February 20-24, 2006

[OneLife Fan]

Exactly Andy!! I can pick many more however!!

IT was funny to us Steve...plain and simple.

[SteveFrame]

I give you Drake Hogestyn as John and even Deidre Hall can be inconsistant at times but when she is on I would put her up against any of the best from the other shows. Drake is not a great actor but he has presence and he makes the material he is given believable most of the time.

But as to the talent, I would put Judi Evans, Peter Reckell, Kristian Alfonso, Matthew Ashford, Peggy McCay, Frances Reid, Suzanne Rogers, Melissa Reeves, Billy Warlock, Martha Madison, Alison Sweeney and James Reynolds up against any of the performers on any soap any day. These performes get a lot of air time (except for Matthew Ashford who is offscreen right now) and they are among the most talented actors on daytime television. Those performers consistantly give 100% to the material they are given.

There are some weak links and sadly some of them are in high profile stories. Jason Cook can be very inconsistent; same for Kyle Brandt; and definitely Drake as I mentioned above.

But they are no worse than Justin Bruening on AMC, Chriselle (sorry can't remember her full name) on AMC who can be good one day and then be so off; Alec Musser, Aidan Turner and James Scott look good but are not that strong of actors; the guy who plays Duke on OLTL; the girl who plays Adriana is very inconsistant too on OLTL; the actress who plays Layla on OLTL can be very inconsistant; Melissa Archer even has many off days and weaknesses; Kamar on OLTL can too; Natalia Livingston on GH and I could go on with the examples just from the shows I watch or have frequently watched but won't.

The thing is every show has strong actors and weak actors. The Days cast has been delivering strong solid performances for almost a year now, and even some of the actors who have been really bad in the past have gotten better. There are some taht I wish they would replace, but I can say that about all the shows I watch.

Days of Our Lives gets a bad rap constantly. And many times they are judged on things in the past when they weren't that good, but the show is getting better and so is the cast.

[OneLife Fan]

Yes yes..every show has weak players!!

[PhoenixRising05]

Great post Steve-you forgot to add Renee Jones to that list and Christie Clark is pretty good too.

I won't comment any further because I have already been way too fired up this week in this thread and in others about this and other topics in regards to Days. Days and their fans really have to put up with alot of crap, more then any other show, and it really isn't fair since most of it is based on inconsistent viewing and because of hwat has happened in the past. Those that have watched this shwo everyday, espeically those that have watched for many years including during the 80's, know that this show has one of the bets casts in daytime and always has been. I want to thanks Ryan and everyone else who made that known in their posts because in the words of John Black "That's a fact." They aren't perfect and no they aren't the best in daytime but they are one of the best, despite having some inconsistent players and bad ones here and there just like everyone else. OK now I am done-people can beleive what they want I guess. Thanks everyone for trying .

[Gray Bunny]

I'm a DAYS fan and have been for over 10 years, but hell, even I was chuckling at that one!

This thread has really shown the ridiculousness of how some DAYS fans classify "their own". There are DAYS fans, but then there are anti-DAYS DAYS fans (huh?), and then there are DAYS fans who are only care for one supercouple and therefore are supposedly anti-everything else on DAYS. Gimme a break. I'm a DAYS fan, but I don't feel the "abuse" of anti-DAYS DAYS fans or anti-DAYS soap fans because I can see crap for what it is and I can see quality for what it is. If "95%" of the DAYS fans disagree with my opinions, I won't lose any sleep over it.

[King]

If one still needs proof over how popular DAYS is online, notice how every thread here turns into a DAYS thread. Good or bad.

[PhoenixRising05]

Yeah and they always go on and on until the next ratings thread. The only time it stops is when Days goes up or has a good week and most of these people don't even comment or call attention to the fact that Days did well. Oh well I am done here because its pointless-people beleive what they want. I thank everyone in this thread-especially Ryan for putting it so nicely-for making great points based on watching the show on a consistent basis. Good job to you all and all of us Days watchers-let's just enjoy it and not let others bother us .

[Mitchapalooza]

You couldn't be MORE right.

DAYS is absolutely the most talked about and most popular soap on the internet...and I firmly believe outside of the net aswell.

The fact that DAYS was the 4th most searched television show on the internet, with not a single other soap cracking the Top 10, speaks VOLUMES about JUST how popular the show is and how underrated it actually is aswell!!!

[PhoenixRising05]

Again I agree .

[KBT]

I honestly think DAYS has the best supporting female cast, although GL, ATWT, and Y&R have some great ones as well. Overall DAYS doesnt have the best cast IMO, but I definitely think DAYS has a good cast and close to the best, the one thing that that really lacks with DAYS cast is male leads, not many at ALL.

Very well said Ryan!

Couldnt agree more Mitch, its obvious.

I have never met anyone in person/real life who watches B&B, GL, or OLTL to be honest. It almost always DAYS and GH, with AMC and PSNS not far behind with a few Y&R and ATWT thrown in there. Thats just from my experience though.

[Gray Bunny]

Time to get out more j/k

In recent memory, I met a couple girls at Best Buy who were huge OLTL fans (they loved RH's version of Todd)... I met a couple ladies at the YMCA as B&B was on and we started talking about it... I met 2 women while waiting to get my hair cut who were GL fans. So there ya go But I totally admit, when I meet fellow soap fans, the No. 1 soap watched is DAYS, then AMC & GH.

[RogerNewcomb]

I don't think the DAYS cast is the problem as much as the dialogue. I find Days and Passions dialogue to be amateurish or campy. But that's just a matter of preference. I prefer the dialogue on ATWT. Some find that boring. I mention this because I think if you give Peggy McKay, Suzanne Rogers, Judi Evans, etc the type of meaty dialogue the ATWT actors get, they would be just as good as anyone on daytime. I've see this from them before. Judi seems to be playing a cartoon character now, but she is amazing, and I've been a fan for 23 years. There are some duds in every soap cast because of the casting department believing soap fans would rather see a sexy model learning to act than a still good looking great actor. This applies to all nine shows.

The networks also keep insisting on shorter and shorter scenes. I feel like we lose a lot of the effect of powerful scenes because you get 30 seconds then a cut to the next scene. In the 70s you'd get five or six minute scenes. You would watch one scene and truly get a sense of what character was all about. Today that same scene would be chopped into 7 mini scenes.

If we're going to rate best casts, we have to have some clear criteria, because the casts are a group of actors who are not responsible for the lame stories or bad dialogue or cheap production. They just take the scripts and try to make something out of it.

[PJA]

Well I did say the dialogue may have something to do with their acting. Whatever it is, it is stopping me from getting into the show. It seems like I'm watching Undressed, that soap that used to come on MTV.

[KBT]

As usual Roger, I think you said it perfectly! I think DAYS biggest problem is their dialogue and their day to day writers for the most are subpar. I dont watch ATWT often, but when I do the dialogue is easily better than both NBC soaps and ABC soaps as well. I find it refreshing when I watch ATWT, the writing is just simply better.

[OneLife Fan]

I thought the AMC ratings would pass GH. Maybe next week.