James E Reilly interview 1999

[EricMontreal22]

That was never the issue to me--sure the plotting was over the top, but it was the execution that was so mind numbing. I swear, I'd read or hear from a freind about how hysterical Passions was, and then tune in to see one of those mindnumbingly repeated scenes of exposition, with the all time worse dialogue I have ever heard on a soap, and just not get it.

[Paul Raven]

Can anyone explain why JER chose to stretch out the days onscreen to ridiculous lengths?I think some days in Harmony lasted over a month onscreen.

That,along with the molasses like movement with plots made the show unbearable for me.

BTW,Part 2 of the interview is on the way.

[Eric83]

LOL I can't answer that for you, but I do remember one particular New Year's Eve party dragging out all the way through January into the beginning of February. Then, just like that it was time for Valentine's Day.

[ChitHappens]

If Trassions didn't turn out the way Reilly (RIP) wanted it to, he can thank himself. Reilly had all the power. I read where affiliates would do just about anything to get rid of the show.

ANDREA

[Sylph]

[Michael]

I think JER's first run at Days -- silly as a lot of the material was, and as much as it spit in the face of some characters'/couples'/actors' histories -- demonstrated that he had an aptitude for long-term plotting. If you look at the progression of the John/Marlena story from the time he took over through his departure in '97, it's really impressive how the various stories and challenges flow into one another. You went from Marlena cheating on Roman with John, to John being with Kristen while Tony faked his blindness, to the Paris adventure, to Aremid and Tony's "death," to the Kristen/Susan baby saga, to Roman's return. To me, that is where JER excelled.

In later years, he boiled that formula down to its simplest elements, and it stopped working. Theresa/Ethan/Gwen was a horrible, insane retread of that sort of plotting: instead of things progressing and transforming along the way to the ultimate goal (the "true love couple" being together), they just wandered around in circles for years and years, growing progressively more loathsome.

I wonder how he would've been, either at Passions or his second Days run, if he had been paired with a co-HW who used his overall ideas but took hold of the breakdowns and pacing.

[Sindacco]

Are there any interviews where he talks about Days?

[EricMontreal22]

Something Higley must have learned from him--didn't some of her OLTL days go over a month too?

[Paul Raven]

Part 2 of the interview,The accompanying photo show reilly with one of his golden retrievers.

The reporter was Robert Schork

SOW Could you offer a thumbnail sketch of the show's premise?

JER This is going to be a very traditional soap. It's very soapy:it's people's lives and how they deal with relationships,and with life and marriages and death and romance. The name Passions literally came to me at the last moment,right before I had to send it to the network. I was trying to look for all of those wonderfully subtle names as titles that said it all in two words,and captured everything. But I couldn't figure it out. It's a most difficult thing. Finally,i asked myself,”What basically is happening on this show?”If you had to put it down to one word,it really is passions of all kinds:It is a love and a passion for life,for evil,and for hope. It is how people overcome their pasts.

SOW Can you give a rundown of the show's characters?

JER There is a doctor,lawyer,police chief,a lot of traditional “stock” soap characters that you need. But there also will be different characters that we haven't seen on soaps before. And there will be one character that will be hard to define.

There are four core families;each family has parents. There's a wealthy family,and there are people who are having trouble with mortgages and making the paycheck stretch.

SOW How diverse are the characters? Any ethnic or gay characters?

JER There is an African-American family,a family with an Hispanic background and a white bread American family. There are no gay characters. There are two characters that you could say are 'unique'. They will provide the element of danger and 'out of the ordinary',and comedy. There are lots of secrets,there are mysteries from the past to uncover. There are surprises that connect characters that you feel shouldn't be connected. Mysteries and secrets overlap.

SOW Did you have any specific actors in mind when you were developing certain characters? Did any actors inspire your characters?

JER in a way. There were a few. They were people who have retired. There were people who came from movies 30 years ago. It would not be specifically for them:you will get disappointed. If you have a character,and the only person you see playing it is John Wayne,you are in trouble.

SOW As new shows,SuBe and PC have been criticized for casting too many “unknowns”-a factor that may have contributed towards heir ratings problems. Do you have any preferences toward casting either fresh faces or recognizable,established daytime actors?

JER I wouldn't rule anybody out because they've worked on soaps before. Whoever is the best is the best. Sometimes I wonder if that is true on Sunset. I think that when I saw actors coming over to Santa Barbara who had a very big following on another show,the numbers didn't move. I don't think there is a big fan following with actors. People are interested in characters.

