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Days: December 2020 Discussion Thread


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Freddie just wasn't as invested anymore. I don't think he's the strongest actor ever but RSW makes him look like a master thespian in comparison LOL

 

Freddie checked out when he exited the first time and never really checked back in. He couldn't play greasy angry Sonny well. That was so painful to watch. 

 

To me, he was basically playing himself these last few years. I don't quite get the hate he gets but to each their own.

 

And it's bizarre at what they cut out yet other things they leave in SHOULD have been cut. Fran is [!@#$%^&*].

 

Even they could do a better job than what we end up with on the soaps LOL. They're all so badly cut together and produced.

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I guess that's the price you have to pay for taping 56 episodes per week.  Nevertheless, it just annoys me how...careless the whole production has become at DAYS.  The "old Hollywood" studio system of the 1930's and '40's had a similar, just-crank-'em-out approach to filmmaking; yet, even their shoddiest B-movies displayed more care and attention to detail than do most soaps nowadays.  Just because they don't have the money or even time that they used to, that's no excuse to be so haphazard in putting together even the simplest episodes.

 

 

They stay trying to give us '80's soap opera on a '50's soap opera budget.  It's maddening.

Edited by Khan
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Right? I miss the EFFORT made to produce a great show. We notice these things. And to be frank, if the writing were actually compelling we might not. You summed it up pretty perfectly. (EDIT: And when the soaps DO manage to produce a solid episode somehow, we notice and realize they COULD actually do it but they don't)

Edited by KMan101
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Agree!  Things like the inscrutable episode guarantees would not matter as much if what we saw everyday on-screen with whoever was available for that episode or that week was generally compelling.  I think it was Jean Passanante who called daytime a "first draft medium," and right there is part of the problem.  Most writers in her position take a similar, slipshod, reckless approach to the work, because, "hey, soaps come at you fast!".

 

I swear, if Ron Carlivati spent more than ten minutes plotting any one story, he'd actually write something halfway watchable (maybe!).  But, you can tell he's coming up with much of his crap right there during the story conferences because he's too damn lazy to sit down and write a [!@#$%^&*] long-term story projection -- and he (and other HW's) can blame it on network interference all they want, but Irna, Agnes and Bill faced similar levels of interference in their day (and sometimes more!) and still managed to churn out compelling drama.

Edited by Khan
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Complete trash.

 

And you know it's going to get worse. I bet Gwen gets 'pregnant' but it's really Rolf's bizarre Stefano essence baby. Watch. Way to kill one of the more interesting characters introduced. Emily O'Brien is sooooo good and Gwen was fun at first but I'm over it. We still don't even know Gwen's real motivations. That's total bad writing. Why? Because there are none. Ron saw a lifetime movie with a similar 'Nanny Gwen' and I bet I know where he got his idea. It's all so thrown together and forced. 

 

Meanwhile, Charlie was introduced in OCTOBER and by DECEMBER is a psycho. But at least we kind of understand his crazy motivations to kidnap Ava. And you know Ron will pull the mental illness card because it's become a throwaway line to justify characters doing bizarre things. 

Edited by KMan101
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Usually, that's because there's little, if any, build-up to the misunderstanding or manipulation that precipitates the infidelity.  It USED to be that writers would take the time to reveal the flaws inherent in the relationship, so that when one would cheat on the other, it would be believable and inevitable.  But, now...?  A couple could be blissfully happy on a Monday, have a ridiculous misunderstanding on a Tuesday, cheat on each other on a Wednesday, and find out they're both having out-of-wedlock kids on a Thursday.  Not even "Three's Company" was that trifling in its' plotting.

Edited by Khan
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Chad's rant on Abby's mental illness was truly disgusting.  That crappy NYE Party just showcases. How bad the production values are. Anna was the only entertaining thing about this episode. After Sonny's Zoom call. Will went and had more orgies. With tasty suds.

Edited by victoria foxton
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