DAYS: Behind the Scenes, Articles/Photos

[carolineg]

 

I was shocked at how good Deidre was in the rape and Strangler stories.  She is so free of her current histrionics.  She is just very good.  She even makes lame Josh seem okay.  And she's kind of good snarking at the lame Mary recast.  I would say Don/Marlena at Kellam's will reading/trial whatever where she admits Kellam rapes her is one of her best scenes ever.

Noelle is so needed.  We find out she is scandalous and slept with Rex and we don't even get to meet her?  Fail...

[j swift]

It is remarkable that Deidre Hall is only four years younger than Susan Seaforth Hayes, but on screen they seemed a generation apart.  By the time Marlena got together with Don, Julie had been married multiple times, had a grown son, and a grandson.  Considering that Julie and Doug went on their world tour in 1984, Marlena stayed younger and more viable as a leading character for much longer, relatively speaking

Edited April 13, 2021 by j swift

[carolineg]

Idk, I did get the sense Don really loved her.  Moreso, after they divorced.  It was clear he did value her.  Not in the same way Roman or John did, but they never were very compatible to begin with.  But honestly, I never took Don/Julie very seriously, so i had no investment.

Well Deidre made sure she didn't age for years.  The woman has an excellent plastic surgeon. She was forty for like 20 years.  Plus she had younger love interests and was moved into being Hope/Kayla/Kim's contemporaries even if she really wasn't.

Edited April 13, 2021 by carolineg

[beebs]

Yeah, well. DAYS does that a lot nowadays. See revealing Eli is David's son in the same instant that we find out David drove his motorbike into a ditch and died. All offscreen. 

 

I miss Marlena's snark. She needs a snark partner, be it Kristen, Hope, or Mary. Deidre is great when she gets to show that side of Marlena. You're right as well, What I've seen of the reveal of Kellam's rape was riveting. But again, I think it's harder to give it 100% when the stories you're given are so...shall we say, fanciful.

I had Noelle come to town married to a secretly bisexual Alex Kiriakis, and she can't figure out why her husband is disinterested in the bedroom, meanwhile Alex is sniffing around Will Horton, so Noelle goes after Eric. I love a good mess. LOL.

But really, it doesn't make sense to tell the story without her. She's a blank slate AND a legacy character. It's a perfect opportunity, and they just didn't take it. 

True, and it sounds like Bell and PFS didn't either. Don was her distraction while she was married to Bob and lusted after Doug. Don was always very much on the sidelines. Frankly, I think they could've leaned into Mary's lingering feelings for Don instead and used THAT to make Marlena and Mary rivals instead. The history precedes it.

[FrenchBug82]

Reminds me when Days was making fans vote on whether John or Stefano should be the father of Hope's baby (so many things wrong with that, not least of which excluding the option most fans would vote for and that they ended up going with later anyway) and the promos had three randoms with a sign in a studio parking lot.
I hope the one who had to pretend they were rooting enough for Stefano as Hope's babydaddy that they showed up at the studio with a sign were at least paid a stipend.

[beebs]

That one person was a writer. Guaranteed.

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The only type of person who would've gone "who would be the most dramatic person to be the babydaddy, hmmmm" is a writer.

[carolineg]

Noelle would be great to add to the canvas because she's not related to half the town, but still a legacy character.   So you don't end up with a Claire, who is literally related to everyone.

I have said this before, but I feel like Deidre basically just said screw it after the Possession.  She's still good in the 
Affair story, but it takes a turn from Maison Blanche on lol.  I just think the DH's just do what they do with the kidnappings and life threatening stuff that happens twice a year.  But I do think the show needs younger characters because John/Marlena still lead and that's disconcerting when I don't see an heir to the throne.  Unless Ali wants to come back full time.

Didn't Bo just win as a write in?  Or, no, John "won" lol.  And then it was retconned.

[beebs]

The show's problem is really that, while they invested a lot of time and energy into their young characters in the 2000s and 2010s, they didn't develop them as much as CHARACTERS, and they're paying for that now. The last blast crew are so generic they change personalities with every visit, and the 2010s teen crew, while better developed, don't follow through with the directions their histories suggest they should have. 

Chad should NEVER have forgiven Gabi, nevermind fallen for her. That not only negated the previous 3-4 years of story, but it also removed a lot of Gabi's thrust as a character to that point. She always felt inferior to, and unworthy, compared to the other women in her circle, and that motivated a lot of her choices, from hiring Andrew the Stalker, to sleeping with Will when she knew he was gay, to falling for and marrying Nick. She settled for scraps every time. While I do like that she finally had enough after taking the rap for Abbygabbylauragale killing André and grew a spine, the wind was definitely out of her sails for awhile.

