DAYS: Behind the Scenes, Articles/Photos

[Cat]

Glad I didn't keep up with Maggie the circus performer. From the very beginning, the part felt very ill-conceived for CC, and the interaction with JdP awkward. She did go on to GL where she regained a popularity CC grabbed with both hands (and a much-talked-about L-Word-esque web-soap).

Re: Winter Heat. I blacked out on the Carrie/Austin stuff (snore), but I do remember Vivian getting admitted into the same mental hospital Laura was. Something about springing her, and then showing up at Victor & Kate's wedding and stopping the wedding? Anyhoo, the mental hospital was run by an evil doctor and his acolytes who sensed that Vivian was a troublemaker, so they decided to lobotomize her. They put her to sleep, shaved her head and prepared to drill into her skull with some buzzsaw tool (cue closeup of tool inching closer to Vivian's scalp). Luckily, Ivan saved the day, got her awake, and he and a bald Vivian (!!) went to free Laura. The vengeful head of the loony bin decided this was a good time to set fire to the place. If I recall, Vivian sprang all the inmates out of the place before it could burn to the ground. Because, her people. It was wild. I'm pretty sure JER must have written this because it was just SO campy.

I remember Never Say Never (honestly, this Bond film title) being promoted and repeated all over the place, and as a soap fan I really wanted to watch it, but I just never got around to it! I do recall something about Dee saying Jane did her hair all the time, which I thought was cute. Shame they aren't close anymore.

[carolineg]

Yeah, but by the time CC was ending on GL something about her persona was very unlikable.  I think had she played her cards right she could have had a long, successful career at Days probably to this day.  Or maybe Kristian Alfonso and Deidre Hall would have murdered her in her sleep.  

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  Her career was fine and she's still with MS so I am sure she is happy with her choices, but they still seemed mismanaged somehow.  I was never a big fan of CC/Carly show so I don't really care, but the character went out tied to Daniel Jonas and Melanie.  

Thanks! I remember the loony bin stuff and I remember it being scary. Vivian being bald creeped me out.  JER started in late 1992 with Sheri Anderson, so this was definitely him.   I just never remember that episode as fondly as the other two.  Maybe because the other stuff is so boring.

I am not sure if Jane/Deidre are still close.  They might still be, but they had been friends since their pre-Soap Days on Electra Woman.   Lol this ad!!!  I love it!!

 

[Vee]

Jane was talking about Deidre doing her hair for her regularly as recently as 2014 in the press, I believe. They seemed to still be very close as BFFs unless I've missed something since.

Crystal did ace herself out of a longer run at Days because she's a mess offscreen and seems to have always been. I actually loved her Maggie at OLTL despite some goofy turns - I liked the initial character and I liked her with James DePaiva. It was the writing that fumbled it later.

The Langan Salem High years were absolute dogshit to me.

Edited August 11, 2021 by Vee

[Cat]

I think with GL ending, CC was definitely working her fanbase, especially her LGBQT fans, and I remember here on SON there was some distaste expressed about that. I do admire that she got into producing, though, and looked into other avenues to expand her career. I also remember Nelson Branco being a massive supporter of CC.

OH that TV Guide ad! This really takes me back! My parents would get TV Guide at the supermarket and then my brother and I would pour over it for ages to figure out what TV shows, soaps and movies to watch. I loved these kind of ads, especially for Daytime soaps and Movies of the Week! They were actually very effective marketing when you think about it.

I'm sure somebody already posted this on this thread, but here is the episode when Sami told Marlena she knew what she and John did on the Titan conference room table! Also lots of John  moaning with Kristen. Good times.

 

[Gray Bunny]

 

A couple decades ago, after the birth of the internet but before YouTube, etc. I purchased a VHS tape from someone who had recorded DAYS' 21st anniversary flashback episode in 1986 (not sure why they did it for 21st instead of 20th), the 3-part 25th anniversary flashback episodes, plus the three primetime specials of '92, '93, and '94.  "Night Sins" ('93) is definitely the most iconic, as it features John & Marlena on the conference room table, Carrie being splashed in the face with acid intended for Austin, and Bo realizing Nicky killed Lisanne and reuniting with Carly before she could take off on a plane with Lawrence (on location!). 

