DAYS: Behind the Scenes, Articles/Photos

[asafi]

obviously tptb de-aged Laura Horton, as Susan Flannery is 84 years old and JLB 10 years younger.. 

also, the actors playing bill and Laura in 1993-1994 not only younger but has no connection to the original bill and Laura from the 60's and 70's, it's like completly new characters. unfortunately tptb couldn't even use real flashbacks. 

I wonder if SF would have returned along with the original bill - Edward Mallory.. could have been magical. although I think Chris stone and JLB did a very good job. 

it's really unfortunate we'll never get to see this amazing triangle bill-laura-mickey.. lost for good. 

 

 

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[teplin]

I recall Susan's Laura as being much warmer than her Stephanie, and she had great romantic chemistry with Ed Mallory, friend chemistry with Bill Hayes and fellow doctor/surrogate daughter chemistry with Mac Carey. She could be cool and clinical at times, as you'd expect from a doctor, but nowhere near as much as Rosemary Forsyth, who was one of her successors. I can't really recall anything about Susan-Laura's relationships with other women on the show.

JLB was so far removed from Susan's Laura that I never bought them as the same character, similar to my feelings about Carmen Duncan's Iris on AW. 

 

 

[Khan]

I think what also makes her casting (and even Christopher Stone's casting as Bill) harder to accept is that, at the same time JLB and CS are on the show, so, too, are John Clarke and Suzanne Rogers, still playing Mickey and Maggie after all those years.

I really believe that Ed Mallory needed to be there for the duration of that story.  Even if you can't picture his Bill being married to JLB's Laura, his presence nevertheless would have provided further continuity.

Edited December 5, 2023 by Khan

[Contessa Donatella]

Flannery was quite serious about her dislike of the hour format as well as her great like for the half-hour format. 

[carolineg]

I think JLB's Laura came off a little goofy and looney just because of JER.  I never found her believable as a shrink and Marlena defies a lot of credibility as a shrink, but I still found it relatively believable.

It is weird Bill just dipped in and out for the story.  Even if Kate moved into Victor's atmosphere there was more to play with Laura/Bill.  And Laura was entirely without a love interest (besides Jack!!!) her entire run.

[Joseph]

And they never redeveloped Laura as one Would think they would! It's hilarious how they kept calling her "Dr. Laura" in Later Years when JLB's Laura never ever practiced!

With The Exception of A Guy Peter Contracted to woo her, 1994 after Bill left if I am not mistaken 

[Contessa Donatella]

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Just a little bit of Flannery on this. abt 8:00, 11:00, 12:20, maybe 5 lines total. 

[carolineg]

I think JLB's Laura got relegated to a side character pretty quickly too.  After 1995? 96?  She was mostly Marlena's talk to about John and trying to meddle in her kids love life.  She rarely did anything specifically about "her".  Not to mention this poor woman had to play out a story where she was poisoned by toxic/hallucinogenic wall paint lol.

[Khan]

Just one of the many, many characters on DAYS whom JER reduced to their most basic functions.  Susan Flannery's Laura reads like such a complex woman; yet, in JER's hands, JLB's Laura is little more than "Crazy Doctor Lady."

[j swift]

But, IGS, Jaime Lyn Bauer brought a frenetic energy to Laura that felt uncharacteristic.  Susan Flannery was such a cool Hitchcock-blond and JLB was much more neurotic in her portrayal, regardless of the dialogue. 

[Joseph]

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[Paul Raven]

It was a miscast on a  number of levels. Especially for those who enjoyed JLB as Lorie.

It was also a retcon that played against history.

Firstly if Kate had have been Kate Winograd that would have been better. But Days didn't want to tell a story with people that old so they knocked at least 10 years off everybody's age and made up stuff that contradicted what we saw on screen,

Otherwise have Bill involved with a woman after he left Salem in 1980.

[Joseph]

The irony Bill Married His On-Screen Daughter-In-Law on real life though!

[carolineg]

It's really hard for me to say about Flannery vs. JLB.   I can only go off of clips I have seen years ago.   That really don't exist anymore.

I think part of the issue with this in the 90's is that Marlena/Laura are built on a very similar characterization.  Marlena came in to 'replace' Laura basically, so it was probably way too redundant to cast someone to close to Flannery just based on the fact 90's Days was built around Marlena.  I don't think it was right, but I can see the logic behind it.  They already had 2 Romans 

Edited December 6, 2023 by carolineg

[Paul Raven]

I've read that before . Does that mean that when Flannery left they were thinking of killing off Laura so Marlena took on the role of town shrink?

Or simply Laura was offscreen for a while and Marlena took on her cases?

How much time was there b/w Flannery and Susan Oliver coming on?