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[MerBearStare]

Quote

Awful writers also had a hand in destroying what made Marlena an awesome character in her original run..

I copied this from the current episode thread because I didn't want to get too far off topic. What did make Marlena an awesome character originally? I didn't start watching Days until 93 or 94 and Marlena's always been fine, but not someone I would describe as awesome. Just curious.

[SanDiegoInExile]

Nearly 20 years of storyline pre-1994 is somewhat hard to put into a paragraph or two.  She was locked up in a sanitarium by her twin sister, romanced by womanizing attorney Don Craig, lost a baby to SIDS, consulted with Governor(?) Kellam Chandler, who then raped her. Marlena had a series of true actual friendships with male co-stars, from Joshua Fallon to Eugene Bradford to Chris Kositchek.  You never see male-female friendships in the 2020s. The murder of her twin sister (actually portrayed by her twin) was stellar story-telling.  The Roman Brady 1.0 romance put her into SuperCouple orbit. Roman 2.0 sent her into the stratosphere.  All of that happened pretty much before "Jarlena" took hold in the mid-90s.

The early to mid 80s were the best of Marlena.  She had spirit and brains and took action.  She watched as a Roman-mask-wearing Andre slashed his way through Salem, leading to the innocent Roman being on the run. For weeks, most of her scenes were with Eugene Bradford, including a wedding forced upon them by Dr Tom Horton, when Marlena was discovered to be pregnant (with the twins!) months after Roman "fled town" or was presumed dead.  John deLancie and Dee had amazing chemistry as Marlena took an active role in proving her husband was innocent.  Once Wayne Northrop left the show, Marlena could have floundered, but instead she shot Stefano dead in the rafters of the Salem Arena and romanced Police Chief Cates, who turned out to be a drug dealer, a fact she finally put together just before Abe shot him dead.  Then she moved into the Pawn storyline, flipping to and fro between thinking he was Stefano and then that he was Roman.  Wrong on both counts. Ha.

Primetime called in the late 80s and that may have changed Marlena forever.  When she returned fulltime in 1991, she was less earthy, more damsel-in-distress.  

Her best recent moments IMHO was the stellar work she did opposite Chandler Massey in his coming out storyline.  I still get chills when I re-watch their scenes in Horton Town Square after he declared himself.  She absolutely glows with love and support.

Edited November 24, 2021 by SanDiegoInExile

[Pearson80]

8 hours ago, SanDiegoInExile said:

The early to mid 80s were the best of Marlena.  She had spirit and brains and took action.  She watched as a Roman-mask-wearing Andre slashed his way through Salem, leading to the innocent Roman being on the run. For weeks, most of her scenes were with Eugene Bradford, including a wedding forced upon them by Dr Tom Horton, when Marlena was discovered to be pregnant (with the twins!) months after Roman "fled town" or was presumed dead.  John deLancie and Dee had amazing chemistry as Marlena took an active role in proving her husband was innocent.  Once Wayne Northrop left the show, Marlena could have floundered, but instead she shot Stefano dead in the rafters of the Salem Arena and romanced Police Chief Cates, who turned out to be a drug dealer, a fact she finally put together just before Abe shot him dead.  Then she moved into the Pawn storyline, flipping to and fro between thinking he was Stefano and then that he was Roman.  Wrong on both counts. Ha.

 

Remember that Drake was indeed Roman  so Marlena was right and the show changed it when Wayne Northrup came back to the show in 91 with Deidre.  Drake should have remained Roman, he was a much better character than John with his million backstories to explain away a retcon that never should have happened.

Edited November 24, 2021 by Pearson80

[WendyCR72]

9 hours ago, Pearson80 said:

Remember that Drake was indeed Roman  so Marlena was right and the show changed it when Wayne Northrup came back to the show in 91 with Deidre.  Drake should have remained Roman, he was a much better character than John with his million backstories to explain away a retcon that never should have happened.

Hence why I hated Shawn/Belle and Brady/Jeannie (I don't care if she was called Theresa - NOT HER NAME!) being coupled up. Because that killed John ever being revealed to actually indeed being Roman again.

[Peanut6711]

21 hours ago, MerBearStare said:

I copied this from the current episode thread because I didn't want to get too far off topic. What did make Marlena an awesome character originally? I didn't start watching Days until 93 or 94 and Marlena's always been fine, but not someone I would describe as awesome. Just curious.

