Thaao Penghlis: "The James Reilly's of The World Have Destroyed Daytime"
Exiting Days of Our Lives actor Thaao Penghlis recently spoke out about his firing from Days of Our Lives to Michael Fairman for MichaelFairmanSoaps.com. The veteran actor revealed how he got the call about being tossed from the soap while doing mission work in Cuba—nice job Kenny—. He also talked about the state of the once-great Days of Our Lives and daytime as a whole.
MICHAEL:
When you look at Days now, with the departure of so many long time veterans and icons of the genre, what do you think?
THAAO:
Days is not "Days" anymore. It’s an extension of what it was; it’s not the body or the heart of what it was. We were all part of that, especially those that just left and I think we were the best of daytime. I think, hands down, the James Reilly’s of the world have destroyed daytime. They took the thing that people watched, which was great reality and passions, and made it into somewhat of a joke and cartoons. However, I must say, the fact that “DAYS” has remained on so long is a credit to the show. It has such a wonderful history and I will miss it."
As much as I respect Penghlis, I beg to differ concerning his take on the late James E. Reilly's impact on daytime. If you've ever listening to a CBS/Days podcast you know how I feel about the writer. I was a fan of Days long before Reilly came onboard, and adored the romance novel-come-to-life storytelling of the 80's, but there's no denying Reilly helped save this soap when he took the reins in the early 90's. Reilly took Days from Number 7 to Number 2 in households and kept it at Number 1 among women 18-49 for much of his original stint with the show, so I fail to see how he hepled "destroy daytime".
When Reilly took over Days in 1992, NBC was already about to cancel the stellar Santa Barbara and Another World had been on borrowed time since the end of the 80's. Meanwhile Days under Reilly ended up getting two-page spreads in Entertainment Weekly and coming thisclose to knocking Y&R off as the top soap during the Devil Possession storyline. I firmly believe Days would have been cancelled well over a decade ago and NBC would long be out of the soap game without benefiit of Reilly's larger-than-life storytelling and juggernaut ratings, however, I do believe Reilly wannabes like Gary Tomlin and Dena Higley, who never possessed even so much as a trace of the late writer's vision or passion for that type of pop fizz storytelling, have helped put another couple of nails or 300 in the industry's coffin.
What made Reilly successful was that he genuinely, wholeheartedly believed in the stories he was spinning. The rest of daytime trying to mimic that (Guiding Light cloning Reva and sending her back in time, ABC turning it's first General Hospital spinoff into a poor soap fan's Dark Shadows) was the problem, not Reilly. No one asked the rest of the industry to play copy cat. As for Penghlis, he is much too talented for the current state of Days. Maybe he can go to All My Children as a recast for Dimitri?
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Comments
2 January 2008
6 weeks 5 days
Ithink the people who our ruining daytime our higley and corday.In my opinion if reilly was writing the show we wouldnt of seen the end of john and marlena
15 February 2009
2 years 46 weeks
I completely agree with Thaao. I stopped watching Days after JER took over in 93, started again in 2001, and then stopped with his awful SSK s/l in 2003 after he was brought back. I realize a lot of people were entertained by his campy writing, but I much preferred the character-driven stories and romance of the 80's. For me, the show was a joke after that.
And when I'm on these boards I always wonder why people are mostly talking about the s/l and couples of the 80's or the present day writing and characters. I know the ratings were high when JER was HW, and yet I hardly ever see people talking about those years. I really do wonder why.
27 January 2008
1 year 16 weeks
"They took the thing that people watched, which was great reality and passions, and made it into somewhat of a joke and cartoons"
That may be true, but JER engaged NEW viewers.
19 November 2008
1 year 48 weeks
If you look at the quote, Thaao did not put all of the guilt solely on James E. Reilly. He did say “the James Reilly’s of the world” – that includes all of his copycats and protégées, a la Tomlin and Higley. And, yes, they are responsible for the suckfest that is going on in daytime now.
Whether DAYS would have survived without the hiring of James E. Reilly, fans could second-guess about until the end of all time. Sure, he helped the show survive in the 90s by writing over-the-top crazy camp stories like Buried Alive, Possession, Aremid, all of those Kristens, et. cet. In the short-term, he helped. In the long-term, I agree with Thaao.
