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Considering the years she's put into the show, and how odd things can be BTS from what we've heard alone, I don't doubt Sherri looks at the situation with some disappointment. They've kept Ron over her, someone with years of experience with these characters, and the show is clearly suffering for it, but she's "just a scab" now. Ouch :( That's not ideal. I don't know if she retired willingly from DAYS years ago or was phased out. Maybe she was done with it all and doesn't care much anymore. Maybe she was waiting for another turn at bat. But I'd guess for a creative person to pour years of their life into characters and storylines and see so much of it go sideways once others took over? That's gotta hurt. I hope for her sake that it doesn't, but something tells me it does. ...so I'm catching up on last week's episodes. It was an awful holiday so I wasn't really in the mood for bells and all that stuff, but there were some nice moments. The Doug and Julie moments with the tree - and those glorious flashbacks! - were so appreciated. It did look like Doug was about to totally lose it at the end, though, and that was rough to see. I hope the crew applauded for them. We've had some weird stuff happen during holiday episodes...but that kind of scene - with two vets cuddling up and just savoring the moment - is what drives home the magic of the season. The tree is still a rather mobid thing, with all the names of the departed and all, but I like the general sentiment. Nicole telling Holly she's right to be sad with Mommy having left her alone on her birthday, and Mommy having lost a baby, and then Mommy kidnapping a child...was not really comforting. Jesus, Show, you think just by listing that stuff it covers for the inexcusable fact that you left Holly totally alone on the bleakest Xmas/birthday of her life? So weird. Can we take a poll: Is Suzanne wearing a wig permanently? It doesn't matter at all, she's lovely, but I'm still curious. I know she said she had her hair cut off during her medical event a few years ago and had to wear a wig afterwards...but that much hair, at her age, even with hairpieces and hairspray? I find it hard to believe. I feel like a wig is just easier. Right? Melinda has gotten the weirdest arc lately but I rather enjoyed her and Wendy chatting. Melinda's missing her dead daughter, Wendy needs advice about following her parents or her heart...smart idea bringing them together.

I doubt Sheri got carte blanche to do whatever she wanted with the characters. I wonder how painful it is for her to see what's been made of these people she spent so many years carefully crafting. Or to only be brought back in to fix things when its dire circumstances.

Lisa R apparently (Billie). I've forgotten some of the details, but it rings a bell.

John and and Isabella's troubled baby boy. In spite of the various addictions, sleeping with his almost step-mother, resenting his real step-mother, having general rage towards women, obvious parental shortcomings, lack of professional ambition, little direction in life, two faces and the heart of the town's least missed doctor beating in his chest...we still kinda like him. Sometimes. 2

Ugh...he does? Barf. I mean, no offense dude but...you have been wedged in here and we all resent it. I do want to add that Nicole calling Amnesiac Abe "Dad" in the hospital was a really sweet moment. Yeah, it's a sugary, obvious thing to do, not incredibly creative or original, but it never happened before, and Nicole, in her grief, seeing Amnesic Abe still being there for her probably made it slip out. It was touching. To me at least. I forgot to include the Ruination of Gabi on the "Worst" list. Seriously that character was just awful this year. Not fun. Not enjoyable. It's like they were on a mission to make her mean and selfish and grating. Her pairing with Stefan was never good, and only got worse and worse over time, no matter how much sex they showed them having. I didn't even see her final episode. Felt like the "real" Gabi had been gone for quite some time.

