September Reset Wish List (Read 841 times)

[slyn11]

Jul 24, 2011 18:41:54 GMT -5 djm said:

Mine is for JKJ back as Philip and that Melaine and Philip get back together. I just loved the two of them together. A Girl can dream can't she?

aww I have the same dream. They had such a good chemistry as actors. I think they would fit in well with the planned changes at the show.

[MrsM]

I don't know that I have any specific wish list for the reset. I just want a good cohesive show. There is always going to be a character or 3 that you don't like, that is inevitable. I don't really know what I want to see. I would love more romance and adventure. I think that is what I really miss. I have had enough of the Dimera vendetta. I would be happy if EJ's role was reduced dramatically. I enjoy Stefano but I am tired of them getting away with everything. I am just curious to see what they have up their sleeves and see what they think fans are missing and want to see.

There has never been a point that I have stopped watching the show. I always watch or keep up with what is going on, at least since I have been old enough to do so. I may not be happy with what is going on but it doesn't keep me from watching.

[Kpatch]

I agree with you, Mrs. M. I have watched this show for decades through thick and thin, good times and bad and will continue to do so no matter what. I'm always hopeful that Days will give me a good reason to keep watching.

[addictedtodool]

Have been really thinking about this one. I think that my wish list includes a return of the Fancy Face. Belle and Shawn return, Then Philip returns and gives Shawn D a run for his money. Having scenes with Martha and Jay and their little girl again would make me (Kate and Victor) very happy.

Oh and one more thing...I want Steve and Kay home too.

[Tom Horton]

Not only do I want Lucas back because he is one of my all time favorites but I really believe his absence is glaring and that he would be a big asset to the show as a whole. There are some others that I would like to see back too but what I think the show would benefit from most is to "reset" it by transitioning away from the characters who have been way too over utilized (i.e., leading the episode counts consistently during the past year and a half that the ratings have fallen and remained low) and going with new storylines that equally utilize many of the more interesting, long established characters (most of which are portrayed by more talented actors). A lot of damage has been done to the show and it's going to take a lot more than the changes announced so far to get it back on track. I'm hoping that the new writers/producers are just getting started and that there will be lots more significant changes to come.

[slyn11]

I thought some more about this since I last posted...

I personally want them to develop the new characters and stop living in the past. These returnees are all 40 plus...that is not building for the future. You bring back vets for visits and rotate them out but you don't keep them around. You have to support the new characters that you create and write compelling stories for them. So many other soaps do this just fine. Why is Days missing the boat? Payla, Jarlena, even Carrie/Austin were good when they were on, but they had their time and have had almost every scenario under the sun told about them. Time to give the next generation and a new collection of characters a shot.

Also I am someone who never really got hooked on the show hardcore until 2007 (mainly 2008), before that Days was not a must see in the least. And while the show has declined in the ratings recently...it also was the only soap about 2 years ago that was gaining new viewers. And that had nothing to do with old timers returning.

I have been rewatching 2009 stuff the past few days and the show was very enjoyable then.

We had a Kiriakis/Dimera war that had real motivation to be happening (fuel project, Tony's death, Philip shot). We had the whole baby switching thing with Nicole - that incorporated many characters. All the lead characters had multiple facets to their lives - work and romance/home, not just one or the other. There was family interaction and history was used to tell the stories. The "bad guys" were shown as human and not cartoons (something that Days has been guilty of for years with Stefano). The stories had focus, there was character growth, and things were well plotted. It was just an all around good show.

Things seemed to fall apart 1st in feb/mar 2010 after the wedding/shooting and Sydney found stuff. Those stories morphed into related stories but they weren't as strongly written, but still fairly well plotted. But once Jan 2011 hit and all the stories ended at once it was like the show had nowhere else to go...like nothing new was planned out. And this year has been a disaster. But I personally don't think bringing in old people is the solution. Stories just need to be more interesting and better told again...like they were just over a year ago...

So I don't want to go back to the 80s...I want to go back to 2009.

[DancingDays]

I'm not all that excited about Marlena and John coming back. They can't possibly have any interesting stories left, except maybe babysitting support (which isn't at all interesting). And I'm especially not excited about Carrie and Austin. They were boring when they were on the frontburner and they will be boring again.

[Tom Horton]

I don't think just bringing back vets will work either. The stories still have to be character driven and well developed around an ensemble cast rather than a few so called leads. Marlena, Carrie and Austin are three characters that I never liked and would not have been on my list to bring back. However, what Days has now is definitely not working. IMO, the new, young ones have had more than enough time and differing stories to give them a fair try and they have consistently failed to deliver. There is no way to recapture the past. Instead Days needs to move forward utilizing the strengths that have a proven track record, such as building around core characters and overlapping storylines that are driven from their established personalities and histories. That is the best way to cross generations and appeal to the most viewers. It is also worth noting that Y&R is far ahead of all other soaps and has been for a long time and has the oldest cast (both in age and in time on the show) of all of them. I personally don't like Y&R but there is no arguing with their ratings success and if I were trying to put Days on stronger footing I would take a long look at what Y&R is doing.

