Daytime TV and soap magazine surveys

[DRW50]

Good catch.

[DRW50]

March 1992 Daytime TV.

[OldGHFan]

Love these. Thanks for posting!

[DRW50]

Thanks for reading. I really appreciate it.

[jam6242]

It's nice to see that Susan Seaforth Hayes was still in the Top Ten as late as 1992. But, she was still released from her contract the following year.

I never realized how unpopular the Shane and Kayla pairing was until the last few years. I wasn't reading message boards at the time it was ongoing. I was a fan of Shane/Kim and Steve/Kayla but I don't remember being upset about Shane/Kayla. Can't believe people actually wanted Kayla written out for that reason!

[DRW50]

I was surprised by that too, although Evans was still in the top 10, so she must have remained popular. I guess she became more polarizing.

I guess SSH going was more about Reilly not caring than about any unpopularity - it's too bad, as I think there was still a lot you could do with her. Even Reilly did write for her a little during that serial killer thing.

I was a little surprised Reckell wasn't in the top 10 in more issues - I guess he wasn't counted during the times he was off the show, but still...

[jam6242]

Popularity doesn't seem to be the only factor in writing for a character. I suppose there are behind-the-scenes politics involved as well. It's funny because he's now considered nothing more than Julie's husband and Hope's father, but as Doug, Bill Hayes actually started appearing in the popularity polls many months before Susan did. I suppose that was because Julie was the "bad girl" giving the popular Susan Martin (Denise Alexander) a hard time. Doug was really the first male character on Days who had overt sex appeal so that played into his fast growing popularity.

I admit I'm biased but I think Julie should have been turned into the "Grand Dame" of Salem as she got older. That would have suited her perfectly based on her behavior when she was younger. Her mother was also snooty when she first came back to Salem in the early 70s so she could have inherited that behavior from her. I also think a lot of damage was done to Julie's character by SORASing David so rapidly. I love seeing her when she pops into Salem but sometimes they have her behaving in ways that make me cringe (e.g., dressing up in various costumes with Doug).

[DRW50]

I think Julie could probably fill that role even now (her scenes in Nick's return did a good job of that - although now he's been ruined so that's just a bad memory I guess).

[teplin]

Yeah, Reilly saying the character of Julie was played out still sticks in my craw.

Oddly enough, though, I think he came close to writing her as the grande dame you envision, jam. She was single, rich as hell (I don't remember why) and hobnobbing with Salem's elite -- that included abbreviated "romances" with mobster Victor and young doctor Chip (neither of which was particularly believable, but that wasn't Hayes' fault.) Plus, SSH, always a beautiful woman, was being styled to the hilt during this period -- she looked absolutely gorgeous. When Reilly wrote her back in during one of his serial killing sprees, she had regressed as a character -- and I've always felt that Hayes went over the top with the character then, both because of the ridiculous nature of the storylines (witness the feud with Bonnie over Uncle Mickey) and because she thought that simplistic, non-nuanced acting might keep Reilly happy enough to keep her onscreen. That's certainly the type of emoting he preferred, but it still didn't keep her on the show full time.

I think Julie (and SSH) have been squandered by DAYS in the last 30 years, it's one of the show's biggest mistakes (and they've made a hell of a lot of them). I don't think SSH helped herself with her behind-the-scenes behavior, but still.

[jam6242]

Teplin, I'm pretty sure Reilly didn't write those 90s bits for Julie because he was only at Days a few months before Julie left Salem. Susan herself has recently said she wishes she hadn't been so "mean" in her younger days. I don't really see her as mean myself just not one to hold her tongue (even when she probably should).

[teplin]

Thank you, that makes a lot more sense. Reilly came in after I had thought.

[FrenchFan]

SSH last aired on January 28th 1993 and Reilly had joined Anderson to co-headwrite the show on December 21st 1992. He became sole head writer on April 29th 1993 so SSH was already gone. She came back for guest stints during Reilly's tenure however.

[jam6242]

From the April 1976 Daily TV.

[DRW50]

Those aren't showing up for me.

[DRW50]

December 1987 Daytime TV

April 1988 Daytime TV