DAYS: Jack Spoiler

[KLN]

It's annoying to me when people only watch the show for ONE couple. And because the show doesn't revolve SOLELY around that couple, they're NEVER happy. It's a soap opera, people. ENSEMBLE! Not just two!

I understand when fans of, like, Jack and Jennifer are unhappy because they're never on. That's understandable. But when they're given plenty of airtime and the stuff really isn't THAT bad, and they're still !@#$%^&*]ing, just because nothing is EVER enough... ugh. Take what you can get! this isn't the BOPE show, or the LUMI show, or the JARLENA show. It's Days of our Muthafunkin Lives, y'all!

[Bree]

I agree with Kenny, King, and Phoenix.

I love J&J but I not a rabid fan who only watches for them and wishes death to the show when they're not on five days a week. Do I wish JER would treat Jack like he does Bo and John? Sure. It would be nice to see Jack on a lot more instead of being killed off or propping up Frankie and Jennifer (I do love Billy, I wish he would get a new story though).

These fanbases [!@#$%^&*] up soaps too much with their crying and whining. Either watch the show as a whole, or don't watch it all.

[Keith]

Death to rabid fanbases

Seriously. I'm a fan of recognizing characterization, and laugh whenever someone says Jack faking his death and hurting his family when he feels its the only way to protect them is out of character. It's his MO!

[SteveFrame]

I totally agree about the fan bases. They have truly messed up not only Days but the whole soap opera genre in my opinion. They have turned most of the shows into one or two couple shows becasue the writers and producers many times work to focus on those couples or that couple.

Even in the 50's and 60's at the height of Jeff & Penny's popularity on ATWT, the show never revolved solely around them. The same can be said for Steve and Alice on Another World. There were many vital characters and couples featured. The same could be said about 1970's Days of Our Lives when Doug and Julie were so popular with fans - you still had Greg & Susan, Bill & Laura, later Greg-Amanda-Neil, and then Chris and Mary.

Now for some reason and I blame the fan bases with their campaigns and complaining for forcing many of the shows to focus their main stories on a set group. It may not be the only reason, but I think it is largely the reason we get we may at times get the Bope show on Days or the Sonny show on GH, etc.

[PhoenixRising05]

Great posts Bree, KR, SteveFrame, Kenny and Keith.

These fanbases need to just watch for the show not certain characters. It happens on other shows too but Days has it the worst. It limits any writer, not just JER, and I am sure it played a part in the obvious rewriting of many stories in the past, including the Captive Island story. Its sickening. I love my couples too but I am all for exploring new couplings. You will never know what you may discover. I am loving Bollie and Hotrick, I also live Shimi mostly because its refreshing to see new matchups rather then the same old. Franifer IMO was not finished years ago and I believe Frankie is the only man Days could have fight for Jen's love other then Jack because she has already been with so many men and Frankie is in old love. I have said before how other shows don't have this problem as worse as Days, They can break up couples and write stories at will and won't get nearly as much flak as Days does. There is backlash but not nearly at the amount Days gets. Between these rabid fanbases and the constant Days naysayers that come out of the woodwork to bash Days when the ratings are ho hum, its enough to drive me to drink-literally.

Thanks to all of you I mentioned above for furthering my points about the fanbase problem. It saved me alot more typing .

[SteveFrame]

Glad to be of assistance and if you have some good "drink" there - please pass it around. Share Phoenix Share With Us

[Keith]

Yes. Share, Phoenix, share.

[Evan]

Much as I'm a longtime fan of Jack Deveraux the character, I feel Matt Ashford would be better off walking out of DAYS. The guy is obviously never going to get a good deal out of JER. I'll agree with Mulder: I enjoyed Matt as Tom Hardy on GH during the 1990s, so reprising that character would hardly be difficult for him........or Matt would fit in really well on Y&R.

DAYS I stopped watching months ago - I have no emotional investment in that soap anymore. If Jack/Jen will have an interesting upcoming SL in the future, I'll tune back in, but otherwise, my time is better spent watching other soaps.

[PhoenixRising05]

I sure will Keith and Steve-I have calmed down though and I have to drive later so not today .

[PhoenixRising05]

Thanks Evan for showing what we were all talking about. You are one of those fanbase people that only watch for a character or story where I and thankfull most others watch because we love the show as a whole. I love J&J too and yes I do have my faves but if they left or weren't featured I would still watch the show because like Kenny said its an ensemble. This is not a sticome or primetime show that only features a limited number of characters. If you like a show you like it-you don't only watch for certain couples or characters because on a soap those couples or characters aren't always going to be featured and you aren't always going to be happy with what is happening. Its a rotation and there are lots of other characters and couples on the show. Its your choice but if Days is truly your show you don't quit because of one or two characters-you quit because the show has gotten unrecognizable or bad and Days is more Days than it has been in while. If you find the show bad then fine that is vaild and your opinion but to quit because J&J aren't being featured or because their story is bad is absurd and demonstrated the fanbase problem that plagues Days more then any other soap. I mean its not like J&J are off the show. If they are your faves you still watch them and you don't give up-bad story or not. That is the way I feel anyway but, again, its an ensemble not about only certain characters and the like. This is why Days always has to rewrite stories in which couples are apart-because they are damned of they do and damned if they don't and it seems like a the fanbases can never be satisfied totally. Other shows don't go through this because most of their fans will at least give a story a chance or way until it plays out completely before condemning it. They also stikc with their show unless its becomes a trainwreck or they find it horrible. Again its your choice but for me if you quit because of one couple or a few characters that means you just aren't a true fan. Let's keep in mind there are many characters who were back-burnered while J&J were front-burner the last half of last year (Lexie, Abe, Caroline, Victor, Bonnie) and they deserve airtime too. Its a rotation but again your choice. I just find that reasoning absurd.

