Past Plots Discussion: Whatever Happened To...

[peachmangosteen]

In the beginning it wasn't as out there. I stopped watching before it got really weird.

[Jaded]

15 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

At the end of the day, I wonder what is still fondly remembered about Passions in general, because it just seemed to be a show all about shock value and weirdness.

I look back fondly on Tabitha, Timmy and as CanaryFan98 mentioned Ben Masters who played Julian. 

[CanaryFan98]

6 hours ago, Giuseppe said:

i still fondly remember Jesse Metcalf's shirtlessness...lol.

Passions did end up having actors that moved on to bigger things which is kind of surprising considering how campy it was.

Jesse Metcalfe

Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Justin Hartley

Natalie Zea

Those are the only ones I can think of at the moment.

 

I noticed a few of their actors ended up on Days though one way or another.

Edited June 18, 2023 by CanaryFan98

[BuckeyeLou]

3 hours ago, Jaded said:

I look back fondly on Tabitha, Timmy and as CanaryFan98 mentioned Ben Masters who played Julian. 

I also loved Tabitha & Timmy...it was such a campy show, but the 2 of them were so charming together...it was a Fun & Funny show at the beginning(and I loved the Theme song), but finally gave up when it got too weird for me. 

[JBC344]

20 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

Ahhhhh - thank you very much. I see it now, as clearly as it can be seen.

The thing was, I kept seeing bits and pieces of all of this across like, five years or more of the show, so I just kept asking myself "how many flipping Gina's IS she?" LOL.

The clip of white-haired Gina (obviously the real Princess Gina now) lighting Stefano on fire to escape some castle makes more sense now. I was so baffled seeing that out of context. Like...if Hope is talking with Caroline at the Pub and being called "Gina" and treated like that's normal, then how did she become white-haired and trapped in a castle with Stefano? Huh? LOL. Now I see it better. Thanks!

So the legit older Princess Gina died at some point, I assume, after attempting to take over Hope's life probably?

Were there any more Princess Gina appearances in the last twenty years, prior to the Halloween episode riff by Ron and then the incredibly lame "Hope's brain chip has been reactivated!" Princess Gina/Time Jump nonsense?

Was it established in the 90s that Stefano brainwashed her using a brain chip...or was that added in 20 years later as a retcon because brain chips are Ron's favorite thing?

 

EDIT:

Jaded that is some messed-up stuff - wow! I'd heard there was an intersex murderer character on Passions, but that was all. Hadn't realized the extent of it. Yuck.

That show was garbage (to me) so I never paid it attention, but I suppose one could argue that Reilly was brave enough to portray an LGBTQIA character as a villain, back when they tended not to be portrayed at all?

Although I suppose trans characters were more typically seen as villains the few times they even appeared in mainstream media (Ace Ventura, Silence of the Lambs, etc), so maybe not...

At the end of the day, I wonder what is still fondly remembered about Passions in general, because it just seemed to be a show all about shock value and weirdness.

 

Yes, the real Princess Gina died on her wedding day to Bo. It was when she was trying to kill Shawn D because he was on to her. I believe they both went over the ledge of the Penthouse Grill. Shawn hung from the ledge when she went over I believe.  

At the time Bo didn’t know she was Princess Gina.  He blamed Stefano thinking that Hope was just out of it because of all the brainwashing he did to her. After leaving the morgue, he went to Victor and asked him to kill Stefano. 

[DisneyBoy]

I liked Timmy and Tabitha in a kind of WTF?? sort of way.

But I otherwise loathed the series for taking Another World's place. Can you blame me?

[CanaryFan98]

12 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

I liked Timmy and Tabitha in a kind of WTF?? sort of way.

But I otherwise loathed the series for taking Another World's place. Can you blame me?

I thought it took Sunset Beach's place? As it got cancelled the same year Passions debuted. 

While it sucked AW got cancelled at that point it probably should've been put out to pasture. Honestly talking about these old soaps makes me surprised Days still is on the air tbh albeit on Peacock.

Edited June 18, 2023 by CanaryFan98

[tribeca]

My favorite old soaps were As the world turns and guiding light.   So most of the time I have no idea what you are talking  about lol.  
   We named our dog josh after josh on guiding light.  My mom was not impressed that I told him that when I met him lol.  

