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I had to stop watching early last week because I could not tolerate another interminable scene of Genie Francis valiantly attempting to keep pace opposite a disillusioned and confused Maurice Benard. Nevermind that the scenes largely consisted of Laura kissing the ring for some godforsaken reason, how is his performance acceptable? He’s painful to watch. -
Apparently Jake Tapper was supposed to be on Jimmy Kimmel tonight to pimp his book of lies. That appearance was canceled. https://latenighter.com/news/jimmy-kimmel-live-cancels-monday-night-taping/ -
I was obsessed with the original Party of Five, it used to be one of my favorite primetime soaps. In my mind, Neve Campbell is "the star of Party of Five" - I've never seen the Scream movies. So I watched the reboot with great attention. I kept comparing and contrasting each reboot sibling with the original. Lacey Chabert's character in the original was a precocious child who played the violin. Her counterpart in the reboot was also smart but she danced. Not quite the same. Neve Campbell's teen character in the original was a moody student, and her teen counterpart in the reboot became politically active and tried to help other teens that had immigration issues. Etc. I knew all the secondary characters in the original, and kept waiting to see if they'd have counterparts in the reboot. Some of that compare/contrast stuff was distracting to me at first, but ... eventually I realized that the reboot was a completely different show, and I came to embrace it for what it was, and let go of my comparisons. I felt that the reboot existed as its own separate identity, and there was no need to be familiar with the original at all. Other than the ages of the five siblings and the restaurant, the reboot had very little in common with the original. The reboot was a good show by itself and I liked it, and was disappointed that it was cancelled. -
By Contessa Donatella · Posted
When he returned to DAYS in 1991 it was at the behest of Deidre Hall wanting the two of them to make the DAYS scene together again & they both got preferential billing, too, in the closing credits. They did the Mexican story first with Bo & Carly and with John & Isabella & also Lawrence & the actress who would much later play Gladys on GH. After that they did this amazing story Marlena loved 2 men but society would not allow it. I have always felt that Deidre deserved an Emmy for that particular story. -
Let's be real - no one is interested in a "diverse" reboot. It's a WASP show through and through. Just do it cheaply on a budget and put it on Great American Family. -
By VelekaCarruthers · Posted
Dan Curtis was a good producer and director but he didn't know how to structure a daytime show. After he fired Art Wallace (or Art left after the first 13 weeks and never returned) Dan was the head writer. There are interviews (video and print) with Sam Hall, Violet Wells and others on the writing team who say as much. Dan wanted cliffhangers and shock value daily. He was undisciplined. If you look at other soaps that aired during that time, they were better produced and acted. You didn't constantly see boom shadows and tips of cameras and have sets rattle and actors forget lines (daily). I loved a lot of DS but it was campy and poorly produced. When a scene or episode was flawless (which was very rare) it was a revelation. It could have been so good. They needed to slow down a bit but it was expensive to put on and I think the network was constantly nervous about the content. -
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By dragonflies · Posted
https://www.wbez.org/making/2025/05/20/a-new-era-for-daytime-soaps-operas-beyond-the-gates A new era for daytime soaps operas: Beyond the Gates -
By Paul Raven · Posted
MEDINA JOURNAL-REGISTER WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1972 Soap opera star leads "sudsy" life By VERNON SCOTT UPI Hollywood Correspondent HOLLYWOOD (UPI) Bill Hayes, one of the co-stars of "Days of Our Lives," might make the central figure in his own soap opera. He is divorced after 23 years of marriage and moved to Hollywood more than two years ago from New York to star in the long-running daytime series. Hayes, who plays a nightclub singer on the show, is an accomplished vocalist himself and was resident baritone of the old "Show of Shows""-1950-1954-that starred Imogene Coca and Sid Caesar. Now he lives in the San Fernando valley with his three youngest children: Christian,21, Tom, 18, and Peg, 16. The house is large