Who said anything about stars outside of daytime? Dee is the star of Days. She is as popular to Days as Susan was to AMC. Remember when they seemingly killed her off in the 80s and the fans FLIPPED?! And frankly, it's a little insulting that you claim she's not talented. Dee is the best actress over 50 on this show, and Days was lucky to get her back.

Marlena and John are a popular couple. That's a fact. They aren't stealing airtime from anyone. John and Marlena DESERVE that airtime, especially when we have 2.5 lost years to make up for! Anyone who's "on the shelf" deserves to be there because they were never really that popular in the first place. They were just filling in for Marlena.

Remember when they wrote her off a few years ago and the show was solid, told a good soapy story using established characters and newbies and the ratings went up?

It all comes down to the story.

There are a lot of people who liked Days once the airhogs left. Not only did ratings not suffer they rose for 2 years without them. But DOOL fell on the same thing they are doing now nostalgia or repeat. ej/sami/nicole/rafe were interesting the first time but not the second time. Carly came back to what? Vivian tormenting her and to be thrown in the center of Bo/Hope. Predictable stuff just like whats on now. Jennifer round 30430 in the center of a triangle, Billie coming on to again be thrown in the middle of Bo and Hope The only remotely interesting stuff is wills story and the potential story with Abby and Austin

And Brendas failed return at GH and bringing back Jonathan Jackson as Lucky should tell folks its story not stars most watch for Y&R and their stunt casting should be the largest example of this.

Remember when they wrote her off a few years ago and the show was solid, told a good soapy story using established characters and newbies and the ratings went up?

It all comes down to the story.

That's just it, in this day of instant communication how can anyone miss the fact that names do not drive a show, returns often end up being universally panned and good stories are the only thing that keeps people interested.

Sadly, for the Vivian/Carly dynamic, they FINALLY had something different with the potential Carly/Quinn which would have turned that dynamic on its head, and that power was dropped for this???

Chloe, after years of not-so-good stuff was finally having meaningful scenes with Brady that could have lead somewhere, and instead we've got Madison???

Hope and Bo did deal with Zack (as much as parents ever can) but now it's being brought up again basically for Marlena to have her fingers in yet another story, for what???

Alice's legacy is hanging on by a thread with all these half-baked "mysteries" and we're supposed to buy that "Gran" was messing with people's lives to this extent? Really????

The DiMeras are interested in legalized political power? Why???

All of this feels like someone's fanfiction rather than mature stories thought up by people who know how to spin a yarn.

Remember when they wrote her off a few years ago and the show was solid, told a good soapy story using established characters and newbies and the ratings went up?

It all comes down to the story.

The ratings went DOWN. I didn't watch Days during the "dark ages". Without Marlena, there's no point to Days of Our Lives. And from the casting news I remember, Days brought on a lot of newcomers to fill the void of Jarlena. Nobody wants newbies, we want vets!

The only remotely interesting stuff is wills story and the potential story with Abby and Austin

The Austin/Abby stuff is insulting. I'm not sure why the new writers have their hate on against Carrie/Austin fans.

Oh well, my faves are back and Higley is gone. Days is finally turning back into the good soap it used to be.

The shoe is on the other foot now. Those who are hating the show now but enjoyed it during the Dark Ages when John and Marlena were off-screen now know how I felt. Days is my favorite soap left on the air, so I am allowed to be happy that it has transformed into a show worth watching again.

The ratings went DOWN. I didn't watch Days during the "dark ages". Without Marlena, there's no point to Days of Our Lives. And from the casting news I remember, Days brought on a lot of newcomers to fill the void of Jarlena. Nobody wants newbies, we want vets!

The Austin/Abby stuff is insulting. I'm not sure why the new writers have their hate on against Carrie/Austin fans.

Oh well, my faves are back and Higley is gone. Days is finally turning back into the good soap it used to be.

No the ratings did not go down check your facts in fact DOOL got best soap kudos from the soap press in 2009 for the baby switch and the 4 some of Phillip/Stephanie/Nathan/Melanie

The shoe is on the other foot now. Those who are hating the show now but enjoyed it during the Dark Ages when John and Marlena were off-screen now know how I felt. Days is my favorite soap left on the air, so I am allowed to be happy that it has transformed into a show worth watching again.

There's no shoe. There's no foot. Obviously "Dark Ages" is a term of personal opinion and not of ratings fact.

Remember when they wrote her off a few years ago and the show was solid, told a good soapy story using established characters and newbies and the ratings went up?

It all comes down to the story.

BINGO. What this show lacks is balance. It's better than it was in the fall, but there are still times when the show relies too much on one story.

Look, people are entitled to dislike characters. What some people have to realize is that for every person who hates a character, there are five or six who like that character.

I'm just worried about the overall numbers. Like someone pointed out on another thread, Frankie's death turned out to be the nail in the coffin for Another World. Dixie's "death" cost AMC a ton of viewers. Days best not try another stunt like this because eliminating the wrong person could bring down the entire structure.

There's no shoe. There's no foot. Obviously "Dark Ages" is a term of personal opinion and not of ratings fact.

This thread has for long portrayed DOOL as a Marlena and Post-Marlena soap. We saw when she returned all the posts "what about Maggie??? What about Kate???" I too am happy Marlena is back, with John.

Edited January 15, 201213 yr by quartermainefan

This thread has for long portrayed DOOL as a Marlena and Post-Marlena soap. We saw when she returned all the posts "what about Maggie??? What about Kate???" I too am happy Marlena is back, with John.

I don't mind Marlena, but even as a child, who only started watching because I thought Christie Clark was pretty, I always loathed the insufferable catastrophe that is John Black.

I have a lot of problems with the show as it is right now, and I really did it love it in 2009 post-J&M's exit, but I cannot see how anyone thinks that Marlena and John have eaten the show alive. They're on a totally reasonable amount. And a lot of Marlena's recent airtime has been in the Will/Sami story, while John is involved with Brady at the moment. The stories could stand to be more dramatic, but this is exactly how any vets should be used.

Edited January 15, 201213 yr by Michael