DAYS: Behind the Scenes, Articles/Photos

[jam6242]

You called it right.  I wasn't even sad when Mary was murdered later by the Strangler because of the way Melinda played her.  I did like Karin Wolfe's and Carla Borelli's versions of Mary too.

[JAS0N47]

 

I was crossing my fingers that they'd have the full cast credits, but alas, it happened to be an episode where they didn't run them.

 

As for the Mary's, here's the info:

 

Karin Wolfe (Mary Anderson)   recurring  7/12/72-9/11/73, 4/1/74-3/5/75

Carla Borelli (Mary Anderson)  recurring  5/15/75-12/10/75

Barbara Stanger (Mary Anderson) (recurring 1/2/76-3/29/76); contract 4/14/76-4/20/79 (recurring 5/11/79-10/29/80)

Susan Keller (Mary Anderson) contract 11/3/80-11/20/80

Melinda Fee (Mary Anderson) contract 1/12/81-3/1/82

[DRW50]

 

Thanks. That's a shame. 

 

Keller is the one I didn't know about. I wonder if she was just there long enough to wrap up Mary's story before a longer-term recast. 

[victoria foxton]

Reading the synopses for 1980. The AM business stuff reads as interesting. Mary keeping her late father Bob's legacy going. While fighting both her husband Alex and newcomer Kellam. Who wanted to takeover AM. Mary was assisted by Chris and newcomer Leslie James. In helping her thwarted a takeover.A shame it wasn't. DRW50 thanks for post the episode. Always been very curious about that era. 

[Wendy]

 

Well, I still know him more as CC, so... But Don seemed like a good guy here. And he did seem to have chemistry with Marlena. (I am not trying to be mean here, honest, but it was nice seeing Deidre Hall not all...well preserved a la plastic surgery...as she is now. I know, time. But still!)

[vetsoapfan]

 

The ratings during the Bell/Falken Smith era were stable, with the show usually ranking in the top half of the soap pack. The problem was, during that period, the competition was FIERCE. Unlike today (actually, unlike the last few decades), many soaps were on fire at that time and able to battle quite effectively for the viewers' attention. DAYS only really started to dive-bomb in the ratings after Smith was axed and the revolving door of mediocre writers began.

 

And although two of the soaps' long-running stories (the secret of Mike's paternity and the inability of Doug and Julie to be together) had finally been resolved, I did not take that as an indication the show was in storyline trouble. Brilliant as they were, and as familiar with the characters as they were, I was confident that Bell and Smith would continue to weave more magic. They always had done so on DAYS, and they continued to display their talents on other soaps. DAYS would have been in safer storyline hands with these experienced pros than it ended up being with the hacks who replaced the vet scribes and took a chainsaw to Salem.

 

 

I would disagree. Popular characters on daytime TV must all face the conclusions of stories during their tenure. That doesn't been the characters are played out. Gifted writers just have to weave them into new situations and plots. The audience would scream bloody murder if their favorites got written out as soon as those characters' latest stories drew to a close. 

 

 

IMHO, most of those stories were poorly written and contrived because the writers responsible for them were weak; not because the characters were played out. 

 

 

Once the audience grows to love soap characters and the veteran actors who have always played them, I don't think physical appearance matters much any more. Viewers understood and embraced them anyway as Charita Bauer gained weight, Macdonald Carey began to tremble on-screen, Ellen Corby of The Waltons showed physical aftereffects of her stroke, Anna Lee ended up confined to her wheelchair, etc. The idea that any of these actors would be replaced or fired for not aging well would make viewers' heads EXPLODE, LOL. 

 

 

Agreed, but poor casting choices damaged those characters, not faulty writing. If the roles had been impeccably recast, viewers might have continued to be engaged in the characters.