enough for the entire family and is close to NBC studios in Burbank where the show is filmed. Hayes, in fact, may be looking for smaller quarters soon. Christian will be moving to Arizona and Tom is headed for college, leaving only Peg at home. Hayes became a grandfather earlier this year when his daughter, Carrie, gave birth to a son, David Samuel. Hayes asked his producers to write him out of the serial for 10 days so he could back to Indiana to see his first grandchild. Another son, Blll Jr., is 22 and a Navy ensign flying jets. NBC has Hayes under contract 52 weeks a year. There are no re-runs of daytime serials. Therefore Hayes is on call almost every weekday. Generally he reports to the studio at 7 a.m. where the cast reads through the script and then rehearses. Then the crew is brought in for actual staging and another rehearsal before the episode is taped. Thereafter the cast sits around a table and reads through the next day's script, timing the segment and changing dialogue here and there to suit the director and actors. Some performers are quick studies. After an hour or so with the script they have their lines down pat. Not Bill Hayes. He is usually through at the studio by 3 p.m., but returns home to study and restudy the script, painfully memorizing his lines. Christian, Tom and Peg alternate with household chores. One week, for instance, Christian will do the cooking, Tom will clean house and Peg does the laundry and dukes "It works out pretty well," Hayes said ruefully. But when I get tired of eating pizza and hamburgers I pitch in and do the cooking myself. After dinner Hayes finds a quiet corner of the house to continue memorizing his lines. Then it's off to bed for that early call in the morning. On weekends Hayes not infrequently visits his parents who make their home in Tucson, Ariz. He would like to spend more time at the beach or in the mountains with his offspring. Being both father and mother to his youngsters, Hayes and must devote Saturdays and Sundays to shopping, gardening and supervising the running of the house. "I have to put relaxation and recreatlon into the future," he says. It's a someday thing with me. “Once in a while I get out to see a play or a movie, or visit friends in San Diego. But as long as I'm doing is show it means giving up a lot of other things. The important element is that the series allows me to work regularly and stay in one place to be with my family. Not too many actors today can pull that off." -
By VelekaCarruthers · Posted
Whitesell/Tomlin dropped replacement Steve in a matter of a few episodes; he was terrible. I'm looking these December 1985 episodes and I remember watching original air shows. I thought Tomlin was doing a very good job cleaning up the Braxton/Mayer/Nicholson mess. Tomlin had Louise Shaffer who was awful as Stephanie (never liked the actress onscreen in any role other than Serena / Josie) but Louise pulls it out the week of Dec 2. (Dec 2-5 are stellar episodes IMO). I wonder if Lisa P quit because she was paired with Godart who was 14 or so years older. She was islanded and she wouldn't have betrayed Stephanie. So that was a Tomlin fail. Domini is a revelation and Estelle and nuChase was improving. I liked him and Adair but I can see how they didn't need another Cagney/Suzi type on a 30 min show. The ratings were terrible under Tomlin/Whitesell and dropping into the high 2s with a 9 share. I can understand why they made a u turn with the flood storyline (plus I think in 86 their budget must have taken a huge hit because they were consolidating sets and reducing the cast). Tomlin had to contend with the departures of Lisa P and Jane K as well as deal with the bad Stephanie replacement. Of course, the show was still reeling from Sherry's departure and Erwin's horrible choice as her replacement. I don't understand why P&G didn't cut their losses with Louanne, particularly after Mayer's character assassination (having her sleep with Hogan). Joe Lambie was so fierce as Lloyd. What a talent. Loved him as Logan on Edge. Tomlin/Whitesell do get the ratings back to low 3s and 11 share by later March only to be dumped for Pam Long and David Lawrence for the final six months. P&G and NBC must have had a horrible relationship but the show constantly went through writer/producer changes going back to Mary Bunim in the 70s. From watching all these posted shows, I've built a list of producer / writer comings and goings and it's absolutely mind boggling. I'm still working on the list but will post soon.
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