Frankly, Reilly was a one-trick pony. Unless he could write shock value stories, he always fell back on rehashed storylines that had been done before and unpopular triangles. He had no problem rewriting established characters’ personalities in order to suit his needs, either for his plots or through some personal vendetta against the actors. He had no problem throwing out core established families like the Dimeras and the Deverauxes to bring in his own families like the Reeds and the Lockharts. Although there’s always been an insane amount of youth worship in the soaps, Reilly took it to extremes, starting with shoving Carrie, Austin and Sami down the viewers throats with every opportunity he could get. And he had an obvious fetish for underwear models rather than real actors.
I don’t get why NBC loved Reilly so much. So he helped out in the 90s. What had he done for them lately? PASSIONS was no major hit for the network. He nearly succeeded in killing DAYS off with the Salem Serial Killer and Melaswen stuff of 2003 and 2004. Corday finally somehow found the balls to fire him. But even last year before Reilly died, NBC wanted him back...when he was responsible for so much of the trouble in the first place.
Real drama and stories, like what Thaao was talking about, have timeless appeal. Camp and flash lasts until it’s too boring or stupid to watch anymore.
22 January 2008
7 hours 16 min
And when I'm on these boards I always wonder why people are mostly talking about the s/l and couples of the 80's or the present day writing and characters. I know the ratings were high when JER was HW, and yet I hardly ever see people talking about those years. I really do wonder why.
***
I talk frequently about both. GH may have made the supercouple a global concept with Luke and Laura, but Days took that template to the next level with Roman and Marlena, Bo and Hope, Patch and Kayla, Shane and Kim and others in the 80's. But then the actors left, Northrop and Hall, Reckell and Alfonso, Nichols and Evans. Days was the "supercouple" soap, so when all the supercouples left, they were stuck. In the early 90's they ushered in all of those forgettable characters like Tanner and Molly and Brian Scofield that didn't click with the fans. The show was suffering a major identity crisis until Reilly came in and redefined the show. What gets me is people always focus on his more outlandish stuff. Reilly also wrote much of the red hot Lawrence/Carly/Bo triangle. He wrote John and Marlena's affair, made Sami the most imitated bitch in daytime during the 90's (GH and ATWT's Carlys both owe homage to Sami) and even created new supercouples with Austin and Carrie, Bo and Billie and Carrie and Mike. He did more than possess blonde shrinks with the devil. He delved into the show's history to bring back Laura Horton and make Kate Roberts the same Kate whose affair with Bill drove Laura crazy decades earlier and made Lucas a Horton. He also made Thaao one of the most memorable villains of the 90's with the Aremid storyline and later in the 2000's with the serial killer story. I loved that story, it may have been overthetop, but no more so than a man injesting toxic balls or a much-married randy oilman becoming a preacher and marrying his wife's sister. At least Reilly's outlandish storylines made for watercooler moments. People who didn't even watch soaps knew about Buried Alive and the Devil possession storyline. Also at least Reilly valued both vets and teens. He never once sacrificed story for John and Marlena in favor of Sami, the show was balanced. John and Marlena, Bo and Hope shared the front burner with Carrie, Sami, Austin and Lucas and he made Louise Sorel (Vivian) even more of a star as she headed into her 60's. Find me a writer/producer now that wants to tell stories for anyone over 40, save fo Ron Carlivati and Maria Bell. Reilly was never a "great writer" like Marland or Bell, but he was a darn good storyteller and he knew how to keep the numbers high and I'm sorry, that sounds pretty good right about now in this soap fan's opinion.
4 February 2009
2 years 50 weeks
I really loved Reilly's work when he FIRST came to Salem. He wrote great stuff for John and Marlena - the affair, maison blanche, the possession, aremid, evil Kristen. Sure, the storylines were a little flaky, but there was always a great love story underneath it all. And some friendship time, too! He also had a talent for the slow build....you'll never get that kind of storytelling out of Higley which is why I don't watch anymore. JR, rest in peace.
