Days: December 2020 Discussion Thread

[prefab1]

Wasn't Chad on the show for about a year before they came up with the storyline making him yet another long-lost Dimera child? I thought they just liked the actor (and frankly, I still miss Casey Jon Diedrick in the role), so they came up with a way to tie Chad to one of the core families. 

[Vee]

 

I think it's unavoidable that daytime as has always been produced was, is and will remain a first draft medium at least in terms of the day to day - I don't think Passanante is wrong about that. Lemay, insanely, seemed to write or rewrite virtually every AW script, every day, for years while presiding over what seemed like the collapse of his IRL family to addiction and mental illness. I am convinced he had to be on some 70s-legal version of amphetamines to pull that workload off. And Passanante, while one of the worst modern HWs I have ever seen, has always been hailed by so many as an excellent breakdown writer - she knows at least part of the craft very well. The fact is there's so few who can keep up the pace of daytime and do it on time, and if there's one thing I've learned writing for hire it's that writing on time is what matters first, not always writing perfectly or at times even well. Sometimes it's just about making the day.

 

What they can and should fix is the grind in terms of lack of long-term projections or bibles, or rehearsal time for actors, or time with directors to craft an episode, or not shooting bite-sized scenes on the run. There is a lot in the OLTL oral history by Jeff Giles from the cast and crew about the collapse of those safeguards in the later years (and how the PP version brought rehearsals back, IIRC) - Frank Valentini telling longtime director Peter Miner 'what you did was great, but we don't have time now' - and that's the truth; that's the reality of the budget and constraints the networks give these shows.

 

The bigger reality, of course, is that daytime as was can't exist on its current budget or market share and soaps should IMO go to streaming in a seasonal/arc-based format, like PP attempted, four to six weeks on and off. But that's not happening any time soon.

[prefab1]

I think one of the reasons DAYS has been pretty good for the past few months is that they're going back to '50's-style storytelling a lot of the time. Particularly with the rape story, we're getting a lot of conversation scenes where the emphasis is on how Ally and Tripp's family members react to the situation and the different perspectives they bring. Playing all those story beats and generating conflict from characters having different opinions is classic soap storytelling, the kind of thing soaps did before they had lots of supervillains and sci-fi/action storylines and exotic location shoots. 

[KMan101]

I think you're giving the current show waaaaaaay too much credit. But I see what you're trying to say. That's what they should be doing but the writing remains messy and convoluted ... 

[prefab1]

But the show has been giving us months of build-up to this moment. In fact, even before Abby came back from the clinic, they've been teasing the possibility of a Chad/Gwen hookup. And they've spent months showing Chad's growing jealousy and suspicion, as well as the way he's haunted by Abby's infidelity with Stefan every time he looks at Jake.

 

The show has also been dropping hints like crazy about Gwen's motivations. I haven't read any spoilers, but it seems pretty clear to me that she's Jack's daughter, who's resentful that he abandoned her and rejoined his "real" family (including her older half-sister Abby). So she's getting her revenge on Abby, who she envies intensely. 

[allmc2008]

Are you the new troll?

[Khan]

 

Agree.  Furthermore, the discussions about Allie's rape are a bit hard to take from characters who've been through the kind of only-in-soapland ordeals that characters like John, Kayla, Marlena, Steve, etc. have been through.

[prefab1]

No. I'm someone who's been lurking on the SON boards for about a decade, but only decided to start posting during the pandemic, when I started getting back into watching DAYS on a daily basis. And I'm also someone who's observed the dynamic on these boards, where the few people who are actually enjoying the shows they're currently watching get chased away by regulars who only want to engage in negativity and constant moaning about how the soaps were so much better in "the good old days." 

 

But in the spirit of getting along, I'll tell you some of the things that aren't working for me on the show right now:

--The whole Jan Spears story seemed poorly paced, with little suspense, and the resolution was weak. (I'm still not even sure what happened to Jan: is she in a coma or something?) On top of that, Belle and Shawn aren't especially compelling characters, so I had a hard time caring about the obstacles to their wedding, especially since they've had a common-law marriage for well over a decade.

 

--Nu-Claire continues to be a weak link in the Charlie storyline. It would be so much more fascinating if ORK were playing her, because then we'd get to see Charlie and Claire as kindred spirits, obsessive crazies who are both trying to reform (in Charlie's case, not very successfully). 

 

--Ben seems utterly superfluous, and RSW is still a much weaker actor than most of the other younger men. In his place, I'd rather have someone like Casey Moss back full-time. 

Edited January 1, 2021 by prefab1

[ranger1rg]

i hate the stupidity so much. It’s maddening. Also, although everyone and their mother has a cellphone, none of these characters can reach anyone they call or text.

 

The batter’s dead. The phone was turned off. The phone was left at home. It’s all just ridiculous.

[Khan]

 

RSW might be weak, but I feel like he still gives his all in his performances (even if it's all in vain, lol).  So, in the end, he gets a mild "pass" from me.

 

And I definitely agree with you about Jan's storyline!

[Soapsuds]

Eh....his heavy breathing acting would be better served doing other things.

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[AbcNbc247]

What other things? 

 

A birthing coach? 

[Soapsuds]

It rhymes with pay corn.

[AbcNbc247]

 Well, he'd definitely win more of those awards then Emmys. 

[Soapsuds]

Has he been auditioning already?