I've come around to Dan...but no. LOL, sorry but no. He's not. Joe M was really one-of-a-kind, and the soaps that were fortunate enough to find that calibre of actor (Charles Keating on Another World being another one) should count their blessings because they're impossible to replace. Days had two - Joe and John A. Heck, I even like Xander a great deal, but he doesn't have the same vibe as Victor, and no one will. And yes, I do mean range of acting ability and screen presence. Xander has a lot going for him, but John was a master, and Joe was as well. I can't count the number of times Joe dealt with campy writing and dumb twists and always made it sing through his performance. That said, it's interesting to me that Dan's tenure saw him (permanently?) separate from Sami, reconnect with Nicole and even boink Belle...and the fandom hasn't turned against him. James was EJ to so many people, and people obsessed about him and Sami together (not all of us, but some)...so seeing Dan's stint undo that key relationship and still be considered viable is interesting. I've liked him best in Dad mode with Johnny and son mode with Susan (something James was given no opportunity to do). ...but he's no Stefano. No one ever will be again, and I hope the producers and writers realize that, and find new talents with new things to offer rather than relying on the "DiMERA!!!!" legacy to prop weak characters, as they have with Stefan, Jake, unDead Megan (who scared no one) and now Dimitri. Rant over :) Aww, no one will hate you for shipping them :) Heck, I'm the resident Kristen Blake/Eileen Davidson nut around here, and I've shipped her with both John AND Brady for years now (blushes). We like who we like, and Jarlena, even in these cooler days, are a fun couple with their own appeal. Heck, I like John WAY more now that I ever have. Kudos to Drake there, I suppose.

It really did. I especially miss those extras in the Pub, which looks like its going out of business now. Watch any clips from the 90s, and the place is hoppin'! Servers and patrons everywhere. Now, it's constantly vacant or mostly vacant. Gabi and Stefan's wedding (where Harris was waving a gun around) was also at the "Club" where this NYE party is so I feel like that was the last big gathering we saw. There were extras there too, but boy did they look bored/unsure how to act given the OTT circumstances. (I can't believe Harris has bounced back so fast as a character. I mean, he really hasn't, not in our eyes, but the show seems to think turning him into a cop overnight fixes everything so...) Can I just say, I really don't enjoy this "Club" set. It's obviously a mishmash of walls from the DiMansion. I feel like Abigail set fire to Ben with those walls nearby (ahhh, good times). Seriously? Ugh. I figured it would be easy enough to get new extras in LA, seeing as how it's overrun with actors desperate for work...but maybe they're less willing to do a soap now? Yeah, that black wig will haunt me well into the New Year. With the strike lasting a good...three/four months was it? I think six months worth of scripts would be covered. But then, just because scripts are written, doesn't mean they'll be shot. Ron could have returned and immediately thrown out some of the work if he felt it didn't line up with his vision (though I somehow think they had enough of a sense of what he wanted to basically execute it during the strike). The scab writers aren't doing as good a job as I was hoping really. There have been some good episodes (Jude stolen) and some not-so-good episodes as well. Mixed bag. I did like Brady giving a toast to all the single people, though! Haha That dolt deserves his own company at this point. I feel like every year for the last decade, they've forced some woman into his arms at midnight just to make him seem like Mr Stud...remember Nicole kissing him in front of Nun Kristen? Just for the drama of it all? I don't think they even got together after that. It was just a stunt for New Year's. I'm almost afraid to ask, but where are Rachel and Kristen right now? Unseen in the DiMansion? Out of town? I forget.

oh my god. oh my god. oh my god. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I desperately needed a laugh today. Awful week. And you came through, boes so I thank you. Perfect timing! I just hope he gets a beer gut. That would be the only appropriate punishment. Take his abs away!!!

Why is the male extra behind Everett wearing an obvious black wig? Good for Tate for refusing Holly's drugs. It's idiotic that she wants to take them. Is this supposed to be a depression storyline...? I don't get where it's coming from. Maybe she should be more upset for her mother. ...and why is Tate asking where Holly is when she just told him she's going to the bathroom and he saw her walk that way...!? He was running around like the roadrunner in all those last scenes, as if Holly was teleporting to different places. Dude, the sets aren't that big. Stef's poodle vest is ugly. Gwenresa, both you and your dress are awful. Leo, if I have to hear any more about your soulmate, I'm gonna knock you into next year. Really thought Xander would have gotten the information by now and started the New Year on a new foot.

