DAYS: August 2022 Discussion Thread ⌛

[Taoboi]

Exactly!!!

 

Every time I tune in, I can at least say that I see something that intrigues me. But when Ron is on a roll, the show he writes for can be exciting. 

 

He's just checked out. 

[SFK]

I am patently annoyed by the straweography. I watched the dude chew nuts for half a second and was ready to toss the rose gold iPad across the room. I am just not an RSW person. Maybe just when he’s acting because I didn’t mind him so much when they did that regional slang bts video. I think he’s a perfect example of an actor who would blossom exponentially with good formal training.

[Vee]

Which he sure ain't getting a ton of on DOOL with that shooting schedule and those scripts.

[edgeofnik]

At least they acknowledged Bonnie/Adrienne looking alike *and* that's with JE playing those roles! Even she could only do so much to try to distinguish them - Adrienne was simply 'softer' and Bonnie is just 'brash.' Honestly, those would shades of a single well-form character.

Keeping RSW is far beyond one or two people. Actors can get cut at various points during their contract. If he had a minimum guarantee, they would've slotted him to burn through those. If he was problematic behind the scenes, he wouldn't be there. I'm far from a Stan, but, unlike other, RSW does try.

[Gray Bunny]

Yeah, in 2017.  From 2003-2007 when Bonnie was on and then a month later in 2007 when JE returned as Adrienne, there was never a mention to any resemblance. Which made Maggie look all the more stupid when she made the realization in 2017 (or '18, whenever it was) that "Adrienne" was acting strangely because she is actually --- shocker --- Bonnie Lockhart! 

Meanwhile, I'm sure once they've exhausted the Ava role once again, Tamara Braun will pop back in a week later as Nicole's sister Taylor. 

[carolineg]

I know TB's Taylor was a bomb and Ava was regarded as the much better character but it would have made more sense to bring Taylor back over Ava.  There are/were more places the Taylor character can go.

[AbcNbc247]

Me today every time Leo said something mean about Thomas

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Be prepared for all the Ferris Bueller jokes that are coming up  I'm sure Shawn's joke today was just the tip of the iceberg. Sloan actually looks a little like Jacqueline MacInnes Wood though. Is she only going to be around for Leo or is she going to become a full time character?

Gotta say, Zach Tinker and RSW actually do have good brother chemistry. But judging from their scenes today, if they're intending to make Sonny the bad guy in order to prop Alex, it isn't gonna work.

And not for nothing, if Steve wants Orpheus gone, can't he just call up Shane and have the ISA suicide him or something? 

Edited August 17, 2022 by AbcNbc247

[edgeofnik]

Oh, I wasn't really watching closely enough during that 'transition.' I suppose they followed the Josh Taylor (Chris/Roman) template.  Same as GH's with the multiple characters played by former OLTLers.  It's funny that Stefan/Jake had to be unknown twins when Jake could've just been some other random character. Odd how that duel casting thing works.

[dc11786]

I believe when Adrienne was brought back in 2007 after Bonnie Lockhart departed town they made Judi Evans wear a darker wig. I don't know if she wore it the entire run, but I seem to recall her donning darker hair during some sort of kidnapping. 

[AbcNbc247]

Yep. She wore it during that whole run.

I think there were also plans to bring in Alex, Joe, Vic and Sonny (back then he was still just Jackson), but with the writer's strike and Hogan Sheffer's departure, those plans were ended.

[carolineg]

I mean, Josh Taylor had nearly a decade absence and his previous character was not particular memorable or relevant for Days in 1997.  That was fine by me (the lack of explanation of him looking like Chris-not the casting of him as freaking ROMAN BRADY).  RSW appeared about 10 min after Ben left.  The OLTLers on GH have always been a mess as well, IMO, as have TB and SJB playing roles on GH after playing a very relevant iconic role.  But Josh Taylor being Chris was not the biggest issue in that recast.  The JE stuff with Bonnie/Adrienne I can give a small pass to as well because Bonnie wasn't supposed to look like Adrienne.  JE was re-hired to play an entirely different part and before they cast Sonny no one had spoken of Adrienne in years.  Only later did they make it a doppelganger situation.  I guess my point is that it's weird to have two Carly's speaking to each other on GH or for Ben to reappear as Alex a week after he left.  I guess it's a Kinsey scale of recasts where if the character is gone long enough and not super relevant at the moment it's okay by me lol.

