RUMOR: Changes Tomlin made to Days

[gtru1981]

Yes please! I want them to write Daniel off and never mentioned again! They know he isn't popular and fans don't like him, so get rid of the loser!

That and the viewership tanked under them! Days was at all time lows on everything. They were a disaster!

[Gray Bunny]

A dream would've been SO unnecessary. They didn't do THAT much destruction. We've seen much, much worse throughout the years. Had someone else taken over the show in 2004, I would say make everything from the serial killer storyline a dream. Or anything between 2004-2006, which was just all types of awful.

Ian is so dull, it would be a disaster to put him in such a pivotal role.

The outgoing writers couldn't pace a storyline properly to save their lives, but they laid some decent foundation in some stories. It was the execution of these stories that sucked.

However, it's probably best that they left when they did. Those upcoming storylines they had planned sound terrible. Now THOSE would've caused some damage.

[JaneAusten]

I listened to an interview with James Scott who was pretty candid. He said the biggest issue with Days it that they don't want to shake things up and mess with the status quo and as a result there is a lot of reliance on nostalgia to lure viewers in. He was pretty enthused about Tomlin returning but I equated that to the fact that he's the new person in charges although James Scott did get a lot of focus under him.

Frankly the returns none of them did a thing for me. Marlena is effective in a supporting role as she was with Will but she and Johns love of the century has been told a zillion times. I wish they'd let go of the super couple crap and just focus on characters. I really think having Bo and Hope as a staple couple is enough. I'd love to see a Jenniferless Jack on canvas and dump Jennifer, roman, John black, Daniel and bring in Sarah Horton along with maybe Nathan back. With Austin leaving, Billie really serves no purpose, the ISA stuff is incredibly stupid and dated. And for gods sake turn EJ into a villain. This Dr. Phil self pity version is ridiculous.

[Michael]

A dream would have been a huge mess. Very little that's permanently damaging has been done. (It sounds like a lot of this upcoming DiMera crap would have been disastrous, but it's being stopped in time.) Decent writing from here on out could fix almost everything that MarDar have screwed up.

[gtru1981]

I really think this is why MarDar got canned. Killing off Stephano and saying Ian is the true Dimera would have been a huge disaster and viewers would be pissed! NBC and Corday stepped in at the right time to fix the damage control.

[DRW50]

That's interesting, as I know a lot of fans feel Tomlin wrecked the character.

I think EJ has been a mess of a character from the start - he is the most schizophrenic character I can remember on any soap opera. None of his relationships make any sense at this point.

[JaneAusten]

I don't think he's been any better under this regime and this wise old sage they've turned him into with Will and Sami is frankly ridiculous.

The only real constant in his relationships was Stefano and this team was intent on severing that and turning the wax figure Ian into his dad.

[Gray Bunny]

I totally agree. The writers, no matter who they may be, try to mold him into whatever they want that given week. He's a racecar driver! He's a lawyer! He can do kidney transplants! One week, he's shooting people and stealing organs out of people's bodies, and then next week he's in some epic generational romanctic love story with Sami (aka Santo and Colleen) and it's been back 'n forth ever since.

[remos]

They can keep interacting like they always did, but the egg thing is just stupid and as a woman I'm thinking WTF, we are more than our reproductive ability. The writers made Maggie even more powerful through Victor and the best they can do is a fertility story where they can't even keep the decade straight.

[juppiter]

"It was all a dream" is never the right way to go, as bad as a show gets. I have seen writers inherit disasters before and spin gold from them. Look at Harding Lemay picking up AW in 1988 after the strike. Look at Hogan Sheffer picking up ATWT in 2000 after Laiman (his first six months were great, I promise!)

Plus I have written a lot myself, never a soap but I have written soap-ish stuff. Writing yourself into a corner and then finding your way out is one of the most fun things to do.

[sungrey]

Going to go on a small rant here, so bear with me (dont worry, Jane, this rant isn't at your post because it speaks the truth... lol)

It seems like there are some fans who don't want their beloved show to change. This means cursing any character introduced in the last few years because it's taking precious air time away from the favorites. Guess what? The reset with the "old" characters didn't work, although the show certainly tried its hardest to make it work.

I am also guilty as charged, because I come from the supercouple era and my rooting is predictable. During Bo/Hope/Carly, I was Bo/Hope all the way (but I LOVE Crystal Chappell, still do and would have welcomed the conflict in a heartbeat because it was rooted in history). I'm solid Carrie and Austin. Maybe I'm the one who needs to change.

And by the way, Gary... a dream? No. Sat through it on Dallas. Granted, it DID energize that show for a couple seasons (that season without Bobby was pretty pathetic), but what do people think about the dream today?

[remos]

^^ A dream obviously isn't the way to go, and it's got precedence in the wider soap community so we know what an ultimate fail that would be. However I have to appreciate how overwhelming the task is to get the MarDar months (thank God it's not a real "era") fixed. I agree that writing yourself out of a corner is half the fun, but that's also when you do it to yourself in the first place with one or two situations. This is a whole show that has gone from marginally difficult last summer to horrid. Huge names are leaving, other large names have been unceremoniously shown the door, ridiculous stories (Maggie's eggs, Alice's secrets, EJ's paternity, Melwan revisited - or however that's spelled) all of those have to be fixed or removed from memory somehow. I can't blame the guy for wanting to start with a clean slate.

[darraholic]

I agree and disagree with you. DAYS fans accepting new characters is like trying to get a 3 year old child to eat asparagus. I'm always welcome to new characters, but this show does have an awful record with new characters. The writers love to jam the newbs down the viewers throats. And in many cases they love to destroy long serving characters to prop the newbs. Daniel & Melanie were prime examples. I actually like the character of Rafe, but Galen is just an awful actor with no skills. Madison & Ian had potential, but the writing sucked for both of them. It is a shame because Sarah Brown and Ian Buchanan are such great actors.

[DRW50]

I think the problem with Ian is that I just don't buy Ian Buchanan as this big menace. He looks like a grumpy old man when he tries that. He was for many years a naturally charming actor, which soaps seem to have no interest in now.

[Susan Hunter]

Yes!! That's it, I thought I was the only one. I also don't buy him as some great love of Kate's life. I don't know what it is, but I think he was miscast. Just because I can't think of anyone else, what about Hunt Block?