Oh, it certainly is an opinion, and I wouldn't claim otherwise. I personally feel that Tamara Braun is a stronger actress than Livingston, and for me, her portrayal of Taylor is stronger, but the writing is so wretched that I'm not sure Meryl Streep would stand a chance. The character's actions and attitude are in direct opposition to what every other character seems to think or say about her. I honestly don't think Arianne Zuker or Susan Flannery or Beverly McKinsey could make this incarnation of Taylor work, because there's such an absurd divide between what she's doing and what we're apparently supposed to think of her.

Edited July 14, 201114 yr by Michael

I really liked the Sonny/Victor scene, although John Aniston was reciting talking points as if he was reading a pamphlet from NoH8. Still, Sonny seems like a nice guy, and Victor was predictably enlightened and perfect.

Oh, it certainly is an opinion, and I wouldn't claim otherwise. I personally feel that Tamara Braun is a stronger actress than Livingston, and for me, her portrayal of Taylor is stronger, but the writing is so wretched that I'm not sure Meryl Streep would stand a chance. The character's actions and attitude are in direct opposition to what every other character seems to think or say about her. I honestly don't think Arianne Zuker or Susan Flannery or Beverly McKinsey could make this incarnation of Taylor work, because there's such an absurd divide between what she's doing and what we're apparently supposed to think of her.

I think we are supposed to think whatever we think. She's a [!@#$%^&*] idiot, lets not beat around the bush. And I don't know that the writing is why Taylor is so annoying. Natalia Livingston played Taylor also, and while her Taylor was no Einstein, at least she had a sweet quality to her. Sweet and Likable are two things not in Tamara Braun's arsenel. Hemingway and Fitzgerald could not write scripts that would make a Tamara Braun character come off as likable.

There was definitely a shift in the writing around the time of the recast, though. NL's Taylor spent most of her time resisting EJ's "charms" and feeling guilty and putting Nicole's feelings above her own, even if there was a certain selfishness underneath it. At almost the exact same time as the recast, though, Taylor went from resisting EJ to flat-out lusting after him, kissing him in the house he shared with Nicole, justifying their Great Love, carrying on and on about how EJ and Nicole's marriage "wasn't real anyway," etc. I do agree that NL's Taylor came off more naive than entitled, and NL's persona is definitely more suited to that.

However, I don't know if it was the chicken or the egg that came first -- that is, whether they wanted to make a shift in the writing and felt a recast was necessary, or if they recast because they felt NL wasn't working and just started writing Taylor as more of a stock Tamara Braun character -- but there was definitely a shift right around Fay's funeral. Until very recently, I think Higley & Co. expected us to buy this as some sort of legitimate love story.

Anyway, the difference between the portrayers and their versions of the character are purely my opinion, and I wouldn't presume to try and change anyone's mind about that (nor is anyone likely to change mine), so no need to repeat myself over and over. Just my two cents on the subject.

Edited July 14, 201114 yr by Michael

Really. NL got crucified in this thread by many because it was her yet TB gets the "its bad Higley material" as an excuse

same comments from people on how awful she is but then I guess its just me.

lets be real here, nobody denied the writing was awful when NL was in the role. Nobody claimed otherwise or ignored it. NL got panned because she is an awful actress and in this role she moaned, panted, and looked deranged when trying to look sexy. It was all around awful.

I dint think Tamara is awful, i think the role is. Its litterally a case where they could pull in the most amazing actress in the world, and nobody could pull it off.

The difference, to me, is that Tamara Braun does have strengths. She's not doing a good job as Taylor, and she's certainly falling back on her old tics, but I personally believe that they work for some of the characters she's played. Natalia Livingston, on the other hand, seemed like she was acting all the time. I was literally always thinking she had either forgotten her lines or actually smelled poop on the set.

Exactly.

Nicole: My sister is not dumb"

Hope was reinstated temporarily? When the heck did that happen? Does Bo even have the authority to deputize his wife?

Loving the A/J and Maggie scenes

Really. NL got crucified in this thread by many because it was her yet TB gets the "its bad Higley material" as an excuse

TB is a limited actress as most soap actors are that can play one character, bitchy and entitled CArly. every character she has played from

Carly to Ava to Reese to Taylor has been the same damn thing. Add to the fact she has zero chemistry with her leading man, with Eric, and with Ari

this go around.

Reese was not a bitchy and entitled character. She was nothing like Carly or her Taylor

Edited July 14, 201114 yr by Cheap21

Ive already seen people compain about Molly having the nerve to take a photo and post it with these people. Days fans are crazy.

Cute picture.

Matthew looks damn good with the beard and Im not one for that much facial hair. Im guessing he has it for storyline purposes bc he's being held somewhere and cant shave

Matthew looks damn good with the beard and Im not one for that much facial hair. Im guessing he has it for storyline purposes bc he's being held somewhere and cant shave

if they stick with the story when jen came to town it would also work, him being like a mountain man on a sebatical (sp?)

It's nice to see that Marlena has been recast with a Korean woman.

Ari Zucker is a damn BOSS. I love Tams, but Zucker is one of my DAYS goddesses from 03-04ish.

Adrienne and Justin with Maggie was awesome. Victor's reaction is pretty interesting, and I'm SO glad they didn't go all the way in either direction in regards to acceptance/rejection. FS and JA are working very well together.

I didn't realize how much I miss DAYS sets. They have more color/flavor than AMC's have had in a long ass time.

I agree- Adrienne and Justin with Maggie was awesome. Really well performed and touching. Maggie tearing up when talking about Sonny was a nice touch. She was really I think worried about what Sonny would have to face in his life. She remembered that sweet little boy and loved him and was saddened not because he was gay, but because she knew his life would have a lot of hardships coming up just being who he is. And I am really loving Judi Evans and Wally Kurth back on Days. They were really missed.

It's nice to see that Marlena has been recast with a Korean woman.

LOL! I think she looks very plucked.

No Sonny or Will today...blah

I hate to break it to you but Will is not seen all that often.