DAYS: Behind the Scenes, Articles/Photos

[Khan]

I'd still love to know whether Bill Bell had any plans for Tommy that never came to fruition.  If Kitty was always meant to die, then what, if anything, did he have in mind for Tommy beyond bringing him back from the dead and having him unwittingly fall in love with his own sister?

[jam6242]

@victoria foxtonSunny was Liz's step-mother.  She was Todd's mother (in addition to Josh).

[victoria foxton]

Thanks

[Paul Raven]

The casting of some of these new characters was questionable in addition to the writing.

Kellam and Max did the job as the villianous pair but neither of them seemed particularly magnetic in their roles eg there didn't seem to be anything appealing about Kellam that would make it understandable that Julie might be charmed by him.

Joshua was too old and I recall that he was quite a dour presence.

The Tod actor was simply not up to the task.

Which brings us to Leslie who I guess was supposed to be the woman who finally was the perfect match for Chris but she seems dull in appearance and behavior.

And Jessica, our new heroine and ingenue of the Horton family who should have been the spunky yet vulnerable teen was presented as the dowdy best friend type.

Only Gloria Loring/Liz had  any spark.

[titan1978]

The stability of Bell’s shows is amazing when you consider he really did write what interested him.  If he wasn’t interested, he moved on.  Maybe Tommy was over for him after that story.  It’s not like he kept Marie as prominent as Laura and Julie and Susan. He really loved writing for them!

[Franko]

I've been trying to figure that out, too. Was Kellam attempting a p.r. smokescreen ("Look, we're so honest, we even admit to having psychologists on call!") or a platform smokescreen ("Dr. Evans has been invaluable in furthering my understanding of mental health.")?

 

This.Very much this.

[Khan]

 

True.  But, you know, even if Nina Laemmle had set out to graft an entire new soap onto DAYS, she still needed to make the new characters and their predicaments interesting to the audience.  So far, from what I am reading, she's failing.  Miserably.

[beebs]

Folks with that level of arrogance to try to usurp the work of others the way Laemmle has tend to possess far less talent than they do mouth. 

[vetsoapfan]

 

God, yes. It still makes me cringe that I actually forced myself to watch DAYS, out of loyalty to beloved characters, long after the show had fallen into the toilet.

 

He would be off-screen and go unmentioned for looooooong stretches at a time.

[vetsoapfan]

 

 

I thought Stephen Brooks as Joshua was solemn yet magnetic; attractive in a subtle sort of way. I was unhappy with his replacement, however. The show recast Todd Chandler too, with an actor named Paul Keenan, who was gorgeous and had very good chemistry with Stephen Brooks. Alas, Keenam did not last on the show, either. Most of Laemmle's characters (and the actors who were cast) tanked.

[JAS0N47]

 

Here are John Lupton's monthly stats:

 

7/67: 6
8/67: 5
9/67: 4
10/67: 4
11/67: 10
12/67: 11
1/68: 13
2/68: 18
3/68: 14
4/68: 14
5/68: 11
6/68: 11
7/68: 14
8/68: 5
9/68: 8
10/68: 11
11/68: 12
12/68: 7
1/69: 12
2/69: 4
3/69: 7
4/69: 4
5/69: 5
6/69: 8
7/69: 10
8/69: 8
9/69: 8
10/69: 10
11/69: 11
12/69: 8
1/70: 5
2/70: 5
3/70: 5
6/70: 9
7/70: 4
8/70: 6
9/70: 4
10/70: 1
11/70: 2
1/71: 2
2/71: 1
4/71: 3
5/71: 1
12/71: 1
5/72: 2
7/72: 1
5/73: 2
10/75: 4
11/75: 3
12/75: 5
1/76: 2
2/76: 5
3/76: 2
4/76: 2
5/76: 2
6/76: 3
7/76: 1
8/76: 1
10/76: 3
3/77: 2
4/77: 6
5/77: 3
6/77: 6
7/77: 2
8/77: 4
9/77: 4
10/77: 3
11/77: 2
1/78: 1
4/78: 2
12/78: 1
5/79: 1
7/79: 1
9/79: 3
3/80: 1
 

So, June 1970 was his last "big month" with 9 episodes. After June 1970, he never appeared in more than 6 episodes in a month, which makes sense, because production records confirm his contract ended in March 1970 episodes, so he only recurred for the next decade.

Edited December 5, 2020 by JAS0N47

[te.]

I can get Tommy getting sidelined with other writers taking over, but it's sort of odd that Bill Bell choose to sideline him as early as 1970 considering the big story he was introduced with along with a wife and kid. I wonder why.

[titan1978]

He lost interest in Y&R characters too over the years.  Between Rex dying and Kay Alden reigniting the fight over the Chancellor estate, Katherine barely had anything going on for several years.  The Williams family was hardly prominent except for Paul by the late 1980’s, after being a major family a few years earlier. Traci also suffered from this- they wrote her out more than once, and Bell clearly had no plans for her., while finding plenty to do for all her story partners- Ashley, Jack, John, Danny, Lauren, Brad.

[Paul Raven]

Looking at those figures for Tommy some of them seem so random eg 2 appearances in May 73. What was happening that suddenly demanded Tommy's presence?

It would be interesting to know the background.

 

At least Tommy was a presence throughout the 70's so John Lupton must have been happy enough to appear from time to time. It's a pity he wasn't used in the 80's for Xmas visits or when Sandy was on the show.

 

As to why Tommy wasn't used after 1970 in any meaningful capacity there could have been any number of BTS issues.

Firstly with a half hour format there was probably no room for Tommy to get a new romance and storyline and budget was probably an issue as well.

 

In the correspondence Jason posted between Betty Corday and Bill Bell I recall the subject of the budget coming up repeatedly.

 

PS Jason, are those letters still available on your website? I looked but couldn't locate them.

[Titus Andronicus]

 

Yeah, this seems to be a very weird coincidence. Unless Laemmle had some secrets.