Honestly, I never thought Marlena was all that she was cracked up to be. In fact, I recently re-watched some episodes from late '86 when she was taken and held captive by the ISA (though she and Roman/John believed it was Orpheus who had her) and I thought she was bitchy and annoying. Reminded me of Ciara when Rhodes had her.   

[Pearson80]

15 hours ago, Peanut6711 said:

Honestly, I never thought Marlena was all that she was cracked up to be. In fact, I recently re-watched some episodes from late '86 when she was taken and held captive by the ISA (though she and Roman/John believed it was Orpheus who had her) and I thought she was bitchy and annoying. Reminded me of Ciara when Rhodes had her.   

I would be a bitch too to the man who had previously stalked me that tried to kill me, my friends and my husband repeatedly had now kidnapped me, faked my death and was threatening to kill my children if I tried to escape from being his captive. The same man expected me to now raise his children as my own..

Edited November 25, 2021 by Pearson80

[Peanut6711]

2 hours ago, Pearson80 said:

I would be a bitch too to the man who had previously stalked me that tried to kill me, my friends and my husband repeatedly had now kidnapped me, faked my death and was threatening to kill my children if I tried to escape from being his captive. The same man expected me to now raise his children as my own..

No, this wasn't when Orpheus had her, though personally I'd have taken George D's sexiness over Drake's any day, but I digress. This was before that when everyone only knew Orpheus's name but didn't know who he was. (Roman hadn't remembered that he killed his wife yet.)  And some of it was before she got kidnapped by the ISA, which is sorta how they pulled the kidnapping off because she was so busy being annoyed with having protection.  Kinda bit her in the ass.  Anyways, her comments to her captors (the ISA agents) were remarkably similar to lines Ciara uttered to Rhodes. Ron probably watched the old clips too and just ripped them off/rehashed them. 

[Pearson80]

8 minutes ago, Peanut6711 said:

No, this wasn't when Orpheus had her, though personally I'd have taken George D's sexiness over Drake's any day, but I digress. This was before that when everyone only knew Orpheus's name but didn't know who he was. (Roman hadn't remembered that he killed his wife yet.)  And some of it was before she got kidnapped by the ISA, which is sorta how they pulled the kidnapping off because she was so busy being annoyed with having protection.  Kinda bit her in the ass.  Anyways, her comments to her captors (the ISA agents) were remarkably similar to lines Ciara uttered to Rhodes. Ron probably watched the old clips too and just ripped them off/rehashed them. 

Okay, I understand where you are coming from. Marlena not wanting protection goes back to when OG Roman came into her life when she was being stalked so that has always been a consistent but annoying trait of hers. Roman was also annoyed with her not taking threats against her seriously that he used to sleep on her bedroom floor to protect her.  Marlena should have always carried a gun after her harrowing experiences in Salem.. 

Edited November 25, 2021 by Pearson80

[Peanut6711]

26 minutes ago, Pearson80 said:

Okay, I understand where you are coming from. Marlena not wanting protection goes back to when OG Roman came into her life when she was being stalked so that has always been a consistent but annoying trait of hers. Roman was also annoyed with her not taking threats against her seriously that he used to sleep on her bedroom floor to protect her.  Marlena should have always carried a gun after her harrowing experiences in Salem.. 

The devil aside, she probably would have fared better over the years if she'd have been packing. lol   And at the risk of starting a conversation that probably fits better in Past Plot Discussion, after all these years I still find that ISA kidnapping Marlena/get the bonds/Stockholm storyline one of the best (even if Marlena annoyed me).  It was a great suspense/mystery (continuity issues and all), fueled Steve and Kayla's budding romance, and introduced Orpheus.  Nothing turned out to be Dimera related, and Victor was still in his mob/bad business days villain mode. Plus whilel watching I found myself wishing they'd bring back Chief Vaughn from the ISA. I guess Gillian though is still doing jail time for her later crimes.  #GoodTimes 😁

[Pearson80]

1 hour ago, Peanut6711 said:

The devil aside, she probably would have fared better over the years if she'd have been packing. lol   And at the risk of starting a conversation that probably fits better in Past Plot Discussion, after all these years I still find that ISA kidnapping Marlena/get the bonds/Stockholm storyline one of the best (even if Marlena annoyed me).  It was a great suspense/mystery (continuity issues and all), fueled Steve and Kayla's budding romance, and introduced Orpheus.  Nothing turned out to be Dimera related, and Victor was still in his mob/bad business days villain mode. Plus whilel watching I found myself wishing they'd bring back Chief Vaughn from the ISA. I guess Gillian though is still doing jail time for her later crimes.  #GoodTimes 😁

One of the best stories that the show ever made when it was still grounded somewhat in reality.. You are correct the Dimeras were not the reason for every bad thing and we had other great villains like Savannah Victor and Orpheus back in those days.. 