[DisneyBoy]

2 hours ago, CanaryFan98 said:

While it sucked AW got cancelled at that point it probably should've been put out to pasture.

I've gone back and forth on this, because watching soaps lose their viewership and what little prestige they had these last few years has definitely been depressing. Even so, Another World's cancellation was premature. They still had a good five years left, easily.

They had fixed the casting issues - the real Matt and Amanda were back, for instance, along with Carl - and the storylines were less outrageous in the final weeks. I think the show was really rounding a corner and the creative team was getting back into a character-driven vibe.

Plus, certain actors had "play or pay" contracts in place, which is why Cass and Lila and Jake and Vicky made their way to Oakdale at all. So it definitely wasn't the longterm plan to end the show when they did. It was more abrupt. Yes, the Powers That Be obviously were gunning for AW for the last few years - which has been said by cast members since the cancellation - but the actual series itself wasn't winding down yet. Viewership, to my knowledge, hadn't floundered that much, and the show remained hugely popular in Canada. The cancellation was done in such a way that there was no warning, to prevent fans from mounting a campaign. They didn't want to consider how to fix it. They just shot it in the back, and the backlash to that decision made headlines. It was more to do with NBC not wanting to pay P&G anymore for a show they couldn't fully own and control. It wasn't because we the viewers were sour over Frankie and Ryan or that the series had no more artistic merit or something. It was about business and wanting total control. Plus, all the New York-filmed shows were gradually killed so soaps could be a purely LA-based industry.

If they hadn't pulled the rug out, I could easily have seen AW ending in 2005 (if it floundered creatively some more) or maybe even 2010 (by which point, the cost of doing it in NY would have probably killed it). Or maybe even outlasting the others, seeing as how it was a beloved long-running series. Or they could have evolved it, bought it from P&G and moved production to LA or something and continued with a mostly different cast of actors.

Still...the show got a generally terrific ending (gorilla aside) because of the timing of how it came together. You could tell the shock of it brought out the best in everyone. They were in mourning and wanted the show to shine before it disappeared. Maybe if it had more gradually petered out over the next ten years or so, it would have gone out with a whimper. Who knows.

I definitely don't think should have been axed, though. It was easily at the top of the pack, even though the writing and creative choices were slowly killing it. The cast and production itself were fantastic.

Edited June 18, 2023 by DisneyBoy

[methodwriter85]

On 6/17/2023 at 2:14 PM, CanaryFan98 said:

They wrote minority characters like they did everyone else. I will say that's something Passions got right they weren't treated like token characters at all.

For the black characters, I remember mostly Whitney being a tennis star who was mostly pushed it by her controlling father when she really wanted to be a singer, and her mother Eve being a pillar of the community who was tempted by Julian. Later Whitney would be tempted by Julian's son Fox.

On 6/17/2023 at 2:17 PM, Giuseppe said:

i still fondly remember Jesse Metcalf's shirtlessness...lol.

This was back when people didn't protest white dudes playing Latino characters. Lol Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Lindsay Hartley is Hispanic, either and she played that both on Passions and on here. 

[Door County Cherry]

Please move the discussion about the soaps of years past to the Small Talk thread.

Thank you.

[Guest]

I 'd hate to overhelm the thread with my post but here I go again lol.

I was peeking through Days episodes from early 91 while I was still on the episodes of late 89 in terms of "serious watching". It felt like the writing was so convoluted.

The way they ignored the close ties between Kayla and Kimberly and having the former went after her sister's men to get over the loss of her beloved husband and move on with her life was eye-boggling, such a rip off of Bold and Beautiful.

The Roman/Dr. Baker stuff was nonsense, sure it was meant to create angst for Isabella and him, still he was stupid enough fell for that and it drove them further apart. 

Johnny/Isabella was contrived as well. They seemed to be toying with it for months yet their interactions felt random and not getting anywhere. Both SG and AA were charismatic and attractive-looking but oddly there were no romantic vibes/sexual tension between their characters ("sibling bickering" vibe yes).

I was totally shocked that Staci/Isabella and Drake/Roman did tag team wrestling! 

It was nice to see young Michael Easton (he already got that "smoldering eye thing" lol) and Billy Worlock and a brunette Shannon Sturges.