[slyn11]

Kazz I am really loving all your points. Though I may not always agree...always thought provoking.

Y&R is popular out of habit I think mostly. You can turn away from YR for months and pick it right back up like you never left. It is easy to follow. The same characters are always there, with new ones added in. The storylines are a pretty slow paced though...another reason it is easy to follow.

Also YR started hitting number 1 (and stayed there) during the Malcom, Olivia, Druscilla, Neil days - All african american characters. There is something to be said for that level of diversity on a soap, especially when soaps have high viewership by people of color.

Also YR is about two wealthy business families going head to head. Abbotts vs Newmans. I think Days was on the right track when they put the focus on the Dimeras and the Kiriakis'...but now with this reset they seem to be faltering. Times have changed..the country has become obsessed with celebrity, wealth, and the shocking. So soaps have to shift accordingly.

I also think the younger cast on Days has been delivering just fine. They have had only 4 years without the vets and during that time there have been some ratings successes. Also look at the emmy nominations the show has received...for acting. I recall that Days was usually only nominated for hairstyling and nothing more.

[DancingDays]

It should be noted that it was the Bells that started Days and then left (or were told to leave, I'm not sure) to create Y&R. Days under the Bells was #1. When they left they took their ratings (and family based storylines) with them.

[Tom Horton]

@slyn, I think we see things nearly opposite much of the time but I always enjoy reading your points as well. I do agree that diversity has helped Y&R but soaps have always been about wealth, celebrity and the shocking and none of that is missing from Days ... the Tomlin/Higley era was all about shock value but that didn't work for the ratings either. Having rival business families and villains do tend to be parts of all soaps but they are about a whole of other things too, including continuity and family legacies. When that foundation is pulled out from under a soap by trying to replace the founding families with new ones there is nothing left to pull from... the show just flounders and it gets easier and easier for more and more viewers to tune out. That is what I see (from the ratings) as having happened to Days. Tomlin tried his own reset and it failed, now Corday is trying to win back the viewers who left with promises of a return to what made Days popular in the first place (and it was once and there have been lots of actors nominated for emmys over the years though that clearly has nothing to do with ratings success either). I suspect that Corday thinks announcing returns like John & Marlena will be a sign to those viewers that he means it and what I think we both agree on is that it won't be enough. Making the show all about John & Marlena isn't going to work any better than trying to make it all about the Dimeras or the Kiriakises or even D vs. K. Days is going to have to put forth a lot of effort to clean up the mess and put the show back on a firm foundation.

The other critical factor in all of this is that the vast majority of current viewers and the former viewers that Days needs to win back do not follow internet nor magazine news about the show. They have no idea what the ratings are or who the writer/producer was or that they've changed or that there are plans for a "reset", etc. So just making empty promises will gain Corday nothing with them because they don't know or care to know what he has to say, but they will notice what is happening on their screens. If they see advertisements for the show that looks interesting they may give Days another chance and tune back in and one of the surest ways to capture their attention is seeing faces they remember like John & Marlena. John & Marlena aren't a couple that would make me tune in but I'm just one person; they are an immensely popular couple and I can understand why Days would go with their return.... Carrie/Austin on the other hand I don't get at all. They were never a popular pair, not unpopular either, just there. What concerns me is that I hope Days is aware that they will need to do more than just have J&M show up every once in a while like they do with Doug & Julie and think that folks will just immediately flood back to Days because of it. I'm not suggesting the reverse of that either, as I just said, having J&M take over the top of the episodes counts isn't going to fix what's wrong either... it will have to be a multifaceted solution. I would like to believe that if fans can see these things then surely those in charge can see them... but unfortunately a memory of their decision making patterns over the past few decades doesn't inspire much confidence... so here's hoping for the best.

[rockfordfosgate]

I started watching both Y&R and Days back in the early 90s. For a few years, Y&R was my top show and Days was second. When I started college, I gave up Y&R and concentrated on Days namely because Days had more characters around my age (this was in the height of the Last Blast teens-Shawn, Belle, Philip, Chloe, and of course Jan Spears). The one thing that made Y&R my top show was the writing and the styling of the show. It was more classic soap opera, real stories that had plot *and* character development and it was more of an ensemble cast than Days has come to be the past few years. The sets were not cheap-looking and many of the characters had jobs and their stories did at least permit them time to be seen at said jobs, if not have their jobs be directly involved in the storyline. In a word, Y&R had class. Any time I catch a glimpse of Y&R today, I get the same impression.