Can you believe it's been another year? And what a year. Really. For those of you who have participated in these threads before, it's becoming painfully clear that the list of BEST moments/elements keeps getting shorter with every passing year, doesn't it? I'm trying to be positive, really I am, but....it is what it is. BEST -Telfer as leading man Xander Cook (Kiriakis!). Carry on. Good twist building on character history. -Dan and Ari, as probably the best pairing of the year, with EJ and Nicole seemingly getting along well. Hard to believe they could seem happy together... -Hope for us (hopeless) Ericole fans, in the form of a baby. -A pretty decent funeral and fallout storyline for Victor, though they'd have been wise to shoot something in advance, given all the time John gave them. We'll always miss you, Mr Aniston. Thank you! -The return of the one and only Louise Sorel. It was too short. You are delicious and we love you. -Susan being alive. Her death was dumb. -Yo Ling un-Daddyed. -The SHes, who keep on trucking and show a love and devotion to the series that warms my heart. -The sweet Chanel and Johnny reuniting in spite of their awkward character histories. -Eve apparently getting a clean bill of mental health. (fingers crossed) -Li, who in spite of bad writing, remained charming, believable and a welcome presence with chemistry in his pairing with Gabi. -The decently written Crazy Nurse storyline, which played out pretty well, with a slow build. -Sloan, who has grown into a fine addition to the supporting cast. -Decent recasts for Tate and Holly. WORST -ReRon. Y'all warned us, but dang is this worse than we were expecting. Enough with reusing old stories, FFS! We aren't enjoying it! You're being lazy, not "paying homage" or whatever. I'm sure there's blame to share there, but still, this is just nuts. And it's killing the show. -...as are PET CHARACTERS. Such as... -Gwenresa, the recast that simply was not needed. At all. JL could have left the show after Theresa swapped out the letters, leaving BenAlex to think he was Victor's son. Her character didn't need to stay, suck face with a moron, get called every name under the sun and betray everyone...and apparently all for money, which we know she has plenty of. What a trainwreck. The story would have been almost completely the same without her in it, simply to be used as a punching bag. I can't believe JL was fired like that, and all because she wanted to honor John Aniston. A mess. A needless, unentertaining mess. And yeah, Emily is still just Gwen. 🙄 You can't get around that with a wig. Also... -BenAlex. Will it never end? Just go. -And Ava, who...I mean....why? Why does she still breathe? And also.... -LEO THE SHOW-EATER. Not funny. Or sympathetic. Or entertaining in any way. Just a self-insert (one assumes?) who loong overstayed his welcome. Seeing Dimitri get wasted as his lovesick cheerleader is baffling. Way to take an actor with potential and wreck them. Leo is offensive, corny, and neither sexy nor devious enough to keep sticking around. But he just never leaves. -...bringing us to Paulina, who wears out my mute button something fierce. She's exhausted me. Go. Please go. -And Harris, who really would never in a billion years go from reckless assassin to cop just like that. I don't care that he's made Ava slightly more tolerable. Scram. -And for the dozenth year running, Rafe! There's the door man. *seeing a trend here?* -I want to include a mention here of the mass firing of female actresses/characters, possibly linked to the AA scandal. This year, we said sudden goodbyes to Chloe, Gabi, Theresa and Belle, and considering what they had to put up with BTS, that sucks. -Also sucky? That they wasted money bringing Bo and Hope back, but scrapped plans to film Bo and Victor back together. Instead, Bo's in a perma-coma. As if anyone still cares. Bringing him to life after all these years just to do nothing with him? Pathetic. -The "deaths" of Marlena, Kayla and Kate, which felt so uninspired and pointless I hardly watched them. -NotNick, an unfunny recast gag and a useless character. (I can't remember his name even.) -Megan, who became the saddest caricature of a villain in a better-off-skipped return from the dead. -Chloe and Xander. Two pretty people do not a compelling pairing make. Sorry but this was a bad look for Chloe, banging the stud who nearly killed so many people she claims to love. -Sarah, who needs to pick a side of the fence already and stick to it. Her waffling is a major turnoff. -The Baby Switch That Never Made Sense. There's about two dozen plotholes in this storyline, so my thoughts can be summarized by saying: Melinda shouldn't be doing this, Sloan shouldn't be doing this, Nicole shouldn't have suddenly been able to carry a kid to term (invalidating Holly's entire origin story), Leo should have had nothing to do with this, basic DNA testing should have resolved this, the hospital accidentally cremating the "dead" baby should have ruined them, the building apparently still has no security cameras, and ultimately, its just another weak rehash of a much better plot from several years ago. -The fondly remembered Edmund getting thrown under the bus after a 20+ year absence. Super classy. -Gabi, Stefan and Brady faking child abuse. How that got to our screens, I will never know. Disgusting. -Li getting streamrolled in favor of Stefan, the rapist. -Gabi back in the slammer and getting roughed up some more. -Kristen the smug and her repulsive daughter. -Marlena's permanently wooden delivery. -Stephanie and Chad's overcommitted and underwhelming romance. -Stephanie's many suitors. How? -Shawn D's first real dramatic storyline in years marred by the actor's inability to sell depression and some herky jerky pacing. -Shitty pacing, with plots disappearing and then popping back up only to vanish again before they can really climax or resolve. -John and Marlena skipping/missing Victor's funeral...!!! -Justin being hammy (sorry Wally) -Everyone getting out of their considerable legal troubles with no issues, except for certain characters who are arbitrarily jailed forever (Lucas). -Abe's awful, drawn-out amnesia storyline. Depressing much? -Sloan's idiot brother. -Whatzername who banged Shawn? The one with all the hair? Talia? Yeesh. -Constantin, whose story began well enough but then began to annoy. The fake accent hasn't helped. -The abrupt SORASing of Tate and Holly. Too soon. Its jarring. -Kate saddled with Roman. This is not the pairing I ever wished for her. They are a joyless mismatch. -Tripp and Wendy who I nearly forgot to complain about because that's how boring they are. Nothing passionate about them. -Gwen. Still hate her. Hate that she got the paper away from Jack. Hate that Chad had to buy it back from her. She is the worst. What are your Bests and Worsts of 2023?

