Ken Corday's book

[Ben]

Oh please, like it was the original plan. Who would fire a whole bunch of actors, with the intent on bringing them back, only not to tell them, and allow them to audition for other stuff with the risk of them landing another job, and not returning at all?! There's risky and then there's plain stupidity. *If*, that was the original plan, then that's seriously bad business practise. Corday's just spinning, and trying to save face. No sane person would devise such an idiotic plan with that much risk.

I seriously believe that everyone prior to Doug and Alice were originally intended victims. That whole theory about Belle being Marlena's final victim makes more sense. Plus, they went to the trouble of having most of them appear as ghosts, which never really got explained after they turned up alive - that never made any real sense. This is one good example of not believing everything one reads.

[Dr Neil Curtis]

I believe it cause I don't have any proof of it not being true. JER is no longer with us to "beg differ". I just take the man's word. The book is a great read and the stories are great. If its a lie, that's something Mr. Corday will have to give an account for.

[Mitch]

Zimmer always had "balls?" Eh, not so much, loud, big mouth and ego to match, yes, balls no. To have balls you have to be brave enough to face consequences...of which Zimmer was sure there would be none, as CBS, and P & G had bought into the bull that she was the "star," of the show and they coudlnt do without her (oh, why couldnt they have done a Days and sent Zimmer packing with the budget cuts first came after she refused to take a cut???

Zimmer also only spoke to the press in a "ballsy," way when it suited her latest contract moves or whatever her agenda was at the time. It was all about HER. I would consider someone like Fiona Hutchinson ballsy as she actually spoke out about Zaslows treatment, when she knew full well that she could face some pretty heavey damage, and yes, the fired her. Zimmer had zilch to say about Zaz, except to support Rauchie and Co in the press.

And Khan, it wasnt craft services that did her the damage, wardrobe,makeup (and the lack therof) and one would suspect the Peapack Pub, also helped do their damage..(though I would like to sit on a bar stool at the pub next to her, I DO think in private she would have some hilarious stories to tell..if you could get past the "me, me, me." )

[Titus Andronicus]

For the curious, if you have an Amazon account, you can search the book and pull up most of the pages.

And if they really had the serial killer thing plotted out, why allow Victor to be killed off by Jan and Nicole, only to show up with the rest of Marlena's victims?

[Bright Eyes]

Not to mention, the Colin Murphy crap.

[Eric83]

Exactly.

Weren't there confirmed reports of Celeste being killed, but it was quickly changed to Doug? OBVIOUS REWRITE.

[StevieM]

OMG! Toups...did he really say that Dena had the show on a creative upswing when she was fired in 2003? Dena's writing, during her brief first run, was the WORST material I have ever seen on daytime--hands down. There isn't even a close second.

Shawn's flirtation with Maya, Philip as an ISA superhero, the vendetta against Brady/Chloe fans (as Chloe departed), the Goo, the Indian tribe. Jack and Jen were quickly remarried, in a miserably bad wedding that focused on other characters (to the point of the vows being edited due to "lack of time"). Then they were on just once a month and even then only on In The House. Sami the mute suddenly having feelings for Lucas (after a bizarre flirtation with Tony). Lucas suddenly having a lady's man swagger (complete with a HJ/BJ from his little sister).

I could watch Tom Lagan's stuff, if I wanted too. Same for SSM and Brash/Cwigly. But I could not sit through an episode of Dena's material. It was more unwatchable than Sub-Sex.

I'm sure Corday blames the collapse in the ratings on the Iraq War (since we were invading at that point). That doesn't explain why they kept collapsing when it was over. Or why no other show fell nearly that much.

I think Dena (at least in her first run) was the worst HW the show ever had. Hogan comes in second.

If things are a little better this time around, I'm inclined to give credit to Gary Tomlin.

Steve

[Sindacco]

I think Celeste was supposed to be the next victim after Tony (if you don't count Victor who was killed by Jan Spears). Then the rewrites became obvious and Doug was the next victim.

[teplin]

Yeah, I read the book and I don't buy Corday's explanation of the story for a minute. I still think the original plot was supposed to be closer to what one "insider" posted online: that Marlena had been repossessed by Satan thanks to Stephano's experimenting with the "black arts" and she did actually kill all these people. I think the story would have eventually ushered Hall (and Hogestyn) off the show, slashing the budget and leading to a radical reinvention of the show. The network bought into the story just as they later swallowed Reilly's Passions hocus-pocus. Corday never liked it, and thanks to fan backlash over the character "deaths," he got his way in the end. I also think Reilly lost all enthusiasm for the show when he was forced to rewrite this story. I didn't like what he did to Days in his first go-round, but I appreciated his skill. Really, he was a near-genius in the way he positioned people and events on canvas, and played all the beats to some dazzling denouments. None of that skill was evident from the mid-point of this story on.

[DRW50]

What was Lucas's "lady man swagger"? And what was the vendetta against Chloe/Brady fans about?

[StevieM]

Lucas suddenly had a lot of confidence in himself. He was bragging to Cassie about how he could have any woman he wants, and he was talking like he was giving her a history lesson of his personal life (none of which squared with the character we had always known). Basically, Dena saw her elevation to HW as a chance to finally win all the battles she lost over the years and rewrite the characters the way she had always wished they had been written to begin with.

Nowhere was this more true than with the wrap-up of Brady/Chloe as Nadia prepared to leave the show. Dena was quite obviously not a fan of this couple, while she was a big fan of Phillip. For better or worse, the show went with Broe and the audience followed. (Personally, I didn't care--I hated all three of them). It was time for a romantic ending, one that provided happy closure. For Dena, it was time for revenge. First, she brought Phillip right back to the show after the character had been neatly wrapped up. He joined the Marines as our country was preparing for war. Yet as the invasion progressed in real life, Philip came back to Salem, two months later, turned by the Marines into an ISA superhero (who for some reason they wanted to do a reality show). Philip was immediately shown as sensitive to Chloe's needs, while Brady acted like a jerk at times. She had Brady following Chloe around town while she was with Phillip--Dena's payback for all the times that Phillip had done the same to them. Brady wasn't even terribly demonstrative with Chloe as they parted ways, not holding her much. They outright decided to break up and he moved on with Nicole the next day. This was not just bad writing--it was vindictive writing.

Steve

[DRW50]

Thanks for all the details. That sounds like some very jerky type of writing. So was this all Kyle Brandt Phillip?

[Bright Eyes]

Yes.

[tylerbo20]

read it,,,it sucked cause it seemed all he did was suck up to the actors/actress's that ARE on the show now....his explanation as to why get rid of Deidri and Drake was lame.

[JackPeyton]

Lame, perhaps, but the best move the show made in well over a decade. It was past time. fans refused to let the show do anything with them, and when the budget got cut why take out 15 supporting players and not the top two paid.