Julie Marie Berman as Belle Brady!

She looks like a better fit for Stephanie. She kind of resembles MBE in the eyes there

I honestly could see Rebecca Budig as the new Sami on DAYS. She is a little bit older then Alison but has the grit and edge to play Sami Brady.

I honestly could see Rebecca Budig as the new Sami on DAYS. She is a little bit older then Alison but has the grit and edge to play Sami Brady.

Yes!

I honestly could see Rebecca Budig as the new Sami on DAYS. She is a little bit older then Alison but has the grit and edge to play Sami Brady.

As much as I love her, Rebecca could be a different character

Yeah, they're not gonna recast Sami. We can all end that debate.

I agree.

NBC/Corday/sony wanted this news broken by alison right away, once it was final. They used her pal Ellen, who airs on most NBC stations, to do it. A year beforehand. This, to me, seems like it's letting the shock hit now and a "say goodbye to Sami Brady after 22 years" is coming.

A recast down the line? Perhaps. But I think they will just wait it out and hope for AS to return.

I think it's a testament to how much people like AS that this story has been picked up by Deadline Hollywood, TVLINE, Entertainment Weekly AND she is the most search on Yahoo! I wonder if she has any idea how popular she really is.

BudgetMaxie as Theresa the next Sami? Disgusting. Lol.

Carrie is so basic compared to Sami that she is not going to fill any void left by Ali's absence.

LMAO!

Yes, the "Say Goodbye to Sami" idea is bound to come down the line.

I don't see them ever recasting Sami. No matter how she departs the show, she can always be welcomed back for the finale/guest appearances, even if as a ghost.

They *definitely* should bring back Belle now. I'd welcome a good recast. Martha Madison was just too bland/asexual for me. Brandon Beemer back as Shawn? Absolutely!

Days survived the departures of Dee Hall, Peter Reckell, Kristian Alfonso, Quinn Redeker, Leann Hunley, Gloria Loring and (ick) Josh Taylor in a few months span in 1987. They also changed headwriters.

If they can't survive Sweeney's departure, it's not the fault of Sweeney's departure.

I'm sad because I love AS/Sami but maybe this'll cause DAYS to hopefully return to an ensemble show instead of putting the show's weight on six characters. Hopefully, EJ and Rafe go with her. . . .

While I think this a big blow to DAYS, I think they can survive. If AS contract is until Dec 2014, then she'll air well into 2015. Plenty of time for the writers to figure out how to refocus the show. Look at B&B. That whole show revolved around Brooke/Ridge/Taylor and Stephanie for years and in a short time, they lost everyone but Brooke and managed to refocus show on younger cast of Steffy/Liam/Hope and their ratings have increased. Maybe DAYS can take a page from that.

But B&B had been focusing on the younger set for at least two years, which is partially why SF left. It's not like her leaving affected story all that much either because everything was all about Hope, Liam, and Steffy.

Days survived the departures of Dee Hall, Peter Reckell, Kristian Alfonso, Quinn Redeker, Leann Hunley, Gloria Loring and (ick) Josh Taylor in a few months span in 1987. They also changed headwriters.

If they can't survive Sweeney's departure, it's not the fault of Sweeney's departure.

To be fair though, they were also pulling in 7.0+ ratings and 5th out of 13 soaps at the time, so they had a bit further to fall than 2.0 and last place .

I think the only thing that is going to botch the show after AS leaves is Ken Corday and his propensity to panic and react in exactly the wrong way.

Edited January 22, 201411 yr by beebs

This would be a huge loss no matter what. However the loss could have been lessened if they had anyone else to become the leading lady. Nicole is a wonderful second lead and support. Ari is beyond talented but Nicole isn't the lead type. Abby has been wasted and mansi likely won't stay after her current contract anyways. Belle, Stephanie and Melanie were all invested in by the show but just forgotten once they left Salem. Any, or all, of them should have been recasted. I know Melanie was unpopular early on and didn't catch on to much here but the show spent years on her character and even listened to fan reaction and made her work. The soaps can't hold onto young talent anymore. There are no more heather toms, Ali Sweeney's or Kim McC's who grow up on screen and stay. So they have the characters and they need to be recasted. Days has been missing that age range between Sami and Abby and it is really obvious when you talk about Sami leaving.

A belle recast is needed now. A great one. Carrie? Lol. No. ESP under CC. AS may not have been the best actress of all time, but soap leading ladies are more about talent. You have to have that IT factor and Sweeney has it. Lucci had it. Many others have and do have it. Days isn't totally screwed. Ali gave them a years notice. They just better take advantage of it.

Edited January 22, 201411 yr by JackPeyton

Carrie? Lol. No.

LMAO! I swear your loathing for Carrie has always just made me I feel exactly the same haha