Is Dena back to writing Days

[KLN]

I really don't understand what's so hard about writing an entertaining show. These ho-hum drowsy non-"stories" playing out right now are putting me to sleep. They don't need a big budget to tell to tell high-stakes, dramatic stories. The stuff we're seeing right now is child's play. It's not substantial. It's run of the mill, generic "Soap Opera for Dummies" bullshit.

Truth be told, it's not that difficult to write a compelling story and give people a reason to tune in tomorrow. I pulled these story ideas out of my ass about a month ago in less than an hour -- utilizing a majority of the current cast...

Kristen/Lexie/Abe/Stefano

First and foremost, I would bring Kristen back and have her seek revenge on Stefano for never trying to find her after she was locked in that Caribbean cell. She resents that she is "the forgotten daughter" and she wants Stefano to feel her pain. At first, however, she would only lurk in the shadows, not ready to reveal herself...

Abe and Lexie's marriage takes a sour turn when Lexie begins acting strangely and keeping secrets, which makes Abe suspect that she's cheating on him again. One night when Abe comes home from work, he finds Lexie naked in bed with a "mystery man." In a fury, he wakes the naked twosome, but before Abe can identify the mystery man, he flees through the window and Abe unleashes his anger on Lexie.

Outside the bedroom window, Kristen snaps photographs.

The next morning, Lexie goes missing. At first, Abe assumes she left Salem with her "mystery man," but he soon realizes she would've never skipped town without taking Theo with her. Something sinister is going on. Abe is distraught.

The Salem P.D. launches an investigation into Lexie's disappearance. For once, Abe and Stefano are forced to work together to find their beloved Alexandra. However, when the police department receives a photo of Abe "violently" attacking Lexie and raising his fists to her the night before her disappearance, Abe becomes the #1 suspect.

Stefano is outraged and he vows to kill Abe if anything happens to his daughter. Weeks later, when Lexie's bloody clothes are discovered in a dumpster outside Salem, she is declared legally dead. Abe is horrified. When the police try charging him with Lexie's murder, Celeste returns to town and declares that she believes Abe is innocent. She believes someone is framing him for her daughter's murder.

In a surprising twist, a female witness steps forward and claims that she saw Abe violently attacking Lexie the night before her disappearance. The witness is Kristen Blake. She reveals that she's the one who sent the incriminating photo to the Salem P.D., and she also reveals that she witnessed Abe unleashing his fury on Lexie after he discovered her with another man that night. When asked why she didn't try to intervene, Kristen says that she was terrified of Abe's rage. She also claims that she waited so long to step forward because she knows everyone in Salem hates her and she didn't want to be greeted with skepticism.

Through flashbacks, it is revealed that the "mystery man" in bed with Lexie was Peter Blake. He is working with Kristen. "The forgotten DiMera children." The night before Lexie's disappearance, Kristen and Peter drugged her and put her in bed after stripping her of her clothes. Peter then climbed into bed with her, hoping Abe would walk in and catch them. They were using this as an opportunity make Abe go ballistic, so that Kristen could snap photographs that would eventually be used as evidence against him in Lexie's murder trial. Essentially, they were framing him.

As it turns out, Kristen developed a severe jealousy of Lexie after years of being ignored by Stefano. She deeply resents being stuck in that cell for so many years without Stefano lifting a finger to try and rescue her. She resents that Lexie took her place in Stefano's life. By making everyone believe that Lexie is dead, Kristen would hurt Stefano by taking away his "preferred" daughter. In reality, however, Lexie isn't dead at all. Kristen has sent her to live in the same Caribbean cell that she had been locked in since 1998.

At the trial, Abe pleads "not guilty." When photographs of Lexie's bloody clothes are shown to the jury, Stefano is filled with rage. Kate tries to calm her husband, but his anger is too much to contain. He tries attacking Abe, but officers hold him back. Stefano again tries to attack him, but this time when the officers hold him back, Stefano pulls a gun from one of their holsters and unloads three bullets into Abe's chest. Riddled with bullets, Abe drops to the floor. He is killed instantly. Kristen smiles -- it appears her plan has worked out even better than expected.

