as Y&R...