DAYS: Behind the Scenes, Articles/Photos

[Bright Eyes]

 

Unfortunately, that show died a long, long time ago.

[DRW50]

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[JAS0N47]

 

Oh okay. I checked the DSN to compare last night, and saw it wasn't the same wording, so I thought maybe you had a different source to be added to my synopses. I must have missed your earlier thanks, but you're welcome! Glad you are enjoying them and putting your own spin on them!!

[beebs]

Oh, I absolutely am! Thanks again for everything you do!

Gonna try to finish 1978 now. Let's see. We're on November now...

A note or four about the previous post: Bob forced Linda's hand as far as rehiring Chris, and Mary resented Stephanie being able to convince Chris to return to Anderson instead of herself (keeping in mind Mary and Chris are, at this point, still not back together). Despite what is said in October's SOD write-up, Chris and Stephanie DO NOT sleep together. Tune In Tomorrow's summary also makes it clear that Stephanie definitively reveals herself to be Brooke at Adele's graveside. Stephanie is still unaware that Mary is the one who called the cops on her for her little bit of corporate espionage, and blames Bob fully for ruining both hers and Adele's life.

Laura is currently Donna's psychiatrist, and it's to her that Donna reveals her "trouble with an older man".


ONTO NOVEMBER:

Linda continues to be a delicious viper. At first, she regrets her tryst with Neil, but when she finds out Phyllis has a block of Anderson stock, she sees possibilities in using Neil, so she sees him whenever possible, with Neil being Bob's doctor, so he can keep Bob in the hospital indefinitely and out of his and Linda's hair. They're brazen about it, even making out in a hospital linen closet at one point. It evolves from physical intimacy both were lacking in their respective lives to something more, especially for Linda, who needs a shoulder to lean on during her depression, her hectic schedule at Anderson, and dealing with Bob's recovery. But it all starts to go wrong when they're caught by Mary, who is called from her house to Linda's by an ill Melissa, who is once again left at home alone until 2am. Mary stays with her, only to see Linda and Neil walk in, arm in arm. OOPS. Mary decides to keep quiet for a bit since she doesn't want to lose control against the ever-calculating Linda, nor does she want to jeopardize Bob's fragile health. The entire time, Stephanie is also suspicious of what's going on. So evidently, they're being extremely discreet. Bob, meanwhile, returns home to a gift of flowers from Phyllis, who appears to still be out of town. He also notices something is different between him and Linda. But for the life of him, can't figure out what it is. HMMMMM....

 

 

Mary decides to head down to Dayton as well, only to find Chris and Stephanie in his hotel room together (apparently only in an embrace, not in bed as previously stated), but Mary is sure they're sleeping together. Chris says he only did it to learn what Linda was up to. He insists he's not carrying on an affair with Stephanie, but Mary won't hear it. Stephanie does lay it on thick with Chris to TRY to bed him, though. One night, though, he has legitimate reason to go to her room in the middle of the night. She's having more flashbacks to the accident. Undiagnosed PTSD, it would seem. Chris comforts her until she can rest. Mary returns to Salem and complains to David about what she's seen. David is distraught as well, since he had his eye on Stephanie. He decides to use Amy to make Stephanie jealous when Stephanie returns to Salem.

 

 

 

Margo decides to have a cheerful and uplifting conversation about her grave with Mike. No wonder Mike becomes depressed by June if this is the sunny banter at home. He's also back working at Anderson, and Chris promotes him. He's also apparently in school, but they're vague as to whether he's started med school already or not.

 

 

Janice is having nightmares of being cut in half by Tom, who, in her dreams, is the judge of her custody trial. One half to Maggie, one half to Joanne. Mickey tries to explain that she won't have to choose, because the judge will do his best to decide what's best for her. This absolutely does not help.

 

Maggie's a ball of anxiety as well, but somehow manages to avoid drinking again (probably because the alcoholism was only a plot point, but I digress). She finds out from Mickey that Joanne's lawyer dug up Mickey's breakdown and sterility, and, fearing she'd lose the case (even though Don thinks they still stand a good chance), sneaks out to the farm with Janice to hide (virtually guaranteeing a loss, way to go, Maggie). She finds Hank there, and all is going well until Maggie tells him why she's at the farm. She makes him promise not to tell Mickey why she and Janice are there. He agrees...and then immediately calls Mickey. Maggie overhears the call (Maggie has the best hearing in Salem, I swear), and she and Janice are off once again! Mickey arrives too late, and if he can't get Maggie back to Salem in time for the hearing, they will absolutely lose custody of Janice.