The only other notable mentions for '94's "Winter Heat" was Austin & Carrie at Green Mountain Lodge (on location!), ending with rapist Alan at Carrie's door, Jenn and Peter also at Green Mountain Lodge taking their relationship further, and Bo & Billie stranded on a tropical island (also on location) which turned out to be Billie's dream. 

'92's "One Stormy Night" features Bo/Carly/Lawrence, Tom/Alice, Jack & Jennifer reconnecting on the set of a love-match game show, TM's Carrie hitching a ride into Salem, and Isabella's car swerving off the road and into the Salem River. 

Edited August 11, 2021 by Gray Bunny

[Cat]

Thank you for filling in the missing pieces of my very soap-like amnesia! Suddenly I'm remembering Jen and Peter together, and Billie's dream.

Night Sins was definitely the pièce de la résistance, with Carly leaving Bo for 'Larry' in dramatic fashion, and of course the Titan conference room table which will never not be iconic.

[Vee]

Crystal's webseries was bad, looked like cable access and she was clearly grifting horny old lesbians, that's why we critiqued her.

[Cat]

Yes, I remember. NB did his best to hype it as the most ground-breaking thing ever produced. I did think she was trying to cash in on her newfound fanbase.

[carolineg]

The Salem High Stuff was bad because the main stars of the show were stuck endlessly supporting their kids and doing nothing of there own.  It took Shawn and Belle like two years to kiss.  There is slow burn and there is me completely losing interest. 

I love that scene.  Don't worry Marlena!  I am sure Sami won't bring this up for the next 30 years.  She will get over it lol.  I forgot how sexual early John/Kristen were.  John sure makes a quick jump from Isabella to Marlena to Kristen to Paul's mom who all got pregnant.  That's 4 babies in 5 years.  

Thank you.  Winter Heat does actually sound better than One Stormy Night, but I don't remember them that way. Night Sins is the only one I have re-watched fairly recently.  I like Night Sins because it's a party to and you are so suspenseful about who is going to catch John/Marlena.  I did not think it would be Sami.

[Franko]

The old Who's Who in Salem page had a pretty juicy rundown of the Pine Haven storyline. One again courtesy of @JAS0N47, from the page for Vivian:

With Victor's help, Vivian avoided going to prison (for burying Carly alive); she blamed the herbs for her actions. Instead, Vivian was sent to Pine Haven Sanitarium for a psychiatric evaluation. What was to be a simple one-week stay prolonged into four months.

Vivian was informed that she would be permanently committed to Pine Haven. While exploring the sanitarium, Vivian witnessed Kate Roberts visit one of the patients. After Kate left, Vivian was curious to see who the patient was. The name on the room's door said "Laura Horton." Vivian was quite amused that a "partridge family clone" could be institutionalized and wanted to know why Kate was so interested in her. Needing help (not to mention sane company), Vivian ordered Ivan to get a job as an orderly at Pine Haven. As time progressed, Vivian learned that the catatonic Laura knew a secret concerning Kate's past, and that she despised Kate. Vivian was determined to figure out the secret. While eavesdropping on conversations between Dr. Anne Goldberg, who ran Pine Haven, and her assistant Nurse Jackson, Vivian learned that they kept their patients over-medicated in order to bilk their families out of thousands of dollars. Knowing this, Vivian had Ivan withhold Laura's medication. Little by little, Laura was able to move and even say a word or two. When Vivian put an issue of Bella on Laura's lap, which featured an article about Kate, Laura tore it to shreds. This certainly confirmed her hatred for Kate.

For New Year's Eve, Laura's daughter Jennifer decided to take her mother back to Salem for a party at the Penthouse Grill. Laura had shown signs of improvement, and Jennifer believed that being around her family would help Laura. Jen's plans worried Vivian; Kate would be at the Penthouse Grill, and there was no telling what Laura would do. So, Vivian decided to come along as well. She noticed that Anne Goldberg had quite a crush on Ivan, and encouraged him to seduce her. This way, she would be able to leave the sanitarium unnoticed. Once in Salem, Vivian attended the party at the Penthouse Grill dressed as a man and kept a watchful eye on Laura. Laura, in turn, kept a hateful eye on Kate. Not only Kate, but others noticed Laura's malicious looks toward Kate. Luckily, Laura was still too drugged to be able to move out of her chair. Funnily, while keeping an eye on Laura, Vivian was asked to dance by another woman!

