DAYS: Behind the Scenes, Articles/Photos

[Paul Raven]

Thanks to Titus Andronicus for alerting me to this.

Oakland Tribune July 29 1980

Soap opera star Jed Allan all lathered up about meanie role By Doris G Worsham Tribune Staff Writer

Soap opera star Jed Allan was seething. I've just about had it, declared Allan, who portrays attorney Don Craig on NBC's hour-long daytime serial Days of Our Lives. Allan ran his long fingers through the short tufts of his curly, jet-black hair and breathed a painful sigh. They've taken my character and decimated it, he said somberly in a recent interview. Allan was referring to the new Days  storyline that has, in recent months, transformed his likeable and kindhearted character into a spiteful and bitter man who blames his wife for the crib death of their son. 'The way it is now, they've got me playing a flunky to a bunch of characters called the Chandlers, but Don was never a flunky!' Allan exclaimed. Don was always a charming man with joie de vivre.' I am very unhappy about the situation and I just gave them somewhat of an ultimatum. I told them if they don't change the script. I'm leaving the show. That's just how strong I feel about the situation,' said Allan.

Allan has developed and refined the character of Don Craig over the past seven years. 'Don came on the show for only four performances as a lawyer,' Allan said. 'And I guess they kind of took to my personality. I guess they liked me because I have a sense of humor and there was no humor on the show. At times I can be quite charming, and other times I can be like I am today,'the muscular actor joked. Allan prides himself on his versatility and often performs inversatility in live theater. ' He is a professional stage actor and singer with an extensive theatrical background in Los Angeles and New York. During the past month, he has been costarring as Sky Masterson in the San Francisco Civic Light Opera production of Guys and Dolls with veteran comic Milton Berle.

Because he is so heavily involved in the Days storyline, the TV actor has' been commuting to Los Angeles to film his segments each week, an arduous task that Allan is more than willing to endure. The Bronx, N.Y., native said the current changes on Days were initiated by new head writer Nina Laemmle, who recently replaced Elizabeth Harrower. Harrower is the real-life mother of Days star Susan Seaforth Hayes, who plays Julie on the daytime serial. Under the Laemmle regime, many of the soap's most popular characters have been either "killed off or written out of the storyline. Among those who have left are Margaret Mason as the scheming Linda; Robert Clary as the diminutive Frenchman Robert; and Mark Tapscott as wealthy businessman Bob Anderson. 'I think that Maggie got so bad that they had to get rid of her because she had no redeeming qualities,' remarked Allan, who many years ago starred in such soaps as the now-defunct Love of life and Secret Storm. 'So they had to dump the character. Mark was a story problem and they figured they had to give another character called Chris more to do. They needed more storyline and Mark's character was holding it back somewhat. They also wanted some more conflict between Chris and Alex Marshall, who was trying to take over Anderson Industries and had married Anderson's daughter Mary. Allan said that Ed Mallory, who was a viewer favorite as Bill Horton, quit the show because he couldn't direct. Allan added that Clary should never have been fired. He was very definitive. It was a very dumb thing to do.

The cast changes, said Allan, were somewhat  necessary so the producers could attract more viewers with a different storyline. Days has been plagued with declining ratings during the past year, and viewer response to other cast changes has been extremely negative. But Allan suggested, the new characters were not properly introduced to the viewers. 'General Hospital came back in the ratings after cast changes, and we can can come back again just like GH,' he predicted. But they put a lot of new people In the show without mixing the new and the old. And they should have done that because when people turn on the set, they will ask who are they and why until they find out whats going on.' Asked his opinion of new head writer Laemmle, Allan said: 'I really cant say anything good or bad about her, he responded. But for a while she was giving outlines to be done by the other writers, which should only be done by head writers'.

Allan said be was skeptical of the new storyline that culminated with the long-awaited marriage of Don and Dr. Marlena Evans, and the birth and death of their child. 'It proved me out correctly because the character doesnt hold up that well,' he said. 'They took away Dons availability, his looseness by being married, and certainly by his having a child contributed to this more so. God forbid any parents should have a crib death. But in this case they had to do it for the benefit of the story. They could not have another child at that point in time. They just had a whole situation with Dons older daughter. I got a lot of hate mail when I told my wife on the show that it was her fault for the child's death one week, then nothing the next week. The justification for changing Don is that Don had another child who died many years ago, which the writers completely forgot, and the only way they can justify his actions is that people lash back irrationally.

Allan contends that the characters of Don and Marlena will become more Interesting if they are divorced and possibly brought back together. 'They have to spilt us and bring us back together to make it work,' Allan said. 'Don and Marlena are a very loved couple on the show. She's wonderful, and you can see that there's a niceness between us. But they've got to bring back the conflict. You cant have a lot of talking with nothing going on.' The actor said that although viewers prefer happy marriages and positive scripts, the appeal of most popular soap operas is character conflict.' It's a shame, but the viewers are happy when were happy, but they're bored when we're happy,'he chuckled. They wont admit to that fact but it happens to be true. It's not so much the misery, but the conflict.If there's no conflict then they'd be bored to tears. '

Besides performing in live theater, Allan has been featured in several prime-time television shows, the most recent of which was Real Friends, and was a regular on the old Lassie series for 30 episodes. He has also appeared in such motion pictures as Ice Station Zebra. At one time, Allan hosted a syndicated game show called Celebrity Bowling, and although he enjoys the world of soap operas, his desire is to host a television variety talk show. . If anybody offers me a job in this town as a talk-show host, I'd jump at it, confessed Allen, who lives in Southern California with his wife Toby and three sons. I would love to do an hour noon talk show-something that the women could watch, he said. They could enjoy something with a little music, something literary, something cerebral, and a little drama added, too." 

