4 hours ago, carolineg said:

Yes. It was a really ugly story though that felt thrown together almost last minute. From the quotes I have read I am not sure if Deidre disliked the actor or the story or both?

Ironically, it was the most challenging material Deidre Hall has ever played - on DAYS, or anywhere else. It was more challenging than even the possession (if that's possible, lol).

1 minute ago, Khan said:

Ironically, it was the most challenging material Deidre Hall has ever played - on DAYS, or anywhere else. It was more challenging than even the possession (if that's possible, lol).

Oh, I agree. Deidre was quite a revelation to me when I watched her early material. I was more I heart you Marlena/John 4 ever before I saw some of her best work. I will never disparage my OG love of J/M, but I find a lot of Don/Marlena and Roman/Marlena very satisfying. I think her finding out Sam was murdered is very good as well. Wayne was a great acting partner for her. Marlena wasn't just a perfect heroine. She had depth.

DJ dying was a little histrionic to me, but IIRC Maggie is the one that comforts her first. So we are full circle on the Dee/Suzanne story now.

Edited yesterday at 04:40 AM1 day by carolineg

13 minutes ago, carolineg said:

Oh, I agree. Deidre was quite a revelation to me when I watched her early material. I was more I heart you Marlena/John 4 ever before I saw some of her best work. I will never disparage my OG love of J/M, but I find a lot of Don/Marlena and Roman/Marlena very satisfying. I think her finding out Sam was murdered is very good as well. Wayne was a great acting partner for her. Marlena wasn't just a perfect heroine. She had depth.

Even during the '80's supercouple era, when the show transitioned Marlena into more of an action/adventure heroine, they still presented her as a smart, sensible woman with a thriving psychiatric practice. She could've just as easily fit in on AMC or OLTL as she did on DAYS.

10 hours ago, Khan said:

True, but acting (on a daytime drama) isn't like working at Hertz. If you or I are having issues with one or more of our colleagues, and we are in a position where we could limit our day-to-day interactions with them or avoid them entirely, we do so, if only because we know our paychecks are on the line. But if you're an actor, and you're getting paid to play opposite someone you dislike personally, then it's your duty to leave the hostilities off the set or stage and play the scene and the relationship with that other actor as written.

Who knows? Maybe you're right, and maybe the show just should avoid placing DH and SR in scenes together from here on out. (ATWT did that for years after Colleen Zenk and Jacqueline Schulz reportedly had had some kind of falling out, even though their characters (Barbara Ryan and Dee Stewart, respectively) were supposed to be close friends). Again, though, Marlena and Maggie have shared decades of close friendship on-screen, so it's weird to go from all that to where we are today: long stretches with zero interaction (even though it would make sense for them to confide in each other routinely about their separate dramas) punctuated by scenes like the ones we saw the other day, where the tension between the two is palpable and doesn't make sense, given the nature of their relationship.

This question goes to anyone who's a longtime Y&R fan: in the past, Jeanne Cooper (Katherine Chancellor) talked about how Melody Thomas Scott (Nikki Newman) did not speak to her for years, even though Cooper herself had no idea why; and how their one-sided feud ended one day as mysteriously as it had begun. (IIRC, when Cooper broached the subject, Scott just kind of waved her off, like, "Oh, that's old news." Whatever, Melody, lol). Was the tension between the actors ever present on-screen? Remember, Kay took Nikki under her wing, so I imagine they had to share at least SOME screen time.

ATWT was riddled with feuds between female co-stars in the early/mid '80s which drove several women off the show (including, supposedly, Ariana Muenker, the only interesting young woman on the show at that time).

Some of the hardcore Y&R fans will remember better than I do but I don't think Melody and Jeanne shared scenes together very often in that time frame (I think that may be one of the reasons why Jill, not Nikki, was there for Katherine when she had a breast cancer scare).

15 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

ATWT was riddled with feuds between female co-stars in the early/mid '80s which drove several women off the show (including, supposedly, Ariana Muenker, the only interesting young woman on the show at that time).

Some of the hardcore Y&R fans will remember better than I do but I don't think Melody and Jeanne shared scenes together very often in that time frame (I think that may be one of the reasons why Jill, not Nikki, was there for Katherine when she had a breast cancer scare).

Side note that's not relevant for the day to day thread, but I like Ariana Munker as Kim. I am pretty sure I am the only one.

9 minutes ago, carolineg said:

Side note that's not relevant for the day to day thread, but I like Ariana Munker as Kim. I am pretty sure I am the only one.