 

Maggie and Janice are on the open road...until Maggie's car breaks down!! Serves you right for crashing it, Mags!

 

They take it into a repair shop, where the mechanic recognizes her face from the paper, and calls "Michael Horton". Too bad that ends up being Mike, who thinks it's a wrong number, until the next morning when he reads the paper (wtf was Mike SO estranged from Mickey at this point that he didn't know this massive family drama going on with the man who raised him???). Mike calls Mickey, and gives him what little info he remembers from the call, and Mickey tracks down the mechanic. He begs him to delay Maggie as long as possible so he can get her to the courthouse in time.

 

Mickey goes to court and tries to stall as much as possible, while Tom goes to Fairfield, where the repair shop is, to track down Maggie and Janice. Maggie won't go with Tom, certain she'll lose Janice.

In court, Don stalls as much as he can, and, in chambers, avoids explaining exactly why Maggie isn't in court. Joanne, meanwhile, is less and less certain of whether she's done the right thing by suing for custody in the first place (euuuugh, COMMIT, woman!). She worries about Janice's safety, and realizes just how much Maggie must love Janice to have run off with her.

 

Just as the judge gets fed up, Maggie and Tom walk into the courtroom. The trial begins. The usual back-and-forth ensues. Except one night, during the trial, Linda has Janice come visit Melissa while she's entertaining "friends" aka Neil. While Neil and Linda are busy in bed, Janice and Melissa are goofing off down by the lake where they aren't supposed to be, and Janice falls in. She nearly drowns because she hits her head on a rock and falls unconcious into the water while obviously left unattended, but Chris, who happens to be visiting Mary's (probably to once again try to prove he wasn't shtooping Stephanie), rescues Janice. Janice might have brain damage from being underwater so long, but only Mary knows why the girls were left unchaperoned so late at night, and because she's afraid the truth might kill Bob, she keeps quiet.

The news hits Maggie so hard she finally cracks and is back at the bar! But, despite buying a drink, she doesn't take a sip (eyes be rolling). She leaves the house early the next morning, bursts into the judge's chambers and has a meltdown in front of the judge, blaming Joanne's lawyers for smearing her and her family, and that Janice's accident (which the judge hadn't even heard of) is all their fault. Watching Maggie lose her S#!t, he decides the case must be reviewed in a new light. Way to go, Maggie.

 

Doug and Julie are still in their silly story. Julie is jealous of Theresa, who has a crush on Robert, who thinks Theresa is only interested in him because she can't have Doug. Doug only wants to spend more time with Julie, who will only be able to if Steve is a full partner in her antiques business so she can hand over more responsibility and devote more time to Doug. Doug won't hear of it (for obvious reasons), so Julie won't budge and stays mad.

Marlena finds out Donna skipped town while speaking with Toni. Don gets an apologetic letter from Donna, which explains absolutely nothing that she did, so Don can't figure out what the hell she did that she needs to apologize for.

 

Greg and Amanda leave for Chicago...literally two weeks later, Amanda's back at Julie's door, sobbing because Greg STILL doesn't have time for her, which comes as a great surprise to her despite the fact he took a similar job to the one he had at UH but at a busier hospital. Julie is sympathetic for some reason but tells Amanda to keep trying. (Like slamming her head against that brick wall. It MUST budge eventually!)

 

 

 

 

I forgot November is sweeps so there's so much going on (as Ann Marcus is wont to do) that I'm already at like...20 paragraphs. I'll leave it there for tonight.

I can honestly say, @Titus Andronicus, I'm fairly certain the Bill/Kate affair never actually happened, because unless things change dramatically after this, Bill and Laura stay talk-tos until Laura starts to lose it under Elizabeth Harrower.

I'm kinda relieved that the Donna/Don/Marlena debacle is on ice right now, cos that was some gross-ass s#!t. Also, @Franko, you mentioned Donna having an Electra complex, and yeah, her motivation for breaking Marlena and Don up before was definitely because she wanted to shtoop Don. I don't know if I made that clear. So...yeah...that's a thing. A 15 year old wanting to screw a 40-something man, then getting pregnant by an 18+ year old. Yayyyyy....

