^^^Very True

There's a great article about how/why DAYS had to change from a SOD from 1993 that has John, Marlena, and Roman on the cover with some caption like, "Why DAYS Had to Change" and I definitely see the point and it's something that most soaps were doing: transition from the glory years of action/adventure & supercouples of the 80's to trying to be more contemporary and real (well, at least until the late 90's when clones, angels, demons, etc. ruled the scene) and not so out-dated. It's no wonder that half the soaps changed their opening themes around 1992-1993; they were 3-4 years into the 90's but still using 80's titles.

Actually wasn't JER at Y&R for a lot longer, like for most of the late 80s? I've wondered if Corday knew Reilly from that period given the Columbia(now Sony) as well as historic Bell connection between Days and Y&R. Would make sense if Corday hired him, after all a lot of his storytelling had roots going back to Bell. I've long suspected Ken Corday and Brad Bell are drinking buddies.

If I recall right Ross' election nighmare episode on GL in November 1992 was written by Reilly himself. It's quite an entertaining show(is it on YT now?), on par with the Life After Alex special GL did a few years before in 1989 and was quite widely received and was part of the Emmy win for writing.

If I recall right Ross' election nighmare episode on GL in November 1992 was written by Reilly himself. It's quite an entertaining show(is it on YT now?)

Indeed it is!

Thanks for finding that. Any one else have Rielly info? I know JER was at Y&R but I didnt think it was for a long period. Does any have any more statements regarding JER joining Days in 92?

Edited July 13, 201114 yr by aMLCproduction

I checked a few days ago all of the Soap Digest and Soap Weekly issues from the fall/winter of 1992 and early 1993 and couldn't really find any story about Jim being hired on Days. Perhaps I missed it in browsing the issues, but I didn't see anything at all about his initial hiring. The first mention I found of him was about the firing of Susan Seaforth Hayes, that he had no story for her. In one of those first mentions, he's listed as the co-head writer. And as 1993 progresses, and storyline previews are given, he's then listed as the head writer. Tried to find something for you...even checked some of the Soap Opera Magazine issues from that time frame (but for that magazine I don't have the complete run), but I struck out!!

I apologize for adding fuel to the fire, as it's no secret that I hate Reilly and everything that he stood for. However, his most impassioned defenders credit him with single handledly saving DOOL from cancellation. Yet, when one looks at the history, I really don't believe this claim is true. Below are the ratings for the 1992-93 Season:

1992-1993

1. The Young And The Restless 8.4

2. All My Children 7.3

3. The Bold And The Beautiful 5.9

3. General Hospital 5.8

4. As The World Turns 5.7

5. One Life To Live 5.5

7. Guiding Light 5.4

8. Days Of Our Lives 4.9

9. Another World 3.2

10. Loving 2.8

Since NBC didn't cancel the much lower rated AW in 1993 (in fact, NBC gave AW a six-year renewal in 1993), then why on earth would they have cancelled DOOL?

Before I conclude, I don't want to suggest that Reilly accomplished absolutely nothing. Indeed, if it was not for the huge ratings boost he gave DOOL in the 90's, I'm sure that soap would be off the air today. However, even if Reilly never came to DOOL, there's no way that NBC would have axed DOOL prior to cancelling AW in 1999.

Edited July 13, 201114 yr by Max

I apologize for adding fuel to the fire, as it's no secret that I hate Reilly and everything that he stood for. However, his most impassioned defenders credit him with single handledly saving DOOL from cancellation. Yet, when one looks at the history, I really don't believe this claim is true. Below are the ratings for the 1992-93 Season:

Since NBC didn't cancel the much lower rated AW in 1993 (in fact, NBC gave AW a six-year renewal in 1993), then why on earth would they have cancelled DOOL?

Before I conclude, I don't want to suggest that Reilly accomplished absolutely nothing. Indeed, if it was not for the huge ratings boost he gave DOOL in the 90's, I'm sure that soap would be off the air today. However, even if Reilly never came to DOOL, there's no way that NBC would have axed DOOL prior to cancelling AW in 1999.

