Days of Our Lives: March 2022 Discussion Thread

[carolineg]

If it happened before I was born I assume it's fair game.

Were Roman/Marlena the original plan?  Or were they a spoiler for her and Don getting back together?   It seemed like the show was leaning into a reconciliation and then just stopped it.  The show wasn't wrong.  I am just curious if the plan was to make Roman/Doc a supercouple.

[Khan]

No, I'm not talking about soap opera fanfic.  I'm talking about writing an original screenplay - one which mixed battle-of-the-sexes comedy with psychological thriller - that was inspired by, if not outright stole from, the original Roman/Marlena/Salem Strangler story.  Like I said, I've had my moments where, as a writer scrambling for ideas, I've said, "Hmmm, I wonder if I could get away with it," lol.

Edited March 20, 2022 by Khan

[carolineg]

Lol!  I would assume your soap opera fanfic would be amazing.  I think the bones of the Roman/Marlena story are great.  It's very old school and classic.  No one would notice.  Tbh, it's sad it all didn't work out for them because it was a very good concept.  I mean, bummer that Drake and his abs showed up.

[Liberty City]

Chloe was the only character that overlapped, until they brought back Bren Foster (Quinn Hudson).

As for Crystal Chappell, her deal wasn't renewed and ended in August 2011 (announced in June 2011). Deidre Hall was announced to be returning that same month. Possible they cut Chappell in exchange for Hall? Marlene McPherson & Darrell Ray Thomas, Jr. had promise as co-head writers, and I feel like their time was cut far too short.

[Vee]

I know they tried to bring back Quinn (claiming they wanted to model him after Warren Beatty in Shampoo which, uh, okay) but I'm not sure how long that lasted. I do remember them writing Carly, Chloe, etc. out vividly. 

As for the thread, I think it can handle some more widespread discussion on the weekend in addition to to more equally on-topic giant-size pictures of Chandler Massey's nipples.

Edited March 21, 2022 by Vee

[victoria foxton]

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Edited March 21, 2022 by victoria foxton

[carolineg]

I mean, I don't know how more relevant a thread could be with Chandler's shirtless pics and discussion of Deidre Hall's best 70's looks lol.

[dc11786]

I was a lapsed viewer who had come back in the fall of 2008 when they started the baby switch. Watching day to day, the show didn’t feel dark at the time in 2011 because it had been (to varying degrees of success) tried to move away from the camp it had come to be known for in the past decade. In hindsight, I can see now 2011 was a dark year. 
 

Chloe’s stint as a prostitute had come after a bout of post partum depression mixed with an ongoing custody battle with (an offscreen) Phillip regarding custody of Parker. Chloe, as I recall, stumbled into prostitution. She went to bed with Quinn and he paid her. When she realized the money she could make, Chloe made the choice to enter. During the Parker paternity secret, Nathan Horton alluded to the  fact that he thought Chloe could possibly be addicted to sex. The affair with Daniel during her relationship with Lucas was purely physical in the beginning. I didn’t mind the prostitution story because the trajectory Chloe had been on, but I don’t think it was as well plotted as it could have. Add in the addition of teenage Kinsey thinking prostitution would be a fun way to make some cash and a serial killer offing prostitutes and it only got bleaker.

Similarly, Carly’s drug addiction seemed to be a continuation of the road that Carly had been on for the past year and a half. Her marriage to Lawrence had been at the very least emotionally abusive and, if they hadn’t already, Bo and Carly were ending their relationship because Bo had rekindled his feelings for Hope when he helped her escape from prison. Also, it was clear from early on in Carly’s return that her better match was Daniel, her child’s father, who was now interested in Carly’s friend Jennifer. Carly’s personal life wasn’t in a good place. If I remember correctly, the breaking point for Carly was dealing with the death of a young male patient and then dealing with the revelation that Vivian was in contact with her son, Nicholas, who proceeded to hang up with her when she tried to talk to him. My issue with the addiction stuff was it didn’t really go anywhere. Abigail learned her secret early on, but Carly was able to keep her quiet. There seemed to be some setup for Carly’s negligence to lead to serious injury with Brady after he had been conked on the head, but that seemed to be hinted at but never followed through.