As the courtroom explodes with insanity and disorder, cops work to restrain Stefano and wrestle the gun from his hand. After he is subdued, he is led away in handcuffs... followed by his horrified wife, Kate.

Moments later... as paramedics work (unsuccessfully) to revive Abe...

Lexie walks in.

Titan

Titan should be a major presence on the show. There writers have no excuse for not giving us an exciting business story when the Kiriakis family has been replenished and they all could run divisions of that company.

Brady and Phillip could build careers there in dueling positions. Brady could bring in Arianna to work for Countess Wilhelmina Cosmetics. Perhaps a sexy new chemist (Jeremy Horton -- sent there by Nicole) could catch Arianna's eye and cause problems for her and Brady. Nicole would essentially pay this guy (with sex?) to get a job at Titan and wreck Brady and Arianna's relationship. Sort of Cruel Intentions-esque. Even Vivian could worm her way into a high-power position and cause endless amounts of drama by butting her nose into everyone's business and stirring the pot at every turn -- a la Gloria Fisher at Jabot (Y&R).

Everything would be thrown into a tailspin when Kristen returns to Salem and re-claims her 49% of Titan, which had been given away after her "death." Things would become even more chaotic after Victor is killed and everyone is left scrambling to pull the company together in the aftermath of his death. Vivian, of course, would do everything in her power to make sure she gets the company -- after all, she and Victor re-married just before his death.

I would like to see Stephanie and Melanie become models at Bella Magazine. They could have a fun little career rivalry, in addition to their rivalry over Nathan's heart. Hope, a former model herself, would be their mentor and run the magazine with Adrienne. Perhaps Hope could begin having a secret affair with an attractive young photographer who later turns out to be a long lost DiMera relative. Or the son of Larry Welch. Or maybe she could reconcile with Bo after Glen and Barb are killed and JT comes back to live with them in Salem, sending Carly into another woman's arms. Perhaps Chloe? (Gotta capitalize on that Otalia fanbase!)

I would also like to see a Sami vs. Hope storyline. I think that would be fun and unexpected. Maybe Sami could get involved at Titan, much to Vivian's chagrin (blackmail works magic!). Sami could manipulate things so that Hope is forced to take the blame for a scandalous P.R. disaster, which results in her demotion... and then Sami, of course, would swoop in and manipulate Vivian into giving her Hope's job. (No, she isn't qualified, but that's never stopped her before...)

After inheriting Titan from her late husband, Vivian would put Carly on the backburner for a while and re-focus her attention on Phillip and the company. She would continue sparring with Kate, but the drama would be heightened. Instead of intermittent scenes of random bickering, it would be expanded into a full story. As Phillip and Kate begin to finally re-connect, Vivian would do everything in her power to destroy their relationship. Maybe Madeline Woods would tie into this as Vivian discovers her scandalous connection to Kate and reveals it to a horrified Phillip. Kate, of course, would move heaven and earth to get revenge on Vivian for wrecking her relationship with Phillip and trying to wreck her life. She would do this by using DiMera funds (without Stefano's knowledge) to secretly purchase Kristen's shares of Titan and somehow gain controlling interest of the company. Then, she would swipe Titan out from under Vivian's un-expectant feet. "Gotcha!"

'A' Stories:

Kristen returns to Salem with a severe jealousy of Lexie and resentment of Stefano. She is furious that Stefano never lifted a finger to try and rescue her from the Caribbean cell she was locked in. As a result, she is darker and more dangerous than ever. Kristen kidnaps Lexie and frames Abe for her "murder," which leads to a dramatic trial and Stefano murdering Abe. In the aftermath, Lexie returns to Salem and seeks vengeance against Kristen.