Edited June 25, 2023 by Guest
fixing

[CanaryFan98]

I recall a lot of writing changes back then they seemed to cycle in and out an bunch of writers.

At least that's what I recall hearing from the actors back then.

I try to forget Kayla(and that terrible haircut she had) and Shane. It seemed like nobody was angry over it but Kim (unless I am misremembering). 

[DisneyBoy]

I thought it might be interesting to see which years were everyone's favorites, just to get an overview.

So feel free to list the years (not storylines) that you found yourself most enjoying the show, without fear of judgement 🙂

[chediavolo]

1972 or so to some time in the 90’s.  

[brisbydog]

1986 to 1990

[Lisa418722]

1984 to 1990 (I started watching in 1984).

[SouthernChick]

1991-1997

[tribeca]

Never 😂 

[methodwriter85]

1997, 1999-2002, 2007, and whenever Nick's prison rapist storyline happened because I think Derek Magyar was sexy as hell. 

[WendyCR72]

This video clip popped up in my YT notifications: When Roman and Marlena tell the (then small) twins that John is not their real father, and Isabella has an ultrasound to check on her baby.

What a difference in the writing - and heart - back then. And I loved the sweet segment with Isabella and Marcus. Makes me sad how Richard Biggs died so young:

 

[CanaryFan98]

I stumbled onto this scene even as a child Shawn didn’t trust Victor.

 

 

[brisbydog]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EbyY9Er53hE&list=PLjmhvDWKMmU3_XeBXZAUi5e6iKoFQpk1s&index=30&pp=iAQB

Found this gem. 25.30 mark Eve calling cops on Harris. 32 mark Abe arresting him. God I loved Nick Corelli 

[DisneyBoy]

That's awesome! Great find.

Same actor playing Harris? He looks so much different...

CR is playing Eve, right? You know, at a glance, it's not inconceivable she'd grow into KdP's Eve. There's a vague similarity. 

[Guest]

I had posted the link to Days classic episodes uploaded by someone on Google Drive a while ago. Well, the owner had deleted them very recently in order to re-upload them in MP4 format since it is eaiser to handle in terms of compatibility and quality and compression.

She's starting to converting and uploading those episodes as we speak, and here's the new link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1KO8WXCWlMiZNu8HyW3GgPB4UUQ0Lgvm_?usp=drive_link

This is her latest update: "Just updated my internet speed so should be good to go soon ! and more uloads faster! :D im an idiot for doing this haha bc its messed everything up lol should be all fine soon :)"

She really is the best! Word can't describe her utter awesomeness in taking the time and effort to do this time-consuming work.

Edited August 9, 2023 by Guest
praising

[DisneyBoy]

Cool stuff!

[brisbydog]

21 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

That's awesome! Great find.

Same actor playing Harris? He looks so much different...

CR is playing Eve, right? You know, at a glance, it's not inconceivable she'd grow into KdP's Eve. There's a vague similarity. 

Yes Harris before all the leathery tanning and hair loss lol

And yes lovely Charlotte as Eve with her loyal Nick (the Pimp) 

[DisneyBoy]

Her loyal pimp?

Isn't that an oxymoron? Or did the audience really root for them?

[WendyCR72]

28 minutes ago, DisneyBoy said:

Her loyal pimp?

Isn't that an oxymoron? Or did the audience really root for them?

The audience did root for them, based on the soap rags of the day. At least until the show turned Nick bad again. (Yes, like many men on this show, he seemed to turn good for a bit, or gray, at the very least.)

His turn back to crime had to do with Lawrence Alamain and his oil company. Nick was accused of being the one to kill Steve Johnson. In turn, Steve's mother, Jo Johnson, shot and killed Nick. (This event was actually the thing to reconcile Jack and Jo, as Jack had resisted being a part of his birth family, but he was slowly becoming true family with Steve, Adrienne, and Jo before Steve "died".) Once Jo did that, Jack got her a lawyer and acknowledged Jo as his mother - and seemed upset by Steve's "death". Thanks to Jack, who told Jo to plead to temporary insanity, she spent a short time in Bayview then got to resume her life.

I miss when the show was that good.

