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Laemmle was such a horrible idea. I'd love to know WHY she was hired. Was she a friend of Betty Corday's? Did NBC force her on the series? 1979 articles seem to indicate NBC was interfering with Days.

It feels like they noticed GH's success without understanding a single bit of why it worked. I had never thought about the age of the new characters, but yeah, only Jessica and her barely-seen friends could have found more of an audience than they already had. Then they seemed hellbent on alienating the fans they did have who were attached to the Hortons.

Laemmle didn't even know how soaps were even conducted, based on what Jed Allan said in an interview that summer. She wasn't even writing the outlines, which I assume was being done by Ruth Brooks Flippen. (I don't believe that Flippen was ever really head writer). Flippen was arguably even more out-of-date than Laemmle, not having written for TV for even longer and also having never been credited for soap work.

Actually, I can guess why Laemmle was hired. Soaps brought in good ratings, but NBC probably didn't respect the process. Laemmle was a "name" and she was probably cheap to hire. I wonder how much Laemmle respected the job. I do have sympathy for her, as her daughter died a few months into her run.

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I do appreciate NL's fearlessness in firing all those actors and revamping (whether it was her decision or the networks), but it doesn't really seem there was a plan for those new characters.  I agree it just alienated viewers and didn't bring new ones in.   But I do appreciate the fact the show was willing to try I guess.  I just think the focus was off and the new characters weren't very good.  Outside the writing, I think casting was a huge problem as well.  Gloria Loring worked as Liz despite the writing and I think if some key parts had more charismatic actors the change would have worked better.

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I pulled the Flippen/Laemmle script covers to check exactly what they say:

 

For Flippen's 25 episodes, this is how the scripts list the writers:

3634-3637 Story by: Ruth Brooks Flippen; Written by: Ruth Brooks Flippen, (Script Writer...see list below)
3638 Story by: Elizabeth Harrower; Written by:Ruth Brooks Flippen, (Script Writer...see list below)
3639-3643 Story by: Ruth Brooks Flippen; Written by: Ruth Brooks Flippen, (Script Writer...see list below)
3644 Story by: Ruth Brooks Flippen, Michelle Poteet-Lisanti
3645-3658: Story by: Ruth Brooks Flippen; Written by: Ruth Brooks Flippen, (Script Writer...see list below)
 
3634 Perry, Joyce
3635 Stannard
3636 Tomlin
3637 Poteet-Lisanti
3638 Rega
3639 Harrison
3640 Stannard
3641 Tomlin
3642 Poteet-Lisanti
3643 Rega
3644 Poteet-Lisanti
3645 Harrison
3646 Tomlin
3647 Stannard
3648 Rega
3649 Tomlin
3650 Poteet-Lisanti
3651 Harrison
3652 Stannard
3653 Rega
3654 Tomlin
3655 Poteet-Lisanti
3656 Rega
3657 Stannard
3658 Tomlin
 
For Laemmle's 124 episodes, there aren't many where she's listed solo as the outline writer (just 25 of them). But there's no overlap of Flippen & Laemmle. For the outlines, it looks like most are either written by the script writer as well, and then 3714-3760 list it as a duo for the outline: Written by: Nina Laemmle/Michelle Poteet-Lisanti. And then 3761-3782, the outlines were done by the duo of Michelle Poteet-Lisanti & L. Virginia Browne.
 
3659-3673: Story by: Nina Laemmle; Written by: Nina Laemmle, (Script Writer...see list below)
3674: Story by: Nina Laemmle; Written by: (Script Writer...see list below)
3675: Story by: Nina Laemmle; Written by: Nina Laemmle, (Script Writer...see list below)
3676: Story by: Nina Laemmle; Written by: (Script Writer...see list below)
3677-3682: Story by: Nina Laemmle; Written by: Nina Laemmle, (Script Writer...see list below)
3683-3685: Story by: Nina Laemmle; Written by: (Script Writer...see list below)
3686: Story by: Nina Laemmle; Written by: Nina Laemmle (Script Writer...see list below)
3687-3695 : Story by: Nina Laemmle; Written by: (Script Writer...see list below)
3696: Story by: Nina Laemmle; Written by: Nina Laemmle (Script Writer...see list below)
3697-3703: Story by: Nina Laemmle; Written by: (Script Writer...see list below)
3704: Story by: Nina Laemmle; Written by: Nina Laemmle (Script Writer...see list below)
3705-3713: Story by: Nina Laemmle; Written by: (Script Writer...see list below)
3714-3760: Story by: Nina Laemmle; Written by: Nina Laemmle/Michelle Poteet-Lisanti (Script Writer...see list below)
3761-3782: Story by: Nina Laemmle; Written by: Michelle Poteet-Lisanti/L. Virginia Browne (Script Writer...see list below)
 