22 January 2008
7 hours 16 min
In the short-term, he helped.
***
How is the entire decade of the 90's considered the 'short-term'? Reilly is the one who brought Thaao back to days after an almost decade's long absence for the John/Kristen/Tony storyline.
***
Frankly, reilly was a one-trick pony. Unless he could write shock value stories, he always fell back on rehashed storlyines that had been done before and unpopular triangles.
***
Carrie/Austin/Sami was one of the most popular triangles on daytime durin those years. They stayed on the cover of every soap magazine and the storyline made Alison Sweeney a star. How is that defined as "unpopular"? He did the same thing with Billie/Bo/Hope, Vivian/Kate/Victor and Marlena/John/Kristen. To me popularity is measured in viewers and people were glued to their sets, not for a Sweeps stunt like today, but for years as these storylines played out. Now I didn't like everything he did, not by a long shot, Jack Deveraux as played by Matt Ashford is one of my all-time favorite soap actors and Reilly loathed his take on Jack and punished him for it. That ticked me off, but overall, I couldn't stop watching during his years as head writer, and unlike all of the so readily discounted "newer" fans Reilly pulled in, I have watched Days since the early 80s.
22 January 2008
7 hours 16 min
Real drama and stories, like what Thaao was talking about, have timeless appeal. Camp and flash lasts until it’s too boring or stupid to watch anymore.
***
One of Thaao's biggest storylines of the eighties was the over-the-top serial killer storyline where his doppleganger cousin Andre killed half the town and framed Tony, including Rene, his sometimes lover/sometimes sister. Now I loved that story too, but how was that any different than Reilly's stories?
22 January 2008
7 hours 16 min
I don’t get why NBC loved Reilly so much.
***
Because he made them millions of dollars by drawing in the audience Madison Avenue so desperately craves. Because he hooked tweens and teens when no one else in daytme was doing so.
So he helped out in the 90s. What had he done for them lately? PASSIONS was no major hit for the network.
***
There would be no soaps on NBC in the 2000s hand he not done what he did in the 90s. Passions, while it wasn't my cup of tea, gave the network a new demo to tout, it was Numer one among girls 12-17. The model he helped establish is now keeping netlet's like The CW and ABC Family alive. Reilly was before his time in terms of getting niche storytelling, and he did so without sacrificing story for veterans.
He nearly succeeded in killing DAYS off with the Salem Serial Killer and Melaswen stuff of 2003 and 2004.
***
Are you talking creatively or ratings-wise? That serial killer story caused yet another ratings spike. It was Corday, balls-less joke that he is, who panicked and forced Reilly to bring them all back alive and create Melaswen.
Corday finally somehow found the balls to fire him. But even last year before Reilly died, NBC wanted him back...when he was responsible for so much of the trouble in the first place.
***
Corday owes his soap still being on the air to Reilly. He even gave him a piece of the show when he scapegoated him after Melaswen. Corday has no balls, trust me. If he had he would have allowed Reilly to continue on in 2004 and the show would still be watchable.
29 November 2008
1 week 5 days
I'm not a big fan of James E. Reilly and I understand where Thaao Penghlis is coming from but I tuned in to Days in summer 1994 when the Carrie/Austin/Sami/Lucas quad kicked into gear and I loved it, granted I was only 10 years old at the time. And I also loved Tony DiMera even though he was being written as a villain, I thought he was misunderstood and pushed to do all the bad things he did by Kirsten and John.
But James E. Reilly managed to keep me hooked on that show and I kept watching after he left thanks to the loyalty to Days that I developed under his tenure, when I heard he was coming back after Dena Higley's first reign of destruction I was so happy but after the Salem Serial Killer/Maleswan mess Days just ended for me. So charting the destruction of this soap is really complicated, and if the bad writing of days post JER's first tenure caused me a short term fan to leave, I can't imagine what it is like for all viewers who have been watching for decades.
I respect what JER did for days in the nineties for Days, it worked for the time it was on and even though he was over the top he tapped his stories from Days history. However if Ken Corday had been vigilant about his parents' legacy he would have realised after JER left the first time that Days had to transition into something else and should have got a good writer that was aware of Days' history and could tell good character driven stories, so if any one is to blame its Ken-Ken for being an obtuse moron with a silver shoe up his ass.
