writers................

Poirot

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through the years, Days has been fortunate enough to have some great writers, who penned terrific stories, and at the same time had fantastic actors to portray those words and scenes so wonderfully, it endeared the show to our hearts, and somehow created loyal, fanatical viewers, who stuck with it, through thick, thin, and whatever inbetween.

Yes, there are only so many plots, so many situations that can be written, the trick being to write them in a fresh, new way, offer the unexpected twist now and then, mix the drama with romance and throw in some humor now and then.

All the soaps have had to cut costs, the number of soaps has been cut drastically, and at times, it seems the writers play musical chairs between the soaps. Some showrunners carry out their job, showing they know their show, and their audience. Others....well, at times, fail dismally.

I know many viewers pay no attention to whose is writing scripts, who is headwriting, etc. Admittedly, I was one of those when I first began.......with GL. But Pam Long came to writing GL stories, creating characters that stood out, stories that had you waiting anxiously for tomorrow and she is the one who had me paying attention when I began watching Days.

Betty Corday was a fantastic owner, paid attention to every detail, and when she finally urged son, Ken, to come in, learn this, (he only cared about music) she was hopeful. Betty Corday stayed with the show, advising, etc. until she passed away.

It is too bad Ken doesn't have the same passion for it that his mom had, but he had Al Rabin, a wizard for sure, and after Al Rabin retired, that is when Days began to flounder.

We all know Days has been going thru writers more often than Alison Sweeney (Sami) urges us to be "Radiant". LOL

Wish I knew what it is that causes these writers to fall down on the job, or what causes Corday to hire them AGAIN after they failed before.

I just read at list of the 15 greatest soap opera head writers of all time. Not that I agree with the list as James Reilly is on it, lol, but it begins with Irna Phillips, Bill Bell (Days, too), Agnes Nixon, Doug Marland......Pam Long, ....and Josh Griffith, Hogan Sheffer, Patricia Falken Smith, & yes, Ron Carlivati.

Some of these names mean nothing to many of you, but the last 4, & Reilly all wrote for Days, except Ron C, whose work we are yet to see. Reilly wrote the infamous Marlena possession & Carly buried alive by vivian stories. Griffith was teamed with Higley last year, but she took a leave of absence, leaving him alone, to get fired and Higley returned with Quan, our current staff. Sheffer had won Emmy's for writing his previous soap, but came to Days, all the dialogue writers were let go as he brought his own, did not know the characters......and his tenure was cut short.

Days has tried hard to bring back vets, characters the viewers have loved, but it does seem they don't utilize them all in a way beneficial to the show and the viewers. Higley has written for Days for years....but it doesn't seem she knows the characters. Or the audience. I used to like her a lot. I don't know what happened.

Will Carlivati turn things around. He will have the highly respected Sheri Anderson as consultant, she knows Days well. (She was headwriter back in 90s) .

What do you think?
 
I sure hope so.

I'd like to see families, friendships, some happy stories, drama. Something that I haven't seen in the past 6 weeks.

Things I don't want to see are unknown children turning up, women being abused/raped, kidnappings, poorly thought out revenge stories, lab test switcheroos.

More realistic treatment of the weather, clothing that fits women, not two or more sizes too small. Comfort clothing like jeans/sweatpants, shorts, sandals. (I know those aren't writer-driven, but I'd still like to see changes.)

I don't mind the room being a police office one day/doctor's office the other day, if the story is good.
 
Yes, there are only so many plots, so many situations that can be written

I don't necessarily agree with this. I think that if a writer thinks outside the box a bit, there are always fresh stories to tell (i.e. Marlena being possessed, Melaswen, Garden of Eden, are a few examples that really haven't been repeated.

Anyway, I'm hopeful the trio of Ron, Sheri and also Ryan Quan can turn the show around. I think Sheri brings history from the 80s and early 90s and Ryan brings it from mid-late 90s and 2000s. Both very important.

I'd like to see the core families expanded upon with legacy character returns: Shawn, Belle, Carrie, Austin, Noah, Bill Horton, Mike, Jeremy, Stephanie, Philip, Tyler, Craig, Nancy, Joy. Some of these can be recurring to help the budget.