3659 Markus, Leah  
3660 Seidler, David & Feather, Jacqui  
3661 Joyce, Patricia  
3662 Poteet-Lisanti  
3663 Seidler & Feather  
3664 Seidler & Feather  
3665 Markus  
3666 Joyce  
3667 Poteet-Lisanti  
3668 Seidler & Feather  
3669 Joyce  
3670 Markus  
3671 Poteet-Lisanti  
3672 Tomlin  
3673 Joyce  
3674 Poteet-Lisanti  
3675 Pommer, Joan  
3676 Markus  
3677 Tomlin  
3678 Seidler & Feather  
3679 Joyce  
3680 Poteet-Lisanti  
3681 Pommer  
3682 Tomlin  
3683 Markus  
3684 Joyce  
3685 Poteet-Lisanti  
3686 Seidler & Feather  
3687 Pommer  
3688 Tomlin  
3689 Joyce  
3690 Poteet-Lisanti  
3691 Pommer  
3692 Markus  
3693 Seidler & Feather  
3694 Poteet-Lisanti  
3695 Joyce  
3696 Tomlin  
3697 Pommer  
3698 Seidler & Feather  
3699 Poteet-Lisanti  
3700 Joyce  
3701 Pommer  
3702 Tomlin  
3703 Markus  
3704 Seidler & Feather  
3705 Poteet-Lisanti  
3706 Joyce  
3707 Pommer  
3708 Tomlin  
3709 Markus  
3710 Poteet-Lisanti  
3711 Joyce  
3712 Pommer  
3713 Tomlin  
3714 Seidler & Feather  
3715 Joyce  
3716 Pommer  
3717 Markus  
3718 Poteet-Lisanti  
3719 Tomlin  
3720 Seidler & Feather  
3721 Joyce  
3722 Pommer  
3723 Markus  
3724 Tomlin  
3725 Joyce  
3726 Pommer  
3727 Markus  
3728 Seidler & Feather  
3729 Tomlin  
3730 Joyce  
3731 Pommer  
3732 Markus  
3733 Seidler & Feather  
3734 Tomlin  
3735 Joyce  
3736 Pommer  
3737 Markus  
3738 Seidler & Feather  
3739 Joyce  
3740 Tomlin  
3741 Pommer  
3742 Markus  
3743 Seidler & Feather  
3744 Joyce  
3745 Pommer  
3746 Markus  
3747 Seidler & Feather  
3748 Tomlin  
3749 Joyce  
3750 Pommer  
3751 Seidler & Feather  
3752 Markus  
3753 Tomlin  
3754 Joyce  
3755 Pommer  
3756 Seidler & Feather  
3757 Markus  
3758 Tomlin  
3759 Pommer  
3760 Seidler & Feather  
3761 Joyce  
3762 Markus  
3763 Tomlin  
3764 Tomlin  
3765 Pommer  
3766 Joyce  
3767 Markus  
3768 Tomlin  
3769 Pommer  
3770 Joyce  
3771 Tomlin  
3772 Pommer  
3773 Markus  
3774 Joyce  
3775 Pommer  
3776 Milstein, Beth  
3777 Katkov  
3778 Markus  
3779 Pommer  
3780 Milstein  
3781 Katkov  
3782 Pommer  
Edited by JAS0N47
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Who was around at the time that Days could have hired as headwriter?

After PFS and Ann Marcus, 2 big soap names, they went with Elizabeth Harrowere who had never been a headwriter. I guess it was good they tried to bring in new blood and maybe Harrower's ideas sounded good on paper?

Anyway, I would suggest Robert J Shaw, who had been at various soaps over the years. Maybe Richard and Suzanne Holland?

Can anyone think of other writers who might have been suitable?

Maybe Rita Lakin should have been offered a sweet deal to take on Days for a period of time. She might have been tempted to return to daytime.

