SON plan to save Days!!

[Soapsuds]

SOD always has theirs with Corday.

Discuss!  How would you save Days?

[AbcNbc247]

Well for one thing, I'd stop making everything so stupid and silly and take it all seriously 

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[David_Vickers]

Fire the headwriter, Ron Carlivati, Bring in a new head writer, Maybe hire a co-executive producer or Fire Ken Corday and Replace him period,  Stop filming so far ahead, get new money in budget, so the Kiriakis living room, and other sets, plus new sets for characters with no homes etc.   I'd also drop several from the cast including The Devil, Leo, Rafe, Nicole, Clyde, Orpheus, Kristen, Susan, plus maybe Jake, Gabi, Ava, Craig & Gwen.   Stop the stupid devil, Leo & Sarah stories.

[MichaelGL]

-Fire Ron Carlivati. Keep the Cullitons and Broderick. 

I wouldn't fire Corday, but I'd put someone in place with equal say, if that's at all possible. Someone like Francesca James, Wendy Riche, or even Ed Scott. 

 

[gtru1981]

I would keep Ava and Jake.

get rid of Rafe, Brady, Nicole, Bonnie, Gwen, Roman, Susan, Ben, and Ciara.

[Soapsuds]

This is what needs to happen.

Who owns Days? Can Corday be pushed out? Days needs a competent executive producer.

[BetterForgotten]

All the people being mentioned here are like 400 years old. 

[Soapsuds]

!

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[AMCOLTLLover]

What they need to do is to take the show more serious for once and let people in charge that are not hung up on nostalgia!

nostalgia ruins Soap operas coz the audience is still hung up on the glory days.. Maybe they should take it into 2022 for god damn sake.

[Taoboi]

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You a mess.

[Liberty City]

My plan:

• New head writer: Ron Carlivati came aboard and did fairly decent up until the point Sheri Anderson left the creative team. And, at this point, his story-dictated scripts are unwatchable. I would bring in Lorraine Broderick and possibly pair her with Anderson as co-head writer.
• New executive production team: Ken Corday & Albert Alarr are not doing the job needed. I would re-hire Greg Meng, who I do believe was the true force behind-the-scenes, and possibly bring in someone like either Edward J. Scott or Ginger Smith as co-executive producer.
• Removal of Sony Pictures Television & Corday Productions: These two companies do not work well for the greater good of the soap. If it were up to me, NBCUniversal Television would take complete ownership in production of the soap. This would also allow for an up in production value (long overdue).
• Tape-to-air: Stop filming so far in-advance. Six-to-eight should be the only timeframe of tape-to-air.
• Cut the cast: I would cut a lot of the cast, including the so-called "fan faves." Go back to basics and really centralize who is on the canvas, their storylines, et al.
• Reboot the canvas: Much like the September 2011, under a new regime of producers & writers, I would reboot the canvas to eliminate any currently-moving storylines (or non-moving).
• Drop the comedy/re-focus on the love and topical issues: I'd stop the stupid possession b.s., because it is horrible to watch, and I would shift the focus back to love in the afternoon, and even take influence of William J. Bell & Agnes Nixon, and start telling some topical storylines to really bring a new shift for the canvas.

[Khan]

Frankly, I think it's tough, if not impossible, to save a show that's written 80 years ahead, BUT...

I'd eliminate all public spaces that require extras that the show obviously can't afford anymore (Brady's Pub, HTS, UH, Julie's Place, etc.) and mandate that all scenes instead take place in private spaces (living rooms, kitchens, bedrooms, etc.) or settings that would require only 2-3 characters.

I'd trim the size of the cast to 15-18 actors, tops.  All off-contract and recurring actors would be written out; if you ain't got a contract, you ain't on the show.  Moreover, I'd trim the average number of actors featured per episode, and I'd expand the average length of scenes as well to make up for the fact that you no longer have the larger cast to fill episodes.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, to quote Pamela K. Long, I'd "get real."  What does that mean?  Well, for one, it means no more demonic possessions.  Those are real, but they're also hard to believe on a daytime soap opera that isn't DARK SHADOWS: THE NEXT GENERATION.

No more supervillains.  No more brainwashings, or characters believing they're dead-and-forgotten characters one week and literal toddlers the next.  No more microchips, no more facial masks, no more serums.  No more outrageous, OTT stories that depend on an actual budget in order for them to be even partially effective.

Just get back to doing what this show (and this genre) used to do best: smaller, intimate, yet all-too-revealing examinations of the human condition and its' many quirks, with the underlying theme of family and love being the only things one can count on in this crazy, cuckoo, laugh-in kind of world.

Edited April 14, 2022 by Khan

[Paul Raven]

I think you still need some public spaces, but not overly rely on them. Some clever directing/editing that lack of extras isn't so noticeable.

 

Agree the cast needs to be trimmed, however I would keep non contract/recurring so that characters can be used when/if necessary.

I think ATM scenes are short because they believe  viewers don't like longer scenes and also they are easier to tape- longer scenes require more dialogue for actors to remember and more blocking as characters move around.

YES! all of those have been used and overused so time to get back to basics.

I'd be looking at characters that are part of the core but haven't been used for a while, if ever

eg Scotty Banning, Stephanie Johnson, Andrew Donovan etc

Say goodbye to the DiMeras.

[Khan]

I forgot to add that longer scenes would mean less scenes per episode, too.

[Melroser]

I agree with most of what everyone here has said.

Stop all the corny plots.

I also wouldn't kill anyone for at least a year and then only if it were in a dramatic/permanent way. Deaths now on the show have zero impact because everyone knows the character is just coming back later. 

Trim the cast to at least half of what it is. I'd trim Brady, Chloe, Rafe, Gabi, Jake, Ava (tho I love Tamara), Kristen, Leo, Craig, Nancy, Bonnie, Gwen, Xander, Sarah (she's ruined with this Renee crap), Jack, Jennifer, Ben, Ciara, Roman, Clyde, T.R.. Maybe bring on Stephanie, Joey, and Paul (if Christopher Sean). Keep Eric. I'm okay with Sami coming and going, but just don't feature her in a story so that her absence makes no sense. 

I wouldn't completely abandoned "public places" but doing them a lot more infrequently would help. Just when it is done, a couple of extras are a must. I would keep a focus on the hospital. Accidents, crime victims can filter through. Maybe even "temp roles" for a couple of weeks at at time with a new character mixing it up with Kayla, Tripp, and Mike Horton? A Mike/Kayla/Patch triangle? Someone really needs to address Marlena being allowed to be anyone else's psychologist. 

I'd focus on family and relationships. Bring back romance instead of bedhopping. Build up couples. (Brook Lynn/Chase on GH). Shocking dramatic plots can be done without a big budget. A character walking in on a spouse having an affair. Who's the daddy? Gaslighting someone. 

If Days is going to try and do corporate stories like Y&R then slow down. It seems like they are constantly trading out the CEOs of Dimera, Titan, et all every other month. There's no suspense or build up to someone being ousted and a rival taking control. 

 

I understand making scenes short for filming purposes and keeping costs down, but it loses all the dramatic possibilities. Can characters have knockdown drag-out verbal spars if they only get to say two sentences at a time? What's the drama in someone spitting out a line, cut, the other character spitting out a line, cut.... I hate it. Giving newbies shorter scenes is probably a good idea, but use your vets. John/Marlena, Patch/Kayla, Tony/Anna, Nicole vs. Sami. vs Kate, could do longer scenes I'm sure. Let them go! Like others said, longer scenes means less characters needed to fill the show.