31 October 2008
2 years 47 weeks
This is one of the rare times I agree with Jamey completly on this. JER was one of the best writers daytime has ever seen. I put him up their with Marland and Bell. Not all of his stories were campy at all, most were not. The only things that were really over the top for Days was the possesion story and Kristen and her tricks and all her siblings.
We had some real good family drama with JER for the most part and that is what i loved about his writing was that family was key in all stories. Sure the stories could drag on but before you knew it you were really sucked in for the long ride with the stories.
JER stories may have been long, but one thing I always knew was that his stories were planned out and it was always a clear focus even when the twist seemed very far out there it did not come out of left field because JER had a Bible for his stories.
THe other thing with JER is that while the stories were long, once they ended the pay off was worth the wait, what writer other than Maria Bell is really doing that(I love GL and ATWT too but they have not given me a good pay off it feels like years).
Bo and Hope are my fave couple John and Marlena close second, JER knew how to write for supercouples he may have used on some stories "soap stables", but he always put his spin on it and made the stories different than how other shows may tell the stories.
I will admit his second run with the show was not as good, but i think it started off good, but ended really bad.
22 January 2008
7 hours 16 min
JER stories may have been long, but one thing I always knew was that his stories were planned out and it was always a clear focus even when the twist seemed very far out there it did not come out of left field because JER had a Bible for his stories.
***
Exactly! You think Higley Wiggly has a bible? Nope, she had a blog though!
13 August 2008
2 years 46 weeks
I think it depends on your taste. Some people like campy supernatural storylines and some people would rather watch character driven storylines.
27 January 2008
1 year 16 weeks
I honestly can't think of anyone else to put in the same category as JER, so I don't know who else to include in all “the James Reilly’s of the world”. Dena Higley is no JER.
Salem Stalker and Melaswen will alway be infamous, but they were a success. NBC wanted JER back to increase ratings. That's exactly what he did and Days got a five year renewal.
22 January 2008
7 hours 16 min
I think it depends on your taste. Some people like campy supernatural storylines and some people would rather watch character driven storylines.
***
But see, me and my entire family are an anomally to that theory. People tend to think of Days viewers in terms of "pre-Reilly" or post. My grandparents watched the show from episode one in 1965, and I have watched for my entire life, with memories as early as 81 or so of the show and I loved both eras (80s and 90s). Days was never a "serious" soap, even before Reilly, it was larger than life and relied heavy on romantic cliches. boy meets girl, boy hates girl, boy is good and noble, girl is hooker with a heart of gold, girl is virginal nurse, boy is one-eyed rogue ex-merchant marine, boy is wealthy Greek heir, girl is tragic heroine from the wrong sides of the tracks. Days supercouple stories were amazing, but they were romance novel-formula. All Reilly did was add a dash of supernatural and upped the camp.
22 January 2008
7 hours 16 min
Salem Stalker and Melaswen will alway be infamous, but they were a success. NBC wanted JER back to increase ratings. That's exactly what he did and Days got a five years renewal.
***
Yep, they were THROWING half decade renewals at this show when Reilly led the writer's room, now the best they get is a measly 18 months.
4 May 2008
27 weeks 6 hours
Someone should teach Thaao not to speak ill of the dead. I'm glad that @$$hole was fired. Good riddance, Thaao!!
22 January 2008
7 hours 16 min
Someone should teach Thaao not to speak ill of the dead. I'm glad that @$$hole was fired. Good riddance, Thaao!!
***
I don't think Reilly dying means his body of work shouldn't be able to be scrutinized. I respect Thaao's opinion, I just don't share it.
10 December 2008
28 weeks 9 hours
I don't think JER destroyed Daytime, and I know without him i would have never turned on the t.v. and seen anything, I would have never posted on the forums, or become a blogger for DTC, because JER brought me into this industry, and while i may not agree with a lot of his choices (final 2 years of passions) I am trying to blame budget and other things for them and not just the fact that he was getting kinda lazy.