[WendyCR72]

Here is a nice scene with Jack and Jo [not related to Nick, just a nice mother/son bit!].

I always remembered, after winning some SOD Award [the mag's answer to the Emmys], how Matthew Ashford could barely accept because Joy Garrett had died the same day as those awards. He announced her death on stage [she was only 47, died of kidney failure] and dedicated that award to her with tears in his eyes.

 

[WendyCR72]

The title of this video is self explanatory. Nick/Eve, Jack/Jo, Anjelica/Justin...

 

Hey, @brisbydog, there is a Nick/Eve playlist up. Seems someone else liked them as much as you. 😋

[brisbydog]

7 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

Her loyal pimp?

Isn't that an oxymoron? Or did the audience really root for them?

Yeah we really did. It was back when the writing was good and stories took years to evolve. Nick got Eve into prostitution at 15, but once she left to be part of the Donovan clan he became her best friend and confidante. Then she fell in love with him once he took the dive off the cliff. He was totally in love with her but she was underage and he wanted better for her so he married April Ramirez (who wanted to force Mike back to his baby momma). Then we had months of a black and white Casablanca story where they tried to push Nick in love with April, but by then the Nick and Eve thing was too strong to ignore. As soon as Eve turned 18 they hooked up. 4 weeks later the writers got scared and turned him evil overnight. It was like whiplash. He's reading Bible stories with Mrs Horton one minute and plotting to murder Shane the next. The actor who played Nick says the new writing regime were freaked out by their age difference and past so they decided to kill him off. After that Eve floundered and they wrote her off within 6 months at Charlotte's request

But they were on the covers of soap rags all through 1989 to 1990 and presented as a romantic duo.

[Guest]

On 8/10/2023 at 6:41 AM, brisbydog said:

He's reading Bible stories with Mrs Horton one minute and plotting to murder Shane the next. The actor who played Nick says the new writing regime were freaked out by their age difference and past so they decided to kill him off. After that Eve floundered and they wrote her off within 6 months at Charlotte's request

Nick's potrayer was versatile. The concept of bad turned good or anti-hero with a tortured past was an old one, but he managed to create an unusually romantic and noble character despite his shortcomings. P.S. Nick's dream showed in those black and white sequences while he was in coma was wonderfully done, especially the smooth jazz songs/instrumentals they picked. The music variety in Days was astonishing. 

On 7/29/2023 at 10:16 PM, WendyCR72 said:

This video clip popped up in my YT notifications: When Roman and Marlena tell the (then small) twins that John is not their real father, and Isabella has an ultrasound to check on her baby.

What a difference in the writing - and heart - back then. And I loved the sweet segment with Isabella and Marcus. Makes me sad how Richard Biggs died so young:

 

It was heartbreaking watching TPTBs rip John away from his family and turned one of them hating him for much of her adult life. I like Marcus too, he was the voice of reason.

P.S. Is it me or is Staci in the driver's seat (of RoJohn/Isabella)? It seemed their chemistry came from her and Drake went along with it.

Edited August 11, 2023 by Guest

[brisbydog]

2 hours ago, sweetautumn said:

Nick's potrayer was versatile. The concept of bad turned good or anti-hero with a tortured past was an old one, but he managed to create an unusually romantic and noble character despite his shortcomings. P.S. Nick's dream showed in those black and white sequences while he was in coma was wonderfully done, especially the smooth jazz songs/instrumentals they picked. The music variety in Days was astonishing. 

It was heartbreaking watching TPTBs rip John away from his family and turned one of them hating him for much of her adult life. I like Marcus too, he was the voice of reason.

P.S. Is it me or is Staci in the driver's seat (of RoJohn/Isabella)? It seemed their chemistry came from her and Drake went along with it.

Staci was great with everybody. She and Matt Ashford clicked from day one too

As for George Jenesky/Conrad Dunn, I fell in love with Nick way before Eve when he let Alice Horton join the parade of hookers he was bailing out of jail. 

[CanaryFan98]

I remember there were some who liked Nick/April together.

[Guest]

7 hours ago, brisbydog said:

Staci was great with everybody. She and Matt Ashford clicked from day one too

As for George Jenesky/Conrad Dunn, I fell in love with Nick way before Eve when he let Alice Horton join the parade of hookers he was bailing out of jail. 

