What Used to Be Different? (Read 976 times)

[heroicmuse]

We've talked a lot about the ways DAYS seems to be missing the mark in the last couple of years, and how the writing regime changed does not seem to have helped that. In some ways it's better, yet in some ways worse.

I was wondering, what do you think was different about DAYS in the past? We still had our share of blackmail, rape, kidnapping, murder, etc, still had couples breaking up and people trying to force them apart... but things were very different.

Here's my list, and I'd love to hear your thoughts as well.

• Relationships were the core of the show. Family was truly important and people had close friendships as well. Sure there was craziness going on but there was always love as the foundation, and the idea that nobody or nothing could really destroy the good guys. 
• Speaking of which, there was a clear line between good guy and bad guy. There were always gray characters or characters who started out bad and grew to be good, but the good guys didn't do bad things for the most part. Today, it just seems like anything goes and the good characters engage in the same behavior as the evil ones but everyone looks the other way. 
• THE BAD CHARACTERS DIDN'T WIN! A lot of the time, a character was brought on to cause problems but s/he was gone at the end of the storyline, and the good characters were generally victorious. People went to jail or faced other consequences for illegal and immoral behavior. They didn't get ignored after the big reveal so that they could continue to scheme, plot and cause trouble no matter what they did.
• There was genuine romance, not a race to the bedroom. Relationships took months or even years to build.
• There was clearer characterization. Every character had motivations that were clear and made sense, even the bad ones. People didn't randomly change from day to day to suit the storyline.
• There was a nice balance of older and younger characters rather than one or two characters being focused on exclusively to the detriment of everyone else.

What do you think?

[Kpatch]

Great question. In the past, the show took more time to tell love stories and let them build so that the audience wanted the couple together as much as the couple seemed to want to be together. I know today's audience doesn't have as much patience for lengthy stories, but they still love a good romance and we are basically the same as we've always been. We want to become invested in the couple. And we don't want to get invested in them just to see them immediately ripped apart.

There are too many triangles also. Drama can be organic, and doesn't have to be manufactured by having a third party enter the equation. Back when Steve and Kayla were first falling in love, for example, they had problems that had to do with who they were as characters, not with the immediate appearance of an old lover or something. That came, but much later. Same with any of the so called supercouples.

Since Josh Griffin started writing, the stories all have violent overtones/undertones and it's too much. Once in a while is okay, but it shouldn't be all violence all the time.

[heroicmuse]

Thanks Kpatch. I agree with you.

I feel like audiences have more patience than the current writers and producers give them credit for. It took over a year for Nicole and Eric to get together and people were super excited the whole time. Then they had to go do that stupid shredding storyline. I wish they'd shredded that script instead. Anyway, the point is that when there's buildup people do get excited and want to tune in to see what's happening with the couple. This business of having couples off-screen then suddenly on-screen to have sex just isn't working.

[melly]

In general, there's less character development. A new character arrives and the audience is expected to get on board with whatever the writers have in mind....even though we know very little about the character, all of a sudden the new character is front and center and we probably don't understand why. I don't want to be left hanging forever to see how a character fits in and what he/she is all about, but neither do I want a new character to be central if I don't have a sense of why. It's sloppy writing, IMO.

[doolfan4life]

There were no Hernandez back then and now half the cast is Hernandez ........ So annoying
I agree about love stories and romance tho
The violence now is too much as is the message they send to viewers regarding rape victims
Back then I feel a character like Clyde wouldn't have happened let alone got away with the nonsense he did, jail was the lazy way out as far as the writing team went
I would have accepted that end for Clyde before he killed EJ, stabbed sonny and made Vic and stefano look like a fool, if he was just some tacky hillbilly meant to give Jordan and Ben a story then him trying to be bigger than stefano and victor on a villain level was really unnecessary
Sorry I forgot he was also meant as a notch on Kate's belt

The stories back then always had insets in terms of People sleeping with several members of a family, how ever it's more on a barf level now a days
Hope and rafe are the ultimate hurl right now for me and Brady sleeping with not only his dad's exes but his grand dads ..... Where do we draw the line?
It's a soap I get it it's suppose to be trashy, but this is out right sick

[fluffysmom]

Now that supercouples are a thing of the past we don't get the epic love stories any more.

There have always been characters like Kate, Stefano and Victor who for the most part didn't often pay for their crimes. But the evil villains like Clyde didn't get away with killing or attempting to kill a DiMera or a Kiriakis.

I can't stand it when a brand new character comes in and takes center stage immediately. We've had way too much of that in the past decade.

I don't like it when characters or couples are forced down our throats and propped by everyone in Salem.

I feel like we often don't know what motivates a character or we have to guess.

Filming so far ahead makes it almost impossible to make changes when a character or story isn't working. I'm hoping they are working on this issue because I read recently that they had taken a 5 week break from filming.

[tapdancer]

The characters rarely go anywhere. Some of the sets became much smaller, although they've been changing that. I'm glad some of the old sets have reappeared. It was weird when, for a few years, we never saw Marlena or Hope at home anymore. I really miss Marlena's penthouse, but I'm glad she finally has a home again. I'm also glad Hope will be going back home soon. Her house is cute. It's much better than Jennifer's ugly, "old lady" living room. 

