Days of Our Lives a boring mess…How would you fix it?

[Dr Neil Curtis]

wait Jerry as Tommy with Erika coming on his daughter Sandy?!?! Let's not be ridiculous with the casting. Think logically.

[kathyj]

All interesting ideas. I am just enjoying the break from Sami. I am sure she will be back so a little peace and quiet is nice.

[John]

Jerry could be Bill, David Banning or Steve Olson

Erika could be Sandy Horton or even Susan Hunter if Denise Alexander didnt want it to do it

Then they can recast Scotty Banning. Make him a doctor at the hospital and then you have Scott David and just recast Trish maybe with Ilene Kristen

Have David come back married to Valerie and played by Debbi Morgan

[Dr Neil Curtis]

Why not see if one of the Valeries want to return along with one of the Davids and Patty Weaver. Jerry as David along said Seaforth-Hayes' Julie and Debbie Morgan's Valerie.... Uhhh..... no.

[KMan101]

Erika Slezak would make a perfect Laura Horton. Jerry as Bill would work but I really liked John Martin in the role. I'd rather see John Martin right now than James Read and Clyde wasting airtime (no offense to Read, who I like but Clyde has no future on this show).

First of all, this show has to stop with the forced pairings. It also has to stop with the forced propping of characters. Serena, Melanie and Daniel are all treated like the best things ever. No, they're not. I don't need to hear other characters gushing about them. Let me decide on my own and I probably wouldn't detest them as much. But they're also on wayyyyyy too much.

The airtime balance is terrible. The cast feels too small. The lack of sets is hurting the show. The lighting is often terrible (though I think it's gotten a bit better as the show does look a bit better).

It has no focus. No clear direction. We had almost an entire week of pointless Eric, Serena, Melanie, etc. interaction. Whyyyy? Who the flip cares? That's such a waste IMO.

I'm just throwing out some random things and will try and more cohesive "what I would do" at another time .... Abe should be a father figure to Nicole. Nicole and Rafe should be interacting more. Eric comes across as a douche where Nicole is concerned. Kristen rapes him yet Nicole's the one he can't forgive? LOL. Come on.

Marlena has no purpose. I love seeing her and the writing for her is decent but it's clear Tomlin, or someone, has no interest in her.

Maggie and Victor need to be kaput. Sorry but they do. Maggie needs to be interacting more with Hope and Jennifer. She needs to have her daughter Sarah and grandson Nathan around. Melissa needs to be appearing on a recurring basis as events call for it.

Kim needs to be recurring. Shane could be on. I'd rather Shane than John. Sorry Drake and John fans but John should have stayed dead in 2007/2008.

Shawn and Belle should be on the show. As should Carrie. As should Laura and Mike and Marie. As should Philip, Stephanie, Chloe ... Andrew and Alexander should have long been introduced.

Julie and Doug should be the show's matriarch and patriarch. They are PERFECT for those roles. Julie tells it like it is (I always loved Sami and Julie's interactions). Neither have a perfect past. They both look fantastic and are still incredibly vital. I love how Julie was integrated a lot more this last year. I'll give the show that. They FINALLY got that right. But Doug being MIA the entire year was way too glaring, and once again has me questioning why this show refuses to write for older men. Doug could have been having scenes with Hope while Julie was in the Nick story. Doug not being around makes no sense just like Shane now not being around makes NO sense.

Theresa is fine. Anne is fine. I'd get rid of Ben (though Scott Wilson IS charming and I really do like him, the character is pointless). I'd get rid of Clyde. I think Jordan had potential but that ship has sailed. Serena would be Sarah. Daniel wouldn't exist and instead we'd have Mike Horton. They should have cast Shawn as Mike. Mike could have treated Kate and slept with her. Mike could have stolen Chloe from Lucas like Mike 'stole' Carrie from Austin. Why a newbie called Daniel Jonas that no one cares about except some find him 'hot and attractive' and he supposedly appeals to the moms. Who cares? I've yet to ever be given a reason to care about him and any reason they give me is forced. Oh, he has a daughter! Oh, he has a mother! It's all so forced when they could have easily had Mike in that role.