That's more relevant than anything I was writing. Sorry to go off topic.

Just now, DRW50 said:

That's more relevant than anything I was writing. Sorry to go off topic.

Lol. I don't care at all. But I have been warned before.

I really did like her as Kim. And I really like PP and Kim/Shane.

The only odd thing about Munker (Muenker?) is she didn't use that name when as Kim on Days. As I recall, at the time Munker filled in for Patsy Pease, she was then going by Arianna Chase. Why the surname change? Who knows.

But I recall that actor Charles Grant (Evan Bates, AW; Connor McCabe, Santa Barbara) was known as Charles Flohe early on, so it must be an actor thing...

2 hours ago, Wendy said:

The only odd thing about Munker (Muenker?) is she didn't use that name when as Kim on Days. As I recall, at the time Munker filled in for Patsy Pease, she was then going by Arianna Chase. Why the surname change? Who knows.

But I recall that actor Charles Grant (Evan Bates, AW; Connor McCabe, Santa Barbara) was known as Charles Flohe early on, so it must be an actor thing...

Probably got divorced? I usually call her Arianna Chase because I only know her Days work.

I liked her during the Marlena/John affair story because she was the only Brady that wasn't judgy McJudgerson and understood there were crazy reasons this all happened.

Edited yesterday at 02:39 PM1 day by carolineg

20 hours ago, DaytimeFan said:

You are absolutely right that Deidre carried the show for decades. There's no denying that.

totally agree she was a massive part of what made the show what it was for decades and carried so many iconic storylines its only natural that her role has shifted over time but her presence still adds so much and her chemistry with other actors is always a highlight

Billy Flynn and Michael Roark stood out to me this week. Really good performances from them.

For me, though, the stalker storyline is a dud. I don't feel any real sense of danger for Stephanie, and that's a problem.

The stakes just aren't there. Combine that with a ridiculously stupid police department, and you don't have much.

I've caught up for the week. It's been nice not having EJ around, if only this could be a permanent occurrence! I actually enjoyed a lot this week. Minus the coldness between Deidre and Suzanne, I enjoyed the book club scenes. I think it makes sense Marlena isn't ready to face her grief yet. I've been thinking for months it would be nice to have Marlena in scenes with Maggie and Julie discussing losing their husbands, considering it has happened to them in rapid succession. In terms of the beef between Hall and Rogers, I think it was actually pretty tepid this week compared to the last few years. I remember the scenes after the Horton house fire last year, Deidre looked so annoyed throughout that whole sequence of scenes with Suzanne, she didn't even try and hide it. It really is such a shame. Julie, Maggie and Marlena have been on screen together for half a century, they should be in scenes together regularly and sharing stories.

The one thing that I noticed this week, probably more than before is how low stakes this whole show is. Both the custody battle and this stalker story for example is just scene after scene of people talking ad nauseam about these things, but there is little action involved. The show built this brand new courtroom set last summer, they should of trotted it out and had a real custody battle between Chad and J&J. This could have been a huge story for the Horton family, and the 60th anniversary. During that mediation, when Chad brought up Jennifer's addiction, I literally said out loud, what isn't Chad bringing up Jack raping Kayla? Why isn't J&J bringing up Stefano and EJ? Chad literally is the last person to call out any horrible behaviour with in his own family lately, why wasn't that brought up? I just kept imagining the scenes we could have gotten of this going on in court. Imagine having Horton's and DiMera's testifying on the witness stand, and all their dirty laundry being aired out.

The same with this stalker story. We get scene after scene of Stephanie and Alex in that apartment now with Steve, talking about how dangerous this stalker is. What has the stalker done that is dangerous? Posted disturbing messages about Stephanie. Do any of these writers read social media. People post vile and disgusting comments all the time about celebrities, it doesn't mean they need police protection and criminal investigations. This stalker should have been doing horrible things, not just posting messages about it. Literally the worst thing that has happened at this point is Alex has huffed some powder sugar, and Stephanie and Alex had to go stand in the HTS for 5 minutes, not exactly the type of material that leaves you on the edge of your seat. My advice to these writers is amp up the stakes here. Less talk and more action. I know the budget makes it hard to write a lot of things, but be creative. It's not really that hard, Chat GPT could probably help lol

2 hours ago, cody_1990 said:

The one thing that I noticed this week, probably more than before is how low stakes this whole show is. Both the custody battle and this stalker story for example is just scene after scene of people talking ad nauseam about these things, but there is little action involved. The show built this brand new courtroom set last summer, they should of trotted it out and had a real custody battle between Chad and J&J. This could have been a huge story for the Horton family, and the 60th anniversary. During that mediation, when Chad brought up Jennifer's addiction, I literally said out loud, what isn't Chad bringing up Jack raping Kayla? Why isn't J&J bringing up Stefano and EJ? Chad literally is the last person to call out any horrible behaviour with in his own family lately, why wasn't that brought up? I just kept imagining the scenes we could have gotten of this going on in court. Imagine having Horton's and DiMera's testifying on the witness stand, and all their dirty laundry being aired out.