Edited October 30, 2020 by beebs

[Titus Andronicus]

Mike was in college years earlier, just after he was SORASed. If he's still in college, it makes me wonder if they realized even then that adding 10 years to his age was a huge mistake. Can't take that big of a leap back, though. Unless it's Nikki Manning.

 

Little Janice is going to need some kind of counseling. Kidnapped twice (though one was fun), a car accident, the trial, potential brain damage. 

 

Ann Marcus is gone as headwriter at the end of February. Marcus said she was fired because she want to do a story that "one of the popular characters" had sired an interracial baby in Vietnam. The character was supposed to be getting married, but the mother showed up. Don or maybe Chris are the only two that it seems to fit.

 

If it's Don, she deserved firing just because it would have been an awful decision to saddle him with a second potential child that he knew nothing about within a few months. Or maybe Marcus was totally off on her timeline, wasn't fired, but caved to pressure and retooled it to be Donna instead.

 

A contemporary article said Marcus left to work on other projects (not that this means anything). She had a made-for-TV movie air within a few weeks of leaving.

 

Edit: Re-reading summaries, it absolutely had to be Don. Marcus wasn't fired for it, like she claimed, but she either caved or NBC either forced her to rework it and the interracial love child became Donna.

 

So there's now another question. Did Marcus intentionally make a hash of it in protest and get fired for that or was it completely unintentional that she wrote it that badly?

Edited October 31, 2020 by Titus Andronicus

[victoria foxton]

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[beebs]

You know @Titus Andronicus it could very well have been Chris, considering his intentions of marrying Mary by 79, but I think you're right, it seems odd to have two long lost children stories back to back on the same show, regardless of which characters you're dealing with. So it likely was Don and it reworked to be Donna. 

 

 

Thanks for sharing that article @victoria foxton this was during Frons' time at NBC, wasn't it? It seems an awfully familiar refrain to what we saw at ABC in the 2000s, no? 

Edited October 31, 2020 by beebs

[asafi]

 

Wow thank you for sharing this article. I always assumed SR left because she was diagnosed with MG: 

 

"In 1984, Rogers was diagnosed with the rare muscle disorder myasthenia gravis. This disease affected her facial muscles, and the medicine the doctors put her on made her feel ill, and her face appeared swollen while also suffering hair loss. She temporarily left the show after 11 years when the effects of the disease became increasingly worse... Her entire appearance changed, and she did not return to Days of Our Lives for a year. Rogers returned to the serial when her health became better. Rogers, wanting to educate viewers about the disease, encouraged executive producer Betty Corday to have her character be diagnosed with the disease. Corday agreed, and a storyline played out with Maggie learning she has myasthenia gravis"

 

 

[OzFrog]

 

For a moment, I had to remind myself this was DAYS and not some weird plot in B&B 

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[Khan]

According to @JAS0N47's website, Jed Allan appeared in the most episodes (141) in '78 -- more than even the Hayeses.  And yet, Ann Marcus has his character in a storyline with Marlena and Donna that couldn't BE more stupid.

Edited October 31, 2020 by Khan

[te.]

Ron has posted the original Halloween episode that got cancelled this year:

 

 

[Franko]

Throwing it out there: Solomon Horton (Tom's long-lost Jewish brother). Also, nobody informed the judge about Janice's accident? @Titus Andronicus, don't forget that less than a decade later, she'll come back and end up in a triangle with Mike and Bill before being killed by Harper Deveraux.

 

The sad thing is, Maggie did end up opening doors and pouring coffee for a long time after her return. Lanna Saunders' comments about the missing Hortons at Bo and Hope's wedding reminds me of how GL fans (justifiably) won't cut the show slack for how they handled Bert and Maureen's funerals.

 

Also, how about Sherri Anderson admitting Maggie's alcoholism was poorly received?!

[victoria foxton]

I'm so glad we were spared that nonsense.

[beebs]

Ohhhh lord. I was going to see if I could stomach waiting, but maaaaan.

 

I got about mid-way through reading the Tune In Tomorrow updates before I realized what was going on. I'll just...I'll launch into it.

 

This is how DAYS closed out 1978.