Vivian inherits Titan after her husband (Victor) is murdered. Later, she discovers Kate's connection to Madeline Woods and uses it to wreck her life and destroy her relationship with Phillip. Seeking revenge, Kate purchases Kristen's Titan stocks and concocts a plan to gain controlling interest of the company, stealing it from Vivian. From there, a full-fledged war ignites.

At Titan, Brady and Phillip compete with each other in dueling positions. They each want their division of the company to be more successful than the other's, so they constantly work to undermine each other's successes, hurting the entire company in the process.

'B' Stories:

Brady gets Arianna a job at Countess Wilhelmina, where she meets a sexy new chemist -- Jeremy Horton? Nicholas Alamain? -- who is sent by Nicole to wreck Brady and Arianna's relationship. Nicole pays him (with sex) to pretend he's interested in Arianna and woo her from Brady, causing all sorts of drama in the process. Sort of Cruel Intentions-esque.

Sami creates a P.R. disaster for Bella Magazine, where Hope (a former model) begins working and acts as a mentor to the new talent. Hope is forced to take the blame for the P.R. nightmare, which results in her demotion. Sami takes advantage of the situation and manipulates her way into getting Hope's job. When Hope discovers what Sami has done, things get nasty. (Hope would be fun in this story, but I suppose she could be swapped with Nicole.)

Melanie and Stephanie both pursue careers as models at Bella Magazine. When Stephanie ends up pregnant with Nathan's baby, it threatens her career and it threatens Melanie's relationship with Nathan.

'C' Stories:

JT, now in his teens, returns to live with his "original" parents (Bo and Hope) after Glen and Barb are killed. Although Bo and Hope have kept in touch with him over the years, they have no clue what it was like for him to grow up with alcoholic parents. As a result of his upbringing, he has a huge chip on his shoulder. He's a complete hellion. He is heavy into drugs and he's also a dealer. However, his biggest secret of all is that he's the one who killed his abusive parents.

Carly is heartbroken when Bo leaves her for Hope, and she turns to an unlikely person for support -- Chloe Lane. As the former enemies become new friends, an unexpected romance emerges. What does this mean for Daniel?

As Justin and Adrienne work with Bo and Hope to identify Victor's killer and bring them to justice, they grow closer and eventually re-marry in a private ceremony.

EJ tries to silence Rafe after he discovers his role in Sydney's kidnapping. The truth is eventually revealed, and EJ flees Salem to avoid prison time. He is last seen boarding a private jet holding a picture of Carrie Brady in his hands. Rafe follows behind and he is never heard from again.

Other characters to be written out: Mia and Gabby. Roman would be recast with Wayne Northrup.

[Jane1978]

Isn´t what Rafe does exactly the same what every good character on every soap does when he is in the good couple splitted apart by evil guy who pretends to be good triangle? Jack was doing exactly the same "nothing" during all the Jennifer/Peter period and it took two whole years (and only because Jason Brooks was leaving) till he finally succeed. It´s one of the most basic story formulas ever so I would hardly call it a prove of DAYS writer inemptness.

[KLN]

Jack > Rafe

Jennifer > Sami

There's the difference. Nobody cares about Rafe and even fewer people care about him with Sami. Because of that, it's especially boring to watch him spin his wheels for months and months at a time with the plot going absolutely nowhere. If the writers have no intention of letting Rafe hit pay dirt until July or August (or perhaps even later), then why have they been giving his investigation so much play for the last 6+ months? Filler is filler is filler. You can compare it to Jack/Jennifer/Peter all you want, but even with JER's snail-paced never-ending plots, his story mechanics in general were quite different from what we're seeing with Higley & Co. Even when JER's plots were going in circles and you thought they would never end, he knew how to make it exciting to keep people watching. This mess with Rafe doesn't even compare.

