DAYS: Doug & Julie Remember Tom & Alice! | promo (February 16, 2024)

[vetsoapfan]

I agree. With the notable exception of Y&R, which phased out the original Brooks and Foster families in favor of the Abbotts and the Newmans, the majority of soaps begin to weaken and suffer upon the elimination of the core families who helped garner the soaps' highest audience loyalty in the first place.

Broad proclamations that "no one cares" about the descendants of the Horton family, that no one cares about Julie, or that any one specific character is the show's star are personal opinions (which, of course, are fine to hold and voice).

If we know anything about the world of soaps, however, opinions and tastes vary widely. For all the viewers who are disinterested in one set of characters, there are others who feel those same characters are vital for the health and growth of the show.

Diversity is the spice of life.

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Edited February 19 by vetsoapfan

[AbcNbc247]

Having a different writer helps a lot

[Lye-C]

Deidre being the star of the show is not an opinion, it’s an objective fact. 

Julie was off the show for more years than she was on it. With the exception of elderly viewers, Julie isn’t important to the larger audience in 2024. She spent 20+ years not even living in Salem.

Marlena has appeared in more episodes than any other character including the Hortons. She’s been pivotal to the show for nearly fifty years. It’s her family that the show should be focusing on and it’s a big one. Check it out:

Carrie (Austin)

Noah

Sami

Will (Sonny)

Arianna

Johnny

Allie

Henry

Sydney

Eric (Sloan)

Jude

Brady

Tate

Rachel

Belle (Shawn)

Claire

Paul

The Hortons died when Frances Reid retired. Some of you have been living in denial for the past 15+ years. 
 

[Gray Bunny]

Now would be the perfect time to dig up some former Hortons from the mothballs or bring on blank slate Hortons for the younger generation (i.e. Nick Fallon and Nathan Horton weren't even known Hortons before they popped up). 

Reminds me of Guiding Light's 70th anniversary episode which took the show back to its roots, which would've been the perfect time to re-introduce some Bauers... but of course, they didn't. Perhaps DAYS could do better... 

[Lye-C]

I’d rather watch the characters we’ve watched grow up on the show than add random, nobody characters who just happen to have the same last name.

The Hortons are a relic of the past. Keep Julie and the set. Shift the familial focus to where it belongs: Marlena, the Queen of Days.

[Khan]

At this point, I think that's the only way you could revive the Hortons.

Addie, Alice, Bill, Laura, Mickey, Tom and (presumably) Tommy all have passed away (and should remain deceased, IMO, because there's been more than enough resurrections on this lousy show).

Steven Olsen could return, but I think it would have to be after you were to introduce his children and/or grandchildren and make them a vital and pivotal part of the show.  Otherwise, there's no way to justify such a random return of a long-forgotten character.  (Same goes for Sandy Horton, and whatever other offspring you could conjure up for Tommy Horton, whose post-Salem life remains shrouded in mystery).

Marie is the only offspring of Tom and Alice's who is still alive, as is her daughter, Jessica; but unless Nick has a twin brother or other siblings out there, there's really no place anymore on the canvas for Nick's mother and grandmother.

Fortunately, Hope, Jennifer, Lucas, Michael and several of their respective offspring remain alive.  Next to dreaming up insta-Hortons, they're probably your best bet for reviving the Horton clan.  Of course, even under the best of circumstances, some characters from that set would be easier to bring back than others.  (I pity whichever HW is actually tasked with bringing back Jeremy, lol).

[Lye-C]

I agree with most of this. In the 90s JER revived the Hortons by focusing on Jennifer and Hope and Lucas and their families. If any Hortons return, it should be Jennifer (Missy only), Jack, JJ, Hope, Bo, Shawn (recast), Claire (recast), Will, Sonny, Arianna, Sydney, Allie, Henry, Eli, Lani, Jules, Carver, Scotty, and Ciara (recast). Maybe Jeremy. But not Mike. I hate Mike.

I would gladly trade Linsey Godfrey for Lisa Trusel (Melissa should be Gwen’s bio mom).

[Soapsuds]

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[vetsoapfan]

The idea that the Horton family became irrelevant after Alice died is not just true. 

Yes, short-sighted decisions by incompetent PTB have led to many important family members being written out, killed off, or just disappearing over the years. JER's idiotic decision to let Susan Seaforth Hayes go was just par for the course for the enormous damage he inflicted on the show, but all is not irreversibly destroyed. Using Julie as the matriarch, the family could be rebuilt by using familiar characters and their descendants from the past. I wonder how the audience would react to seeing the popular Stephen Schnetzer return as Julie's brother Steve, to introduce some of his descendants.

Sandy Horton could also be brought back quite easily, with adult children of her own. 

Jennifer, Melissa, Scotty, etc., there are several legacy characters who could be woven into today's fabric.

My point has always been that the show keeps introducing random newbies to the canvas, anyway; people whom we initially neither know nor care about.  Why not tie some of them the show's core foundation and have them related to the Hortons? We'd warm up to Horton newbies as quickly as we would to any other new faces. Dismissive viewers who don't care about DAYS' legacy wouldn't be affected either way, but the rest of us would love and appreciate the nod to history and continuity.

UGH! Watching the Bauers being gutted in the early-mid 1980s on TGL was hard to endure. Producer Gail Kobe and writer Pamela Long clearly did not understand the show, and did not care about its consistently rich cast of characters. I cringed when Pamela Long was quoted in the press as saying that one of the first things she and Kobe had to do was "get rid of the dead wood" among the cast. In a very short period of time, 2/3 of the existing characters were axed, in spite of their continuing story potential. We had just lost Mart Hulswit as Ed Bauer before Kobe and Long took over, and it was no one's fault that we lost Bert, but the new team killed off Bill and Hillary Bauer, and wrote out Hope and Mike Bauer. Being left with a new, fake Ed was just not the same.

Soaps never learn, alas, and keep making the same mistakes ad nauseum.

[Lye-C]

Some people are clearly jealous of Marlena’s popularity, her accomplishments, and her connections.

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[vetsoapfan]

That'll tell 'em. 

[Gray Bunny]

I've had the Queen of DAYS in my signature for years, but that doesn't mean I want the OG's of Salem phased out and ignored completely. 

[vetsoapfan]

Exactly. It's...curious to proclaim that a viewer is jealous of a fictional character in the first place, but advocating for the stabilization of the core family should not precipitate anger from viewers who prefer other characters over the Hortons.

Edited February 20 by vetsoapfan

[Lye-C]

Julie can stick around and they can still do the ornaments. Just shift the focus to Marlena’s family who we have watched for years and not random nobodies with the Horton name slapped on them. 

Y&R successfully transitioned away from their core families. There’s no reason for Days to hold on to the Hortons. They haven’t played a significant role in years. Marlena and her family, on the other hand, have been driving story for almost fifty years.

You’d rather have a nothing character like Spencer or Scotty than allow Marlena’s family to take their rightful place at the centre of the show, a position that has been well-earned.

All because you can’t accept that Marlena is more popular than all of the Hortons combined. 

[Gray Bunny]

Again, check my signature. 

Also again: