I'm not sure what the original topic was that people were responding to here, but it had something to do with the ineptness of Days of Our Lives and how it insults people's intelligence. However, some of the so-called faithful viewers -- whose idea of a cerebral rebuttal is a "whatever" followed by nothing else -- don't have the intelligence to be insulted, seeing as how they don't notice the sudden plummet in quality over the course of the past several years. In fact, their competency mirrors that of Days' writing staff, ranking right below Mr. Magoo's abilities as a SWAT team sharpshooter. Now while my responses aren't necessarily all that funny, those of you who can think for yourselves and who know anything about what Days of Our Lives is about -- past and present -- will get a kick out of the initial posted comments.

The responses to the topic have the lead-in "Posted by" and the responses to the responses are indented and have the lead-in "Subject." My comments are in bold face, and note that they are only a direct response to the post above, as each of my comments and criticisms are aimed only at one poster at a time.

How to read this bulletin board: From top to bottom, responses to the original topic are posted from newest to oldest, but the responses to the responses are posted oldest to newest. Go figure.

Posted by: carmen

Email: ONE

Date posted: Sun Apr 5 23:23:13 1998

Message:

if it were a documentary, yes, i would be. but i just look at it for what it is worth, a soap, entertainment. the demon story pretty much settled that one for me. so now, when i watch, and after watching for 25 yrs, have learned to not let the little things get to me. then again, i don't tune in every single day. i keep up to date on dustin's page. plus i love the spoilers.

"These aren't little things. If you've been watching for as long as you claim you have, your beloved characters (Roman, John, Bo, Hope, Stefano, Mike, Jack, Jennifer, etc.) are now hollow, pathetic shells of the characters they once were. They've been completely overhauled to the point of unrecognizability, with character histories totally ignored and character traits changed overnight without justification other than to make the characters fit into their convoluted little stories. This is called rewriting, not developing. A good writer has his/her character respond to a situation according to his/her attributes and experiences. A hack writer will turn a timid-yet-caring ex-politician-turned-newspaper reporter with a sense of humor into a gung ho rock climbing showboating stiff. If the heart of the show is supposed to be the characters, I can't see how you call their bastardization a little thing.

"Also, simply saying that Days is a soap doesn't even mean it's in the same category as other soaps. That would be like saying because Forrest Gump and Weekend at Bernie's are both movies, they should be both viewed the same and equally weighed. After all, Tom Hanks, Andrew McCarthy, living life to the fullest, running around with a dead guy--no difference there, right? There are good soaps which try to maintain their high level of standards, and there are downright awful soaps which cater to the lowest level and whose writing staff could be outdone by a team of monkeys. Which category do you think Days falls in?"

Posted by: Laura M

Email: @rep.geary

Date posted: Sun Apr 5 21:14:40 1998

Message:

I think "Days" has accomplished showing the audience a very turmoiled town. Salem has alot of hidden thoughts and newly discovered circumstances. I think the actors and actresses are doing their job if the viewing audience has become bored. And there are things still to come about...be discovered. Soap opera shows feelings of reality of life...such as self worth, hate of another, emptiness and jealousy. These are all troubles in everyday life. Could a murder happen like this? Yes, to me every evil that can be bestowed on somebody or something has happend down through the historical eras of time. Did Jesus Christ get crucified? Yes, I believe so. Did Jesus Christ "rise" from the dead after three days? Yes, full truth states this in biblical text. The race between the "hare" and the "tortise has already been won. Have "murders" and "rapes" been commited? Yes, they have. Have people been embroiled in their own entangled sins? Yes,

"Huh??? I think you should switch to decaf. Farrah Fawcett was more coherent on Letterman. By the way, what does this have to do with the QUALITY of the show?"

Posted by: fozzie bear

Email:

Date posted: Sun Apr 5 20:35:39 1998

Message:

I wouldn't say insulted is the word. It's just a soap opera, in no way resembling real life, so i don't care what they do. I don't take any of the inconsitencies or mistakes seriously. People who do really need to lighten up. It's one thing to have fun with the mistakes, but if someone gets really angry with it, they need to think for a minuite and realize that it makes no difference. i personally don't want to see parents raising children, or characters doing their taxes, or working (unless it's relavent to the storyline). I can see all that in real life. i figure people should just take things as they are (at least for something like a soap), and if it bothers them that much, they should stop watching.

