Inspired by one comment I made in the "Plan to Save DAYS 2013" thread, I pose this question to y'all: to the best of your recollection, has there ever been a story on a soap opera that, for whatever reason -- be it a change in the HW'ing and/or EP'ing seat, or a change in actors, or even just a change dictated by viewer antipathy and/or dissatisfaction -- went from bad to good, or even good to great?

Edited January 2, 201312 yr by Khan

GL - Annie's pathetic neuroses over Josh and Reva became riveting when Paul Rauch, the interim writing team (sorry my mind is blanking), and then B&E revved her way up into insanity.

GH- Edward Quartermaine NOT being killed off in the Port Charles Hotel Fire.

GH- Audrey Hardy NOT being diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1995.

Edited January 2, 201312 yr by MrQuartermaine

See, Carl, I'd almost agree with you, except for two things:

1) I felt it was wrong how Annie had to go psycho in order for the triangle with her, Josh and Reva to be interesting.

2) B&E especially took Annie, who'd had an average and "normal" background, and retroactively wrote her as someone who'd been off the proverbial beam all along.

See, Carl, I'd almost agree with you, except for two things:

1) I felt it was wrong how Annie had to go psycho in order for the triangle with her, Josh and Reva to be interesting.

2) B&E especially took Annie, who'd had an average and "normal" background, and retroactively wrote her as someone who'd been off the proverbial beam all along.

That's true, but CW was such a weird actress I had a tough time believing Annie was ever normal anyway.

See, Carl, I'd almost agree with you, except for two things:

1) I felt it was wrong how Annie had to go psycho in order for the triangle with her, Josh and Reva to be interesting.

2) B&E especially took Annie, who'd had an average and "normal" background, and retroactively wrote her as someone who'd been off the proverbial beam all along.

Co sign on #1!

I remember at the time the triangle was going on that Kim Zimmer remarked that she didnt understand why they had Annie go crazy when the triangle had been an even 50/50 split beforehand. If I were a soap writer, I would kill to have a triangle that evenly split and would write the hell out of it!

Even if the show wanted Reva/Josh, I would have made Annie eventually realize she was too good for Josh and move on. That would have been more interesting then turning Annie into a one note psycho.

I actually liked Annie in the early months of the show, she seemed like a tortured soul trying to make a new start in a new town. Plus, she was a nurse.. carrying on a long tradition of featuring a long suffering nurse (Peggy, Katie, and Lillian were featured long suffering nurses... I figured Annie would be next in line to carry the torch.. given early scenes between Lillian/Annie when she first joined the show).

I remember at the time the triangle was going on that Kim Zimmer remarked that she didnt understand why they had Annie go crazy when the triangle had been an even 50/50 split beforehand. If I were a soap writer, I would kill to have a triangle that evenly split and would write the hell out of it!

They wanted lunacy, not a triangle. The ratings were in the toilet. I think the insanity got them a huge increase and saved them from cancellation.

I didn't like Reva/Josh (I actually preferred her with Buzz), but I thought the two of them pining for each other while Annie plotted was more compelling than the evenly split triangle.

I think it was the material after the trial which began going too far into OTT crap, although even then, I didn't really mind it (I liked the early Cassie story). I only started to dislike it toward the very end, when they dragged in Annie's long lost husband and had her put Reva on the plane, and all the rest.

Edited January 2, 201312 yr by CarlD2

The Baby Switch on DAYS. After the long, drawn-out mess Langan had made it, Brash and Cwikly ended it really well. Bo and Hope giving up JT to Glen and Barb, and Lexie going crazy kidnapping Zack was really good.

Back in 2005, Pratt wanted Michael to be the one who killed AJ, but due to fan uproar, they rewrote it.

Back in 2005, Pratt wanted Michael to be the one who killed AJ, but due to fan uproar, they rewrote it.

In the long run I wonder if that was better or not. They might have gotten some mileage out of a returning AJ dealing with his unhinged son killing him. I'd normally say that's too much, but considering the stories Michael has had since...

AMC backing off the story of Janet trying to take over Brooke's life, which was additionally ridiculous since RM is probably 5 inches taller than JB.

AMC backing off the story of Janet trying to take over Brooke's life, which was additionally ridiculous since RM is probably 5 inches taller than JB.

That idea sucked so much.

I was also glad AMC rewrote the story of Adam inadvertently causing Liza's miscarriage of his child, although he still ended up having that awful sperm rape story.

OLTL = rewriting TSJ's "Todd" out to be Special Needs Vic, as it served as a vindication of what I've long thought of his shiteous version of Todd Manning - especially after the real one made his triumphant return.

GL = making Jonathan and Tammy endgame instead of going full speed with Jonathan and Dinah, as I got my delicious guilty pleasure of a kissing cousins storyline in return.

AMC = the entire Project Orpheus finale storyline, as it brought back characters that should've never been killed off in the first place.

What about stories that changed for the worse? Can I?

Making Luke the accidental killer of Jake as opposed to Carly. Instead of a really meaty story that pits Jason against Carly, at least for a little while, they went with a worthless addiction story that lasted a week. Luke self healed and Carly, who was in on the intervention, was granting Luke bar rights in exchange for dirt on Johnny. Pure waste! NOTHING good came out of a story that had so much potential!

What about stories that changed for the worse? Can I?

Making Luke the accidental killer of Jake as opposed to Carly. Instead of a really meaty story that pits Jason against Carly, at least for a little while, they went with a worthless addiction story that lasted a week. Luke self healed and Carly, who was in on the intervention, was granting Luke bar rights in exchange for dirt on Johnny. Pure waste! NOTHING good came out of a story that had so much potential!

Don't even get me started on that bullshit storyline. Not that I cared about the plot point that was Liz's love child with the roided goiter, but it pissed me off that TG encouraged showkiller Guza's plan to permanently damage Luke's relationship with Lucky over that bullshit storyline. In addition to that waste of space character, Ethan, turning out to be Luke's (preferred) son, it was one of the main reasons why I quit watching this show a few years ago.