Why do you constantly bring up JER's stories everytime I make a criticism of the show? It's like you're constantly out to contradict me or make me look like I don't know what I'm talking about by saying that what I hate about the writing today is the same thing that I loved about the writing 10+ years ago. But you're wrong. Just because you kiss the ass of every writer who pens this show and make excuses for their shoddy work doesn't mean I have to.

[bellcurve]

+1

[EricMontreal22]

Dena, is one of those names--yes more than "show killers" like Swajeski and Kreizman--that I can't believe was rehired. I never have seen much of her DAYS stints, but her OLTL was one of the worst eras of soaps I have ever seen--probably tied with when I sat through Jean Passanante's solo year at AMC. The thing is it moved at a snail's pace, a day would be six months... But that wasn't what really upset me--I found the show actually mean spirited and even offensive (and I rarely find soaps offensive). When she'd do "social storylines" they'd be things like Todd being man raped to teach him what rape victims feel, or Jessica's repressed memory child molestation story which IS an important and valid story to tell, but was turned into a child ponography storyline with endless scenes of us watching her parent reactions while they watched video of her being molested/raped, etc, etc (REALLY??)

ICK. If DAYS is simply boring but not mean spirited, or offensive, count yourselves lucky.

[KLN]

"Dena Higley likes to write stories that she thinks are interesting but nobody else does." - Erika Slezak

Dena's Days is mainly just boring. Just like it was when she wrote the show in 2003. Nothing happened then and nothing's happening now. It's all talk, no action. The most interesting story she's telling involves Hope getting addicted to sleeping pills and going through town at night whacking men over the head and stealing their wallets. Daytime Hope has no recollection of what Nighttime Hope does. Apparently she's doing this because she's so devastated by Bo leaving her for Carly that she feels the need to "brand" her mugging victims with some strange red symbol/mark that stands for female empowerment. It's kind of weird. To be honest, I thought it started out kind of interesting but now it's just cheesy... and with the latest spoilers indicating that...

...I'm already cringing at the thought of where it's all going.

Aside from that story, there's pretty much nothing interesting going on. It's very run-of-the-mill "Soap Opera for Dummies" ho-hum drivel. Boring couples, boring triangles, characters floundering around aimlessly without a direction... it's just a boring show in general. It doesn't even have a trainwreck appeal. It's just ZZZZ.

[KLN]

Let's keep our fingers crossed!

[bellcurve]

[EricMontreal22]

Wow that's... awful. And I forgot Erika S called Dena Higley out.

[AllMyDaysatGH]

Really? SERIOUSLY?! What a mess that is going to be! Can't believe i even forced myself to open up that spoiler tag. Usually don't read DAYS spoilers. That one is just....

[KLN]

Yep. According to the latest spoilers, starting the week of May 31st...

Pretty gross, eh?

[Sylph]

Kenny, this is all nice. No sarcasm here.

But people don't watch soap operas for stories anymore. Not on this board, anyway. And a few others.

They watch for:

1. Laugh-out-loud crapola stories which you can keep shitting on until the horse is dead
2. Latest crapola casting news (actors theft, revenge on 'disobedient' actors...)
3. Bitchery, concoctions, bitchy humour of this board, parody and farce
4. A few performers sprinkled here and there who actually give a damn about the role they play, those these are exponentially expiring
5. The latest 'event', i.e. stunt, after which everyone flees as if pursued by the devil

That's kind of it, although I'm forgetting a thing or two.

[ivanmmd]

You hit the nail on the head. Perfect. The show is all fluff. Nothing happens. The spoilers sound even worse. Dena is going to get this show cancelled. Watch her! Corday get her out NOW!

[ivanmmd]

[ivanmmd]

oops! I don't know what happened to my reply. I think your storylines are great. You should be the head writer. Your ideas are a thousand times better than what Dena is putting out. Wouldn't you think Corday could find one writer somewhere in The country that could do a better job than Dena. If that is the best you can do, just end the show now and put it out of its misery.