DAYS: Behind the Scenes, Articles/Photos

[soapfan770]

Agreed it was rough to watch. Then there was nonsensical special episodes where there was the New Years Eve ep and Julie kept quoting Shakespeare the night she and Chip, Brian and Ginger, and Tanner and Molly all had their first kisses while at Wings. I think Wings was then bombed by the Torres guy shortly after that lol. Aside from Roberta Leighton as Ginger, most of the acting was dreadful. 

 

@victoria foxton@beebsI think one of the main issues for that era was there too many characters on canvas and incompetent writing made the show unfocused and not that compelling plus the leftover 80s retreads. It's a bit strange to realize while all that sophomoric Scofield drama and Jack & Jennifer hijinks were going that someone like Shane was still on canvas with a story of trying to solve the mystery of who poisoned ISA agents. LOL 

[Franko]

Well, I guess it's a little better than having all five leave at once ...

Vern: Last episode: Thursday, July 23, 1992

Brian: Last episode: Monday, Aug. 17, 1992

Ginger: Last episode: Monday, Aug. 17, 1992

Tanner: Last episode: Wednesday, Sept. 23, 1992

Molly: Last episode: Wednesday, Sept. 23, 1992

(Assuming I read the Daytime Royalty summaries right.)

[victoria foxton]

Totally agree with your assessment. I do have a soft spot for the era. BTW your knowledge of Days is also really fierce too.

[beebs]

Yeah that's about when I remember them leaving.

The era was a mess largely because of the headwriter turnover. Gene Palumbo got things moving with the Tale Of Two Romans, but fumbled a lot of the volleys Anne Schoettle/Richard J. Allen had sent his way (Bo/Carly/Victor being a big one), but then there was all this back and forth between Richard J. Allen coming back and Gene Palumbo leaving, then Sheri Anderson coming on, and then Gene Palumbo coming back for a month or so as co-HW, then Sheri solo. I think a lot of stories just got so muddled with the writer back-and-forth, and that REALLY didn't help matters.

Things sort of started to gel once Langan/Anderson arrived, and slowly started trimming the fat. Kim's DID story tying into the Lombard drama (which I get the sense that originally, had Staci Greason stayed, Marlena would have been in a triangle with Roger and Roman, with Roger potentially moving with Marlena to New York in the spin-off, had it gone ahead), tying into Marlena/Roman, tying into Lisanne and the Alamains, tying into John attempting to navigate his new reality. It all kinda started to gel, with only Jack/Jenn and the nonsense with the scammers and Molly/Tanner being outliers that were being tied up and shipped off, but even then, Sheri Anderson tried to connect Molly to Phillip Collier and his TV productions, so everything seemed to connect nicely again, even if some of it was kinda derivative of what other shows had been doing at the time.

[j swift]

Wasn't Lisanne's odd death and the quick exit of the Carly and Lawrence attributed to change in writers during this period?  Lynn Haring was a "get" at the time, and there was a lot of soap press written about her working with her husband.  I don't recall her having a short term contract that would necessitate a quick death by a statue of a cat on a fireplace mantel, so I vaguely recall it being caused by a change in the writing staff.

[carolineg]

Hmm..interesting idea about Roger/Marlena/Roman.  I always heard the John/Marlena/Roman affair was planned with or without Isabella.  It would make sense to maybe have Roger go with Marlena to the spin off if it got picked up.  I didn't think her and Roger had much chemistry, but there were times Marlena seemed really into him.  Not exactly leading him on, but also very, very interested in his treatment and success.  Like moreso than normal dr/patient. 

I did think Kim's DID stuff was good, but I did not enjoy Phillip. 

I believe LH wanted out.  Or it was mutual.  She was a get at the time, but was oddly utilized.  She never even really had scenes with Roman anyway.   It could have been a change in writing as well, but I don't think LH was very torn up about it.  She was back at GH pretty soon after.