 

So Donna came back to town and tells Don that they slept together. Don spends an inordinate amount of time wondering how it was possible that he'd done this before realizing that Donna's lying. Marlena wants Don to drop his attempt to adopt Donna and be done with her, while Don is more sympathetic to Donna, and decides he won't marry Marlena because Donna needs him more, and Marlena will just resent Donna (I wonder why). Donna's in juvenile hall, and Pete finds out about this when checks in with Neil by phone. Pete feels guilty.

 

Don finally tells Donna he's probably her father and plans to adopt her, and Donna admits to lying. Satisfied that Donna's finished being messy, Don tells Marlena he changed his mind and wants to marry her again. Marlena tells him where to shove it, and suggests he gets his house in order first before he tries again. Marlena's position is cemented when she meets with Toni, who tells her Donna's pregnant. Unsure how to tell Don, Marlena gets Laura to do it for her so that Marlena doesn't look like she's being a troublemaker. Meanwhile, Toni convinces Donna to tell Don.

 

After Don adopts Donna, Donna drops the bomb: she's pregnant. Don's pissed, but calms down shortly thereafter, remembering he's the idiot who signed up for this, so he better suck it up.

 

Pete returns and, once again, tried to convince Donna to abort because he was NOT about to marry her. Then he decides he has to marry her because she won't abort. Donna's happy, and Don's mad as hell. Marlena is still trying to figure out how to convince Donna to abort without coming off as the bad guy.

 

 

 

Neil allows Bob to come home, but strictly forbids him to sleep with Linda until NEIL okays it (cheeky b*stard). Neil and Linda insist Bob stay at home and rest, while Linda "works long hours at the office" (read: screws Neil after a regular day's work). Bob becomes the dumbass of the hour, wondering why Linda's working so late. She didn't work late before! *sigh* He's just so damned happy Linda is taking such GREAT CARE of his business.

 

Putz.

 

Linda's scheme is starting to pay off. Because Phyllis' stock in Anderson is in a joint account with Neil, he can vote at the next board meeting on Linda's behalf, and Linda can officially take over Anderson! What a stroke of luck!

 

But remember, Mary knows what Linda's been up to, and when Bob asks Mary to go out of her way to help Linda so she doesn't get overworked, Mary agrees...then seethes the second she steps out of the room, wishing she could tell him what Linda's been up to. Stephanie is also suspicious of Linda, and correctly theorizes that Linda's trying to take over the company, and then wants to merge it with a competitor. 

 

After a dinner party Bob hosts where Linda doesn't show because of "work", Mary gets fed up and starts plotting. After dinner, she hightails it to Neil's, but only finds Neil and Pete there. Neil immediately suspects Mary's onto him, and warns Mary that any shock to Bob's system could kill him, hoping that'll keep her quiet.

 

 

 

Stephanie and David go on some dates, and after one of them, David comes home to find Jeri skulking about. She apparently "just wants to visit [TimmyScotty]", but David isn't so sure. He tries to keep Jeri away, claiming he has everything he needs here, until Amy decides she has enough money to go to college and plans to move out. 

 

Stephanie is up to something, and it's complicated as hell, so bear with me here.

 

So she dates David to get info on what Linda's up to. David gets her access to confidential stockholder reports, then convinces Chris to help her by saying that Linda is trying to take over Anderson. Mary still feels insecure about this after the Dayton nonsense, but goes along with it, regardless (I guess this is a trust exercise of sorts). It lasts about five minutes, as one too many meetings with Stephanie cause Mary to freak out at Chris, and accuse him of using the situation to two-time her. Again, they're STILL not back together at this point. Stephanie finds out about a special carburetor Chris is inventing. She steals it, and sells it to a rival of Anderson's.

 

Mike becomes worried about the quality of the foundation of the building he's working on for Anderson. And is dismissed by everyone but Chris. They go at night to check out the issue, and the floor gives way and they disappear down a hole. After Margo calls around to figure out where Mike is, David finally clues in that Mike had spoken to him about the faulty foundation, and he and Mary (visiting to complain about Chris "standing her up"), rush down to the construction site to make sure. They spot them, and call for help. Mike and Chris are in histrionics, certain they'll never be found and will die in this hole in the ground. They go on long soliloquies, professing their love for the respective women, and wait in the dark to die. Mike nearly does, as the oxygen begins to run out and he almost passes out before the rescue crew arrive. 

