DAYS: Behind the Scenes, Articles/Photos

[Contessa Donatella]

There's a whole playlist of early Dee/Wayne including the sleeping bag, Trista, Samantha, watching a movie at home, going out to an inn, etc. but there's no strangling, no slap, in these clips, which I know by heart. But, I don't know a first meeting. Thanks. Nor do I recall his making fun of her turning into the Doc nickname. Anyway, I will definitely re-look. 

That's okay. It is, in fact, some of the clips that are posted on twitter that I find objectionable. Of course there are Jarlena fans who love Wayne just as there are Jarlena fans who are somehow threatened by Wayne, which is really strange since their boy went home with all of the marbles! 

 

[Lye-C]

I’m trying to find the slap, no luck so far. 

Nobody is threatened by Wayne or even the character of Roman. There are a lot of new Roman fans (and some old ones) who don’t understand the history. Roman didn’t raise any of his kids for example. John raised them. So Eric should call John “Dad” as well as Roman. 

Edited December 11, 2023 by EdibleFlowers

[carolineg]

I know exactly what scene @EdibleFlowers is talking about in the office and it is a pretty crappy thing to do.  Before the sleeping bag stuff.  It might actually be their first scene together.

The slap I really can't place or recall.  I think I might remember Roman handling Marlena a bit roughly because she was in denial and slightly delusional after Sam's death?  It's been so long.

I think Roman was a little joke-y about Marlena being a lady dr/shrink.  When he says it in the beginning I can see it being obnoxious.  I think it's very different than the way Drake/RoJohn/John calls her that because it comes from a place of more respect, but I don't think Wayne's Roman's intentions were bad.

[carolineg]

I think it's also really hard to place how much time John spent with the twins.  Not because we didn't see him fully raise the kids, but because Sami/Eric were shipped off to Colorado and aged.  Once Sami returned it was really difficult for me to discern how much time RealRoman actually spent with them.   Did he and Marlena raise them while they SORAS'ed?  Are we supposed to consider the time they aged four or five years as Marlena/Roman parenting them as a family? That's how Sami made it seem.  That's on unclear writing and the pitfalls of SORAS'ing.  Brady doesn't call Marlena mom and she raised him.   At least Eric/Brady refer to themselves as siblings.  

[Lye-C]

Here’s the slap. Clip #2

Edited December 11, 2023 by EdibleFlowers

[Joseph]

Those were the Days, that was a stupid but rather popular way to take someone out of Shock!

[Contessa Donatella]

Okay, thnks, The context is that she was hysterical & was trying to get out of a moving car. 

It is very hard. I mean Eric & Sami's birth date was even changed to accommodate the SOARASing. During part of their childhoods they were in Colorado with the Evans. During part of their childhood, Drake playing whatever he was called at the time parented the twins & Carrie. Marlena & Roman were both held apart from their families a part of the twins' childhood. It's a mess & a half! 

[carolineg]

Thanks!  That's not....the best.

Right?  Lol.  So stupid.  The 80's were a wild time.  I remember Patch manhandled Kayla quite a bit early on too.

[j swift]

I wonder if DAYS was being derivative of Wayne's character of Michael Culhane on Dynasty when trying to establish the character of Roman?  Michael was a cad and very disrespectful, so the overlap is what inspired the question.  As well as the prior discussion in this thread that Roman's pairing with Marlena was interpreted by the producers as being popular at first.

[Contessa Donatella]

We can just agree to disagree about their being some Jarlena fans who seem to be threatened by OG Roman as played by Wayne. And, there are some Jarlena fans who don't see the history the same way as some others do. One thing that is universally known is that Drake parented those 3 kids for some undetermined time period. What those adults now call John is theirs to decide. 

[carolineg]

Yeah.  I don't know if the twins grew while in Colorado or we are supposed to think the Roman/Marlena/Sami/Eric family was reunited and they grew most of that time with them.  John was pretty much hands off after the initial reveal of him not being Roman.  So are we to think John was just a fun uncle for all those years or that he had a more meaningful relationship with them?   It's all very confusing and sometimes I think for audience clarity sake they go with biological ties.  Carrie and Brady don't call Marlena mom and Sami/Eric/Carrie don't call John dad.  We know they have parental/strong ties, but it's just the simplest way to explain it through the years.

[Contessa Donatella]

The popularity of their pairing was the reality of a particular period of time. 

Schemering 72, "In the DAYS OF OUR LIVES tradition of strong, quietly macho leading men, Pat Falken Smith created police sergeant Roman Brady (Wayne Northrup, fresh from prime-time's DYNASTY) and paired him with Deidre Hall's lady psychiatrist, Marlena Evans. Eventually Roman and Marlena replaced GENERAL HOSPITAL'S Luke and Laura as daytime's most popular couple."

Edited December 11, 2023 by Donna L. Bridges
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[Lye-C]

Patch and Kayla’s relationship began with him literally stalking her. So much of the 80s is problematic viewed through a contemporary lens.

She was traumatized and still trying to process the death of her murdered twin who only died because the killer thought Sam was Marlena. Roman had no right to lay hands on her. 

It’s not undetermined. He raised them onscreen from 1986-1991.

[carolineg]

I think Wayne's Roman was supposed to be more blue collar and simple for lack of a better word.  Marlena was supposed to be more sophisticated.  I don't think he was a cad or disrespectful in creation-just more old fashioned and rough around the edges?  By the book, family oriented, a little chauvinistic and out of his league with Marlena. 

There are also several very touching and lovely scenes throughout Marlena/Roman's initial courtship.  They also had quite a bit of humor.  Something I don't think John/Marlena and their constant angst quite achieved.  I never doubted Roman loved Marlena even if a lot of his words and actions don't age great.  It was a product of the time.

In the 90's I will say Roman was a jerk though.

Edited December 11, 2023 by carolineg

[j swift]

I also have an opinion on the Roman & Anna pairing.  He had a savior complex.  She had been the girlfriend of a criminal that he was investigating.  He got close to her in order to gain information.  He wanted to save her, so they conceived Carrie.  Then, she was trafficked, and the rest is history (I refuse to use the arcane term that they wrote in the 1980s).

I imagine that her attraction to him was just someone who could help her get out of an awful situation.  I don't think she ever loved him, as she certainly never tried to renew their relationship.  But, she was young and got in with a bad crowd, and he was a means to an end.

Edited December 11, 2023 by j swift