Alison Sweeney Directs - Hit or Miss? (Read 270 times)

[Kpatch]

Alison Sweeney directed the episode that aired in the U.S. on Monday, 8/1. Did you think it was a hit or a miss?

I vote miss, and here's why. (And I promise you that these are things that bothered me about the episode even before I realized that Alison directed it.)

First the obvious. Taylor missed hitting Brady on the head with a giant vase. Why not use a much smaller vase and make sure you don't miss his head. That was laughable.

Not sure how much flexibility the director has to rewrite or reinterpret scenes, but Brady eyeing Taylor and asking what's between them made no sense.

Then there was a nonsensical conversation between Nicole and EJ outside the Pub. It changed gears abruptly and had me wondering what Nicole was mad at. That was direction, not writing.

Carly totally overacted in the hotel room bed.

Maggie and Victor. There was definitely something off about them in the early scenes in the episode. They were missing some kind of connection. And while the later scenes in Maggie's kitchen were sweet and innocent, this isn't their first rodeo. Victor is a man of the world and I would have liked to see him just a little more confident and assertive. As they made their way upstairs, I started to worry about Victor's ability to perform. Not what I wanted to be thinking regarding the virile and powerful Kiriakis family patriarch.

The best scene of the day was between Quinn and Vivian outside the pub. You could tell toward the end that he grasped her hand and I wondered why they didn't show it. That was an important moment between mother and son and they should have shown the physical contact along with the emotional connection that was made.


So Alison, my advice is, you don't have to be superwoman. If you want to direct, direct. If you want to act, act. If you want to host, host. If acting on Days isn't enough for you, go away. And TPTB, please stop kowtowing to Alison's every need. She is not as vital to the show as you think.

[MrsM]

I second that!!!!

[maruuac]

I have to say that you are right on all counts. The vase episode was laughable and I too found that the direction was very amatuerish. Love Allison Sweeney but stick to what you do best and leave the directing to the experts. Also noticed during commercial that they are showing John and Marlena when they reunited at the pier years ago... what a nice surprise.

[DancingDays]

I vote "MISS" too because it was really just a bad episode. Sometimes it's hard to tell if it's bad writing or bad directing, but this one seemed to have both. I'm not sure what drives Ali to be so busy (acting, "directing", hosting) but the woman needs to slow down a bit. She hasn't been onscreen in quite a few days and I haven't missed her at all.

[MrsM]

Sami needs a break. She hasn't been off the screen since she started.

[Trey]

I have nothing to contribute, as you've pretty much summed it up!

[Tom Horton]

Aug 2, 2011 8:27:31 GMT -5 Kpatch said:

So Alison, my advice is, you don't have to be superwoman. If you want to direct, direct. If you want to act, act. If you want to host, host.

I didn't see the episode (because I find Days under Tomlin/Higley bad regardless of who directs the episodes) and am a longtime fan of Ali's but I fully agree with this advice and have said the same myself on numerous occassions.

As for Sami's/Ali's airtime amount, I have noticed quite a dip in spoilers and recaps that involve her and looking at the episode counts, it isn't just my perception. There has been a decline in her appearances since somewhere around Feb./March of this year. Prior to the adminstrative changes at Days I was fully expecting an even sharper decline and possibly even Ali not renewing her contract this year but now I think she will probably want to be around for the changes. I think it wise for any soap actor to spread their wings and look for new opportunities but there is always a balance. And spreading yourself too thin to do anything well isn't an admirable or wise quality in my eyes.

I've never bought the rumor/assumption that TPTB kowtow to Ali though and still don't. There are way too many things that were done to her character that I strongly doubt she was even a little bit okay with and I know she wasn't okay with Bryan being fired. Even Deidre Hall who I do think wielded a lot of influence at Days couldn't save herself from being fired so I just don't believe that any of the actors truly have "pull" with the administration. I think the administrators are good at "handling the talent" and making them feel empowered and some fall for it more than others (i.e., Mark Hapka swearing that Corday and Tomlin loved him and it was all Higley's fault that he was fired - one look at the organizational chart should have been a clue for him.) Ali, like Deidre (and I suspect now Molly) have been well liked by numerous successive EP/HWs and that is both a blessing and a curse for the actor and character. Sami was better off when she wasn't such an admin favorite IMO ... and if she would slow down long enough to notice, the actress might realize she was a lot happier then too (just my opinion of course and based on no known facts).

[salemonsalem]

I didn't realize yesterday's episode was directed by Ali, that's interesting. I agree there were some missteps, not the least of which was the missed vase scene, but overall I'd say she did an okay job for a newbie. I feel like she made a lot of mistakes that the other directors have made, and it's hard for me to tell what is the actors fault v. the directors. I think you're right though, she shouldn't quit her day job.

[jaysdelina]

I know and understand that my feelings are probably going to be met with some disagreement,but I have to say that I respect her for trying something different.Ali appears to me as a workaholic.She's not satisfied doing just one thing and I find that commendable.If this was her first shot at directing,then it's understandable that it wouldn't be that great,no one's great at anything the first time around.We have to remember too that the writing right now isn't all that good (although I feel there have been some improvements).Ali can only do so much with what's written and directed accordingly.Was it great?No,but I have no doubt that if she keeps trying,it will get better.

[mae00]

I couldn't really tell a difference. The episode had it's good and it's bad moments all the way around. There were definately things that could have been done differently to be better, but it really could have been a lot worse. I noticed that the only thing that really progressed was Quinn & Vivian. Alot of it was just filler and I have a feeling that we are going to have many more of those days through September when the the new writer's stuff and the returns kick in. Right now I can't tell which end it lies on but think that they gave Ali a "slow" episode to get the "experience".

[sportsgirl]

I hadn't realized it was Ali's episode either while watching it, but I say if it was something Ali had wanted to try, then I say it was nice of them to let her give it a try. It wasn't that bad for a 1st time!