DAYS: TV Guide interviews Greg Meng

[quartermainefan]

The hivemind of daytime and the certainty that only one way is right for every soap just never ends.

Where are they finding these people? The people who went to see Twilight and Hunger Games or watch Game Of Thrones and watched Lost? Where are these throngs and why aren't they watching any of the soaps? Nothing in the current pop culture, or even the pop culture landscape of the last few years supports his statement or the vision of any of the soaps. A run down of the top grossing movies of the decade, the TV shows that became cult favorites like Lost, Battlestar and GoT, nowhere in current entertainment is there this insistence that people want babies, love triangles, and mundane reality mixed with the ho hum everyday. Considering their current audience is about 4 people, what have they got to lose going crazy?

[Y&RWorldTurner]

But the thing is, the last time they cut these people (some of whom were cut before the last big firings), ratings soared and the budget had to have been less. Even if they later faltered.

Meng and others might think they need to trim the cast and focus on telling a real long-term story (well, as much as DAYS will be allowed to tell one), as they previously did with the baby switch a few years ago.

With ratings falling, especially the core demos, the show might not realistically be able to afford these people. They probably shouldn't have rehired them again knowing it would be too much of a financial burden in the first place.

[Eric83]

I honestly do not care if Drake Hogestyn is fired but leave Deidre Hall alone. John isn't needed, kill him off FOR GOOD.

[AMCHistory]

... and that was under Tomlin too right? Initially, with the shock of so many big name departures the show did seem foreign to me. But about a year into it, I did realise that I liked seeing some new faces in more prominent roles (most notably Suzanne and Maggie).

But I did feel like something was missing. The familiar feel was gone, and you could see they were slowly rebuilding it by filling out some of the families (e.g., reintroducing Justin/Adrianne, bringing back Missy(.

I would love for them to try and play with the current cast. Frankly, I do not think the cast in the problem with DAYS. It's a great character mix, and no one is egregiously untalented. Any characters who are let go at this point will be sad.

[dragonflies]

For what reason? The death would be pointless, and a pointless death isn't going to do anything for the ratings or the show.

I'm not a fan of killing off vet characters unless it's absolutely necessary, cause 99.9% of the time it has no long term effects

[Toups]

Yeah but the ratings didn't soar because those actors were fired. The ratings soared because they had a huge storyline in the baby switch. I guarantee if nobody was fired while that storyline was airing, the ratings would've been the same. And the ratings later faltered after the baby switch because there was no second huge, crazy storyline. You need multiple waves of crazy, huge, outlandish storylines like it was in the 90's. Jim Reilly didn't stop at Buried Alive. It was a big mistake by Higley/Tomlin/Whitesell to stop at the baby switch.

You also need these characters and people know and love to have the ability to tell those huge, crazy storylines. If you had the baby switch happen to some newbies, the impact wouldn't have been as big. But it happened to Alison Sweeney's Sami Brady - a familiar face with a huge fanbase who's been on since 1993.

[dragonflies]

+1 for this awesome post

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Oh, I guarantee, no matter the budgeting problems and change in writers, Alison Sweeney isn't going anywhere.

The show obviously can't afford the current cast they have, they were fools to think otherwise.

I think they looked at this on the surface only, and saw that the "reset" was an enormous financial, ratings, and PR failure, and then just decided to cut their loses. It wasn't worth the financial investment to them.

What the show needs is focus and storylines that take some sort of risk at this point. They have nothing to lose (but the show itself).

The show needs a longterm story with a beginning, middle, and exciting climax. Is it possible in this climate? I have my doubts, but I hope they can pull it off.

[LeClerc]

I think the very last team of writers I would associate with character, reality and romance are Gary Tomlin and Chris Whitesell. Now plot, supernatural and soft-core porn? They're your guys!

Kind of a strange interview. Meng is very careful and political with his responses at first but by the end he's all "Will's coming out story? Meh!", "Yeah couples are tricky but let me go out of my way for a second to single out Sarah Brown/Madison for her role in this mess", and "The cast is going to be blown to smithereens! Gotta run!".

[Toups]

LOL That's what I saw too. Reality and romance? That's not Tomlin and Whitesell. I would love it if they brought back crazy DAYS though. But you need big characters to do crazy storylines on DAYS.

[~bl~]

When you go months without seeing characters who should be there, and they would be willing to work, but the people who come up with the story and/or manage the money don't use them anyway. It doesn't matter. They aren't being seen so while the program benefits, by saving money the viewers lose. I'd rather have a lot of these characters be out of town, and then come for visits based on story, instead of recurring living in town, but seldom if ever be seen. Because at least if they are out of the country and are missing at Christmas for example, I'm less apt to be angry then if they are living in Salem and ignored like Justin and Adrienne this past holiday season.

[ivanmmd]

They don't know what to do. That is clear. You can tell they are going to drop the Will gay storyline like a hot potato. Women don't want to see that. Huh? That was the only storyline that worked. The rest stunk. Why can't he say the writing was awful? That is why the ratings are so low. Not because Sarah Brown was on or Matthew Ashford. They make the same mistake over and over every time. Last time all the ratings woes were on Crystall Chappell and Nadia and Louis Sorel. Guess what those actors were not the problem. Again they can't see that.

[Eric83]

His character is finished and Marlena needs to be freed of that albatross. He is super boring and doesn't bring anything to the table anymore.

[John]

They are behind the gay story? I call it now. Will & Sonny get together but then there stories become all about Family, work adventures. Maybe Meng was serious that Sonny & Will are hardy boys going on adventures?

[AMCHistory]

Tomlin provided the story such a slow ascent to begin with. I hope we do not loose the momentum of the storyline we have now. The Will/Sonny interactions have been a highlight of my daily viewing.