Don't forget that the Stockholm story introduced us to Adrienne who was following Steve and Kayla. It was a nice twist that Adrienne was his sister and not a disgruntled ex.. 

Edited November 25, 2021 by Pearson80

[DisneyBoy]

On 11/24/2021 at 3:13 AM, SanDiegoInExile said:

Her best recent moments IMHO was the stellar work she did opposite Chandler Massey in his coming out storyline.  I still get chills when I re-watch their scenes in Horton Town Square after he declared himself.  She absolutely glows with love and support.

I have to agree - that was the most likeable the character has been in the last ten years. Deidre gave it exactly what it needed.

Thanks for the Marlena recap - I also never found her especially compelling as much as a default lead. Interesting to hear the perspective of someone who was there to see it play out from the beginning.

[tribeca]

Why do Kate and Victor hate Chloe so much ?

[Panopticon]

1 hour ago, tribeca said:

Why do Kate and Victor hate Chloe so much ?

Victor: When Philip started dating Chloe as a teenager, Victor thought that Philip was compromising his future by being too serious about Chloe. Victor also was rather understandably displeased when Chloe realized that Philip had lied about Victor's "death" and retaliated by pretending Philip raped her. (Chloe was a virgin at the time, so easy enough to clear Philip's name.) So Victor asked Brady to distract Chloe from Philip, and Brady/Chloe got married and went off to live happily ever after in Vienna, where Chloe was singing with the opera. Brady was lonely and started getting high. Victor decided that Brady's drug addiction was somehow 100% Chloe's fault (WTF?) and kidnapped Brady, framing Chloe for his disappearance.  Plus Victor generally enjoys insulting women young enough to be his granddaughters, and Chloe is frequently available as a target since she was involved with his son, his grandson, and his precious godson Daniel. I assume Parker's paternity being a tossup between Philip and Daniel also didn't sit well with Victor, but I didn't really watch that story.

Kate: To begin with, she didn't like that Chloe broke Philip's heart as a teenager during the original Broe/Phloe triangle. When Chloe came back to town after Victor framed her for Brady's disappearance, she and Lucas fell into a marriage of we're-both-on-the-rebound. (Lucas/Sami's relationship had just collapsed.) Chloe then proceeded to cheat on Lucas with Daniel. Kate didn't care for that because not only was Chloe hurting another one of Kate's sons, but Kate had feelings for Daniel herself. Thus, Kate began attempting to poison Chloe... even though Chloe had just been a living donor to save Kate, who had been dying of cancer.

If I were Chloe, I'd steer clear of the whole family. But I guess that wouldn't be very soapy.

[DisneyBoy]

Did Vincent commit suicide on camera earlier this year?

[methodwriter85]

Horton Square was and always has been a shopping mall, right? Because I'm watching the "Very Special Christmas Special" episode and I keep feeling like they're still trying to gaslight me into believing that Horton Square is a real downtown of historic buildings and not just a suburban shopping plaza. LOL.

I recently rewatched the Last Blast Chance era and I'm positive that they showed Horton Square being a mall as they had more of an actual budget back then.

Edited January 8, 2022 by methodwriter85

[nilyank]

23 minutes ago, methodwriter85 said:

Horton Square was and always has been a shopping mall, right? Because I'm watching the "Very Special Christmas Special" episode and I keep feeling like they're still trying to gaslight me into believing that Horton Square is a real downtown of historic buildings and not just a suburban shopping plaza. LOL.

 

Yes it is an indoor mall which opened up in 2011. John even made a comment when it started to snow that the place has a roof.

What doesn't make sense is the Pub is inside that shopping complex. It existed more than a decade before that when John help Shawn and Caroline by getting them the Pub.

[methodwriter85]

2011? Really? This show is trying to retcon a 2011 mall into being a beloved institution downtown of colonial era buildings or whatever the hell they're doing? 

I had a distinct memory of Belle, Shawn, Phillip, and Chloe meeting at a restuarant at some kind of outdoor mall place type deal in 2002 when Chloe was undergoing cancer treatment. When I rewatched it, I always assumed it was supposed to be the Horton Square mall but we just didn't see it anymore because the show doesn't have the budgets for real outdoor shots like that anymore. 