[px780]

Granted it's his MO. It's still...a bit much, imho. Good point about Ashford, though.

As for fanbases- I agree with most of what you guys say, but I still fault the show. They catered to 'em, and they still, in a way, are, because it's highly unlikely that, say, Jen and Frankie will be a permanent couple (unless Jack stays dead). It becomes a waiting game that's not always entertaining. Plus Days pushes the whole destined-to-be thing so much it doesn't make any sense for alternative couplings, which is my beef more than any allegiance to a particular couple. (Had to vent that, don't expect any agreement or anything)

On topic, I'm sorta interested to see how they'd bring Jack back, so I hope they do it.

[Keith]

I hate the stupid trueloveforever/destiny crap, too!

[PhoenixRising05]

Yeah I do too and yes Days is partly at fault. I just don't think Days knew how much of an whirlwind it would become. I mean Days started it and then other shows started getting on the supercouples bandwagon but Days had that magic more then anyone and now that we are in a era where original story ideas are hard to come by and almost everything has been done they are stuck. I mean mixing things up-like Days is doing with Bo/Hope/Billie/Patrick-is refreshing and you never know what you will find. You may find an even bigger couple then the supercouple in the story. Basically, it can't hurt to experiment and give a new couple a fair chance just like other shows though. Everytime Days does it the fanbases jump down their throat and they need to rewrite. That IS the reason why Captive Island fell apart and got wrapped so quick. It was supposed to go on for several more months with some former vets turning up on the island but fanbases wanted their couples reunited so Days rewrote, only they didn't bring anyone home. I kind of think that was JER sticking it to the fanbases but the main reasoning clearly was because they brought most of the islanders home early they had nothing else written for the 6 that didn't make it home. The fanbases then stepped in again and JER brought then home earlier then scheduled in spring rather then early summer as planned and again the story faltered. Now I don't care because Days was crap then but still the fanbases played a big part there and have played a major part in the past. It must be so hard for the writers to have to write around this-it is so limiting. Even Peter Reckell said in an interview in SOD in 2004 that he feels bad for the writers because they have to always make sure Bope ends up together or that their breakup is short because their fanbase threatens to tune out or protest and the show panics. Its such a shame that Corday or a Days rep always has to say in every interview who the money couple is or that the fans need to have hope and patience and they will be rewarded. In the 80's and 90's, there was none of that. You had previews but you will never told by Corday or any show exec who was the rooting interest or couple. I mean you could tell in the mags and such because of letters but with no such proclamation from the show you were left wondering and that was part of the magic of those times on Days. That really hurts the show nowadays along with spoilers because the element of surprise is gone and statements like "Shawn and Belle or so and so are the money couple. Just be patient" are like spoilers in themselves because they tell you the end result of a story. Only Days has to do this and its because of the fanbases. These fanbases need to calm down and just watch and enjoy. That is what true fans do unless they just feel the show is not what they feel it should be in which case fine that is their opinion. I applaud Days for what they are currently doing in several stories in mixing up couples-I know they will get flak but they just need to stay the course like other soaps because you never know what may happen. Ok end of rant.

[Roman]

IA 100%. In my opinion, this rest with KC and JER. Period. Some fanbases do go overboard, but I would not be complaining if there was a coherent story with a beginning, middle and end. Not something that looks like it goes off in 20 different directions or takes 2 years to end. And, even if it did, it would keep me interested.

[Jane1978]

Sorry, but this is so wrong. Whole Melaswen storyline was total crap from beginning, fanbases or not. I don´t understand how this story would get any better, if Reilly had a chance to drag it another few months. It´s not fanbases fault that the only thing why they still feel some connection to the show is their memories of times when the show was so much better. It´s not their fault DAYS has not been able to create one new really interesting couple in last 10 years. And it´s not their fault only characters they can atleast somewhat care about are the ones created years ago when the show wasn´t so poorly plot driven. Yeah, you are right writers possibilities are limited by this, but if Reilly were able to write these new so called couples atleast 10 percent as interesting as his predecessors during supercouple era have been, maybe he wouldn´t have to care so much about fan reactions because he would gain enough fans to replace all lost ones. That´s the way it worked during 80´s. Never in past were all supercouples on the show at once as they are now, but again, it´s solely fault of Corday, Reilly and their incompetence to create anything new the show could be based on, so they have to bring back every popular character from past just to keep the show above water.

Of course, you can keep your pink colored glasses on and reassure himself again and again how most of people watch DAYS because its well crafted stories, witty dialogs and quick pace, but the reality is, this show still exists only because its great past and legions of fans created during supercouple era. All Reilly stories are based on destroying and tearing apart couples some much more able and gifted writers created 15 or more years ago. Without their initial popularity there wouldn´t be any stories to write about. Heck, even Shawn/Belle and Sami/Lucas weren´t created by Reilly, he is only milking their popularity. Couples Reilly created during last three years are Mickey/Bonnie, John/Kate, Lexie/Tek and Jennifer/Frankie. And now tell me, which of them had atleast slight effect on audience? Which of them had the potential to work on its own or even lead the show? All of them were/are just plot devices, never thought to be anything more. But you can´t have both. You can´t expect people to actually care about those couples when we are never given proper story why they fell in love and are now together.

There is no easier way how to get rid of fanbases than created new couples and new storylines so interesting these old fans will not be thread for the show anymore, even if they really leaves because their couple is no longer together or gone from the show. Sadly, that´s the last thing we can expect from Reilly.