[slick jones]

What a great article.  Thanks @Paul Raven and @Titus Andronicus. 

[AbcNbc247]

Haha I wonder if JA gave any interviews when he found out that Don’s exit after 14 years was just him going to mail a letter

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[carolineg]

That article is great.  JA's not wrong.  He knows so much about the show and the other characters stories, which is really cool.  I would love to read more about how he felt about Don's increasing unimportance after this and the fact he never got back with Marlena.

@AbcNbc247 I know I have read at least quotes from him about his exit.  I am not that savvy and can't find articles quickly, but I'll see if I can track it down.  I think the producers/writers offered Jed a recurring contract instead and he declined, but for some reason wires got crossed and Jed knew it was his last day, but no one else did lol.   Something like that, but there are people on this board who are much better at soap history than myself and might know more about it.

[jam6242]

In his book, Jed said he kept reminding the producers and the writers that he would be gone soon.  They just didn't bother coming up with a proper way of writing out Don.

Edited November 20, 2022 by jam6242

[Titus Andronicus]

Allan told Jon-Michael Reed that he was planning on leaving when his contract expired in May 1985 in an article that ran in April 1985. He wasn't happy with how little story Don was getting.

"I can't sit around and twiddle my thumbs," said Allan. "I've got to feel useful and I haven't been contributing anything whatsoever."

"They (producers and writers) don't feel that it's necessary to feature the more mature people."

Reed said there was a chance that both John Clarke and Josh Taylor might be fired. 

[carolineg]

 

Thank you both!  For some reason I thought TPTB or someone thought Jed might stay as recurring and the exit wasn't exactly intentional.  I guess it was.  Wow.  

I really don't blame him at all because I can't really remember what Don did after the Salem Strangler story.  So happy he found meaty material again as C.C.

Really strange to think John Clarke might be fired.  Not that Mickey did a ton, but it seems nuts to fire an original character like that.

[AbcNbc247]

He dated Maggie after Mickey was presumed dead. That was pretty much it. Once Maggie left, Don was literally just a talk to.

Edited November 20, 2022 by AbcNbc247

[Titus Andronicus]

I'm a bit surprised that Allan stayed with Days as long as he did. He was incredibly frustrated with the character in 1980. Laemmle was goine within three months of that interview, but it wasn't like Don got that much to do after.

By the end of 1982 - if not earlier - the writing was on the wall that while the 1980 great cast shift failed, Days was still going younger and nearly everybody still remaining from the show's early years were background characters at that point.

Maybe it was a financial security thing. An interview from early 1986 with Allan said he had to talk Santa Barbara into casting him as C.C. Funnily, because Santa Barbara was wanting the character to be a little older.

[Paul Raven]

I think when Pat Falken smith arrived, the vet characters got more to do-she brought back Robert and had plans for Bill to return but that lasted only a few months, I guess Jed signed a new contract in 82, maybe believing that Don would be more active.

Joe Gallison/Neil was the only vet to survive those purges, apart from Mickey, Tom and Alice.

As soon as contract time came up they were offered recurring or reduced appearances.

But later Doug, Robert, Julie etc came back .

Joe lucked out by his character being a doctor and the popular pairing with Liz. Once Gloria left in 86, Neil was the only older character around and managed to last several more years. Maybe if Jed had stayed Don might have got more story eg a revival of the Don/Maggie story

[j swift]

I'm at a loss in remembering if Liz got an exit storyline or if she simply left town on tour and never came back?  Her daughter would be a fun rival for Sarah.

[Franko]

Liz left to begin her new life as a movie actress. Before we scoff at the idea, remember that 1986's top box office draws included No. 5, Bette Midler (who turned 41 that year). Neil received the divorce papers in spring 1987.

Edited November 21, 2022 by Franko

[j swift]

You'll get no scoff from me, but I tend to think movie studios would be more concerned about the publicity fallout from Liz's time in jail, her rapist father, or her drug dealing brother than her age.  I mean Bette Midler played a bathhouse for one year, while appearing on Broadway, and people still bring it up.  Imagine what Liz's profile in Vanity Fair would be like?

Edited November 21, 2022 by j swift

[Paul Raven]

What was the status of Liz/Neil at the time of the time of her departure ?

Was it a case of them hoping they could make along distance relationship work but then that didn't happen?

Or was the writing pretty much on the wall when Liz left Salem?

Interesting that they didn't just write Neil and Liz off.

[Franko]

Not to mention that she went to jail for shooting her now-ex-husband's then-wife. Johnny Carson had a lot to work with!

The writing was on the wall, according to the Tune in Tomorrow recaps. Liz and Neil's relationship was eroding during her last two years. She had the affair with Carlo, followed by the tension over Noel having juvenile diabetes (and Liz not wanting to conceive another child out of fear it would be diabetic, too), Tod's return, Savannah Wilder and the drug storyline, Liz getting shot and losing her singing voice, Tod falling off the wagon and dying, Savannah trying to seduce Neil and finally Liz picking her career over her family. Oddly enough, Savannah left in the same week that Liz did.

I guess they figured they could keep Neil around for hospital scenes, plus he did have that sweet, slow-burning almost a love story with Jo Johnson for a few years (after they killed off his immediate new love, Grace).