[beebs]

 

Not really. Lisanne was introduced in April 1992 (or thereabouts) as the Lombard's lawyer for their malpractice suit after their eldest son (their supposed ticket out of poverty) was killed while waiting tables at Julie's party at Wings that Rafi Torres blew up. This was when Richard J. Allen returned in early 92, this time with Beth Milstein, after Gene Palumbo exited in January. From there, she began working for the Alamains, and screwing Lawrence all over the house, and trading barbs with Vivian and Carly once Sheri took over in June. Then Lisanne found out Viv kept Carly's son for herself, and began blackmailing Viv. She was gone by the end of October, and back at GH the next week. That was all under Sheri Anderson (with a one-month period in July where Gene Palumbo came back as co-HW for some reason), as JER didn't join Sheri until December.

I DEFINITELY got that impression, and actually, I felt they had a bit of chemistry, tbh. Nothing like what she had with Drake, but there was a spark of something there. Id've liked to see how that developed. Especially with Marlena being SO supportive of Roger's art.

Kim's DID, as much as it had its LOL-worthy moments, was an interesting story, but I do feel like Philip was tacked on because TPTB knew Charles Shaughnessy was on his way out and needed someone to pair with Kim. Cos it's weird to me that he just sorta...vanishes midway through the storyline after being SO WORRIED about leaving Kim while she's going through these episodes, but...leaves anyway? I guess Philip works better in the context of the story, as he wouldn't be AS alarmed by Kim's hypersexuality as Shane would have been, but it still felt like a lot of what Philip was doing would have had more impact with Shane there, and would've also deepened the storyline if Shane was comforting Kim and Philip saw, and vice versa.

Ultimately, I liked the character of Philip, but after that initial story, I just don't think they knew what to do with him. Weren't they trying to tie him to Billie's shady past as a porn star at one point? Did it just get dropped or was that explained at all?

[carolineg]

Lol!  I always thought I was the only one that thought Marlena was not really appropriate with Roger.  Especially after he kissed her.  Marlena, Roman, and Stella all saw that Roger had a crush on her and she just kept treating him.  I think she tried to stop, but then didn't and really missed a lot of red flags there.

Kim's DID got stuck with bad luck with casting problems as well.  With all the PP stuff and having to recast plus CS leaving it just probably got stalled.  I actually didn't think Arianna Chase was that bad as Kim either, but I know that's not popular.  

Phillip did know Billie because he produced one of her films?  But I don't know how it was resolved.  I think they just both kept quiet.  Then he became Jen's aggressive producer on her show and left with recastKim shortly after.  

[Paul Raven]

March 79

Pat Falken Smith and her ETC Productions filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Columbia Pictures.Other defendants included Ann Marcus, William J Bell and Betty Corday.

I wonder what the details were? Did it involve Marcus using some of PFS story ideas?

What was the outcome of this? PFS returned in 81 but then left abruptly, with an old lawsuit being cited as the reason.

All very interesting and intriguing...

[jam6242]

You're right about PFS's story ideas being used.  Found this blurb in The Chicago Tribune.

 

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[Gray Bunny]

 

Wow, that would've been horrible. One can only imagine how long DAYS & AW would've lasted had they both been saddled with a 90-minute run-time for another couple years. 

[beebs]

I'm just baffled though, because, based on what I've read and seen, Ann Marcus more or less dropped every story PFS started upon her arrival, or at least wrapped it up quickly with sharp right turns. If that was part of PFS's contract, then it explains why Ann Marcus did make such a quick and rather abrupt turn in most stories. Honestly, I can't think of a single story PFS was setting up that wasn't drastically shifted under Ann Marcus, except maybe Brooke's storyline, but even then, she was pretty hastily killed off a few months in.

[jam6242]

We don't know whether her claim had any merit though.  I'm guessing they settled out of court.

[AbcNbc247]

Thank you @soapfan770 @beebs and @victoria foxton

It sounds like 1980 all over again: a massive cast purge followed by new characters that were immediately placed in front burner stories that proved to be unpopular with fans. 

Edited August 17, 2021 by AbcNbc247

[Dion]

Molly managed to knock him out before he could rape her; it looked like she'd killed him for a moment but then he woke up, told her she'd imagined his harassment and threatened to press charges for knocking him out.

 

Ginger and Tanner teamed up and managed to get the professor to confess on tape.