 

 

Agreed. Soaps must always evolve and grow with the times and introduce new blood, but DAYS' overhauls were WAY too severe, done much too quickly, and clumsily inflicted onto the show/audience by temporary and incompetent PTB who were not talented enough to handle the transformations effectively. Had DAYS kept Bell and Smith, the changes might have been as effective as Bell's revamping of Y&R after it went to an hour and the focus shifted away from the Brooks and Fosters in favor of the Williams, Abbotts and (later) Newmans, or as Smith revamping of DAYS when she returned to the show in 1982.

 

Mass carnage by new writers and producers NEVER works. Ugh. I would daytime TV would learn this lesson.

[AbcNbc247]

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Came across this over the weekend.

[teplin]

 

Agreed -- I still think Marlena's best pairing was Don. Though she was pretty much a different character back then, before she was lobotomized by Jim Reilly. 

 

I remember this period as being terrible -- and it pretty much was, but I kept watching because of the characters. Doug & Julie, Don & Marlena, Neil & Liz, Marie, Alex, Tom & Alice, Trish, Wesley Eure's Mike, Barbara Stanger's Mary and yes, Josh Taylor's Chris ... I loved 'em all. 

 

Thanks so much for posting this, DRW50.

[soapfave06]

I just finished watching the Cruise of Deception summer. WOW. One of the best adventure stories I have ever seen on daytime. I loved the balance of the cast with Julie and Victor drawn in, the Jack/Jennifer angst (really made me a fan) and the romance between Hope/Bo and Roman/Isabella. I also really enjoyed Ernesto Toscano-probably a Stefano clone more or less but I thought he was fun. 

 

Outside of her ending up with Stefano, did they delve into Hope's missing years? I could honestly see Ernesto's "magic trick" working and they somehow escaped the whole time. 

 

As for the rest of the show around this time-I wish they did more with Carrie and Sarah, Maggie seems so much younger than Mickey, Emilio/Melissa/recast Kimberly/Nick, etc. do not draw me in at all and its nice to see DAYS attempting an interracial romance with Marcus and Carly. 

[DynamiteKiddo]

CoD is sooo good.  Richard Allen & Anne Schoettle's hw tenure gets mixed reviews--I think their "Days" was as realistic and dark as this show gets... but events like CoD and Alamania really paid tribute to the adventures that defined the '80s.  Jack & Jennifer are my fav. couple, though, so obviously I'm biased.

 

In 2006, Anne Schoettle wrote the script for Jack & Jennifer's farewell and Claire's paternity reveal.  It's so interesting to see her writing for familiar characters like J&J, S&K, B&H, Maggie, Jo, Vern, and Alice juxtaposed with the long-awaited Philip/Belle/Shawn/Mimi fallout.

 

[Khan]

"Cruise of Deception" was probably DAYS' last hurrah -- at least, until JER showed up. 

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[AbcNbc247]

I loved COD. That and Jack kidnapping Jennifer from her wedding were my two favorite moments of that year. I binge watched those 1990 episodes not too long ago and even though Emilio and Melissa's song is still stuck in my head lol I thought they were really good.

 

As for Hope, according to the 1998 synopsis on Soap Central, Ernesto immediately delivered her to Stefano after he had kidnapped her so that Stefano could turn her into Princess Gina. The stupidest part of that whole reveal was that the whole cage climax was rewritten. Viewers now had to believe that it wasn't Hope in the cage with Ernesto, it was Princess Gina's daughter Greta. 

Edited August 29, 2019 by AbcNbc247

[Gray Bunny]

 

I can't remember for certain, but didn't the actor who played Ernesto actually reprise his role around 1998 in recreated flashbacks of that cage moment? 

[AbcNbc247]

I have no idea. His page on Soap Central doesn't say that he made any appearances in 1998, but of course they could be wrong.

[Bright Eyes]

Random Thought:

 

I never realized how good looking Brian Lane Green is. If the rumours are true that his character, Alan Brand, was originally supposed to be part of a gay supercouple with Billy Warlock's Frankie Brady in the late 80's, they would have been beautiful together. What could have been.