Edited by Paul Raven
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I think those firings and changes were spearheaded by Al Rabin, after he was brought on as co-EP, because it all pretty much began right as soon as he got there. Whether all the changes were solely Rabin's decisions or if he was taking orders from the higherups at NBC/Columbia, etc, Idk, but it fell on Laemmle to introduce new characters and she failed miserably at it. Bringing in new characters and immediately placing them in frontburner storylines is pretty tough to do, and sometimes it doesn't work. But ironically, when Pat Falken Smith came back the following year, she did just that and it worked perfectly.

Harding Lemay was available, but he probably would've turned it down.

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So Laemmle had to write out these characters and create new ones?  I wonder if she even knew that going in or what it would entail. 

PFS had a much clearer idea of what she wanted to do and where she was going with these characters and new families. PFS also shifted the shows tone a lot to fit the new characters while Laemmle just kept the tone of the show basically the same and inserted new characters doing similar things lol.  The show just seemed 'younger' and 'fresher' even if PFS was ripping off GH.  I always felt Days in the late 70's and early 80's were giving their youngish leads such dour, sad stories that were 'too old' for them.  IMO, it was much more entertaining to watch Marlena/Roman do action/adventure stuff than watching Marlena loose a child, get cheated on, get divorced, and get raped in a year or so.  But I can understand fans missing the more psychological, character driven drama of the past.

I think Laemmle's failure and the failure do make significant ratings gains lead to PFS being able to change the show to her vision without much push back.  

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Most of the characters were written out before Laemmle ever appears on a script. Based on what I had read years back, I thought it would be all Laemmle, but once I finally got all of the script covers, I confirmed all the firings actually happened before she arrived. The only main characters who were written out once Laemmle first joined the show were Mike, Margo and Hope.

Elizabeth Harrower
3613- Eileen Barnett (Stephanie Woodruff)
3615- Cindy Daly (Cathy Breton)
3626- Margaret Mason (Linda Anderson)
3633- Robert Clary (Robert LeClair)
3633- Mikey Martin (Dougie LeClair)
 
Ruth Brooks Flippen
3643- Mark Tapscott (Bob Anderson)
3652- George McDaniel (Jordan Barr)
3653- Tracey Bregman (Donna Craig)
3654- Ed Mallory (Bill Horton)
3658- Andrea Hall (Samantha Evans)
 
Nina Laemmle
3681- Wesley Eure (Mike Horton)
3681- Suzanne Zenor (Margo Horton)
3708- Natasha Ryan (Hope Williams)

 

He became EP in Episode # 3595, and the characters started being written out as of # 3613, so yes, that lines up with it being Rabin more so than the head writers, since the firings were split up pretty equally between Harrower, Flippen and Laemmle.

Edited by JAS0N47
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As mentioned above, all the characters except for Mike, Margo and Hope were already written out before she joined the show, but yes, she definitely knew she would be responsible for creating 8 entirely new contract roles, since they all debuted in her first 13 episodes, from 3659-3671: 

3659- Stephen Brooks (Joshua Fallon)
3660- Charles Bateman (Maxwell Jarvis)
3662- William Joyce (Kellam Chandler)
3663- Gloria Loring (Liz Chandler)
3664- Brett Williams (Tod Chandler)
3668- Jean Bruce Scott (Jessica Blake)
3669- Dianne Harper (Leslie James)
3671- Deborah Dalton (Cassie Burns)
Edited by JAS0N47
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Thank you as always @JAS0N47 for all your knowledge.  So interesting!  I wish there were more articles available about this era.  I wonder if NL watched the show before she started writing these new characters.  The idea of a mysterious family like the Chandlers is intriguing, but instead of creating an entire new family it seems like it would have been wiser to just add family to certain characters instead as a lot of non-Horton leads had very little family in Salem.

Thanks! Jessica is still a dud, but those were very nice words by JBS about Philece.  

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I put together a timeline as best I could a while back with the personnel decisions.

Wes Kenney said in an interview he left because of how Harrower's firing was being handled. Rabin was next man up. I don't think Rabin had total control because newspapers in January 1979 announced Days was about to clean house. This is being announced as Harrower is being fired.

Laemmle was announced as hired that same month. Jason's explanation of the script covers for that year with Flippen and Laemmle is confusing me with how the press handled the transition. Flippen was never mentioned in the papers and only her obituary seems to have any contermporary reference to her work at Days.

Several soap columnists were very insistent that all the decisions were Laemmle from March or so onwards. Harrower was still writing scripts after being fired, making the confusion even worse. NBC would have had to be behind these character decisions, right?