I kind of figured Horton Square was supposed to be kind of like this type of mall, just not dead:

Anyway, thanks for filling me in. The only thing I remember of 2011 was like Post-Partum Chloe yelling "What the hell is wrong with you?" to Parker. LOL.

Edited to add: I went to look for clips and saw what was called the "Re-dedication" ceremony which makes me think Horton Square must have predated 2011 and it might have gotten renovated and rededicated? 

Edited January 8, 2022 by methodwriter85

[DisneyBoy]

In the Xmas special they made a throwaway remark about the roof because they know they've vacillated on that over the years and left us confused. I believe sometimes it had one, and sometimes it didn't. Sometimes we see snow on the ground there. Why would that be if it had a roof?

The pub was never inside a roofed complex.

Anyway, the Last Blast crew hung around Salem Place, which was filmed I believe outside the DOOL production offices. That's where Nicole and Eric first met, for instance. I guess they tore that "set" down at some point.

The modern Horton Square was reintroduced when Jarlena came back....but curiously the stone staircase and archway that predated it were included in the set. It used to be approximately where the Salem Inn doors currently are. Nicole faked getting pushed down the stairs by Jennifer there, and Will had his first gay kiss under the arch.

That archway was also there back when Justin and Adrienne were first courting in the 80s. Was there a Horton Square back then? I think not....so what was next to it back then? A park?

That archway certainly didn't seem to be under a roof...

 

Edited January 8, 2022 by DisneyBoy

[Giuseppe]

10 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

In the Xmas special they made a throwaway remark about the roof because they know they've vacillated on that over the years and left us confused. I believe sometimes it had one, and sometimes it didn't. Sometimes we see snow on the ground there. Why would that be if it had a roof?

I've always envisioned it to be less of an actual roof that encloses the space, but more of a glass or opaque-type canopy that that covers portions of the square, providing protection from the rain and wind and such but still somewhat vulnerable to the elements. But who knows anymore, lol.

[Peanut6711]

10 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

In the Xmas special they made a throwaway remark about the roof because they know they've vacillated on that over the years and left us confused. I believe sometimes it had one, and sometimes it didn't. Sometimes we see snow on the ground there. Why would that be if it had a roof?

I'm now envisioning a leaky roof and no character on the show has a job in roofing to fix it. 🤣

[SanDiegoInExile]

Salem Place was an awesome outdoor set.  It weaved to and fro, had a cafe, a Ballistix storefront, a movie marquee, and sloping sidewalks.  And ambient crowd noise, with a distant rumble of traffic. The daytime was bright and shadowy.  The evening felt like actual edge of darkness.  Folks wore weather appropriate attire.

Camera angling made it feel much larger.  And apparently the traffic noise messed with the audio.  

 

[Guncle Adam]

I saw a clip online of the Melanie/Nathan pairing. Did they ever address that they turned to be first cousins? 

[RedElf]

39 minutes ago, ajs1615 said:

I saw a clip online of the Melanie/Nathan pairing. Did they ever address that they turned to be first cousins? 

I think when they were dating, Show hadn't decided to make her Daniel's daughter and Maggie's granddaughter.  Then they just sort of pretended it never happened.

[nilyank]

33 minutes ago, ajs1615 said:

I saw a clip online of the Melanie/Nathan pairing. Did they ever address that they turned to be first cousins? 

Although Nathan is Maggie’s grandson through Melissa, Melissa was adopted as a child by Maggie and Mickey. Melanie is Maggie’s biological granddaughter but she was not raised with Nathan.

Similar to Chelsea and Max. He was adopted by Caroline and she was her biological granddaughter but they were not raised together.

Still freaking weird.

[Panopticon]

Stephanie and Max still take the prize for that kind of thing. He was adopted well before she was born, so they were both raised as Bradys. There were actual scenes of kid!Max holding baby!Stephanie and talking about being her uncle.  But when they got together, Kayla’s commentary was “you know some people might tease you if they don’t realize Max is adopted.” Actually, Kayla, people will think it’s weird even knowing perfectly well that Max is adopted. 
 

I assume the show would have repurposed Kayla’s speech for Maggie if it had wanted to return to the Melanie/Nathan pairing. 

[tribeca]

What’s the worst thing your favorite  character has done?