Why am I watching Chad, Ben, Jordan when I could/should be watching Philip, Shawn and Stephanie? Chrishell could have been a Stephanie recast. Flynn a Philip recast. Wilson Scott would work for me as Shawn, even though he's not the strongest actor.

Carrie should have been paired with Rafe and be the one EJ was obsessed with. Not Sami. They missed a lot of potential with Lucas and Sami. Sami was never meant to be the next Marlena (they clearly wanted that with Rafe/Sami and Sami having twins, etc.). I'm just glad I recognized Sami again the last couple of years.

Tony and Jack should have never been killed off. Jack should have been around to play out this JJ story where he finds out Jack raped Kayla, and Jack should have also been around for Eve's return. And why is Frankie not included in any of this? Yeah, no one's begging for his return but he could fill the role Justin or Aiden do.

I have more but I'm just rambling ...

[Michael]

Especially agree with all of these. Casting Shawn Christian as Mike (if they had to have him -- I don't mind him, though he needs a damn haircut) would have brought so much drama with the Kate affair, considering Kate's history with Bill! I would be very into a Mike/Kayla pairing, too. And best of all, he couldn't be paired with Jennifer.

I do wonder if, even though Bill and Susan say that Bill does want to work, if Bill has trouble with the show's production model. The guy is in his 80s, and maybe he isn't nailing stuff in one take anymore. That's not to say they shouldn't try to accommodate him -- and I do appreciate that we'll get to see him for the holidays -- but I also get that certain factors are out of their control. (Same with Mascolo's health issues.)

And yes, yes, yes on the propping. I love Melanie, and I actually like how they're writing her now, as opposed to 2011 when everyone was running around screaming about how awesome she was. It's reached truly insane proportions with Daniel. Not a week goes by without at least one person having a soliloquy about how amazing Daniel is. Famous baseball player Paul Norita is excited to be operated on by the renowned Daniel Jonas! Serena has heard via e-mail what a perfect and loyal friend Daniel is! It never f*cking ends.

[JONNYSBRO]

Install maybe Julie Hanan Carruthers as new exec producer she worked on GH for years under Riche.

[Sindacco]

Bill and Clyde are very different characters, why compare the two?

I am happy they never casted Shawn as Mike. For me, Shawn Christian has always been a bigger problem than the writitng for Daniel, even though I agree that the propping is INSANE.

[MichaelGL]

The problem with DAYs isn't the new characters, it's the fact that the new characters that they choose to focus on are poorly developed. I seriously believed at the start of the year the show had endless possibilities but unfortunately Tomlin and Co. have squandered it. Nick should have never been killed off a second time, Will should have been temporarily written off as going to jail for shooting EJ, then returning once a proper recast was found. However no use dwelling on the past, let's take a look Tomlin's current list of squandered potential.

For starters, I would bring back Jade Harlow's character Sheryl and reunite her with Lucas. She would be heavily involved in the business aspect of the show (which I miss). It was obvious that Sheryl was being used as a pawn for Kate, so why not have Sheryl brought back on to take down Kate and DiMera Enterpries. Perhaps she's been hired by Chad or Stefano and gets caught in the middle of the war between Kate and the DiMeras.

I'd also focus on DA Melinda Trask and have it revealed that her estranged sister was the woman whom we saw Stefano entertaining a few times. Already you have conflict there as Melinda is truly committed to upholding the law and taking down the DiMeras, but to her dismay her sister is involved with the head of the DiMera crime family. Eventually when Melinda's sister does come to her senses(Stefano can't deny his feelings for Kate), she's thrown into Paul's orbit who appears to be a nice guy. His family approves not only because of their mutual Asian heritage but because they've always feared that hes been attracted to men. I'm undecided if the show should continue on track with a Will/Sonny/Paul triangle I'm honestly not impressed with anything I've seen of it yet.

ETA: Let's have Melinda constantly butt heads with Hope on the Salem PD, all the while DA Trask forms some type of a friendship with Aiden Jennings. Bo is presumed dead until they can find a proper replacement. When the show is ready to bring back Bo, either with PR or without, have a Melinda/Aiden/Hope/Bo quad.