Other networks did copy-cat JER, and that may have been a bad thing, but when i hear about Reva jumping in mirrors and time traveling, OLTL going to underground cities, Port Charles, The devil possession, all of that, I just kick myself for not being able to have watched all of that, those storylines sound like something I would love to have watched. So I think JER did do some things right for the industry and he did teach the networks they can get NEW, Young viewers with Passions, and for the creation of Passions he gets my respect and gratitude
22 January 2008
7 hours 16 min
OLTL going to underground cities
***
OLTL actually did this long before Reilly buried his first damsel on Days. LOL
19 November 2008
1 year 48 weeks
How is the entire decade of the 90's considered the 'short-term'? Reilly is the one who brought Thaao back to days after an almost decade's long absence for the John/Kristen/Tony storyline.
***
I don't consider that Reilly was all that great a writer during the entirety of the 90s. He helped with the Possession storyline (the best story he wrote; and one that I admit I was riveted to) to keep DAYS on the air. The rest of his writing IMO wasn't so great. DAYS could rely on his shock value talents to keep from being cancelled...but I don't consider that great writing or great soap opera. The ratings spikes were just people who had to tune in because they couldn't believe Marlena was the Devil or a psycho killer. After that, not much left.
***
Carrie/Austin/Sami was one of the most popular triangles on daytime durin those years. They stayed on the cover of every soap magazine and the storyline made Alison Sweeney a star. How is that defined as "unpopular"? He did the same thing with Billie/Bo/Hope, Vivian/Kate/Victor and Marlena/John/Kristen. To me popularity is measured in viewers and people were glued to their sets, not for a Sweeps stunt like today, but for years as these storylines played out.
***
The examples you mentioned are all supercouples with interlopers. My idea of a popular triangle is when there is real suspense as to who will be who (Roman/Marlena/John - the first time, Renee/Tony/Anna, Philip/Chloe/Brady, even Nicole/EJ/Sami). The unpopular triangles I'm thinking of are all the Billie/Bo/Hope triangles Reilly insisted on writing after Lisa Rinna had long since abandoned Salem for Melrose Place, Jennifer/Jack/Frankie, Mimi/Shawn/Belle, Roman(Josh Taylor version)/Marlena/John, Alex/Marlena/John, Patrick/Hope/Bo, et. cet. And often, he had everyone sleeping with the wrong person.
25 August 2008
11 weeks 1 day
I love much of Reilly's first stint at Days. I tried to stay away from Passions b/c of my anger at the cancellation of AW but it didn't last long. I liked the show. It was cheesy and at least bordered on being a parody of the genre. The set up was awesome, great characters and layers of secrets and scandal from the beginning.
I think that once NBC asked JER to write both shows everything went downhill. Passions stopped in time and 'nothing' progressed for years and Days was apparently being mashed and watered down until it would fit into the Passions mold.
The Lockharts (minus Mimi), the destruction/ignoring of Jack&Jen, Melaswen, Tony/Andre/Tony/Andre back from the dead (Sometimes Thaao you have to say no)again. Happily I've forgotten many of the things that drove me away from Days during Reilly's second run.
Yes he brought back viewers. There was a lot of hype, a lot of vets were 'killed off' and thus a lot of vets 'returned'. People tuned in but what we saw when we did was no big treat. I think the SLs during JERs 2nd run made it a lot harder on future writers of the show. People came back in droves and were not impressed with what they saw. IMO it's now harder to bring back many of those people. Same thing with the Patch and Kayla return. It brought folks in and pissed them off and now it will be harder to bring them back.
I think most people can agree that the wannabe JERs are destroying daytime and IMO the one true JER did some damage himself. But the over the top, senseless, hard to follow, piss poor stories of some of these folks is nothing compared to the other end of the spectrum with the laundry folders and the stressed out bill payers. If they want me to sit and watch someone fold laundry that character best be immersed in some extreme over the top JER style SL. But I should calm down its been a while since I've seen any laundry/bill business on daytime.
