DAYS: Behind the Scenes, Articles/Photos

[beebs]

Yeah the other pictures are a little better, I admit. God, DAYS was certainly a very...blonde show back then, wasn't it? Other than Julie and Maggie, every leading lady on the show was blonde at this point. How weird.

 

Interesting to me that they were so lauded at the Emmys in '79. I suppose the acting and production made up for a lot of the storylines, because I cannot see these competing with what Y&R, GL, GH, AMC, or OLTL were serving up at the time, for example. They have a core of heavy hitters, and they're misusing them terribly!

I REALLY hope they do a lot more with Tom and Alice than have Alice preach the gospel to Margo. They started to when Ann Marcus first came on, but it seems like Tom in particular was, for the first time in the show's history, really detached from the action by '78. It suddenly hit me as I was reading the most recent entries. I do wonder if the increasing prominence of young demographics is to blame for this, especially with ABC being so dominant in that area at the time. I am noticing a lot of hastily introduced young characters right now, and none of them seem to be sticking, despite how much they dominate airtime.

God, Janice doesn't even LOOK like she wants to be there 

[victoria foxton]

@beebs @Franko  A rare clip of Mike & Margo.

  

Edited October 23, 2020 by victoria foxton

[Franko]

Sexually confused, followed by mental anguish from "Dad" and eventually Mom, then a dying wife. If there's anyone entitled to a pity party in '70s Salem, it's Mike.

Edited October 23, 2020 by Franko

[soapfan770]

LOL did Weiss’ & Critchlow’s Mikes ever bring up Margo? 

[Dion]

I'm pretty sure Critchlow's Mike once talked about her with Carrie, but I could be wrong.

[te.]

 

Awkward since Weiss's and Cirtchlow's Mike's were basically de-aged by a decade and it doesn't make sense timeline wise. Ironically, I guess Mike Horton is actually closer to his birthage on the show due to the constant adjustments to his age. I guess pairing him with Carrie in the 90s also made him seem a bit younger due to Carrie technically being somewhere in her 20s back then.

[Titus Andronicus]

 

That's absolutely fascinating to see even if doesn't work at all for me. The inner dialogue and Eure's playing of it just doesn't feel right, except the bit of sarcasm about his job.

 

My sister is missing and might be dead? Ah, life.

 

(Jennifer is missing because Laura put her on the bus alone. Laura had asked Donna to babysit, then took off with Jennifer and told Donna not to answer the phone until she returned. Laura stayed out all day.)

 

Looks like this is from June 19, 1979 (per Jason's daily summaries)

"3443...6/19/79: (summary via Mitch)
Cast: Tom, Alice, Mickey, Maggie, Mike, Don, Marlena, Margo, Jordan, Donna, Laura (FBO).
Sets: Mickey’s Office, Marlena’s Office, Horton Living Room & Front Door, Mickey & Maggie’s Kitchen, Mike’s Kitchen.
 
Donna confides in Alice that it was not her fault that Jennifer ran away, but feels to blame.  Don tries to convince Mickey that Laura is out of control.  Marlena remembers Samantha locking her up.  Mike wonders to Mickey if Laura’s problem is hereditary.  Maggie and Alice worry about Jennifer. Jordan tells Marlena he is in charge.  Mike apologizes to Margo on marrying into the Hortons."

Edited October 24, 2020 by Titus Andronicus

[te.]

Honestly, part of me just wonders if the SORAS'd Mike Horton in the 70s ever worked - nothing against Wes Eure etc, but it always felt like such a rushed thing that made it hard to write for him and the parents. Maybe it's my own bias against doing the drastic SORAS (as you can end up with weird Brady / step mother Kristen pairings), but it always felt ill-advised to do that so soon with Mike as it aged the entire Mikey / Laura / Bill crew considerably in advance. I guess I just prefer the Will / Carrie type of aging where it sort of happens in real time with slight jumps in age as the show moves on.

[beebs]

It is, I have most of this episode. Donna was apparently Jennifer's babysitter at the time, and Laura came to the house and demanded Donna let her leave with Jennifer.

 

Laura did worry in the past about inheriting her mother's mental illness, so it was smart of Elizabeth Harrower to play on that history. I do wonder, not having made it to the March 1979 headwriter change, whether she was a good shift from Ann Marcus' melodrama. It seems far more intense, contemplative than what I've been reading. I've heard reviews that call 1979 DAYS boring and slow. I suspect that was Harrower yanking back the pacing vs. Marcus' breakneck speed of storytelling.

I feel like, because there was such a lack of teen characters ready to go after the first few years, DAYS rushed to fill that gap with Mike and David, but it really caused a lot of problems for them, as Julie went from star young adult character, to middle-aged talk-to overnight. I remember hearing SSH was not exactly impressed by it either.

[te.]

 

Yes, and it's worth to remember that Julie was 16 in 1965, so she should've been in her mid-20s when her now adult 18-year-old son was introduced. For comparison, it would've been like rapidly aging up Will to 18 in the early 2000s which of course would've aged up Sami as a result. It would've been incredibly short-sighted and would've drained years of story for Sami. I guess that's what they ended up trying to "correct" with Mike in the 80s by de-aging him, but the damage seemed done at that point and Bill / Laura were just off the canvas either way so it just became... even odder. Mike suddenly had a past that's just weird to talk about because it's practically impossible to reconcile any sort of time line.

[Paul Raven]

The aging up of Mike and David did more harm than good.

Bill/Mickey/Maggie/Laura and Julie had enough drama in their lives without teen kids.

I think a slight SORASING would have been OK ,David and Mike were both born in 68 I think so making them 10 by 75 wouldn't have been a stretch.

A good child actor of that age could be a vital part of family drama.

Then later Mike and David become teens and provide story for their parents who by that time age and story wise would be more appropriate as strong supporting.

Days had Steve and Sandy in the wings to come on as younger Hortons.

And/or give Maggie a younger brother or Tommy a long lost child etc to have teens in the family sphere.

 

[te.]

 

Yup, in hindsight it probably killed both characters as long-term decade players (though I guess Mike did become one, but never could grow into a well-defined player because of the messy history) as it made both their and their parents history confusing.

 

It's not often you get to say that later DAYS handled things better, but I do think they did handle it better with Will and that's what should've happened with Julie / David at least - age him up slightly if need to be, but don't necessarily make it age her. 2-3 years ok for storyline and child casting reasons, but not more. The worst thing that happened when they aged Will slightly was that they got closer to Sweeny's own age, so it wasn't noticable. And as you said - if they wanted a teen cast they could've brought in other Hortons plus just invented some characters to people like Maggie.

[teplin]

In a few more years, DAYS SORASed Hope and Melissa, which effectively ended Doug & Julie's (and Mickey & Maggie's) reign as romantic leads. Hope & Bo helped fuel a ratings renaissance, so you can't really say it was a bad decision for the show -- but it was certainly a blow to a legion of Doug & Julie fans. 

[Franko]

Looks like Eure began as Mike in June 1974, with the character reappearing after a six-month absence. Guthrie began as David in May 1975, with the character reappearing after a two-year absence.

[asafi]

I will appreciate if you can upload more scenes from early 70's and early 80's. And of course would love to see the story of Marie Horton falling for her brother Tommy