Jason's script listings does confirm that Seidler and Feather were Laemmle's additions. That couldn't have helped, either, that not only did you have two new soap writers, but English ones. They've stayed a team over the decades and have done great work together, but that had to be rought. As far as I can tell, Seidler's only briefly ever mentioned Days. Probably nobody knows to ask him about it.

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Some articles dealing with the Days drama at that time

March 13 1980

Big changes over at "Days of Our Lives" include a new head writer. Nina Laemmle has taken over for Elizabeth Har-rower. Ms. Harrower, mother of Susan Seaforth Hayes (Julie, "Days of Our Lives"), might Just return to "Young and the Restless" where she got her soap opera writing start. With Harrower's departure will come the usual exit of stars. Eileen Barrett (Stephanie) has already left, and it looks like Margaret Mason (Linda) may be the next casualty. Of course, many storylines will suddenly come to a halt and new ones will begin. 

April 20 1980

 Days  fans feel cheated as plots fizzle out  NEW YORK — Things are getting worse every day on the set of "Days of Our Lives” Folks on the show don’t know from one day to the next whether they’ll still have a job at the end of the week The venerable and once-Nielsen-ratlngs queen of the soaps has fallen on dire times and desperate measures continue to be taken.

The move to “alter” the cast and character lineup on the show began last month when a new headwriter Nina Laemmle was hired. But within a six-week time period more people have left the show at one time than in any other period in the show’s history. Half of the current cast has been given walking papers or they’ve been informed that their characters will be “in and out tem-' poraries” “Days” is beginning to resemble a graveyard.

Already “killed off’ have been Mark Tapscott (Bob Anderson) Eileen Barnett (Stephanie Woodruff) and Suzanne Zenor (Margo Horton). Leaving towners include Dan Barton (Earle Carnes) Robert Clary (Robert LeClare) Corinne Conley (Phyllis Curtis) Cindy Daly (Cathy Breton) Thomas Havens (Stan Kositcheck) Gail Johnson (Mimi) Debbie Lytton (Melissa Phillips) Mikey Martin (Dougie LeClare) Margaret Mason (Linda Anderson) Steve Schnetzer (Steve Olsen) John Stevenson (Terry Gilbert) and Ed Mallory and Rosemary Forsyth (Bill and Laura Horton).

Wesley Eure (Mike Horton) Tracy Bregman (Donna Craig) and Andrea Hall-Lovell (Samantha Evans) are among those who may “pop up” periodically in the story but for the time being will be put in limbo ' 

Edited by Paul Raven
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Adding those additional actors from the story above. The story does not mention the exits of John Lupton (Tommy), George McDaniel (Jordan) and Natasha Ryan (Hope).

Elizabeth Harrower
3567- Thomas Havens (Stan Kositchek)
3577- Stephen Schnetzer (Steve Olson)
3610- Dan Barton (Earle Carnes)
3613- Eileen Barnett (Stephanie Woodruff)
3615- Cindy Daly (Cathy Breton)
3615- John Stephenson (Terry Gilbert)
3617- Gail Johnson (Mimi Grosset)
3626- Margaret Mason (Linda Anderson)
3628- John Lupton (Tommy Horton)
3633- Robert Clary (Robert LeClair)
3633- Mikey Martin (Dougie LeClair)
 
Ruth Brooks Flippen
3640- Rosemary Forsyth (Laura Horton)
3643- Mark Tapscott (Bob Anderson)
3651- Corinne Conley (Phyllis Curtis)
3652- George McDaniel (Jordan Barr)
3653- Tracey Bregman (Donna Craig)
3654- Ed Mallory (Bill Horton)
3657- Debbie Lytton (Melissa Anderson)
3658- Andrea Hall (Samantha Evans)
 
Nina Laemmle
3681- Wesley Eure (Mike Horton)
3681- Suzanne Zenor (Margo Horton)
3708- Natasha Ryan (Hope Williams)

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Wesley Eure was the only one who ever had a contract, and he did remain as recurring from June 1980-January 1981. Tracey Bregman and Andrea Hall were never on contract, and they never did return after their stints wrapped in April 1980 (other than for Samantha to be killed off in 1982).
 
Wesley Eure (Mike Horton) recurring: 6/6/74-9/25/74; contract: 10/3/74-5/21/80; recurring 6/9/80-1/16/81
Andrea Hall (Samantha Evans) recurring: 7/15/77-6/21/78; 1/10/79-4/18/80; 5/21/82-5/25/82
Tracey Bregman (Donna Craig) recurring: 4/4/78-4/11/80
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