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

Agreed...except Holly was at the (pathetically staged to give Cin all the thunder) ceremony. He did WHAT?! That was actually stated in the show...?? I thought he was staying with them?? 😠

Ugh. Why a Gabi recast? Just bring Camilla back to have Gabi get out of jail and then she can leave town. Whatever her issues, Camilla is Gabi at this point. I shudder to think who will have to deal with playing the part now. She's so cartoonish. Camilla at least had our love from years back, when the character was more human and kind. ...Leo...is awful. This idea is awful. Making him John's kid does not make him a better character or a more important character. First Ben, now this. I wish I'd heard about this later in the week because it's so offputting. I wanted to be happy on the 25th and 25th, as much as possible anyway. Now it just feels like there's no saving this show from its own idiocy.

Since the current regime has a weird kink for recasting actors in various roles, I think it's best if we stick to character threads, if only to keep the storylines straight as performers hopscotch around the canvas. For the moment, Everett is such a slight character, though, we might as well chat about him here.

Its that time of year again, folks, and I find myself particularly grateful for this community of viewers who can take this zany show to task without losing any love for it. If only all relationships could be as loyal. And entertaining! Happy Holidays fellow Salemites.

So I watched a video during the site's downtime, one of those weird spoiler YT vids, but it sounded pretty legit and not all about guesswork. It said: -A Gabi recast is in the works -Diana C will be back and -John will become the Pawn again. .....yeah. Were we THAT bad this year, Santa?

They will. They always do. I wonder which man will be "pushing her away for her own good"?

