DAYS: Behind the Scenes, Articles/Photos

[KMan101]

 

Yeah that's true. Julie was very involved with Kellam and Josh and then it switched to Marlena.

 

Always nice to dream "what could have been" lol

[AbcNbc247]

Absolutely.

 

That's why I made that thread a while back about what writers were going to do had they not left or been fired. In terms of Days, from what I've read and seen, it sounds like in some cases, storylines would have been better if the head writer that had started them had stayed on

Edited March 30, 2021 by AbcNbc247

[beebs]

For sure. I honestly think that some of the departures were for the best (Nina Laemmle needed to go and FAST, Liz Harrower could've used a co-HW to give most of her stories some more direction, and Ann Marcus really needed someone to reign her in and SLOW her down), but in each case, they left as some interesting story directions were happening, and it's frustrating to see so many of their ideas get nixed midstream.

Personally, I understand why they would redirect some of these Julie stories to Marlena, since there was already perfectly good conflict set up in Doug/Lee/Julie that you didn't really need to add another angle to it. Liz Harrower left so much of Lee's backstory dangling that she was pretty much a blank canvas until Laemmle finally gave her a backstory. I do have to wonder if the initial intention was to set up a quad with Kellam and Julie, and Lee and Doug, or if they were setting Lee up to be involved in Liz's story (remember Lee was sleeping with Liz's actor husband in Paris, a thread that, once again, was never revisited).

[AbcNbc247]

Yeah, interference from the suits was another problem too. Judging by those awesome recaps of yours, it's clear that Cathy the intern was supposed to Marie's daughter under Harrower but when the actress was fired, the story was rewritten to have Jessica be the daughter.

 

A Kellam/Julie/Doug/Lee quad would have been interesting but at the same time, Julie would've had to be written pretty stupidly in order to take up with Kellam lol even worse then she was burned and pushed everybody away out of fear of their pity.

[beebs]

Right. Which was silly as well. Why not just recast instead of retelling the story again, minus Alex trying to sleep with his own daughter.

 

I still am baffled by the mysterious dropping of Alex murdering his brother, among other things on Harrower's run. It did reek of interference in some cases, though I think dropping David and Trish's divorce case was down to the fallout of SSH and KS' fistfight. I have to wonder what would've happened had Al Rabin not come in to clear house, because it does sound like the Valentine's Day Massacre was his doing, not Laemmle's, she just got the unenviable task of having to refocus the show in its aftermath.

 

And failed miserably.

[AbcNbc247]

I'm guessing that was due to Quinn Redeker's popularity with the audience. They couldn't really have done much with the character if he was an all around bad guy. Getting back to writer changes, I wonder if it was possible that Alex was on track to be redeemed and end up as one of the show's romantic leads until an incoming writer made him a scoundrel again.

 

And yeah, it had to have been Al Rabin pulling the strings back then. I'm guessing at least Linda would've stuck around had it not happened, perhaps even gotten involved with Bill while Laura was institutionalized.

Edited March 30, 2021 by AbcNbc247

[beebs]

Fair, though there are ways to work around that. I had written in my DAYS '79 blog the idea that Harley had tried to attack Marie perhaps threw him off her and he died falling off the balcony, with Alex showing up the same moment, and Marie having a mental block of the events, thinking Alex did it. But there are certainly other ways that it could have been played and kept Alex around.

 

From the sound of the whole Jessica storyline, they were really looking to soften him into 1981. I don't really think I can buy him as a romantic lead at that point, so it's nice they didn't totally shift him that way and completely have him lose his edge.

 

Love the idea of Linda with Bill, tbh. And I think keeping Linda jockeying for control of Anderson after Bob's death alongside Alex, Chris, and Mary would've been a lot of fun to watch.

Edited March 30, 2021 by beebs

[AbcNbc247]

Yeah, that's why I hate that "We ran out of story" excuse to justify writing out a character. If you write a big story in order to write a character out, then there's definitely more story left for that character. 

 

I could see Linda picking herself up and getting back into Anderson, following Bob's death. Throwing Stephanie/Brooke into it would have been a lot better then killing her off. They could have done a Chris/Mary vs Alex/Stephanie/Linda for control of Anderson.

[beebs]

There truly rarely is. Bob was an exception, where his death truly only could've led to more story than him staying alive.

 

Stephanie allying with Linda and Alex against Chris and Mary would've been a great set up, especially if Stephanie waited to shock everyone with the news that she was, in fact, Brooke, and had a claim to the estate, throwing her support behind Linda, and screwing Mary out of control. The rivalry between the sisters could've lasted years!

[beebs]

Random shift in subject, but can we confirm if Reilly's first writing gig in soaps was at RH? I find it fascinating that he worked for so long under PFS in his early years, given what came later, especially at DAYS. Info pre-RH is hard to come by.

Edited March 30, 2021 by beebs

[AbcNbc247]

According to Wikipedia, his first soap writing credit was Capitol

[beebs]

Yeah, saw that, though going through Capitol's credits from that period, and there's no mention of him that I see (though they could omit writers who aren't writing that particular episode, so who knows?)

Just working on a little project for YouTube, and am looking for whatever info I can find.

Edited March 30, 2021 by beebs

[Paul Raven]

Would love to get my hands on PFS interview for Afternoon TV mag where she detailed her Days plans.

Do recall she talked about Doug/Julie faking a separation to allow Stefano to move in on Julie  and try and uncover his secrets.

She talked about them having secret rendezvous and nearly getting caught etc.

[beebs]

That does sound like an interesting plan. It sounds like her return wasn't entirely designed to be so short. I have to wonder what forced her back out so soon.

[Forever8]

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commented this is one confusing promo if you were a average viewer. 

 

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