  Sami Brady it’s a long list but I find her entertaining.   Her schemes are messy but you understand In a twisted way how she thinks.  I never felt that with Kristin or Gwen.  
    Nicole although I wasn’t watching at the time the baby switch seems like the logical choice. 
   Sara cutting her hair short 

Eric not smiling enough 

[4evaQuez]

18 hours ago, tribeca said:

What’s the worst thing your favorite  character has done?

  Sami Brady it’s a long list but I find her entertaining.   Her schemes are messy but you understand In a twisted way how she thinks.  I never felt that with Kristin or Gwen.  
    Nicole although I wasn’t watching at the time the baby switch seems like the logical choice. 
   Sara cutting her hair short 

Eric not smiling enough 

I'm not answering this question particularly well because I am more forgiving of my favorite characters when they do bad things. However, there are times when I don't particularly like them very much.

1. Sami - I disliked Sami the most during the Safe period. I've found Sami boring during her most recent stints. I can't think of any thing that I would say is the worst.

2. Nicole - I actually disliked her destroying Eric's proof that he was raped by Kristen more. I also hated everything about Dancole and I'm not a big fan of her current writing.

3. Hope - Covering up her role in Stefano's murder. To be clear, I have no problem with her shooting Stefano. That was earned. Hiding it however is what made me dislike the character. I also really disliked Rope. I also wasn't a fan of Hope and VK's Ciara in scenes together.

4. Chloe - I hated the way Chloe treated Anne when the show made Chloe a villain for Daniel. Chloe was just unnecessarily cruel to Anne and everything about Chloe was out of character during that time.

5. Jennifer - I hate Jennifer in scenes with Abby and JJ. I really dislike Jennifer as a mother. For whatever reason, everything I like about her as a character is absent when she's in mother role.

6. Bo - Everything with recast Bo. He just seemed evil even when he was heroic. I hated Bo's role in covering up Zach's death for Chelsea. I hated when Bo covered up Sami's role in shooting EJ in the head. ETA: I forgot when Bo randomly became a psychic. I also hated Mime Bo.

Low points for Sami, Hope and Nicole involve Rafe. Low points for Chloe, Nicole and Jennifer involve Daniel.

Edited January 29, 2022 by 4evaQuez

[Peanut6711]

19 hours ago, tribeca said:

What’s the worst thing your favorite  character has done?

Orpheus-- Started shopping at Walmart for his clothes. He used to dress so well, but even out of jail in recent times he looks scraggly. 

Steve & Kayla--Props Abigail...or Ciara. I can stand when my one-time favorite duo kisses either of those princess's asses.  

[Pearson80]

58 minutes ago, 4evaQuez said:

6. Bo - Everything with recast Bo. He just seemed evil even when he was heroic. I hated Bo's role in covering up Zach's death for Chelsea. I hated when Bo covered up Sami's role in shooting EJ in the head. ETA: I forgot when Bo randomly became a psychic. I also hated Mime Bo.

 

Yes yes and yes.. I adored Bo but the Bo recast was the worst period for me as a fan. Recast Bo was never Bo to me. 

I was team Hope over the Zach situation.  It was Bo picking Billie's child over Hope's child in Hope's mind and I understood her rage.  Bo never really set boundaries with Chelsea regarding his marriage to Hope and Bo covering up for Chelsea was the last straw for Hope..

Edited January 29, 2022 by Pearson80

[Peanut6711]

6 minutes ago, Pearson80 said:

I was team Hope over the Zach situation.  It was Bo picking Billie's child over Hope's child in Hope's mind and I understood her rage.  Bo never really set boundaries with Chelsea regarding his marriage to Hope and Bo covering up for Chelsea was the last straw for Hope..

100% on this. Swamp-baby should never have been resurrected in the first place as far as I was always concerned about that character.  It made no sense to us viewers who watched Billie cradle a still-born baby for hours. Rolf's skills aren't that good.  

[Pearson80]

2 hours ago, Peanut6711 said:

100% on this. Swamp-baby should never have been resurrected in the first place as far as I was always concerned about that character.  It made no sense to us viewers who watched Billie cradle a still-born baby for hours. Rolf's skills aren't that good.  

That was one of the few times that I felt bad for Billie but all of that went away when she desecrated her baby's grave and had her baby's remains shipped to the Dimera mansion to continue her vendetta against Hope..

[DisneyBoy]

New question:

How much do you hate Ben?

Follow-up:

How much does Ben suck?

