49 minutes ago, dc11786 said:

I think JER could have had a field day with a long slow burn between Mike and Kate with Billie used as an early arc where Laura disapproved of Billie because she was Kate's daughter. I don't think enough was done with Kate's connection to the Horton family, and that might be for the reason that you are alluding to. Essentially, Kate was suppose to be a mostly nice character and the affair with Bill and Lucas' conception was a reminder of her messy past. With Billie and Austin, at least you could argue that Curtis was scum, but the Hortons were the "good" people in Salem. I get that Kate and Vivian were more exciting, but it became too played out because no other angle was played. Leaning into Kate and Laura for a bit would have stretched the shelf life of Kate and Vivian. 

I think you could have played Kate's guilt about how her affair with Bill impact his family. I would have had her secretly funding some project for the Horton Center (or maybe helping to get Laura's counselling license back) with Mike discovering Kate's generosity and slowly becoming friendly with her. To Kate, Mike could confess what actually happened in Israel, which I think should have also set up some sort of situation with a woman that could have been mined down the road as a complication. Realizing Bo would never get over Hope, Billie decides to move on with Mike, but, of course, Bo is possessive which upsets both Billie and Gina/Hope. Kate encourages Mike and Billie, but Vivian points out that maybe Kate's desire for Billie to be with Mike is her own desire to reunite with Bill. Of course, Vivian would run with this idea to Victor in order to complicate things. 

Billie and Bo would have one final moment and, in true soap opera fashion, Billie gets knocked up, but confesses to Mike who feels many complicated feelings because of his own situation involving his two fathers, Mickey and Bill. Mike speaks second hand to Mickey, who admits that he still loves Mike as a son even though he is not biologically his. Laura would overhear this and start to ruminate about the past herself. Vivian lands herself a seat on the hospital board and initiates a plot to bring Bill Horton back to Salem permanently by securing funding for the Tom Horton Cardiac Unit with the stipulation that Bill be in charge of the department. Titan and Kate are also donors to the project so that when Bill returns he assumes Kate has been the secret donor. 

The Israeli incident comes to light and Mike is up on charges for his part in this and turns to Mickey for help navigating the situation, which upsets Bill. Laura learns that Kate has been involved in helping the Horton Center and specifically helping her secure her license and begins to suspect that Kate is trying to worm her way back in. Bill and Laura have a push-pull dynamic complicated by Laura's inability to forgive Bill that is often fueled by Bill's desire to connect with his son, Lucas, especially when he continues to find Mike turning to Mickey for advice. 

Kate and Bill spend more time together when Victor suffers a heart attack, but Kate starts to realize that Bill is emotionally incapable of true love at this point in his life and is more after lust and rejects him. Kate does find solace and comfort in the arms of his son, Mike, and Kate starts realize that Mike reminds her of the man that Bill use to be. Bill, who is scarred by his time in Africa, decides to seek therapy with Marlena. 

Bill wants Victor to be in a trial for his new cardiac device and Vivian intervenes feeling like Bill is trying to rid himself of the competition by setting Victor up with a faulty device because this is Vivian and she doesn't operate in the world of logic 24/7. Vivian suspects that Kate and Bill are in cahoots. Meanwhile, Mike speaks to Billie and agrees to stand by her after she has told Bo the truth. Billie does tell Bo, but Bo thinks this is a ploy. Seeing this as a win-win situation, Billie runs back to Mike and says Bo knows. 

In the meantime, Kate has started to suspect the timing of the pregnancy and confronts her daughter during an appointment with Dr. Bader, while Kate is in the hospital visiting Victor. Future grandfather Bill stops by to visit Billie after learning she's hear from Dr. Bader and overhears an argument about the baby's paternity. Bill is torn on what to do, but when Dr. Bader has some tests ordered, Bill adds an order to determine the baby's blood type and learns it is impossible that Mike is the father. 

Laura has been stewing over Mike and Billie's news of a baby and a quick wedding in the Horton garden. Alice is thrilled, but Laura is surprised to have an ally in Bill. Bill confesses to Laura that the baby cannot be Mike's leading to an ugly confrontation between Bill and Laura over both Mike and Lucas' paternities. In the heat of the moment, Laura tells Bill she wished to God for so many nights that Mickey was the father. Given the mess that Bo has made of Hope's life, maybe the child would be better off with Mike. Laura suggests that Mike isn't an idiot and knows the baby isn't his, but Bill insists that he tell Mike before Mike ruins his life. In the meantime, Marie has suffered a health crisis and Bill rushes off to his sister's side. 

Kate is worried that Mike might be saddled with a child that isn't his and tries to worm it out of Mike, who admits he knows the baby isn't his. Mike tells Kate that the child deserves a good life, and if Bo won't step up, he will. Kate knows the pain a paternity lie can cause, and reminds Mike that he knows as well. Kate tries to get Mike to call off the wedding to Billie, which Billie overhears. Billie and Kate go at it, and Billie viciously lets Kate know that Kate has no leg to stand on here. Kate instead goes to Bo and begs him to own up to the situation, but Bo still thinks this is all a ploy to get him and Billie back together. 