The problem with Marlene McPhearson and Darrell Ray Thomas was they dumped everything. Core cast and story, but also significant shift in sets and the elimination of supporting characters. Java Cafe and Cheatin’ Heart were both dumped in favor of Common Grounds. The hospital seemed to be used less. Lots of scene were in the square. Also, Higley and Whitsell had a group of recurring characters (Tad, Kinsey, Fr. Matt, Maxine, Justin, Adrienne) who were barely used or not used at all. It was too much of a shift. The week of the Horton Town Square was the week of the returns as well as the week after “All My Children” had concluded. Viewers who tuned in were treated to returning faces but basically no stories. The only major thread that was carried over was Daniel and Jennifer’s relationship. Everything else as I recall was just starting which made things very slow. 
 

Quinn came back for a single cycle and left in February 2012 to be with Taylor. I don’t remember if it was ever made clear what the purpose of his return was. I know he operated the spa in the square which was suppose to act as a retail space for the cosmetic wars, but I don’t remember if they chemistry tested him with anyone. 
 

Part of the problem is “Days” was able survive the cast purge of 2008-2009 because the stories were relatively stable. Major characters were being written out, but, for the most part, their stories had already been minimized so the impact wasn’t as big. The people who were really front burner during the purge were Marlena and John and there were enough other stories going that the loss didn’t feel as glaring in terms of story canvas as it would have in 2011 when basically every single front burner story was concluded without some sort of natural progression that shifted characters in directions based on the immediate aftermath of the previous stories. 

By comparison, when Tomlin and Whitsell came back as headwriters, the new stories were more built out of the old ones. Nicole’s pregnancy with her relationship with Daniel while Rafe claimed to be the father led to Jennifer, still grieving Jack, to worry about Nicole taking advantage of Daniel leading to Nicole’s fall in the Horton Town Center, which led to Nicole going to work at the church with Eric. Gabi’s scheme involving Andrew her fake stalker led to Chad going to Melanie and Gabi sleeping with Will before connecting with Nick while they both worked at Brady pub. There was still some sloppiness (Kristen’s initial reintroduction was haphazard) but the stories gelled by December. 

[victoria foxton]

@dc11786 Your assessments are always on point. To me Chloe's story felt dark and not in good way. With Days i can remember stuff from 30 yrs rather clearly. But more recent stuff is rather murky in my mind. 

[Vee]

I've said it before, but Chloe has had every demeaning story short of being impregnated by aliens. She is worn tf out. I love Nadia, but they squandered her initial edgy return under Sheffer which was working out very well and was sophisticated initially, and ever since then she's become another town whipping post and workhorse. She needs a loooong break.

I'm biased, but I blame Corday and/or the network for a lot of what happened with McPherson and Thomas. I remember clearly that the show felt written for adults again for the first time in IDK how long when they started, but the production value, FX segues, cheesy country music cues, etc. all continued to work against them, same as Sheffer's early promising start. Ultimately the HW still has to take their share of blame, but a lot of things under McPherson and Thomas especially felt aborted in the crib, which is something Corday is known for. Bringing back Carrie (and I guess Austin) as a lawyer full time was smart, and was wasted. I have never bought Belle the lawyer (or Belle the anything, really).

I think the follow-up hacks got a lot of credit down to a) Eileen's return and b) some solid day to day writers migrating to the show from OLTL, etc. Without that material it's another story.

[Soapsuds]

Finally caught up. The TR story is the best one right now. Too bad it was rushed. I fast forwarded the possession nonsense. Will and Sonny looked so good on Friday's show.

Leo and his one liners are grating on my nerves. I hate Leo.

[Khan]

Then, I guess you wouldn't like my idea of making him the presumed dead D.J. Craig?

I'm kidding.

[carolineg]

DEAD

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Somehow younger than all Marlena's other children........

[Soapsuds]

A rushed one week murder mystery. Who killed Leo? It was non devil Johnny. 

Craig and Leo are the new Ciara and serial killer. Apparently all they do is f u c k all day in bed.

[Khan]

New campaign: "It's DAYS -- Just Go With It."

Actually...?  A "Who Killed Leo?" storyline wouldn't be half-bad.