DAYS: Behind the Scenes, Articles/Photos

[carolineg]

 

It's Queen of the Night lol.  I always thought that made it sound like Marlena was some sort of Madam in charge of a bunch of call girls.  It just sounds kind of dirty lol.  In the 80's I thought Stefano did have an obsession with Marlena/Roman especially when he kidnapped the twins right before Marlena shot him, BUT I didn't think it was a romantic/lust obsession.  More of "I am obsessed with ruining your life" sorta thing.

 

Anyway, I think Stefano's romantic infatuation with Marlena began in the 90's after Maison Blanche when she tried to seduce him to save John.  I think that was actually the catalyst to the desire to have her, but it escalated quickly into him sneaking through her boudoir and making vulnerable to the devil.   Gosh just typing that sounded ridiculous.  So I don't think we are supposed to believe it was something that was always there but something that happened later on.  Regardless, it never made much sense.   Especially when he kidnapped her and locked her in a cage in Paris, but wanted her to love him and come to him on her own.  While being HELD CAPTIVE away from her family in a Gold Cage.  Stefano, that is an awful plan.

 

This also when Stefano became a cartoon.  He was always more OTT than Victor or other Days baddies, but he was scary in the 80's.  From the 90's on he was just a caricature and it just veered into complete ridiculousness.

[DRW50]

Whenever I hear Queen of the Night I just end up thinking JER was listening to a lot of Whitney Houston. 

 

(why we didn't get a montage of the Marlena clones blending in around the world, I don't know)

 

 

[DRW50]

 

[KMan101]

 

All of this would have been possible. I think we're past that point, for the general audience, but who knows? I'd write it in a heartbeat, so they'd want nothing to do with me, lol. I'd be bringing back Hortons left and right.

 

Roman could have been viable but JER had a ... unique ... way of looking at his canvas. He explains it. I'd love to find those articles, probably buried in here. I think it's short sighted. He's not a character driven writer, yet he gives the characters motivations. He's always been fascinating to me, honestly. And I think frustrating because he can structure a story, he learned from some of the best. But he's so outlandish (especially circa 2002-2007) and it's annoying because it always felt like he "had it in him" to do better than he did.

 

A *real* writer who cared about the fabric of the show and the characters would have written exactly that: Roman and Marlena find out, painfully, that "you can't always go back again". It really pisses me off we couldn't correct course in 2004/2005 when Wayne was back. But ... Reilly. And Corday's hard-on for Josh Taylor. I agree with you, just have them both re-assume the roles as if nothing happened. It's DAYS. We accept people donating organs and coming back from the dead so ....

Edited January 21, 2020 by KMan101

[Khan]

 

Same.  Erika Slezak (or Donna Mills) as the new Dr. Laura Horton!  Michael E. Knight (or a returning Wesley Eure) as the new Dr. Mike Horton!  Larry Bryggman (maybe) as the new Dr. Bill Horton!  Cady McClain as the new (and much more age-appropriate) Sarah Horton!

[BuckyB12]

A little pre-DAYS news from the New York Daily News - November 15, 1959.

 

 

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[victoria foxton]

 

 

[amybrickwallace]

 

That's where they lucked out having Joe Mascolo playing Stefano. He knew the material he was playing was ridiculous, yet he played it with gusto and a wink to the audience.

[DynamiteKiddo]

Ouch after this week

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I remember at some point shortly after this, Adrienne calls Jack to tell him she had her baby and named him, Jackson, after him.  This never gets brought up now.

[carolineg]

 

JM was amazing no doubt, but I think the writing really neutered Stefano.  Everyone was deathly afraid of a man that ran an underground midget kingdom in Paris and was obsessed with the local shrink.  It was always an odd choice.

[Khan]

 

Not Julie!  She once expressed to "Princess Gina" exactly how I felt about Stefano DiMera; and I believe that woman would have fought him to the depths of hell and back to protect her family.

[SoapDope]

I was watching the Bill and Susan Hayes Lifetime Award clips and I wonder why Denise Alexander has never returned to Days as Susan even for a short stint ? 

[BetterForgotten]

My guess is she was probably never asked, and eventually, Susan just became one of many characters from a forgotten era that the show had little interest in revisiting. 

 

That, or maybe she had some strong loyalty to GH and the role of Lesley and eventually decided that was going to be the only daytime role she would revisit from time to time. 

[titan1978]

I think part of it had to be that era of the show was just so far removed from where they were in 1984.  They were already not using Julie to the point that Susan left the show.  She was in the age group they were underutilizing.  I know she commanded a huge salary, even when she went to AW she was well paid.

 

She was a big deal on GH, but not a “get” (to the network) like Genie Francis was a couple of years later.

 

I wish Monty and the network people had let her take the extended vacation she wanted before starting her new contract.  She said she didn’t want more money, she just needed a break.  Lesley should have been vying for Chief of Staff against Alan and Monica for years.  Rick could stay gone though!

 

What I would love to know is if Bill Bell ever tried to get her for Y&R?  He obviously loved writing for her.

[Khan]

I wouldn't be surprised to learn Bill Bell tried to get Denise Alexander for a role on Y&R or B&B, but couldn't for whatever reason.

 

Ironically, Ron Carlivati is just the kind of HW who'd find some way to bring DA/Susan Martin back to DAYS if he could.  She could wind up being Evan's grandmother, or something.  You just never know with Ron, lol.