"This is the quintessential response I've come to expect from the rocket scientists who think Days can do no wrong, and who are the very reason the writers will continue to put out their material in the condition that it is in. The very fact that you state you don't care what they do with the show and wish to passively accept everything that is given to you is a clear example of the brain dead approach a lot of the newer, acquiescent viewers have taken to the show. Do you also wonder how come Walker, Texas Ranger is never up for any Emmy nominations? Or how the moon could possibly be closer to the earth than the sun considering how much larger the sun is in the sky?

"You comment that people should simply stop watching is a bigger cop out than the writers' lame excuse for storyline plotting. A lot of people have faithfully watched the show for many years, remembering the good times and putting up with the bad. However, the show has been at an all-time low for the past several seasons now, and these same viewers have been trying hard to stick with it in hopes that it will improve. But that's not very easy when it's clear that the powers behind Days (namely nepotism's number one offender, Ken Corday) are so happy with where the show's been going that they have no intention on improving it, because ratings equals success, right? Just like the fact that Godzilla pulled in more money than Braveheart indicates how much of a better product it is. And Jensen Ackles is the second coming of Matt Damon.

"People complaining about Days aren't being malicious toward it because they hate the show, but rather because they know what it was like when it was halfway decent and want it to be that way again. That's what the true fan is all about--one who doesn't go 'rah rah rah' to anything and everything, who will stand up and be heard if the show does boneheaded things. They don't hate the show, they hate the people who are responsible for the way the show has become. If ER or Dawson's Creek suddenly becomes a show about memory erasing lasers , endless barrages of flashbacks and daydreams, and characters talking to themselves for no reason whatsoever, don't you think that 1) you would take notice, and 2) you would have a problem with that?

"Watching this whole Days movement down the creativity-deprived toilet is as frustrating as Seattle Mariner fans who saw their beloved team self destruct in 1998. Management said the team needed more relief pitching and speed, but over the off-season they 'solved' their problems by getting a slow outfielder who can't catch and an over-the-hill reliever who can't throw strikes, neither of whom lasted half a season on the team.

"Personally, it's been months since I've sat through an episode of Days and I do not miss it one bit. In fact, the last time I recorded the show, I fast forwarded through the entire thing because I knew exactly what was being said and done. Where's the fun in watching this show 'unfold' when you know exactly what is going to happen next, including the dialogue word for word? My time's much too valuable to waste on a show that only puts effort into attracting viewers who can count their brain cells one one hand. After all, I like to do something known as thinking, rather than accept Days' force-feeding, 'you'll watch it no matter what' attitude, which you have bought into. Then again, perhaps you're incapable of achieving more."

Posted by: DAYSFAN

Email: Salem

Date posted: Sun Apr 5 18:42:13 1998

Message:

WHATEVER!!! General Hospital might have had one good year that doesn't make it the best soap. Days has won way more awards than GH. Grant it that GH is a good Soap Days can have more a varity due to the fact that it is in Salem. SALEM= anything can happen.

"Put it this way: The New York Yankees have won the World Series numerous times and won it in both 1996 and 1998. But they didn't even make it to the World Series in 1997, so wouldn't you say that they weren't the best? Your argument is like saying that because England was a superpower long before the United States ever existed, they're still a more powerful country than the USA. Do you go through the comic section of the newspaper with a yellow highlighter just in case you find a particularly meaningful passage in Hagar the Horrible? What the show WAS like and what the show IS like are two different things, and your dependence on the success of the past to defend the crap of the present rings of your utter inability to back up your stance on why you like the show the way it is now, which I fully expect from you anyway. The only thing the Days of today does is to put a major smear on all the greatness it once achieved long ago.

"Of course Days has more variety (in terms of everything BUT dialogue, character, and plot development, anyway). It's easier to come up with crap than it is to carefully think up new and original things, to plan out what should, would, and could happen next. And since anything can and does happen, like Susan not caring that her beloved Edmund killed Penelope, or that characters change overnight without justification (Billie, Kristin, Austin, Mike, Jack, Laura, etc., or John suddenly becoming brain dead to keep the fake pregnancy plot lasting longer than the Energizer bunny keeps on going) in order to fit the storyline that wouldn't work if it were written true to the show, I say enjoy your soap. If you like watching a show where one month's worth of episodes are completely disregarded the next, that at any moment a character you follow wholeheartedly morphs into the antithesis of himself/herself, then go for it. If it excites you to hear the same dialogue repeated time and time again, to hear the same storyline recaps every day, to see flashbacks of flashbacks, then by all means keep tuning in. Perhaps the only shows you can follow are the ones you can watch while in a catatonic state, but after you make a lame comment like this, I can't honestly ever take you or any of your posts seriously anymore."