I think it's more just the fact that he managed to turn the tide so quickly on a sinking ship. Looking historically, 1992-93 was DAYS' lowest-rated season EVER in all their 27 years to that date. I honestly think that DOOL was not in imminent danger, mostly as they were still close enough to the rest of the pack to be competitive (not in their timeslot, per se, since AMC and Y&R were pretty much neck-and-neck for a lot of that year, but generally speaking). But I do agree that if things had not turned around the way they did, considering how everything went elsewhere during the mid-to-late 90s, we would've seen DAYS canned alongside AW, never before. We would've also possibly seen NBC withdraw completely from soaps in daytime.

Edited July 13, 201114 yr by beebs

I remember the NBC daytime president at the time by the name of Roebuck I believe wanted to cancel all the soaps and replace them with game shows hence Santa Barbara's replacements. AW was actually almost cancelled itself in '93 too. I think Days's turnaround and AW managing to hold a little of it's own and coast change things. That and Roebuck was hauled off to rehab, and that's not a joke either!

I'm sorry, his name was John Rohrbeck. Here's his obit:

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/27/obituaries/27ROHR.html

Here's the rehab thing:

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-19749131.html

Indeed it is!

Thanks so much!

Edited July 14, 201114 yr by soapfan770

If I recall right Ross' election nighmare episode on GL in November 1992 was written by Reilly himself. It's quite an entertaining show(is it on YT now?), on par with the Life After Alex special GL did a few years before in 1989 and was quite widely received and was part of the Emmy win for writing.

That episode, at least the script, was written by Patrick Mulcahey, who has taken credit for that episode a few times over.

Here's an old SOW article with Jill Farren Phelps talking about it:

Ross' Reverie

GL puts on a senatorial show

SOW, Oct 1992, by Caelie M. Haines

Nov. 3 could prove to be the most important day in Ross' (Jerry verDorn) life, a fact Guiding Light is acknowledging by devoting an entire episode to his Election Day experiences.

"Because of the nature of this election year in real life, we realized that we had an incredibly topical issue going on at a time when people are much more focused and care much more about what's happening in the election world," explains executive producer Jill Farren Phelps. "We thought it might be fun to do something specifically on Election Day that would give you a window on what Ross is actually going through. And we were also looking for a way to take a kind of twisted turn on this subject."

Phelps calls the episode, which was written by Patrick Mulcahey and directed by Bruce Barry, "a completely wild departure. It's a real soul-searching expedition into Ross' hopes and fears, his past and his future," she says. "A lot of people are involved, primarily the people who have an impact on Ross' life. We went into Ross' past and chose the women with whom he has had relationships before to be the people who surrounded him the most. But certainly Roger has had an impact on Ross, so he is there. And Ross' friends are there.

"I hope people will be very entertained by it," she continues. "You get to see Ross' wishes and his hopes, so I hope you'll come out of this hour with a little more information about Ross than when you went into it. But primarily I hope the audience will be swept along by the entertainment value. This is a very unusual departure for any show to take, but particularly for this show. It's a read ride for the audience to go on with Ross, and we hope that they will love it."

Even if they don't, Phelps knows the episode will still have an effect. "This was one of those rare moments where no matter what the audience thinks, the impact that it had on everyone in the studio - from the actors to the designers to the director, the producers, everyone - was so positive," Phelps says. "This was a tremendous undertaking on everybody's part. And it has great spirit. On a very serious day where the world is waiting to see what its fate is, I think this will be a very nice piece of television sandwiched between all the election reports."

Well you learn something new everyday I've always heard Reilly was the one to write that episode. Perhaps it was his idea? I've heard that Nadine's faux pregnancy and Bridget in the attic were also Reilly's stories but now I'm not sure. Guess I should start digging in my own attic!

I believe Reilly was already at DAYS by the time those stories started to heat up, but maybe he was involved with the initial idea/outline.

I did hear he was behind the Springfield blackout (though JFP and Stephen Demorest were also very proud of this) and the Daniel St. John story.

Jenna Bradshaw seems more like a Reilly character to me than most of the other GL characters created in that timeframe. Or at least Jenna before she was destroyed by being Buzz's chattel.

Stephen Demorest created Jenna, according to Nancy Curlee.