 

Chris and Mike are saved, and Mary and Chris realize how ridiculous they're being and finally decide to get back together. This makes Stephanie change her plan of attack, and she decides to make Chris the fall guy for her plan to sell Chris' carburetor blueprints instead of an innocent victim, all to stick it to Mary. Stephanie plants the paperwork for the sale in Chris' office for Linda to find, complete with a forged signature. 

 

Linda's handling of the situation isn't pleasing Bob, and he tells Mary as much. But Mary is convinced of Chris' innocence, and lets slip the insinuation that Linda may be trying to railroad Chris to cover up something Linda herself is up to, especially with how much Linda's been seeing Neil. This plants the seed in Bob's head that Linda has been fearing for weeks (Bob hasn't been particularly affectionate with her since he's been home from the hospital).

 

Bob realizes how much sense Mary's implication makes, and hires a PI to have Linda tailed.

 

 

Maggie and Mickey don't entirely lose custody of Janice. Basically Joanne gets her for the school year, and Mickey and Maggie get her for weekends and the summer. If, after six months, Maggie can lay off the booze, she'll get custody of Janice. I guess she never did, because Janice then immediately moved to San Francisco with Joanne and they got one letter after that from her saying how happy she was (presumably to not be in perpetual danger every waking moment). Would that not be a direct violation of the custody agreement?? WTF!

 

Margo convinces Mike to go remind Mickey he exists and considers him his dad and that he loves him. This makes Mickey feel better, at least.

 

But now Maggie is depressed, and confides in Doug, who's miserable because Julie is too busy trying to make Steve a partner in the antiques business he's fleecing to sleep with her husband at any point. Maggie laments not having a baby, and the fact Mickey can't give her one. YES, THEY WERE TEASING PAIRING DOUG AND MAGGIE, Y'ALL.

 

Doug invites Maggie to get involved in organizing the charity variety show Greg had set in motion before he left town. For Maggie, it's a well-needed distraction, and it brings Doug and Maggie together...too together. Mickey starts to get suspicious of Doug and Maggie's closeness.

 

 

As far as Julie's nonsense story is concerned, Robert learns that Steve is selling fakes (and taking advantage of disabled folks to do it), and then Theresa finds out. Now it's not just jewellery boxes, but fake Queen Anne chairs now! Theresa has the guts to say something to Julie after visiting the shop and finding the exact same jewellery box she had her neighbour make for her at the shop. But of course, Julie can't believe her brother would do such a thing, and scoffs at Theresa's implication. She then makes Steve a full partner in the business.

 

 

 

Tom is now chief of staff. His first order of business is to divide responsibility as widely as possible so as to avoid him having more strokes and such. So he makes Bill chief of Surgery at UH. Bill doesn't want it initially because he knows it's only because of nepotism that he's being offered, but later relents. Tom also then tells Bill that, unless Bill objects, he'll rehire Kate as Chief of Anesthesiology. Bill has to break the news to Laura before he can give a clear answer to Tom one way or another.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So we have a lot of stuff happening here, and...I dunno what to make of most of it. The Anderson story is getting mighty convoluted, and you can just sense that Linda's thisclose to being exposed, which should be satisfying. It's bizarre because the Anderson storyline, as complex as it is, is largely the only one that's still really grabbing me at this rate, even though they're making Bob as dumb as a post to make it work. 

 

Ann Marcus made half of everyone on this show really slow on the uptake. The idea of blind devotion to a loved one doing them very obviously wrong in ways that anyone with functioning eyes could see runs through at least three stories concurrently, and it's frustrating to watch.

 

I did like the fact that something as plotty as Mike and Chris in the pit DID have some resulting effect on the story that came afterward. Ron could take note of that for his own writing. He won't, but he should.

 

Very glad Donna's nonsense is starting to sort itself out, but this story is just such a stinker. I suspect you're onto something @Titus Andronicus, and Ann Marcus only somewhat misremembered what happened there. She rewrote the story, and told it poorly to get out of her contract and do more primetime work. That's my theory, because WOW it's rank. And I can't believe the suits at NBC let her write that.

Edited November 1, 2020 by beebs

[carolineg]

That is definitely what SR said after the whole leaving the show thing.  I am not sure if she was covering up health problems or she was fired and lied, but that's been the story she has basically had since she came back.