To be fair, DH should be given the credit where it was due. Although Drake was by no means an acting coach and his method tended to deviate from professional performer, he was a chem magnet; SG streched her wings after they move her to his orbit. Otherwise, she might have gone the way of Melinda Clarke.

[brisbydog]

This was Eve right after she found out Harris had sex with her to win a bet with his friends 

 

 

[brisbydog]

On 8/11/2023 at 9:10 PM, sweetautumn said:

To be fair, DH should be given the credit where it was due. Although Drake was by no means an acting coach and his method tended to deviate from professional performer, he was a chem magnet; SG streched her wings after they move her to his orbit. Otherwise, she might have gone the way of Melinda Clarke.

Definitely Drake was wonderful with everyone back then. But Staci was special. I found this piece she wrote a while back and it really resonated with me as a woman of the same age

 

https://www.hagsonfire.com/issue-3/its-not-about-the-hair?fbclid=IwAR1uMvLpptp7SEwH5J-tlftBmg43Ahp8Jb1SySrINeqpmJpC0EvbS-CE7mQ

 

 

 

[methodwriter85]

Did Days ever have a soap within a soap, or is this a Ron thing? I'm asking because One Life to Live had a soap within a soap called Fraternity Row in the late 80's as a means to introduce Viki's daughter Meghan, and they even had a plotline where Meghan thinks she's her soap alter ego Rainbow.

Ron eventually re-introduced the idea of Fraternity Row to the last couple episodes of One Life to Live, and the wacky, campy way the characters were dressed in that reminds me of how he did Heart & Soul.

[brisbydog]

Confused by the shot of Maggie seemingly entombed in Isabella's casket, I went down the rabbit hole reading recaps from 2011.  My thoughts:

Nicole is an awful awful person and deserves everything she is getting from Sloane. Her aiding EJ to keep Sydney and Johnny from Sami was awful

Chloe was not so nice back then either. Now I get why she is ok with Xander

I never experienced Dr Dan because I was on an extended break, but I hate him. Wow what an annoying self involved prat

How on earth could Brady ever get involved with Kristen again after the Tate thing? Horrible!

When I watched the show Carly was a Mary Sue character who everybody loved,in these recaps she is hated and the town pariah. What gives there?

Kayla is right up there with Dr Dan for her self righteous behaviour. Geez

I had no idea that Xander spent time as a kid with Brady and Dr Dan, nor that he was buds with Eric in Africa. I really got more insight on his character given the way Victor treated him like trash from day 1 while treating Dr Dan like a golden god

Getting back to Maggie in the coffin; boy I wish I had been watching that, sounds hysterical from Isabella getting shoved in a pet cemetary to half the town knowing Viv was in the coffin and not really caring 

[DisneyBoy]

4 hours ago, brisbydog said:

I never experienced Dr Dan because I was on an extended break, but I hate him. Wow what an annoying self involved prat

Ha! You got that just from reading the recaps? 🤣 Imagine us having to watch him week after week...

He really was written as Mr Perfect but was nowhere near.

4 hours ago, brisbydog said:

I had no idea that Xander spent time as a kid with Brady and Dr Dan, nor that he was buds with Eric in Africa. I really got more insight on his character given the way Victor treated him like trash from day 1 while treating Dr Dan like a golden god

Most of Xander's origins have been forgotten or shifted somewhat. I don't think they've contradicted anything, but his past with the guys never comes up.

 

Where did you read these recaps?

Edited August 21, 2023 by DisneyBoy

[brisbydog]

31 minutes ago, DisneyBoy said:

Ha! You got that just from reading the recaps? 🤣 Imagine us having to watch him week after week...

He really was written as Mr Perfect but was nowhere near.

Most of Xander's origins have been forgotten or shifted somewhat. I don't think they've contradicted anything, but his past with the guys never comes up.

 

Where did you read these recaps?

I went here:

 

https://www.soapcentral.com/days-of-our-lives/recaps/2015/150525.php#top

Just kept moving the date along in the url. 

[methodwriter85]

5 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

He really was written as Mr Perfect but was nowhere near.