Since Andre is a joke as a villain, turn him back into Tony and he and Chad can run the company. Then have Kristen and Peter come in for short arcs as villains along with Xander.

Expand the teen set a bit. Recast Ciara. Have their parents and grandparents involved so we care.

Make Brady Kiriakis into Brady Black once again.:rolleyes:

Give me romance from rooting couples: Steve/Kayla, John/Marlena, Shawn/Belle, Carrie/Austin, Chad/Abby, Adrienne/Justin, Sonny/Paul, Brady/Chloe. Teen triangle is ok but needs to include the adults. Break up Hope and Rafe. Have Roman and Kate find their way back to each other. Eric and Jen are ok in the short term.

I truly hope TPTB get it this time and are listening to fan feedback. I want my guilty pleasure back.
 
Hopeful. My Days loving friends and I are hopeful once again that new writers bring the glory back to this show. But we no longer emotionally invest in that hope due to broken promises if the past. Sheri Anderson viewed the glory of Days and helped create it so perhaps she can help recapture it again.
 
You have to dig deep to get to basic plot. Melaswen about a group of people stranded and figuring how to get home......no different than John's plane crashing in the jungle. Group of people stranded, & figuring out how to get home.

Marlena possessed was just the same as Carrie, or Cujo......or the tons of times Stefano brainwashed people, took away their memories, turned them into someone else. Even Yo daddy was a variation of that theme. :)

That is what I meant by so many plots or situations. Hallmark movies do it all the time. boy meets girl, boy & girl have problems, boy & girl are in love & together at the end. LOL.

It is the setting, the reasons, the personalities that are different. I don't understand how or why anyone would be writing the exact same story at the same time for different characters.
 
The core problem, in my opinion, has to do with a number of issues (none of them new). I've been watching soaps since before I started school, watching them with my dad who worked nights and would watch before leaving for work in the late afternoon. Way back before I ever payed attention to who was writing, I would notice changes in the general feel of shows from time to time. Characters that I loved would loose airtime, disappear or begin to behave in a totally different manner. The general feel of the show would just change.

In the late 70s and early 80s when soaps became more noted in the general culture, soap magazines, and television commentators, I became more aware of why those changes were happening. It was ALWAYS a change in the Executive Producer or Head Writer. There was one Executive Producer in particular, who was responsible for chasing me from soap after soap, network to betwork. The industry, feeling the need for experience in the genre, kept hiring people who'd ruined show after show.

Skip ahead a few decades, when after the OJ Trial, and many viewers, just never started watching again after the shows had been off the air for so long. The shows never regained their previous status as revenue gold for the industry, and were replaced with more cheaply produced talk shows. What we have left are a token few shows, and network executives stepping in even more often than they previously did, calling the shots, with show runners very much aware that if they don't comply and do what is asked as cheaply as possible, the show will be off the air and everyone will be out of work.

Add to this the fact that fan pressure is louder and more instant than ever, along with various groups insisting that they get their way and using any means possible. It is my opinion that in many instances many fan-bases can't see past their own wants and will result to any means to get their way. There is also the fact that these days we all have the choice of only watching the parts of the show that we choose to watch, and thus many viewers could care less about the show as a whole.

My final point is that the issues that Days is facing aren't new, but are compounded by the times: economic, cultural, technical, etc. and yes, I'd even say that in some ways we've all contributed to the situation and continue to do so.
 
The above makes many good points. We all have an era when the soaps grabbed our attention. We hung on, but we want it the way it was when we loved it, instead of

just accepting the new. Apparently, I am the only person who like Hope and Rafe--because I like both actors, I guess.
 
I don't necessarily agree with this. I think that if a writer thinks outside the box a bit, there are always fresh stories to tell (i.e. Marlena being possessed, Melaswen, Garden of Eden, are a few examples that really haven't been repeated.

I, for one, am very grateful they did not repeat those storylines; along with John and Gina on the submarine.

