Days of Our Lives: January 2022 Discussion Thread

[Soapsuds]

Yesterday's episode was useless and a waste. The possession reboot is a hot mess and should've ended last week. Ron just made a joke of it. He is skipping so many beats. I could go on but there's so much being either omitted or ignored or Carlivati didn't really pay attention to the original story.

What a mess!!

[victoria foxton]

 

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[Khan]

You know the end times are near when you have folks wishing Mimi were back.

I get why TPTB are glad to have Alison Sweeney any way they can get her, but I agree that her infrequent visits are wreaking havoc on the stories.  If she can't (or won't) commit to returning full-time, then don't bring her back.  (I would suggest recasting Sami, but I know that's like pissing on Macdonald Carey's grave around here, so....)

[Khan]

Just a thought, but...what if Drake/John was behaving that way for a reason?  #thedevilmadehimdoit

[carolineg]

That would make it interesting at least.   

I generally don't get distracted by him but yesterday I was like calm down other people are talking in this scene lol!!  The Devil make Johnny/Marlena/Doug do evil things but the devil makes John do obnoxious gestures in the background lol.

[te.]

I think they can still use her, they just need to stop using her in ways that keep other characters hanging in limbo. With that said, I wouldn't mind a Lucas / Sami long-distance thing since all of Lucas's other pairings have bombed anyway.

[Vee]

The AS thing is classic Ron, though. Not that her not being on contract is his fault, but he and Frank Valentini made a school at OLTL and GH of stalling and staggering long storylines with key characters played by actors who were simply not there. They'd send them in and out of town regularly and keep the plot percolating in the background perpetually with any numbers of excuses or twists. Sometimes it worked and I applauded their ingenuity (most of Tuc Watkins' later years on OLTL), often it didn't. The most famous example, of course, is the Robin story on GH in the 2010s, where they wisely reversed course on plans to kill her off for good and kept getting Kimberly McCullough back. At first I felt it worked, but by the second time she was abducted and then they finally recovered her, what, two years later, at the end of 2015? That showed the limits of running that game. Thing is, Ron does it all the time now at DAYS even without Frank. It's how those two learned to manage budget - Ciara, Sarah, Sami, Jenn. I get it, but it frequently fails today.

Some people blamed Kimberly at GH too, and there are few soap lifers more committed and loyal to these shows than Kimberly McCullough and Ali Sweeney IMO. I don't blame Ali. Despite being the queen of Hallmark she's made herself heavily available, just as Kimberly did. (Including, allegedly, at times they could've had McCullough back in the long intervals and didn't bc they were doing other [!@#$%^&*].) I blame the way Ron plots - skipping beats and thinking he can out-think the taping schedule and string stories out forever. He learned this long ago and I think he's decided he's a master at it. 

Edited January 4, 2022 by Vee

[Soapsuds]

Who chopped Duke's head was the cliffhanger today?

This show truly is garbage!

Hurry up Zach Tinker!! We need you!!

[Khan]

I do apologize if it sounds like I'm blaming AS; I'm really not.  But, the show really needs to lay down the ultimatum: either agree to return, on contract, or accept the possibility that Sami will be either recast or written out permanently.

[AlexElizabeth]

AS has flat out said that she's not interested in returning full-time and that she likes doing her Hallmark stuff and what not. I don't mind her coming and going but they need to stop writing major stories where she's at the center. These stories are left hanging every time she abruptly leaves and her love interest is left in limbo. This kidnapping stuff with Lucas and EJ is a mess and all these characters have to be put on hold until AS returns again.

[Khan]

In that case...

SOD BREAKING NEWS: Rebecca Budig IN As DAYS' New Sami!!

(No, I'm not suggesting I want RB as NuSami.  Shut up.)

Edited January 5, 2022 by Khan

[Vee]

They're never going to recast Sami. And it's clear they can work with Sweeney's schedule, they just choose (as Ron so often does) to feature her in central stories and then leave the stories hanging. That's a choice the show is making with Sami, just as Ron has done with so many key characters over the years. AS's availability is considerably more than some other actors in her position over the years, IMO. It's how the show and the writers handle it that is falling down on the job.

[Khan]

Yes, I know they're not.  I'm just kidding.

[carolineg]

I don't think Sami would ever be recast, nor do I want her to be, but I think the show could.  It probably wouldn't be popular, but it might work if they got a big enough name.  Soaps have recast bigger roles before.  The only people that really couldn't be recast on Days would be Doug, Julie, Marlena, and Maggie.  I'd say John, but RC would probably just slip Wayne in to play him and think it was clever.

[te.]

Exactly. It's not AS's availability that is the problem and it's not like the show is suffering from not having enough characters with potential stories to tell. They can have hurricane Sami waltz into town every couple of months without her leaving other characters in limbo. I thought they did an ok job with that when Sami returned for Eric and Nicole's wedding.

Honestly, I wouldn't mind a recast if I felt like Sami was *needed* in town permanently, but she's really not.