Weddings are boring. Weddings used to be such a big thing on this show. Sami's last wedding to EJ was pitiful since most people didn't support them. Hope's wedding to Aiden was lame with the "big 50th Anniversary party" beforehand, which was extremely disppointing. All they did was wear really cheesy clothes and bad wigs, have the wedding, and then watch fireworks. I expected a lot more. And, really, Hope should have been married the day after. It was tacky to steal the event and make it about herself. (I guess Julie is to blame for that; it was her suggestion.) I also have a hard time believing that more people didn't show up for Abby's wedding. Most people seem okay with Chad. Maggie couldn't attend because Victor was in bed with a cold? Give me a break! Yet she had time to sit and chat with Summer when she was out picking up Victor's medicine. Kayla and Steve weren't at the wedding because they were having a super important meal at the pub. Geez!

They keep bringing in new characters and then sending them away. We don't get to know them very well before they disappear, so why introduce them in the first place? I understand they can't keep everyone, but at least give them a purpose for being there. Xander wasn't needed, Lani isn't needed, and Summer isn't needed. Then we have people like Eve who disappear without an explanation. She did an awesome job mourning Paige's death and I enjoyed her scenes with Theresa. Her ex is in town and she finally had a job after all this time, so what happens? They send her to New York with Claire, who sneaks back to Salem alone, and Eve just never comes back? I guess she won't be at Theresa's wedding. Oh, yeah, weddings don't matter anymore. Probably only about 6 people will attend, anyway. (And her parents probably won't show.)

There's no real love and romance for the younger crowd. Couples get together for a short time and as soon as they're married or have a baby, they split up.

There's way too much death right now. I love a murder mystery storyline every few years, but people have been dying left and right since last August.

[sevenna92]

One of the things that is different now is that now you have no real idea if a couple really is in it for the long haul. Back then no matter how many obstacles were thrown their way and how many people tried to break a couple apart, you knew at some point that they were getting back together.

Now as soon as a couple gets together you can't help but be filled with dread because you know there's a high probability that they may not even be an item anymore after about six months, especially after a writing change. Also characters tend to switch partners every so often and get together so quickly and so often with little to no build-up that there's no incentive to even invest in or root for the couple. I mean, why bother if they might not even last a year, tops? Maybe that's why we have garbage weddings now. Why even go all out when the couple may be done several months down the road?

Also ditto on the lack of character development and motivation for the new characters. The female characters that have been brought on in recent years are the absolute worst offenders of this. They just bring them on with no clear plan or purpose and they just languish on-screen for months with shoddy writing and boring pairings while the audience either grows bored of them or ends up hating them or both. I mean, it took nearly 4 years for anyone to learn anything about Theresa's backstory because for much of her run we had no idea why she was acting out and we had to wonder if she endured some horrible trauma in her past or she was simply a bad seed.

I mean, Days used to be very good at developing female characters, both good and evil. Years ago we had heroines like Kim, Marlena, Hope, Jennifer, Kayla, etc. And now we barely have any female characters decent enough to take over for them. Most of the younger generation is so poorly developed now with no clear personality traits why should we care about them?

Abby was a huge mess for years writing wise and character wise and she wasn't developed well enough to even be a remotely compelling heroine, no matter how much the show tried to convince us otherwise. Ciara had a very clear personality and looking back even though I hated her she was an unusual, interesting character when she was a child. Now? She's just your average teenager who's just bland. Claire is actually more interesting than her and she hasn't been in Salem in years.

[Kpatch]

Wow, these are all fantastic answers.

One more thing to add — commercials. There used to be more show between the commercials. Now there's less and it feels choppy. Too many interruptions and not enough time to build a scene or a moment.

[tapdancer]

Apr 4, 2016 9:20:58 GMT -5 Kpatch said:

Wow, these are all fantastic answers.

One more thing to add — commercials. There used to be more show between the commercials. Now there's less and it feels choppy. Too many interruptions and not enough time to build a scene or a moment.

You're right! When I watch old clips on YouTube, the scenes used to be much longer.

[heroicmuse]

Apr 4, 2016 10:38:07 GMT -5 tapdancer said:

Apr 4, 2016 9:20:58 GMT -5 Kpatch said:

Wow, these are all fantastic answers.

One more thing to add — commercials. There used to be more show between the commercials. Now there's less and it feels choppy. Too many interruptions and not enough time to build a scene or a moment.

You're right! When I watch old clips on YouTube, the scenes used to be much longer.

YES! I think the show used to be 45 minutes plus commercials, and they saved the bulk of the commercials for closer to the end of the show. I remember it used to be that you knew it was almost over when there suddenly seemed to be a ton of commercials. Now I think it's 36 minutes without the commercials and it seems like my fast forward button gets a good workout when I don't watch live.

Also I miss how halfway through they used to show the hourglass again and Macdonald Carey would announce that they would be back for the second half of the show in a minute.

[tapdancer]

Speaking of things we miss, I miss them showing previews for the next day's episode at the end of each show.

[heroicmuse]

I miss that too tapdancer. I loved the previews.

Of course first we need to have more things worth previewing. LOL

[fluffysmom]

Unfortunately the budget is most likely responsible for the weddings not being big events anymore.

[melly]

Macdonald Carey... Sigh.