I just feel we keep getting bashed in the teeth with stories that have no chemistry or are beyond ludicrous. It happens just as much with returning writers. It's hard not to get down about the show and it's lack of use of viable characters. I think that the teens do not interact enough with adults and are not held accountable enough. But then I took parenting seriously and this is the soap world.

It appears today's writers can only focus great writing on one character at a tine. Everyone else is filler while the one person has incredible writing.
 
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The above makes many good points. We all have an era when the soaps grabbed our attention. We hung on, but we want it the way it was when we loved it, instead of

just accepting the new. Apparently, I am the only person who like Hope and Rafe--because I like both actors, I guess.
I don't frequent this board much anymore, so my reply is pretty late. I also like Rafe and Hope, and more than one poll on this board has shown that those that cared enough to reply were split pretty evenly. We are not alone in liking them.
 
Hopeful. My Days loving friends and I are hopeful once again that new writers bring the glory back to this show. But we no longer emotionally invest in that hope due to broken promises if the past. Sheri Anderson viewed the glory of Days and helped create it so perhaps she can help recapture it again.
I have to echo this sentiment, Noel. I'm hopeful--as I always will be, with new writing regimes--that the soap will improve, see ratings increase, and get back to great storytelling. But having been disappointed so much in the recent past, I'm not getting my hopes up too much.

When the soap starts replacing writers every other year (if not sooner), you know it's in trouble. Characters--fan-favorites at that!--are brought back regularly, and then neglected with no plot (Billie), ruined (Chloe), or are just kinda there (Marlena). Then, often times, these characters are sent away, replaced with "new, exciting!" characters that turn out to be boring (like the Serena and elephant plot, or Tammy Sue/Jordan), and are then sent away after a certain amount of time.

Couples are forced on us (Jennifer & Daniel, Hope & Rafe, Paige & JJ, Daniel & Nicole, Nicole & Deimos, Rafe & Jordan) when there is usually nothing about them that makes us root for them. Families are split up, super couples are deemed "boring" and given horrendous storyline that makes them fall apart, and storylines drag on and on while the powers that be insist on taping the soap months in advance. And every Sweeps period for the pst 3 years or so has been bland because of recycled storylines--an interrupted wedding, an affair, a shooting, a kidnapping (good grief, how many times has Deimos orchestrated one over the course of just the past two months!?), a coma, etc.

Days needs a MAJOR reboot! NBC needs to realize that this problem has been occurring since the awful grief romp of late 2011 (or maybe months earlier, with FakeRafe and EJ & Taylor being together). Replacing the writers may help alleviate some problems, but it runs deeper than that. There needs to be a MAJOR overhaul in TPTB to save Days and keep it on the air for the next few years (beyond the latest renewal).

I mean, I LOVE this show, haven't missed an episode (either by watching or reading summaries) for nearly 7 years. I complain about it not because I hate the soap, but because I love it and know it can do better. For a show with such a talented cast, loyal viewers, and beautiful history, it deserves much better than what is currently being doled out on screen.
 
I know many viewers pay no attention to whose is writing scripts, who is headwriting, etc.
That's me!

Will Carlivati turn things around.
It doesn't really matter because history (on this board, alone) shows that we quickly tire of current writers, and praise new (or former) ones...for awhile. I'm not saying we don't get tired of crappy stories and/or lazy writing, but that's just how it seems to me.

Apparently, I am the only person who like Hope and Rafe
gram, you keep saying that, and I keep correcting you. :)

I also like Rafe and Hope, and more than one poll on this board has shown that those that cared enough to reply were split pretty evenly. We are not alone in liking them.

http://www.salemspectator.com/threads/rafe-and-hope-yea-or-nay.29020/page-2#post-607351

They pushed a romance and didn't let fans root for them first.
Votes on the "Rafe and Hope" poll show that half of us on this board DO root for them.
 
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I don't pay attention to who is writing except when people talk about it. People
know who was writing way back when. I don't.
 
I have been watching Days since I was a baby. My Great Grandmother and Grandmother were avid watchers. I miss the real adventures and romances. I can only hope and pray that when the new writers' stories start we see better storylines and they all revolve around all of our actors not just one couple, ie: The EJ and Sami Show or Dr. Dan Superman.
 
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