Days of Our Lives: December 2021 Discussion Thread

[BetterForgotten]

I always felt JER tried to live vicariously through Theresa. I know some said that was Timmy, but I don’t agree.

I also don’t think what PASSIONS ended up as was what JER had ever fully envisioned. That whole “parody of soaps” BS was because by the time he realized it was a lost cause and he didn’t actually have the talent to course correct or reinvent it, it was too late. All he could do was play up the stupid factor.

[Khan]

I dunno, I've never been all that impressed by Lindsay Hartley.  Or her many layers of mascara.

[KLN]

Actually, they should just make Lindsay Chloe.

I've never cared for Nadia, personally, but I understand the nostalgia and whatnot.

I buy Lindsay more as Kristen's rival for Eric's Brady. Kind of perfect actually.

I say cast her and do the flip-floppy rotation they like to do, two takes on the same character. I love that and think Days should actually embrace it with certain characters, make it a feature of the show.

I won't mention Billy Miller or Lucas again...

Edited January 2, 2022 by KLN

[Khan]

Agree.  If I was JER, I would have been mortified by how most soap fans responded to PASSIONS.  If they didn't write it off immediately as trash and then change the channel, they misinterpreted it as deliberate parody and kept watching, but for all the wrong reasons.  Either way, hardly anyone took it seriously, or treated it as the Second Coming of Soaps.  That had to have wounded him.

Edited January 2, 2022 by Khan

[carolineg]

I am not convinced Ali could lead a soap.  Days sure tried with her, but she works better as a villianess.  IMO.  I was always intrigued by the Marlena spin off Manhattan Lives that would feature Carrie as well.

I think Carrie/CC was more the heir apparent to a soap.  She was blandly perfect and innocuously likable enough to lead a show like Marlena.   She's less the lame than Belle but less polarizing than Sami.  It sounds like I am dissing CC/Carrie, but I genuinely think she was a stronger lead just based on personality and overall rootability.  I think she had a long history with the show to be comfortable for viewers, but was enough of a blank slate to build an entire new life outside Salem.  I think Sami/Ali works a lot better in the confines of Days and her own family, while Carrie seemed more adjustable and easy to spin off.  Just my opinion, but I think Carrie was always the next generation of heroine until she left and decided to leave acting for the most part.

I could see Lindsay as Chloe, but it's not something I would think of.  Nadia is so painfully beautiful, but lacks spunk.  LH definitely has that.

I mean, I think the Princess Di stuff turned off a lot people before it even premiered.  And it was mostly inconsequential to the actual soap overall.

[Khan]

As @Vee would say, stop.

[KLN]

I remember when EJ was introduced there was a brief scene hinting at Carrie recognizing him and them maybe having (romantic?) history just before she was written out. I think it might've been her last episode.

I wish they'd pick up on that. I love CC/Carrie. She can make me cry just looking at her.

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I was always on a limb of my own.

Edited January 2, 2022 by KLN

[Khan]

Believe it or not, @carolineg, that (Sheridan's ties to Princess Diana) didn't bother me as much as it bothered others.  Was it tacky?  Yes.  But it wasn't the worst thing I'd ever seen on a soap.

I think what did ME in was one character (might have been Dana Sparks's) being visited by some bright light and told, in a childish voice, "Evil is coming!".  When I saw that, I was like, "What in the DARK SHADOWS is THAT mess!?".  It was just so unbelievably silly and amateurish to me.  Throw in Theresa dumping food for the first time on Original Ethan's head and I was done. 

She can make me cry, too, but for different reasons. 

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[carolineg]

Oh yeah.  I remember that.  I just think Carrie is an easier lead to follow.  CC genuinely has chemistry with everyone and had a sort of blank slate career wise.  Plus her and Austin grew out of one another and her and Mike could have spun off to their own show or not.  She had a lot of romantic/career/life options circa 1999.  

Ali/Sami was so tied to her bitterness with Marlena and John and her ridiculous Austin obsession, I think it would have been so much harder to extract her from the main show and make her a viable lead on a new show.  AS is probably the more charismatic actress, but Carrie seems like a perfect lead for any soap.  Not an Erica Kane spunky lead, but a nice, relatable heroine like Marlena

I am not going to lie the Princess Di stuff had me more intrigued.  I was honestly open to a new soap because I stopped watching GH the day Brenda got driven off that cliff with her mom. I literally reset my VCR that day like it was GH's fault VM didn't resign her contract lol.  Passions just didn't take for me and I slipped back into GH after my sorrow over the loss of Brenda ended.  I think it's one thing to watch JER write your favorites that you are connected to do silly things and another to create new characters doing those same silly things.  

Her hair choices right?  I have never seen such tragic hair even in the 90's..........

Edited January 2, 2022 by carolineg

[KLN]

I had the same reaction.

I held in there til Halloween or so, probably dropped off before that but I gave that show every chance to be anything other than what it was.

My sister, who's 3 years younger than me, loved Passions and was all "Days is boring," which, yeah, Days was naptime because John and Hope raped each other on a submarine and I lost pretty much all interest that had been generated the decade prior, but even then I saw JER was nuts.

Nothing has ever compared to the craftsmanship and tonality I fell in love with in '93/'94/'95 no matter how much I rode that high through '97/'98.

After that I pretty much only watched for personal attachment and such. Then I gave it up altogether.

But yeah JER was a cuckoo bird.

[Khan]

Except, it should have been easier for me to watch PASSIONS *because* it was all new characters, and it wasn't.  If anything, it was harder, because it was clear from the start that JER didn't know how to write for characters that he didn't inherit.

[carolineg]

That's fair.  To me, I was like well John/Marlena/Hope/Bo/whoever are acting stupid, but they aren't stupid.  JER's characters on Passions just were stupid so you had nothing to go on.  I think the show had a slick advertising campaign and a great premiere slot after Jarlena's 1st (legal) wedding, but it didn't have the same vibe at all. 

Yes, the Hope/Gina/John stuff was awful, but stunts!  Location shots!  They put a lot into that wedding and I did think it was well done.  Probably the last thing I thought was really well done on Days tbh.

Anyhow, that had nothing to do with JER but I think it was crappy of Days to hold off on the Jarlena wedding for so long just for it to align with Passions, but it is what it is.   We had to live through a year or so of weird excuses as to why Jarlena weren't getting married for that premiere. 

[KLN]

Me too!

Its weirdly perfect.

Similar looks, history with Eric, grown from the JER 'brand' which seems to inspire Ron, perfect amount of fire to square off with Kristen and they could repurpose old flashbacks if they needed like Arianna was Chloe.

Nobody buys vacant, doe-eyed Nadia as an honest rival for Brady's heart vs. Kristen. Somebody like Lindsay balances the playing field.

While they're at it recast Phillip too. I've been saying that since 2000.

Edited January 2, 2022 by KLN

[Khan]

Nope.  I just think she's a bad actress.

[KLN]

I remember that shot of Marlena crying out for John on the edge of the cliff.

How good was that?