For the younger crowd, why not focus on Rory? Delve into his troubled home life and the absence of his father. He starts to fall for Bev just as things between Paige and J.J. implode. J.J. finds solace in Bev after his break up with Paige, and Rory is distraught. He leaves town upon learning that his father could very well be alive, thus starting an adventure where J.J., Bev, (perhaps Paige if we recast her) all attempt to track down Rory.

I'd write off Clyde with a murder mystery in which Kate finally discovers just what kind of a monster he is. The suspects are Kate, Stefano, Jordan, Ben, Abby, Rafe, Chad, Lucas, and a new rape victim of Clyde's. Just to spice things up before CS's exit as Jordan, give her a split personality thus displaying that she's deeply troubled and in fact did kill her mother. In the end, I'd either have Jordan or the newest victim of Clyde be the killer.Ultimately this story results in both Jordan and Rafe being written off. This story would heavily involve Marlena as she would be Jordan's therapist and with a recast Roman would help to solve the mystery. This not only pits Marlena/Roman against Kate/Stefano (who would easily appear as the culprits), but gives DH some much needed airtime. Just as this story concludes, Bill and Laura return to Salem with Bill becoming a close confidante of Kate's.

Daniel, Serena, and Melanie are all gone! Bill, Laura, Sarah, and Mike Horton all make a return. And can we just forget about that whole fetus theft storyline? :shudder:

[LoveDays]

FIRST THING FIRST....GET RID OF THESE WRITERS NOWWWWWW! They have messed up he very fabric of the show...they've destroyed every super couple on the show and have no intention on repairing or restoring any of them. So that's the FIRST thing that needs to be done.

Now the next steps, it's time to get rid of characters and bring back some as well as change some history back. Daniel being Maggie's son needs to be changed. I would have it that the DNA test were wrong. But I would still keep their close relationship and she still consider him her son and Melanie her granddaughter. I wouldn't just want them to break that relationship because it's always nice to see relationships like that. I would still have Maggie have a son out there still who Melissa and Sarah could then be a part of. Speaking of Sarah, Serena should've been brought on as Sarah Horton which she could still be romantically involved with Eric. I would have probably brought back Greta for Eric though. I would definitely refocus the show back on family, Hortons, Bradys, Kiriakises, Dimeras, and reach back pulling the Grants and connecting them more with the Carvers.

I like Melanie and I would definitely write for her but she would not be front and center always. But I would definitely bring back Nathan to reignite the romance that was well on its way to being great. Melanie and Brady would remain as friends only. Theresa and Melanie could still be rivals, I'd build with that.

Kim and Shane I would bring back and Andrew in tow. Eric would be more grounded and established as a character, not a priest. Doug and Julie would be back on a more permanent basis. I would end Aiden and Hope! Bo would be brought back and I wouldn't mind if Aiden was connected to Bo's disappearance. I would have preferred if Kassie DePaiva was not Eve but yet could have been a former lover of Peter Blake, who could later make a return, as he is responsible for Jack being missing who he is holding captive. Paige could be Peter's daughter. I would have still brought back Eve and with a daughter who is Frankie's. There are some other ideas I have but I'm tired of typing at the moment.

[NothinButAttitude]

How about they bring back Dougie LeClaire? Has Doug even been in contact with him? If not, I'd bring him back with a wife and kids and have him become the new town mogul/pariah. It'd give Hope and Doug something to do.

[theherowithin]

I just hope these writers can do a great job for the 50th.

[NothinButAttitude]

Don't get your hopes up. Yeah, I do see Corday bringing back some big names {i.e. Sami, Shane, Kim, Marie....} but I don't see the story being there. The 50th will end up being all about Daniel and his spawn Melanie instead of characters like Doug, Julie, Hope, Marlena, Abe, and Roman.

[theherowithin]

^^

You are probably right. I am hoping to see Peter Reckell and Jason Cook again but like you said, I won't get my hopes up. Maybe ABC would loan Kirsten out as well. I'd like to see SN for the 50th too.

[Michael]

A visit from Belle and Shawn would be really nice, since they're important parts of major characters' lives and have been such non-entities for the past six years. I would take either Shawn, and I bet they'd use Martha Madison rather than trying to get Kirsten Storms from ABC and then try to sell her as the mother of an eight-year-old.