And lastly:

How little would you care if he was strangled in Horton Square by the entire cast for the duration of an entire episode?

[Panopticon]

On 2/1/2022 at 1:12 AM, DisneyBoy said:

 

How little would you care if he was strangled in Horton Square by the entire cast for the duration of an entire episode?

I would care very much, as I would have to take the day off work to make popcorn and watch live.

Then I would write a fan fiction about all the off-screen characters (well, Hope and Eve for starters) finding out and celebrating.

[Panopticon]

There’s some discussion in the current episode thread about how miserable it was to film Justin/Adrienne’s wedding in Greece. I’ve only ever seen the pretty clips and pictures and never thought much about how the sausage got made. Anyone want to share details about what went wrong? 

[Pearson80]

2 hours ago, Panopticon said:

There’s some discussion in the current episode thread about how miserable it was to film Justin/Adrienne’s wedding in Greece. I’ve only ever seen the pretty clips and pictures and never thought much about how the sausage got made. Anyone want to share details about what went wrong? 

The show wanted to have a big wedding for Justin and Adrienne because they were very popular and they also wanted to explore Victor's backstory along with Justin's via his parents.  That story was written well and gave us more insight into Victor and what made him tick without redeeming him.  He was still a villain through and through.

So the show without consulting the government of Greece flew there with all of the actors, producers directors and the crew.  When they got there, they were told that it was forbidden for them to film around the country's ancient tourist sites.  So the actors had to be in character at all times from the time that they got on the tourist bus till the end.  They snuck in a camera and took shots pretending to be tourists.  People thought that Judy Evans and Wally Kurth(Justin and Adrienne) were an actual married couple on their honeymoon.. lol. They were that convincing when they were out in the Greek public.. 

The show had a problem with the hotel that they were in, some of the actors got sick.  They spent so many hours shooting at different places, the actors did not enjoy themselves at all. John Aniston was the one who practically saved the day by opening up his home  to the actors. John Aniston is Greek so he had a lot of pull that helped to alleviate the discomfort that the actors felt. 

Edited February 13, 2022 by Pearson80

[Panopticon]

Thanks! So it turns out that even when the show was good, the backstage drama was STILL at least as interesting.

Cast and crew put out a great product in spite of those challenges...  especially John Aniston who went above and beyond. (Obviously it's a good idea to accept JA's invitations, even though it's never a good idea to stay with Victor Kiriakis when he invites you.)

 

Edited February 13, 2022 by Panopticon

[Peanut6711]

17 hours ago, Pearson80 said:

The show wanted to have a big wedding for Justin and Adrienne because they were very popular and they also wanted to explore Victor's backstory along with Justin's via his parents.  That story was written well and gave us more insight into Victor and what made him tick without redeeming him.  He was still a villain through and through.

So the show without consulting the government of Greece flew there with all of the actors, producers directors and the crew.  When they got there, they were told that it was forbidden for them to film around the country's ancient tourist sites.  So the actors had to be in character at all times from the time that they got on the tourist bus till the end.  They snuck in a camera and took shots pretending to be tourists.  People thought that Judy Evans and Wally Kurth(Justin and Adrienne) were an actual married couple on their honeymoon.. lol. They were that convincing when they were out in the Greek public.. 

The show had a problem with the hotel that they were in, some of the actors got sick.  They spent so many hours shooting at different places, the actors did not enjoy themselves at all. John Aniston was the one who practically saved the day by opening up his home  to the actors. John Aniston is Greek so he had a lot of pull that helped to alleviate the discomfort that the actors felt. 

Ah the good old days of Days when they had a budget to go on location.  I also recall this was at least the 2nd year in a row of November sweeps overseas filming (Stockholm being the previous year.)  The Greece trip followed up the summer "disk" storyline and brought the reveal of Serena Colville.  Diana, Roman/John, Adrienne, Justin, Victor stories were moved front and center as MBE was out on maternity leave so Stayla screen time could be minimized till she came back to continue their story. 

I did not know about all the "backstage" drama though. Who all got sick? Did this disrupt/delay filming? 

[Pearson80]

1 hour ago, Peanut6711 said:

Ah the good old days of Days when they had a budget to go on location.  I also recall this was at least the 2nd year in a row of November sweeps overseas filming (Stockholm being the previous year.)  The Greece trip followed up the summer "disk" storyline and brought the reveal of Serena Colville.  Diana, Roman/John, Adrienne, Justin, Victor stories were moved front and center as MBE was out on maternity leave so Stayla screen time could be minimized till she came back to continue their story. 