@ranger1rg and I were discussing the things Chad and Jack/Jennifer did and didn't bring up at the mediation a few pages back. My question for you or anyone is does Chad know about the rape? Is it common knowledge or more of a family secret? I honestly don't recall who knows and who doesn't.

1 hour ago, carolineg said:

discussing the things Chad and Jack/Jennifer did and didn't bring up at the mediation a few pages back. My question for you or anyone is does Chad know about the rape? Is it common knowledge or more of a family secret? I honestly don't recall who knows and who doesn't.

I don't know who is currently aware that Jack raped Kayla. But the year it happened, Kayla filed charges. I don't know if that went to court or not. I remember years later, teen (or young adult) JJ had recently come to Salem after going to school in Europe or something. I think Jack was "dead" or "missing" at that time? and Jack's book had been published after he died or went away. Jack's book was on display in a store window in Horton Town Square. I forget how, but JJ learned about the rape, and then there was a whole scene after learning then, when JJ was at the Square, and approached the store that was selling the book -- and he smashed the store window in his rage. Forgive me for typing this from memory -- I don't have time to look it up right now, so I might have some of the details wrong.

Edit: JJ found out and reacted the last week of September 2013 and the first week of October 2013.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by janea4old

Found it on the archive.org version of soapcentral recaps.
Last week of September 2013 and the first week of October 2013.

(Somewhere over this batch of episodes, I forget where, it's clear when Abigail and Jennifer are talking, that Jennifer had already told Abigail about Jack/Kayla rape years ago, but they had decided not to tell JJ back then. The implication is that the Jennifer/Abigail conversation had been offscreen because it happened when the characters were living in another country and not on the show.).

JJ learns this in 2013 when Jack was supposedly dead. JJ was annoyed that Jennifer was dating Daniel, and he felt Jennifer had gotten over Jack too quickly. He was fighting with Jennifer and wouldn't stay with her. He was planning on sleeping at the park or crashing with Rory and hanging out with Bev, etc.

He encountered Kayla and asked if he could stay at her home. Kayla tried to convince JJ to work things out with Jennifer. JJ ranted to Kayla about Daniel. Kayla blurted out "well your father was no saint". JJ said what do you mean by that? Kayla changed the subject by telling JJ to reconcile with Jennifer, and then Kayla walked away.

Abigail walked up and shows JJ that Jack's book has been published and is now on sale, and he's thrilled. He mentions his conversation with Kayla, and asks Abigail what Jack might have done, but Abigail simply agreed that Jack hadn't been a saint, without giving details.

JJ then tried to get info out of Adrienne by visiting her at the K-mansion and Adrienne thinks he's looking for a place to crash. He started mentioning something about Kayla and Jack -- and Adrienne dropped her coffee cup and it shattered. He knew that Adrienne knew something and he got her to start talking; and she said Jack had deeply regretted it (but Adrienne didn't say what "it" was. ) JJ said "I already know" but Adrienne realized he was bluffing, so Adrienne didn't tell him.

The recap says that JJ broke into the Horton house (he didn't have a key) and he searched. He found the transcript of Lawrence Alamain's trial for raping Jennifer. Within that transcript of Lawrence's trial, it says that during the trial, Jack was forced to admit that he (Jack) had raped Kayla. JJ freaks out.

JJ goes to see Kayla at the hospital, and tells her he read Lawrence's trial transcript and what Jack had testified. JJ asks if Jack lied on the stand to help Jennifer in some convoluted way, but that he didn't really rape Kayla. Kayla says what Jack testified is true.

Meanwhile Jennifer returns to the Horton house and finds the Lawrence trial transcript laying out, and she realizes that JJ read it and found out. Abigail and Kayla arrive and they all discuss this. Just then JJ gets arrested for smashing the window of the store where Jack's book is on display.

Edited 4 minutes ago4 min by janea4old