DOOL: "The New Plan to Save Days" 2010 Edit

[edgeofnik]

With the dramatic slide during the past few months, several of us are eagerly waiting for SOD to put out its annual "New Plan to Save Days!" issue.

1) When do you think the issue will be released?

My guess: early September before the season starts

2) Who will be on the cover?

Sami + ?

3) What will be the big shift or new story to start the turnaround?

An umbrella murder

Feel free to add other questions, etc. BTW -- I do really hope they turn things around.

[PhoenixRising05]

There won't be a plan because, as Khan said in the Days Discussion Thread, all the show needs to do is make things happen and amp up the stories. The show pushed everything for renewal and, as a result, had to start a slew of new stories all at once. Not to mention the one story they didn't have to build (EJ/Sami/Rafe) is one that isn't as compelling as the baby switch was because 1.) There isn't much dimension to it as of right now and 2.) Sami and EJ just come off like morons and it's just too draggy to see them bonding over a length of time.

There is no daily viewer investment right now. Last year, every week story moved. Even if the stories dragged, something was still happening. You were able to look back on a month and realize that things progressed a decent amount. I won't count March because story was still moving then but things really got bad in April and it's only been this week that have started to show signs of life again. There is reason to hope based on upcoming spoilers and previews. The issue they are facing is that we're heading into summer now, which has not been kind to Days and many soaps in recent years. Even last year when Days was on fire, it sunk in summer and then recovered in September. I expect the same again. They may go up a bit here and there as things improve but I don't expect any major ratings surge until the Fall when summer is over and the audience is consistently there to be had.

[quartermainefan]

Yeah, it is just the show has no stories. Just go back the last couple of years and you can list all the stories the show has done at one point or another: who killed Melanie's father, the campus rapist, the Kiriakis/DiMera feud and all the things that went into that like Morgan's father, the kidnapping gardener, Tony getting shot and so on, and even clunkers like The story of Colleen Brady...but the show went horribly wrong when it took every wrong lesson away from the story of Baby Sydney. The show thought that what people want is Sami, EJ and Nicole on everyday be there story or not. They dragged this on now six months past its expiration date. Where are the stories? I guess crazy Hope is a story.

[Cheap21]

why is there always a plan to save Days?

[ChiTownBoi03]

At this point, I say why even bother with plan #3,094.

[Quent]

"The Plan To Save DAYS!" is a staple of Soap Opera Digest, along with putting Eric Braeden's face on every third issue, and NEVER putting OLTL, ATWT or B&B on ANY cover.

[KLN]

It's too late for another "Plan to Save Days."

A huge risk was already taken by writing out John and Marlena, splitting up their only remaining supercouple and essentially giving the show a whole new identity. There's no coming back from that, IMO. The only option they have left is to amp up the stories that are currently floundering and simply inject some excitement into the show. The ship has already sailed for another complete overhaul. All they can do at this point is work with what they've got or just call it a day. Simple as that.

What does need an overhaul, however, are the production values. The show looks bad. Not just bad -- bad. Embarrassingly bad. If I worked at the show, I would do whatever it took to make it more visually appealing. I don't care what kind of unconventional MacGyver approach I'd have to take... I'd do anything I could to make the show look better. Even it it meant throwing a sheet over those bright ass lights. That can't be too expensive, can it? That said, it doesn't seem as though anyone at Days is interested in actually making the show look better, so the production values will only improve when NBC gives them a bigger budget, and since that's not gonna happen, I'm guessing we're stuck with what we've got.

[edgeofnik]

Quent you understood my "tongue-in-cheek" posting. For whatever reason SOD does this everytime DAYS slumps -- it's a running joke that they use the same headline every time! I can't ever recall seeing a cover "The Plan to Save ATWT" or "The Plan to Save GH". However, I was serious about people taking their wildest guesses about what the cover would look like, etc. Like I said, I hope Days hangs on -- it's too bad it couldn't shift to CBS.

[Khan]

Thank God DAYS took the risk, too, even if it meant sealing its' own fate. JER's campy take on the show was as tired as the '80's supercouple formula. If DAYS stood any chance at all of survival, it had to reinvent itself as a back-to-basics, character-driven drama. I'm just sorry, though, Gary Tomlin doesn't have a HW with a stronger overall vision for the show, b/c if he did, I think we could overlook just how bad the production values are.

