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My unexpected break-up with DAYS


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Since watching back in the early 80s as a kid with my grandmother, I've been a DAYS fan through the good and some of the very bad. But about a month ago I just stopped watching. I didn't plan it or think about it. For whatever reason, that was the day I stopped watching.

 

Recently, there have been some nice moments under Ron C's writing, especially using the vets, but it just hadn't been enough lately. Not one single story mattered to me. 

 

Ciara was dating a serial killer. I'm sorry! I pretty sure if you're a serial killer you're not going to receive a "get out of jail" card. I know the actor was popular, but they should have had him perform a different role. You can't get over SERIAL KILLER.

 

While I've loved seeing more of Julie, two of my favorites that really gave the show some heart Maggie and Lucas were sidelined.

 

Marlena and near death again. I just can't.

 

I sooooo miss Christopher Sean as Paul. I really felt it more than I would. He had CHEMISTRY with people. Unfortunately, at this stage Will and Sonny have about as much chemistry as my laptop does with my stapler.

 

I understand things such as budgets have drastically changed. But's gotten to the point where it's distracting...the same set redressed over and over, that damn park, and people at houses they shouldn't be in just because the set is up. There has to be a more inventive way! Maybe more outdoor shots on the cheap. The town just feels claustrophobic to me.

And with the limit on using actors, family members don't interact like they once did. That's what gave the show a "family" feel, and I still can't get over how many Hortons there are, but because hardly interact they don't feel like a family.

 

I don't know if I'll go back to watching after a break or if I hear buzz, but I just stopped watching cold. The producers should think about this.

 

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You’re not missing anything. The writing has gotten really bad, for whatever reason, in the last couple of months. The focus has been on all the uninteresting characters. I take Days for what it is and usually put up with all the nonsense mainly because I love the show for nostalgic reasons and don’t care about any of the other three remaining soaps. However, it’s getting beyond ridiculous with all the returns from the dead. There’s just not much at stake when you know nobody will go to prison and, if they do, they will be out after the actor gets back from vacation and you know if somebody dies, they’ll come back to life eventually. It just gets to be too much. Right now, it’s just plain boring which is a worse sin. I’m thinking about tuning out as well. 

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For the most part, I have to watch DAYS while doing something else. I need to multi-task because the show itself just isn't enough to hold 100% of my interest (by comparison, Y&R gets all my attention). 

 

I watch DAYS out of loyalty for the few nuggets of good moments, but it's mostly nostalgia. If they did flashback episodes where half the show was them thinking back to the 80's, 90's, and even early 2000's, I'd be focused entirely on the show the whole time. But that's the thing. Focused on something that was good 20+ years ago. 

 

I think after seeing GL (my 2nd favorite) go to hell with an even worse budget, plus the domino cancellations of GL, ATWT, AMC, and OLTL, I'm compelled to watch as much as I can while these TV legends are still airing. Even though the current product itself is junk. 

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Sadly, I must agree. It's a shame. I'm sure I could scroll through the thousands of channels and find something else to watch, but soap is in my blood. To be honest, I wasn't too thrilled with the last several years of favourites AMC and OLTL either, save for some bright spots here and there. 

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Truthfully, there are no lies here. I'm sort of in the same boat. I feel more invested in DAYS so I think I struggle to get through it sometimes because I live in a world of "I'd rather it be this way and not that way ...". There's a reason I have episodes pile up, yet I somehow can slog through GH on a daily basis.

 

The sets are a massive problem. The day to day plotting lacks. 

 

Budget is the real, and biggest problem. You can't really write a soap when everyone but like three people get 1/2 episodes a month ...

 

Don't even get me started on the Ben garbage. Some fans are really over exaggerating them and the writing for them. It's kind of shame Ben is a nutso serial killer because I do think they have some chemistry and both actors are gorgeous. But you can't redeem a serial killer because you like the actor. It's sad so many stans glorify and stan rapists and killers because the actor is hot. Yet, many women and men write love notes to killers in prison ... I know it's a soap, but I can only truly suspend reality so far in cases like this. Ignore someone donated their organs? I'M THERE. LOL but to 'redeem' a killer? No thanks. It's a turn off. Ben's not Nick. He wasn't some good guy who did a few bad things. He strangled three women and 'killed' Will. Um ... Ciara you look FOOLISH. It's not a good look. You can't really have it both ways here ... I guess at least they haven't given him the go-to brain tumor, so there's that (nor have they undone his killings) so it's not necessarily as bad as some shows, in that regard. For me that doesn't wash away the crimes. I cringe everytime they bring up the tumor with Franco on GH. Just make it stop ... lol (at least with JT, I can maybe get the tumor aspect and that it changed him, and truth be told, people DO change over time ... for better or worse ... but ugh that was such an awfully plotted storyline that had no interest in delving into the psychology of someone become an abusive [!@#$%^&*] or the psychology of Victoria being abused; it was for shock and awe)

 

Agreed on Christopher Sean. I miss him and Paul a lot. Paul and Will were the far better couple. I once liked Wilson, waaay back when they first started. I have no idea what the hell happened. They definitely lack chemistry now. But we know Chandler and Christopher had a little bromance going. I don't see the same from Chandler and Freddie. Not saying they hate each other, lol, but if they hung out and were actual friends, it might help. I feel like they once were? no? They did have chemistry once upon a time ... I know they did. But it died.

 

EDIT: Maybe they are friends and bring out the worst in each other? lol. I know Marci Miller and Billy Flynn seem like besties and lawd knows they brought out the worst in each other on-screen. The giggling ... it was clear they were friends but it didn't translate like some want to believe on screen.

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The sets have been a big problem for a long time now. I swear...if I got so tired of seeing the room with the two door and the window. If there has to be a set that be redressed over and over, it needs to be more of a blank canvas and less obvious.

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I'm so sick of HTS & the nurses station. Which are always empty. Or everyone living at Vic's. Marlena & John's home. As well as Hope's and Kayla homes are seldom seen. The whole time Valerie was back we never saw where she lived. Kate, Jack & Eve all living in tiny hotel rooms. Doug's Place is always a ghost town too. 

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The sets have been a big problem for a long time now. I swear...if I got so tired of seeing the room with the two door and the window. If there has to be a set that be redressed over and over, it needs to be more of a blank canvas and less obvious.

 

Jack's return has been sooooo dull. And how have they still not addressed where he's been all this time?

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I had a similar issue with GH.

 

First they broke my daily habit when JFP arrived and fired Genie.  Then again when they couldn’t convince Vanessa Marcil to stay (first return).  After that, I would drop out for months at a time, then at one point I realized I hadn’t watched the show in a year.  Ron and the show bringing back so many vets is why I started watching again, then Passanante drive me away for a year again.

 

Now I watch sporadically again.  Once the habit is broken, it’s hard to get back.

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Jack's return was doomed to fail. Matt Ashford hasn't had a successful return for the better part of 20 years. The character is over. Jack and Jennifer as a supercouple haven't worked for about the same period of time. DAYS would be better off renewing each character in a different relationship, rather than trying to capture nostalgic magic that disappeared long ago.

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