Laura lets Mike know that Bill knows the truth about the baby. Mike and Billie considering postponing their wedding, but decide to go through with it with Kristen and Jennifer as the bridesmaids and Lucas and Austin as the groomsmen. Everyone gathers in the Horton garden as Mike and Billie prepare to exchange vows. Kate finds Bill before he arrives and Kate insists that Bill listen to her. She tells him Mike knows about the baby, but Bill thinks she is just helping Billie to pull one over on his son. Kate agrees with Bill that she thinks Billie and Mike's marriage will only bring them each heart ache, but that it's there choice to make. Arrogant Bill shows up in the backyard to object to the wedding and fight breaks out between Mike and Bill leading Billie to storm off and end up in a traffic accident where she loses the baby. The driver being Sami Brady who speeds off unaware of what she has set in motion.

Billie loses the baby, falls into a depression, and she and Mike marry anyway. At this point, Billie refuses to seek help and slowly becomes more and more detached from reality and starts to become obsessed with Will Roberts, her nephew, who Sami brings by often because of her own guilt regarding her role in Billie's loss. Mike continues to seek solace from Kate, who is equally concerned about Mike and Billie. Billie is also determined to have another child, and Mike knows that's the worst thing for them right now. Mike goes as far as seeking a vasectomy in order to prevent this from escalating, but is talked down by his mother, Laura, who says that Mike needs to stop hiding things and treat Billie with compassion and not dishonesty. 

To avoid Billie, Mike starts to spend more time at the hospital where he starts to clash with his father, who has now been appointed chief of staff. Mike, in turn, is there for Kate when Kate learns that Vivian is the surrogate mother for hers and Victor's child. Kate and Mike keep Vivian's pregnancy from Billie, but it is Laura who speaks with Billie openly about Vivian's pregnancy. Billie finds comfort in her mother-in-law, Laura, and continues to turn on Kate. Vivian also uses Billie's fragile mental state and the growing connection between Kate and Mike to suggest to Billie that her mother and husband are having an affair. This leads to a public confrontation between Mike, Billie, and Kate at the Penthouse Grille when Vivian spots them together and calls Billie. Laura intercepts part of the call and tries to talk Billie down, but Billie is enraged. Vivian awaits for the showdown while Bill shows up to meet with his brother Mickey to discuss a legal issue at the hospital and is front row for the verbal altercation between his son, daughter-in-law, and his former lover.  

I apologize for being long winded, I kinda got lost on that tangent. 

 

Thank you for such a thoughtful post as always.  You are very creative with your ideas.  This sounds like an amazing arc.

14 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

Would you have ever reintroduced the story of Mike thinking he was gay (which was just used to have Linda help "make him a man") to have the character later question his sexuality? Having a bi Horton would have been interesting to me, back when there were traditional Horton figures around to react to it.

A gay story also would have made sense to me for Lucas.

In 1994/1995 I feel like a gay/bi Mike storyline would have sidelined Mike even worse.   The show couldn't even figure out a straight story with Mike for years.  With no other gay characters on the show until years later I just don't see it.  It's an interesting idea, of course, but I don't see it fitting into JER's plans at all.

1 hour ago, carolineg said:

Thank you for such a thoughtful post as always.  You are very creative with your ideas.  This sounds like an amazing arc.

In 1994/1995 I feel like a gay/bi Mike storyline would have sidelined Mike even worse.   The show couldn't even figure out a straight story with Mike for years.  With no other gay characters on the show until years later I just don't see it.  It's an interesting idea, of course, but I don't see it fitting into JER's plans at all.

You're right, it never would have happened (and JER's feelings about gay men may have been best expressed on Passions). I just figured since there was talk about other story choices that never would have happened due to the show at that time (like Mike/Lexie) I thought it might be interesting to ponder.

6 hours ago, JAS0N47 said:

That wasn't supposed to be his exit. He was supposed to come back. He stayed in the contract cast list for several months, but then ended up not coming back.

So, what happened?

I think Michael T. Weiss was one of the first to go, during the cast purge.

11 hours ago, DRW50 said:

A gay story also would have made sense to me for Lucas.

I agree with this. From Sami to Bill, the reactions would've been monumental. 

5 hours ago, AbcNbc247 said:

So, what happened?

I think Michael T. Weiss was one of the first to go, during the cast purge.

I am curious too.  I briefly searched to see if I could find any old articles about it, but had no luck.  Maybe MTW was suppose to return to reunite with April and they would leave together?  I wonder if Days just changed April's story and they decided they didn't need Mike anymore.  She ended up in a triangle with Nick and his brother but they all were written off shortly after.  I think April left town alone anyways lol.

2 hours ago, carolineg said:

I am curious too.  I briefly searched to see if I could find any old articles about it, but had no luck.  Maybe MTW was suppose to return to reunite with April and they would leave together?  I wonder if Days just changed April's story and they decided they didn't need Mike anymore.  She ended up in a triangle with Nick and his brother but they all were written off shortly after.  I think April left town alone anyways lol.