I did not know about all the "backstage" drama though. Who all got sick? Did this disrupt/delay filming? 

I don't remember who got sick but the actors were professional and pulled through because time was of the essence because they still had scenes to tape in LA back in the studios.  This was back when the shows were taped  between 3 weeks and 6 weeks before they were shown on TV.  I believe the indoor scenes for the Justin/Adrienne wedding were taped in a church in LA.

 Drake who played Roman had a real hard time in Greece and he praised John Aniston for his hospitality and said that he was nothing like Victor...lol..

Edited February 14, 2022 by Pearson80

[DisneyBoy]

On 1/28/2022 at 10:07 PM, tribeca said:

What’s the worst thing your favorite  character has done?

Eric not smiling enough 

Hahahaha 😂 Yeah, he needs to lighten up.

Sami's worst for me was A) because it's just so horrible a concept B) completely out of character and an idea I couldn't even remotely believe she came up with and C) a Ron stunt, poorly written for the sake of being shocking:

Sami forcing Ben to re-strangle her newly rediscovered son Will just so he can remember Mommy again.

Such a WTF.

Kristen's my fave, as you all know, but there's been a lot of awful pointless stuff. The rape of Eric made no sense at all. Pretty much everything SH has had to play has been character assassination. When pushing a random kid nurse down the stairs to her death is eclipsed by everything else you've done...that's saying something. There used to be stuff to love about this character.

I'm still angry at Brady for forcing Nicole out of town and away from Eric because she wouldn't bang him anymore. That was awful. And then there's all his generally abusive treatment of his girlfriends, like Theresa, Eve, Nicole, etc. He grabs, he yells, he snarls, he calls them whores...but he's a leading man?

Marlena? Loving Ben.

[Panopticon]

15 hours ago, Peanut6711 said:

Ah the good old days of Days when they had a budget to go on location.  I also recall this was at least the 2nd year in a row of November sweeps overseas filming (Stockholm being the previous year.) 

I guess the Greece trip going sideways prompted them to tone it down a little the next year. For November 1988 sweeps, the big story was Stefano announcing his return by kidnapping Carrie and taking her to his island in the Bahamas. But even though "Bahamas" was most likely "a California beach not too far from the studio," there were still location shots. When Rojohn and Diana put on their scuba gear to storm the island and rescue Carrie,  there were shots of them in actual daylight and actual water.

Sigh. The glory days of Television Program having a budget! It's such a waste that soap operas don't get rerun, because the work they did back then was beautiful.

[Giuseppe]

5 hours ago, Panopticon said:

It's such a waste that soap operas don't get rerun, because the work they did back then was beautiful.

There's an instagram account I follow that is devoted to posting clips of entire classic storylines from the 80s and 90s. I started watching in '97, so I missed a lot of good stuff. I'd heard and read about a lot of these stories but never got to see them until now. I haven't been following too long, but I've seen Marlena in the pit, the Pawn, the island plane crash, and bits and pieces of others. They tend to jump from one story clip to another, and I don't always have time to keep up. They just wrapped up the Greece storyline a month or so ago and I wish I'd been able to watch them all....I think it ended up being something like 50 clips posted over several months. One day when I have time I want to finish watching that, along with Kate's Secret Past. Anyway, they aren't re-runs, but seems to work just as well!

[Peanut6711]

8 hours ago, Panopticon said:

I guess the Greece trip going sideways prompted them to tone it down a little the next year. For November 1988 sweeps, the big story was Stefano announcing his return by kidnapping Carrie and taking her to his island in the Bahamas. But even though "Bahamas" was most likely "a California beach not too far from the studio," there were still location shots. When Rojohn and Diana put on their scuba gear to storm the island and rescue Carrie,  there were shots of them in actual daylight and actual water.

Sigh. The glory days of Television Program having a budget! It's such a waste that soap operas don't get rerun, because the work they did back then was beautiful.

They might have spent all their budget in '88 on Steve and Kayla's summer location wedding. 😁

I too wish they did reruns. Or release DVD collections. 

Edited February 15, 2022 by Peanut6711

[Panopticon]

11 hours ago, Peanut6711 said:

They might have spent all their budget in '88 on Steve and Kayla's summer location wedding. 😁

I too wish they did reruns. Or release DVD collections. 