 

Once back in Pine Haven, Vivian's scheme was unmasked. Nurse Jackson caught Vivian and Ivan in Laura's room. Anne promptly had Ivan taken away by some burly guards, pumped large doses of medication into Laura, and had Vivian moved to the high-security Sector H of the sanitarium. Soon after, a lobotomy was ordered for Vivian. Vivian's head was shaved and was centimeters away from having a needle probe into her brain when the lights in the operating room went out. When the lights came back on, Vivian was gone. Ivan and Laura, who was now able to walk, had rescued her in the dark. In the meantime, they had to escape a fire that had broken out in the sanitarium. Ivan escaped; but before Vivian and Laura could, they were encountered by Anne Goldberg and Nurse Jackson. With the words, "You know Jackson, you're beginning to...piss me off!", Vivian smacked Nurse Jackson; Nurse Jackson retaliated. Although Jackson almost had Vivian, Laura knocked the evil nurse out by smashing a glass bottle on her head. She then proceeded to roll a gurney against Anne Goldberg, who also fell unconscious. Through Vivian's ingenuity, she and Laura escaped to safety using a drainage pipe.

Vivian and Laura surprised Ivan when they broke into the Alamain mansion; Ivan had become a helpless drunk after the bodies of two women were found in the remains of Pine Haven. Once everything was cleared up, Vivian told Laura that their presence would have to remain a secret until the right time. Finally, the right time came. When Kate was put on the stand at the Curtis Brown murder trial, Laura walked in and halted the proceedings. Everyone was delighted to see her, but couldn't believe Vivian had been responsible for saving Laura's life. Vivian warned Bo that something big was about to happen. Indeed, as the trial resumed, Laura dropped the bombshell: Curtis had been married to Kate.

[Cat]

Count me in as someone who hated the Langan years. The same stories going around in circles. The teenie boppers. Was Langan responsible for the alien twins? Because that's about when I decided to tune out.

DH played John Black as perpetually on the point of orgasm. Primal Man sending out ultra-powerful pheromones to the good females of Salem. Deidre Hall literally played Marlena as almost unable to stay upright in his musk-laden presence, so it worked. I feel like the John-Kristen scene was more romance-novel swoony than sexual, but god bless the early 90s soaps for giving us viewers the goods! We did not know how good we had it until prim moralising and cost-cutting forced soaps to abandon meaningful love scenes which could fill up a whole episode! I honestly think this is a major reason why Daytime shed viewers in the last two decades: they just didn't want to put in the work when it came to couples and romance and love scenes. Days was a master at this!

[Gray Bunny]

Fun fact: One of the nurses (I think Nurse Jackson?) later played Mary, Sami's neighbor who kidnapped baby Will to Paris to sell on the black market. DAYS loves to recycle their actors! 

[carolineg]

It was actually Brash and Cwikly.  The Gemini twins first appeared in July 2002 and Langan was out early in the year.  Langan did a lot crappy Jarlena and Bope stuff with Brady and Zack/JT.  He was one of the main pusherers of the John/Hope supercouple idea lol.  That was his second favorite idea after the Saved by the Belle stuff. 

The DH's weren't always as over the top swoony with each other.   That's is definitely something that started in the mid-90's when John started being portrayed as the ultimate hero/stud and Marlena would fall all over him, but neither could figure out they loved each other. Because everyone in JER's universe was unable to process normal social cues or have a normal conversation that would clear up minor misunderstandings.  I don't remember Drake being that racy in scenes with Isabella or Diana, but I remember it with Kristen.  That scene wasn't so bad but there was a lot of ED is lingerie in the beginning.  And his love scenes with Hope were pretty racy too.

I miss love scenes.  I miss John/Marlena or Bo/Hope just having a romantic night just because.  

Why did Will get kidnapped?  Did she just think Sami was a crappy mother?  And I love everyone had to meet up in Paris.

[Vee]

Yep. Say what you will about mid-90s Days, but it was relentlessly horny and Dee, Drake, Eileen, RKK (for better or worse lol) and Lisa brought it. Sex dripped off the show and it's what I most remember beyond the gothic operatic excess of style that Reilly could never equal in the scripts.

Edited August 11, 2021 by Vee

[Gray Bunny]

I think it was purely for making money on the black market, and an ironic twist considering what she did to Belle...