However,I think it helps if that actor returns to play their own character;there are certain actors you can't recast,like Jeanne Cooper's. So if people like that come back to the role they created,the audience would follow them and say,”Oh,great so-and-so is back”,or “The real Tracy is back”.

SOW To date,how much have you and the network been in sync in terms of creative directions?

JER I'll be honest with you,it's scary. We have been too much in sync. I said to my agent, “Is something going on?” He said, “No,why do you ask?” And I said. “Are you sure”? I've been in situations where no-one has been in sync:the network,the writers,the producers have all been going in different directions. So now I'm wary,which I shouldn't be:because they've really been terrific,and this isn't politically correct Hollywood bull____, I'm sure it will continue and I hope it does.

SOW Have there been any restrictions from the network placed on you?

JER None,they have been terrific.

SOW Do you have the final say in the decisions?

JER It's never come to that. We haven't disagreed yet. I understand that there are things I could possibly conceive that will be impossible to do. The show has a budget,and there are certain limitations,and we are only on screen for 41 minutes after commercials. If I ask someone to come along and burn $2 million in real money on the screen,the network may say,”Hmmm,can we make it fake money?” Some things have to be trimmed. Writers have a tendency to run amok. But there are certain things that we are doing ,that I think we both agree on,that if we can do them,they would really,really enhance the show and make the audience more intrigued and more interested in it. The network wants that. We both have the same goal:to make this show as interesting as possible; pulling out all the stops to get people to tune in. whatever we have to do. we will do.

SOW How will NBC accommodate Passions in its schedule?

JER It's too early to discuss. Everyone is wondering if a show is going to die to make room for Passions. I was told that NBC wanted 4 soaps,but that was very early on. My guess is that all 4 shows will go on till January. Then they will see what happens. It is something we have never discussed. I really don't want that on my head. I want all the soaps to stay.

SOW Has a timeslot been decided upon?

JER I think it should go on after Days,I would think that would be the strongest position. We really haven't discussed it yet.

SOW as a writer who is creating his own show from the ground up,you must have specific notions on how things should look,sound etc, I was wondering how involved you are in other aspects of the show,such as set design,wardrobe,lighting etc?

JER That is the reason I am going out to California. I will be talking to Susan Lee(senior VP daytime programming) and Lisa (exec producer). Even on days I had input into that,but not as much as I will on this show. I tend to visualize my scenes, I will have a working model of it all in my head. I will close my eyes and I will see these characters coming into a restaurant-so the restaurant has to have a certain look. So I will be in LA in the spring for a year. Both my dogs are coming.

SOW Have they ever been to LA?

JER One has been to LA and that dog has been in therapy because of it. He was caught in the earthquake and has literally not been the same since. So we're telling him we're not going to LA. we're going to Denver. If he found out we're heading back to LA,forget it! I'd find the dog's head in the oven with a suicide note in it's paw,”No way!” and the other one is just too young and dumb to know what LA means.

[JackPeyton]

LMFAO!

[EricMontreal22]

I assume these "unique" characters he refuses to mention would be Tabitha and Timmy?

I wonder why he never incorporated Doggy therapy into the show?

[beebs]

It's somewhat ironic that he didn't want ANY show to be cancelled to make way for his, and yet Passions was prettymuch responsible for TWO soaps' cancellations to make way for his. I still say 2pm was a lousy timeslot for such a youth-oriented soap. What school-aged kid would be home at that hour?

[JackPeyton]

Ummm... i was always home right after 2. Maybe that is just a socal thing, but most school aged kids tend to be home by 2:30

[beebs]

I've never heard of that, if I'm honest. Most schools up here (in the great white north, eh?) let out at 3, meaning i'd get home just in time for the last half of GH or GL (GH if I had control of the TV, GL if mum beat me to it). So while everyone heard the buzz about Passions, very few of us were home to watch it. Thus why I never understood Passions' timeslot, or why AW was being fashioned by JFP to be 'more youthful' when the majority of the kids weren't home to watch it anyway.

[Toups]

Passions had all the elements of a traditional soap, especially by having the big families, multi-generational characters, different races, everyone connected to each other. Of course Passions had more than the traditional soap - the supernatural aspect.

Yup, gotta agree with that. That's why when soap actors jump to another soap, it usually doesn't affect the ratings.

LOL Jim was a Jeanne Cooper and Jane Elliot fan?

I love these parts. Jim God, I love his sense of humour - he and I are like that when it comes to comedy and soaps. Thanks again, Paul for typing up these articles. You don't know how much this meant to me. I cherish everything I read about Reilly. Thanks!

BTW, do you have the date of the issue?