[Soapsuds]

Ron sure is trying real hard for us to like Ben 2.0. Too bad it looks small.

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[dc11786]

Adrienne had been reintegrated into Salem before Sonny arrived. Kurth returned as Justin in the summer of 2009 when Daniel Jonas was accused of poisoning Chloe. Kate was the actual culprit at the time going after the couple because of the ongoing affair Daniel and Chloe had while Chloe was married to Lucas and Daniel had been involved with Kate. At the time, it appeared the show was planning on playing a Justin / Hope relationship as Hope and Bo had been struggling the last year with residual resentment stemming from Zach's death. While Justin was defending Daniel, Hope and Bo were dealing with a kidnapping involving Ciara by some cop that worked for the Salem PD (Dean played by Nick Stabile). Given how stories were told at the time, I believe Bo, once again, made the decision to ice Hope out of the decision making process just as they had started to make some leeway on making things better (Hope had forgiven Chelsea before Rachel Melvin departed the show). With Bo acting alone, Hope found solace in Justin's arms. By November, Justin and Adrienne had divorced (offscreen) and Carly Manning had returned in October on the run after murdering Lawrence Alamain.

A relationship between Hope and Justin was described in previews, I believe, but it was scrapped and instead the show went with Nighttime Hope. Adrienne returned in late March or early April 2010 during the start of the Nightime Hope story. Adrienne arrived to see Justin in the hospital after he had been clobbered by the mysterious attacker who had targetted powerful men (I believe other victims included Abe Carver and Charles Woods, the district attorney who had raised Chad). Adrienne was used as a voice of reason for her niece Stephanie Johnson as well as playing some romantic tension between her and Justin. She also bought the Cheatin' Heart and operated as the owner/manager. 

In May 2011, the show married Justin and Adrienne offscreen in preparation for Sonny's arrival in June 2011. Other than Marlene MacPhearson and Darrell Ray Thomas, most subsequent writers used Adrienne pretty consistently until she was killed off, which was a shame in my opinion. 

 

[carolineg]

Sorry, my mistake! Thanks for the detailed explanation.   In my mind Sonny came first and the Justin/Hope stuff came after.  Ugh just thinking about the Bo/Carly/Hope story makes me angry.  It was so bad for all involved.

[dc11786]

I know I'm in the minority, but I didn't hate the Bo/Carly/Hope story. I felt Kristian Alfonso did some of her strongest work in those scenes where Carly showed up at Maggie Horton's house after Mickey had died and Hope confronted Carly about the affair. To me, that was just really solid soap opera. I also loved how when Hope learned that Carly had a child out there, she contemplated that Bo might be the father, but dismissed it because she knew that Bo wouldn't keep that from her. When I had started watching in the 1990s, Carly and Bo were the couple and I adored them. I liked them being reunited even though it was clear from the beginning that Carly was an obstacle and there was no plan to keep Carly and Bo together.

If anything, there wasn't enough story to tell with Bo and Carly at the center of it as a couple. Carly was clearly intended for Daniel Jonas and was pretty quickly thrust into the Daniel / Chloe / Philip / Melanie / Nathan saga with playing Chloe's confidante. It worked because of Bo's connection to Phillip and Daniel. I really enjoyed Chloe and Phillip's one night stand and all the complicated mess that came out of it. With that said, Bo and Carly were a couple mostly in name only. Bo spent most of the same time period involved in the Nighttime Hope stuff, as I recall. 

To be fair, in some ways, Higley's second round at "Days of our Lives" was a much quieter show than it had been in many years and that was quite an adjustment for cast and viewers. I really enjoyed Bo and Hope integrated into the canvas more than having the need for them to drive story 24/7. I actually really enjoyed angsty Bo and Hope driven by the unresolved feelings from Zach's death, Bo's need to be in control, and Hope's stubborness in reacting to Bo's possessiveness. I think the show could have done a better job with the break up Bo and Carly. For me, Bo's hero complex was at the center of his romantic stories of that time and examining how Bo ultimately needed to save someone would have been interesting if that was part of the manifestation of Carly's drug dependency. Also, I wish post-prison Hope and Bo had a longer reconilliation period, not so much rocked by massive threats to their relationship, but rather two adults trying to navigate a happy medium before settling down again. Also, with a stronger sense of community, characters could react to other people's stories during that time and it was still meaningful.