Fair point. Now I want to go through that gargantuan budget phase and see where they spent it each year. 1990 would have been the Cruise of Deception (not sure how much was on location but would have been expensive even if it was all at the studio), but 1989 had what? The Jericho story?

[FnkyChkn34]

16 minutes ago, Panopticon said:

Fair point. Now I want to go through that gargantuan budget phase and see where they spent it each year. 1990 would have been the Cruise of Deception (not sure how much was on location but would have been expensive even if it was all at the studio), but 1989 had what? The Jericho story?

The Cruise of Deception is the first major storyline that I can remember watching...  Those were definitely the "Days"!!

 

We were talking about it in the other thread, but since I discovered this one, I'll ask here - whatever happened to the Fancy Face?  Did Shawn and Belle shipwreck it?

[Peanut6711]

3 hours ago, Panopticon said:

Fair point. Now I want to go through that gargantuan budget phase and see where they spent it each year. 1990 would have been the Cruise of Deception (not sure how much was on location but would have been expensive even if it was all at the studio), but 1989 had what? The Jericho story?

An expense report from those years would be a great piece of memorabilia. Even more fun (or maybe more depressing) to compare it to one from today. 

[FnkyChkn34]

I went on the Days wiki fandom page (because I wanted to know what happened to the boat), and was reminded that Bo and Hope actually got married in England, like royalty.  It said that Hope's dress cost $35,000.  I'm pretty sure $35,000 is the whole budget for an entire year now.

[tribeca]

Why did the angel Gabriel only get a few episodes and the devil gets a miniseries?

[peachmangosteen]

And why is John the only person who has a guardian angel? Rude!

[WendyCR72]

On 2/15/2022 at 12:37 PM, Peanut6711 said:

An expense report from those years would be a great piece of memorabilia. Even more fun (or maybe more depressing) to compare it to one from today. 

I don't think the Cruise of Deception was on location at all, all studio. But maybe the show was saving up for 1991 which had both Jack and Jenn's Wild West outdoor wedding *and* the (gorgeous) trip to Chichen Itza, Mexico for the Romans I and II storyline (where, among other things, Isabella told John she was pregnant with Brady and where Bo and Carly had their unofficial "wedding"). Good times.

[chediavolo]

On 11/24/2021 at 3:13 AM, SanDiegoInExile said:

Nearly 20 years of storyline pre-1994 is somewhat hard to put into a paragraph or two.  She was locked up in a sanitarium by her twin sister, romanced by womanizing attorney Don Craig, lost a baby to SIDS, consulted with Governor(?) Kellam Chandler, who then raped her. Marlena had a series of true actual friendships with male co-stars, from Joshua Fallon to Eugene Bradford to Chris Kositchek.  You never see male-female friendships in the 2020s. The murder of her twin sister (actually portrayed by her twin) was stellar story-telling.  The Roman Brady 1.0 romance put her into SuperCouple orbit. Roman 2.0 sent her into the stratosphere.  All of that happened pretty much before "Jarlena" took hold in the mid-90s.

The early to mid 80s were the best of Marlena.  She had spirit and brains and took action.  She watched as a Roman-mask-wearing Andre slashed his way through Salem, leading to the innocent Roman being on the run. For weeks, most of her scenes were with Eugene Bradford, including a wedding forced upon them by Dr Tom Horton, when Marlena was discovered to be pregnant (with the twins!) months after Roman "fled town" or was presumed dead.  John deLancie and Dee had amazing chemistry as Marlena took an active role in proving her husband was innocent.  Once Wayne Northrop left the show, Marlena could have floundered, but instead she shot Stefano dead in the rafters of the Salem Arena and romanced Police Chief Cates, who turned out to be a drug dealer, a fact she finally put together just before Abe shot him dead.  Then she moved into the Pawn storyline, flipping to and fro between thinking he was Stefano and then that he was Roman.  Wrong on both counts. Ha.

Primetime called in the late 80s and that may have changed Marlena forever.  When she returned fulltime in 1991, she was less earthy, more damsel-in-distress.  

Her best recent moments IMHO was the stellar work she did opposite Chandler Massey in his coming out storyline.  I still get chills when I re-watch their scenes in Horton Town Square after he declared himself.  She absolutely glows with love and support.

Oh Great memories. I started watching some very old, like the first five, days of our lives on YouTube because I’m not old  enough to have seen them but I was around for the glorious Marlene years hopefully I can find some of those to rewatch. Still not done comfort streaming😊!