The leads now could easily have been Austin and Carrie, but that chance has also past. I'dve brought them back for the 50th, had Patrick Muldoon's Austin rediscover his love of music playing piano at TBD, and have Eve and him connect over their shared love of music. While Carrie is busy working a case (let's say Ben goes to trial and Carrie is his attorney, pissing off the rest of the family after Will's murder), Austin spends his free time coaching Eve back into singing, and eventually they have an affair (for some reason, I see PM having chemistry with KDP and not Austin Peck). Obviously, Carrie hooks back up with Rafe during this time.

This could've carried years of story, and taken the pressure off the DM's. It's getting a little ridiculous at this point to focus the energy on them, really. You're right.

[Bill Bauer]

 

 

Deidre Hall used to be a very good actress.

[carolineg]

 

Carrie should absolutely be the lead.   I would say Belle, but she's so vanilla.  She is Carrie without the charisma.  John/Marlena's daughter should not be so lame.  And Sami/Carrie's rivalry is still very viable.

I like Gabi a lot.  I think CB is really good and not utilized correctly.  MM's Abby is a bore, but where is Stephanie? Chelsea?  Melanie?  Noelle? Sydney?  Johnny?  Unknown Carrie/Austin kid? Andrew?  Justin/Adrienne's 5 kids?  Where is POCKET? lol  There is just a lot of material and very little follow through.

very good and so likeable.  Beautiful, but very grounded and charismatic with good rapport with her co stars.   Which isn't easy

[beebs]

Carrie and Austin's son is apparently named Noah. I'm sure that'll change once he's actually onscreen, though

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Agreed on all counts. There is an embarrassment of riches to work with, and with such interesting histories to work with, the stories would write themselves if the writers would bother to do a minute of research. I still struggle to understand why Ciara isn't the daddy-starved brat Lauren Boles played. Nathan was underdeveloped, but would be great if he was fleshed out better. Hell, we don't even know who his FATHER is, over ten years later!

Johnny should be the vaguely sociopathic DiMera heir apparent of the teen set. I have NO idea why they haven't cast him yet.

[carolineg]

 

I would totally be okay with Lauren Boles taking over Ciara today.  

I liked Nathan.  He was bland but okay and I hope Melissa found a guy that actually liked her lol.  I think they should recast and bring back Jeremy Horton as well. 

I NEED Johnny to be cast and bring Sami hell.  She still talks about Marlena's affair.  I need a child to call her out. 

It's so bizarre to me that Carrie was everything in the 90's and is so forgotten.  I loved her and her really bad hair.  

There are just so many possibilities.  It's like Days wants to make things happen and push people on us then completely drop them.  I guess it's head writing changes but it's weird..

 

[Paul Raven]

If only Corday (or someone) had prioritized the Hortons over  the years.

Characters like David Banning,Steve Olsen and Sandy Horton had years of story potential and could have acted out stories given to others over the years.

I understand that certain characters were offscreen for various reasons but they could have been kept alive in viewers minds by some quick referencing eg in say 1983 Marie gets word Jessica is pregnant and the birth is acknowledged. Tom and Alice could say they visited and Nick Fallon is established from birth. An ornament is added that Xmas.

And so on. Establish the next generation instead of them turning up randomly.

 

RE SSH and Deidre. Susan was always such a stylish lady but a some point seem to settle into frumpyish old lady mode with the flowing tops, chunky necklaces, tipped easy care hair do and comfy sandals.

Mind you DH is now channeling her inner lesbos with the tartan shirts and pleather jackets.

But she certainly presents younger than Susan.

[Wendy]

About Don, his non-exit off to mail that damned letter on Days was probably the best thing that could have happened to Jed Allan. After all of the trouble TPTB had at establishing C.C. Capwell on Santa Barbara, he was a revelation in the role and gave the character the kick in the ass he so sorely needed.

 

And his interactions with Lane Davies as black-sheep son, Mason, were golden.

 

Don would have always been B/C-level at best. C.C. was better in terms of "meat" for Jed Allan in the long run.

[carolineg]

 

DH's current wardrobe is atrocious with the plaid and ugly jackets, but SSH looks she's late for a canasta game at the community center.  I honestly had no idea DH and SSH were near the same age.  It makes it more clear they aged Julie way too early.   They always were two different generations to me.

 

It's weird because I know Don did stuff after he divorced Marlena, but I can't remember any of it.  Besides his romance with Maggie.  It's weird he was onscreen for a decade and all I can remember about him is that he was married to Marlena and his son died. 

C.C. Capwell was certainly the best thing that happened to him.