Kazz, I agree about John/Marlena and Carrie/Austin. Oddly in both couples, I'm looking forward to seeing the guys back more than the women. Patrick Muldoon simply because I always like his portrayal of Austin better, and he's not bad to look at either. And I hope that John can get involved in some spy business or police storyline somehow. Marlena and Carrie always annoyed me.

What gives me hope that the reset is about more than just bring back familiar faces is what Deidre Hall said about the new writers creating the atmosphere to allow the actors to talk to them about their characters and the scripts. That gives me hope that the behind-the-scenes drama and 'dictatorship' are gone or at least not as noticeable in the overall movement of the show and storyline.

[Tom Horton]

@rockford, even though I've never managed to get into Y&R myself, I totally agree with your summation that Y&R has class. That is the overwhelming impression I get when I watch the show also... and yes I do watch it on occasion. It is my stepmother's soap and she somehow managed to even get my dad watching... and you would have to know my dad to understand what a feat that was for she and Y&R both, but I digress ... I remember when I first started watching Days as a kid and was blown away by the clothes and the hair and the furnishings, etc. It all seemed so rich and sophisticated and impressive ... and now it doesn't. I know part of that is because of growth in my own life but I still feel at least some of that when I see Y&R, B&B, AMC & GH. I really can't say the same for OLTL or Days.

I've definitely gotten the impression that the cast are happy about the changes - it seems to have been a big boost to morale if nothing else and that's another good sign.

[fluffysmom]

Hopefully with John and Marlena on the cover of SOD the former viewers who don't frequent the internet sites will be intrigued and want to come back and give Days another look. The 80's were the highest rated time for soaps and it was all about the super couples. That may be part of what they are trying to recapture. With all of the doom and gloom and hard times in the world right now hopefully they can bring back the romance and escapism that are such a big part of soaps.

I want to see a variety of characters on screen not the "chosen" 4 or 5 characters. They aren't my chosen ones. lol

[slyn11]

Jul 27, 2011 21:26:15 GMT -5 Tom Horton said:

@slyn, I think we see things nearly opposite much of the time but I always enjoy reading your points as well. I do agree that diversity has helped Y&R but soaps have always been about wealth, celebrity and the shocking and none of that is missing from Days ... the Tomlin/Higley era was all about shock value but that didn't work for the ratings either. Having rival business families and villains do tend to be parts of all soaps but they are about a whole of other things too, including continuity and family legacies. When that foundation is pulled out from under a soap by trying to replace the founding families with new ones there is nothing left to pull from... the show just flounders and it gets easier and easier for more and more viewers to tune out. That is what I see (from the ratings) as having happened to Days. Tomlin tried his own reset and it failed, now Corday is trying to win back the viewers who left with promises of a return to what made Days popular in the first place (and it was once and there have been lots of actors nominated for emmys over the years though that clearly has nothing to do with ratings success either). I suspect that Corday thinks announcing returns like John & Marlena will be a sign to those viewers that he means it and what I think we both agree on is that it won't be enough. Making the show all about John & Marlena isn't going to work any better than trying to make it all about the Dimeras or the Kiriakises or even D vs. K. Days is going to have to put forth a lot of effort to clean up the mess and put the show back on a firm foundation.

Dimeras and K's have been around at least 20 years I think that is long enough to be considered at least a core family.

And to me Days was always less glamorous (talking storyline, not sets right now) than the other soaps. They definitely had more of a home spun slice of life appeal (like ATWT did) than other soaps. The wealthy families on the show were the D's and the K's. The Hortons and the Bradys were just the good folks that were corrupted and angst-ridden as they dealt with the D's and K's. But the show made it pretty clear that the good working folk (aka the Bradys and the Hortons) were better people than the wealthy families. They used them as pretty much the villains. (I never liked that)

I think the problem with the last reset (WHICH I ENJOYED TREMENDOUSLY LOL) was that it was too jarring. You have to fade vets to the back as the younger ones move up, not just hack them off the show abruptly. Change works on soaps when it is done gradually.

All other soaps at present have better sets (and wardrobe) than Days. And I agree, even before the cuts, the other soaps still looked better than Days. I think the acting has improved on the show, so at least there is that.

As far as Carrie/Austin - I really liked them. But really what I liked was Sami trying to get Austin for herself. She was the best and most memorable part.

John./Marlena - my favorite vet couple - They were good because John was the man of a million faces and back stories. He always had some drama. Hopefully they will use him like they use Luke on GH now. They kept the essence of his adventurous spirit, let him get into some mischief, but mainly he backed up his family.

I think my husband said it best last night. Bringing back the vets will get return viewers at first...ratings will rise, but then things will fall off. People will get over their nostalgia and realize it is all been there done that. The show should be using the vets to get people back in the door, but good stories for the younger generation should be what keeps the viewers there. You just can't go back. You have to write for the future. My hubby is a wise one.