See, for General Hospital I'm used to seeing certain characters eating up the show aka Sonny Corinthos, but Days of Our Lives had a better balance than that for most of the 2000's, even during the hey day of EJami when everyone was in love with James Scott. That is what made Dr. Taniel eating up the show that much worse. I have never watched a Days of Our Lives character eat up as much of the show as Dr. Daniel did, before or since.

They also had a really good talent with Casey Moss during the early/mid-2010's and just didn't do much with him.

Edited August 22, 2023 by methodwriter85

[methodwriter85]

10 hours ago, brisbydog said:

Chloe was not so nice back then either. Now I get why she is ok with Xander

My biggest memory of Chloe during this era was her becoming a prostitute, and her yelling "What the hell is wrong with you?" to her newborn baby Parker, who should be about 25 years old now. 

[WendyCR72]

If anyone also visits the Soap Opera Network site, a poster there, Jason47, who is a Days historian, has posted the first two scripts involving then-Maggie Simmons, who meets amnesiac Mickey Horton at her farmhouse in August 1973. How cool!

https://boards.soapoperanetwork.com/topic/65124-days-happy-50th-anniversary-suzanne-rogers-first-two-scripts/#comment-1867659

[Guest]

On 8/17/2023 at 7:21 PM, brisbydog said:

Definitely Drake was wonderful with everyone back then. But Staci was special. I found this piece she wrote a while back and it really resonated with me as a woman of the same age

 

https://www.hagsonfire.com/issue-3/its-not-about-the-hair?fbclid=IwAR1uMvLpptp7SEwH5J-tlftBmg43Ahp8Jb1SySrINeqpmJpC0EvbS-CE7mQ

 

 

 

Perhaps both of them were special and it just rubbed off on each other.

I was watching a documentray on Genie Fracis years ago, she was experiencing depression irl while filming Days and Drake stayed by her side. Eventually, she recovered with his moral support. GF is always grateful to him for that.

I read that some egotistical leading actors could be verbally abusive and made newbies felt less worthy. Vanessa Marcil admitted Maurice Benard yelled at her ("You Suck!") in her face and made her cry. One would hardly imagine Drake did something remotely like that. Maybe this was why he sizzled with SG and whomever they threw in his way, his personality. It also helped that Staci appeared mentally mature despite being a newcomer actor. She knew Drake's game and could even give him a run for his money. 

Thank you for the link to the article. It was sad when one was shunned because her thoughts or hobbies didn't fit in the norms of peers or society. Also, I think young actresses these days are obsessed with preserving youth and beauty and delay aging as well, look at Linsey Godfrey.

Edited August 23, 2023 by Guest

[CanaryFan98]

I guess it’s fitting her last scene was with Anna. This might have been the fake Rafe storyline 

 

, 

[brisbydog]

I was feeling mad about the episode today (hate that Xander witnessed his baby's birth but didn't know it) so decided to watch his cousin Isabella's cancer arc on YouTube. The writing for this was so good and so sad but really beautiful. The glory of love indeed. I miss when the show had stories like this 

[brisbydog]

I watched a lot of summer 2000 the past few days. Wow Marlena was AWFUL. She truly believed Brady tried to murder Belle (by trapping her on a train track) and she and Roman yammered on how he was a 'bad kid' and they were so lucky Sami and Eric were great (um.... same Sami who tried to sell Belle on the black market right? Not sure if she was outed for lying about Austin being her baby daddy yet). Also Marlena told Belle she could not love Brady as he was not her child. Belle said that shouldn't matter. She had more empathy than the supposed sainted shrink

Ugh. Why do people love her character?

[Harmony233]

19 minutes ago, brisbydog said:

I watched a lot of summer 2000 the past few days. Wow Marlena was AWFUL. She truly believed Brady tried to murder Belle (by trapping her on a train track) and she and Roman yammered on how he was a 'bad kid' and they were so lucky Sami and Eric were great (um.... same Sami who tried to sell Belle on the black market right? Not sure if she was outed for lying about Austin being her baby daddy yet). Also Marlena told Belle she could not love Brady as he was not her child. Belle said that shouldn't matter. She had more empathy than the supposed sainted shrink

Ugh. Why do people love her character?

Yeah Sami was outed about her Austin lies in 1997.Marlena is definitely awful never been a fan.