7 hours ago, AbcNbc247 said:

So, what happened?

I think Michael T. Weiss was one of the first to go, during the cast purge.

March 6, 1990 Soap Opera Weekly:

 

During that time, he signed as a series regular on Dark Shadows. Since it was also on NBC, I guess that was the reason they allowed him out of his Days contract: 4/28/90 newspaper article: "Michael T. Weiss (Mike) may not return to Days of Our Lives. He has joined the cast of NBC's two-hour movie pilot for the revival of Dark Shadows."

6 minutes ago, JAS0N47 said:

March 6, 1990 Soap Opera Weekly:

 

During that time, he signed as a series regular on Dark Shadows. Since it was also on NBC, I guess that was the reason they allowed him out of his Days contract: 4/28/90 newspaper article: "Michael T. Weiss (Mike) may not return to Days of Our Lives. He has joined the cast of NBC's two-hour movie pilot for the revival of Dark Shadows."

Thanks!  That all makes sense now.  It doesn't sound like MTW was that thrilled to return either lol.  I knew I remember reading something about Days letting him out of his contract early.   

I remember some fans saying they never liked him with April anyway and preferred him with Robin.

15 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

I remember some fans saying they never liked him with April anyway and preferred him with Robin.

I have heard the same.  I think the storyline about Mike/Robin's faith differences was just more interesting than anything April/Mike got.  It seems like Derya Ruggles was a real handful to deal with though.  I am not a big fan of either couple, but I think Lisa Howard/MTW had more chemistry than DR/MTW.  From what I have seen, Robin seemed exhausting in general lol.

I didn't like Robin very much.  Her background was interesting but she always seemed so cold to me.  I liked April much better.

Same here.

From what I’ve watched, I like April more, though the accent that Lisa Howard put on made her sound more like a Cerullo or a Falconeri than a Latina  😂😂

I wasn’t really a fan of Mike trying to convert to Judaism either because, from what I saw, it made him look stupid, made Robin look like a snob and made Jennifer a bit of a bitch too lol 

6 hours ago, JAS0N47 said:

March 6, 1990 Soap Opera Weekly:

 

During that time, he signed as a series regular on Dark Shadows. Since it was also on NBC, I guess that was the reason they allowed him out of his Days contract: 4/28/90 newspaper article: "Michael T. Weiss (Mike) may not return to Days of Our Lives. He has joined the cast of NBC's two-hour movie pilot for the revival of Dark Shadows."

Thanks!

Edited October 15, 20241 yr by AbcNbc247

It is ironic that Nick Correlli spans such a huge generation of storytelling on DAYS from 1981-1990.

I was just reading his wiki, and he starts with David and Trish Banning, and he ends working for Lawrence Alamain.  It feels as if one million characters came and went during that time span.  It sort of explains why he wound up buying Wings, there was nobody else left to run it by that time. 😉

35 minutes ago, j swift said:

It is ironic that Nick Correlli spans such a huge generation of storytelling on DAYS from 1981-1990.

I was just reading his wiki, and he starts with David and Trish Banning, and he ends working for Lawrence Alamain.  It feels as if one million characters came and went during that time span.  It sort of explains why he wound up buying Wings, there was nobody else left to run it by that time. 😉

From what I have seen, and it's not everything from that period, Nick pops in a few years after 1981, but isn't relevant again until 1987.  It's more of a character that Days decided to bring back in the late 80's instead of a character that was driving much story for all those years.

58 minutes ago, j swift said:

It is ironic that Nick Correlli spans such a huge generation of storytelling on DAYS from 1981-1990.

I was just reading his wiki, and he starts with David and Trish Banning, and he ends working for Lawrence Alamain.  It feels as if one million characters came and went during that time span.  It sort of explains why he wound up buying Wings, there was nobody else left to run it by that time. 😉

Here's his monthly appearance stats:

11/81: 9
12/81: 2
4/84: 1 
5/84: 4
7/84: 6
8/84: 4
9/86: 1
10/86: 1
6/87: 2
7/87: 9
8/87: 11
9/87: 2
10/87: 6
11/87: 1
1/88: 2
2/88: 5
3/88: 3
4/88: 5
5/88: 7
6/88: 5
7/88: 2
8/88: 5
9/88: 3
10/88: 4
11/88: 5
12/88: 10
1/89: 5
2/89: 13
3/89: 15
4/89: 11
5/89: 10
6/89: 8
7/89: 6
8/89: 11
9/89: 9
10/89: 9
11/89: 11
12/89: 9
1/90: 9
2/90: 5
3/90: 6
4/90: 7
5/90: 3
6/90: 5
7/90: 5
8/90: 11
9/90: 3
10/90: 15
11/90: 1
12/90: 1
1/91: 2
2/91: 1
4/91: 2

I’ve always wondered why Anne Howard Bailey seemed to love Nick so much 

Edited October 16, 20241 yr by AbcNbc247