[Sindacco]

Well it's not back-to-basics, character-driven drama. It's plot-driven.

[Llantano Incorporated]

Don't underestimate Days loyal fans. They always seem to come back. Days is not my cup of tea, but I think it is the only soap (other than GH) with a passionate fanbase that will return. Its almost like there is a reserve out there of 200-300,000 fans that come and go.

B&B and ATWT do not really have this.

AMC and OLTL have a small reserve, but nothing like GH and Days.

Y&R is just lucky due to its timeslot.

[Khan]

Yeah, which is why I'm worried, b/c they seemed to be on a roll w/ the baby switch.

[ChiTownBoi03]

IMO, I think when DAYS tried to reinvent itself is when I started not to recognize the show anymore. DAYS was indeed pretty campy back when I started watching (well before JER...my 1st episode was Ernesto's hologram on that island--now *that* was campy), but honestly...nowadays it seems a core of its audience is the younger viewers. At the time when all the craziness was going on, DAYS was doing pretty good in those key demos. Hell, I was excited to tune in the next day. Then Sheffer came and tried to "take it back to basics" (I think Langan tried this too) and it basically just bored me to tears, and it has continued down this road of non-exciting storytelling for the last few years. I have no issues with character-driven yumminess, but it shouldn't be too hard to make it somewhat entertaining. Y&R did it for YEARS. I think those droves of new viewers DAYS received in the 90s expect some elements of camp peppered in there--somewhere--otherwise its a completely different show. I don't see why there can't be a nice mixture of both, because what is on screen now is just not compelling, original, or exciting--its not even character-driven.

[Khan]

That probably depends on which DAYS you recognize, though.

True, lol. OTOH, although DAYS often resembled an afternoon kids' show with its' over-the-top supervillains bent on world domination, it still had more "heart" and emphasis on family than JER's variation did; therefore, in one sense, JER's DAYS was something I couldn't recognize. And those who watched the show before either one of us probably wished both versions - the '80's "supercouples" DAYS and the subsequent JER's DAYS - had never happened, lol.

No doubt, DAYS was never boring, per se, during those years. However, the campier stuff, while entertaining in the short run, was not sustainable, IMO. After awhile, it all came off as forced, excessive, and completely uninspired. Whether or not you think Gary Tomlin has brought DAYS back to its' roots (and in the beginning, anyway, I felt he did), I think we should give him credit, at least, for pulling us out of that mess.

Yeah, but look who keeps trying to bring it back to basics: Sheffer, Higley/Whitesell, and to a lesser extent, Langan. If I were Ken Corday, and I wanted my parents' show to truly get back to basics, these would be some of the last people I'd call for the job, lol! Like I said upthread, or maybe in another thread, DAYS needs a strong(er) HW who understands how to make truly character-driven soap opera effective and compelling. If not for the fact that she seems to be pretty happy away from "the business," I'd suggest Nancy Curlee for the task. Speaking as someone who watched most of her run at GUIDING LIGHT during the early '90's, I feel she knows how to craft stories that are smart, entertaining, and deeply rooted in history and interfamilial and -generational conflict, things even the younger viewers seem to want very badly.

[Gray Bunny]

Ugh, I totally agree. I don't know what it is, but it seems that at the same time they got rid of their big stars, they also got rid of all production values. I understand that they're strapped for cash and they're now adopting Guiding Light's money-saving approach by using the same sets over & over (The Brady Pub = Company, The Pier = Main Street, maroon-colored hospital = neon green hospital, etc.... God help us when they introduce their version of the Beacon Hotel, oy!) but there's just something about the way it's lit that looks so off. As Kenny often used to describe AMC, it looks *starchy*. Very cardboard and fake. Like we can just tell that those hospital walls are just thin wobbly wood propped up by a 2x4. It just looks cheap.

They need to go back to that darker, moodier lighting that they, and most of the other soaps, used in the 90's. Not only is it aesthetically more pleasing, but it helps cover up the cheap look to their deteriorating sets.