I wish now that I'd seen that whole Nicole storyline. Probably would have colored my impression of her as much as it did for the rest of you guys. I saw her fake a fall down the stairs in the Square (remember the stairs!) at Jennifer's hands after she'd already miscarried her baby. And I knew about her marrying Lucas for money, and obviously, the entire Rape of Father Eric debacle, with her destroying the evidence or whatever to keep Eric from becoming a priest again...but somehow (probably thanks to AZ's delivery) I keep forgiving Nicole most of her sins. So...today's episode. Stefanie is really not worth all the attention these three guys keep giving her, but at least she isn't repulsive and full of herself. She's pretty boring, yes, but I can follow her decisions and she's not pitting guys against each other (even though she was being really stupid about Alex for a while there, as he chased her). I guess I feel like her storyline is just the writers not quite knowing which way to take things, resulting in three guys circling her for no apparent reason. Hopefully they settle on something good in the end. By which I mean a different boyfriend altogether. Because I hate NotNick quite a bit (sorry, is it Everett? I don't care enough to remember.) He's the worst part of Nick before he died, with the fake sincerity and aww-shucks "nice guy" act. Please leave. There's nothing you could do to be interesting to me, even as a bad guy at this point. I don't even want to see him brought back as Nick for reals. Sorry Blake. This was just a mistake. Paulina's been looking a bit thinner lately (just me?) so the timing of this "is she sick?" storyline is a bit coincidental. I completely agree she's awful with Abe and needs to go...but I'd feel terribly for him if he has to watch another wife die off. I mean, the guy's already had amnesia for like...5 years? It's starting to feel that way. I can't believe after all these years they've failed to give Abe anything meanwhile as a character arc. He's lasted so long on this show as a supporting player. Is one good idea too much to ask for? Gwenresa wasn't wrong in calling Brady a sex addict...but so was she, with him. And the script REALLY seemed to avoid her mentioning that Brady spent his time after their breakup bedding her SISTER and then their would-be killer Kristen. ...did we ever see Eve leave the mental hospital? I remember she came back for one wrap-up episode with Harris, while he voluntarily went there. There seemed to be anvils dropping that she'd get out and possibly still cause some trouble. Did I miss anything? (I'd rather she stayed sane, FTR.) God, I'm so SO glad JL didn't have to play this horrid Theresa storyline. How did SHE end up looking worse than him when he's the deadbeat Dad?? What was the last we saw of Gabi? I think I missed her final episodes. I know she's in jail but that's it. Where is Ari at this point? Did we see her on screen at all as Gabi was re-arrested for the...third time, was it? Stefan and Chad being at all cordial is super, super weird to me. Chad beating him up after he raped Abigail was one of Chad most shocking scenes. I don't mind them both going after Clyde...but he should put them both on the same level and hate them equally. It's so bizarre how...almost watchable Ava and Harris have become, in the midst of a stupid storyline too. Thing is, I really don't want to watch them or like them. This show has more important ways to spend what could be its final years, dontcha think? Pair them up, write them off, call it a day! Can Chad please clear his throat? What is this...a backdoor audition to do Batman voiceovers? Cripes. And no, you moron, you were not a better man because of her. You were constantly dealing with insane bullshit because of her. Constantly. Also, is Li still dead? I miss him. Any news there? Gotta say, none of this is feeling very Christmas-y, in spite of all the decorations and music. Actually seeing them shop for one another, or bake, or wrap presents, or do something festive would be nice.

Yeah. That was shady, condescending and anti-feminist BS. I hope Deidre was annoyed saying it. Hey Doc, your perfect son ERIC seems pretty free to pull his own weight, given that he does nothing and keeps going on and on about wanting to be a father. 👀

She plays crazy waaaay too well to be a "nice girl" love interest. Did anyone see her on Nip/Tuck? Yeah. I see nuttiness in her future.

Ok - who do y'all wish she's playing? Before we find out, decide who she is and what she'll be up to for the next year :) I say...serial killer who offs all my least favorite characters, LOL. Because it's the holidays and I'm nice like that.

Wow. Will be nice to have her...but that doesn't really bode well for her career trajectory, though, does it?

Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! ....what's this? What's this? Some teasers that delight! :)

I tried to enjoy it on that level too, but for me...after shooting my wife and son? John should have said "...go F--- yourself, you piece of S---...and never, EVER speak to me again, if you value your life." ...but that's me 😅

...and Brady. Yeah, that scene did not sit well with me.