19 November 2008
1 year 48 weeks
One of Thaao's biggest storylines of the eighties was the over-the-top serial killer storyline where his doppleganger cousin Andre killed half the town and framed Tony, including Rene, his sometimes lover/sometimes sister. Now I loved that story too, but how was that any different than Reilly's stories?***
The Slasher story was grounded in reality, crazy as it was. It was explained how Stefano faked his death, how actor/cousin Andre was given plastic surgery to look like Tony...there was no "life serum" or supernatural stuff involved. The writing was complex, but not sloppy or unbelievable. It was one of Stefano's great genius plots that made him one of the most popular villains in daytime.
And as an aside, they made it very clear that Renee was NOT Tony's sister. That is until Reilly took it upon himself to rewrite history so that Tony was really Stefano's son and committed incest. And I don't know what his logic was for doing that...since he never really made use of the Dimera family connection anyway.
31 October 2008
2 years 47 weeks
If anything JER pumped up daytime at a time when it was really dead. I will say this, their were two shows thaat were really at their "Agame" during JER time at Days and that was Y&R and Days. Y&R offered viewers a classic soap when Days was writing really good stories out of the box.
It was such a good time to be a Soap fan of both shows because you get classic Soap and New type of story telling.
I can remember I loved to hate Jill Abbott when she was really at the height of her gold digging days just as much as I loved to hate Vivian and all her out of the box crazy.
JER made some blundders the second go round, but I would take his blundders even the horrible Jenifer/Jack/Frankie than Melaine.
YOu are right Jamey Higly could not and can not write for Days back in the day as a head writer and she sure as hell aint dooing wonders for it now.
Days has always been a crazy romantic supercouple show, Days used to do romance best out of all shows. Jamey you said in a Podcast that it is a simple formula basically to write for Days and it is true but when you have people like Higley and for GL David Kriezmen who really just do not have the talent to write even they can not master the simple formula of Days and GL.
I loved JER, because he proved that you did not have to follow the same washed out formula to still be good soap. I liked how he gave the soap stables edge and somthing new, but unlike Ellen Wheeler did not change it completly. THat is what made JER good o Days.
Now Passions, I honestly think he did good on that show, but even it was hard to swallow and I loved the out of the box things JER did.
19 November 2008
1 year 48 weeks
There would be no soaps on NBC in the 2000s hand he not done what he did in the 90s. Passions, while it wasn't my cup of tea, gave the network a new demo to tout, it was Numer one among girls 12-17. The model he helped establish is now keeping netlet's like The CW and ABC Family alive. Reilly was before his time in terms of getting niche storytelling, and he did so without sacrificing story for veterans.
***
There's no way of knowing what would have happened to DAYS without Reilly. Maybe they could have found a headwriter who would have raised the ratings without sacrificing the show's integrity.
***
Are you talking creatively or ratings-wise? That serial killer story caused yet another ratings spike. It was Corday, balls-less joke that he is, who panicked and forced Reilly to bring them all back alive and create Melaswen.
***
Yes, and Corday did that because Reilly was going out of his mind! Did you really want Alice Horton to die, choked to death on her own donut? Did you really want Victor Kiriakis taken out in his own bathtub by a hair dryer? Reilly was going too far. And if he had been a professional, he would have realized that there was a reason Corday wanted those characters alive again. Because they were popular characters! Instead, Reilly spitefully wrote stupid stories for them or backburnered them so much that they might as well have stayed dead. Reilly was incapable of collaborating with either his actors or his producer because he couldn't get past his overblown ego.
***
Corday owes his soap still being on the air to Reilly. He even gave him a piece of the show when he scapegoated him after Melaswen. Corday has no balls, trust me. If he had he would have allowed Reilly to continue on in 2004 and the show would still be watchable.
***
Oh, really? Last I remembered, Reilly came up with the oh-so-original plot of Steve having amnesia, Jack dying of a disease (again!), Jack coming back from the dead (again!), Bo and Hope's little boy being smashed up by Chelsea's car...oh, yes, those were very watchable times.
Maybe I would agree with you about Reilly's genius if I could just get all of those images of flying coffins, flying beds, talking kewpie dolls, talking turkeys, Jan Spear's boytoy cage and Stan out of my head.
22 January 2008
7 hours 16 min
he ratings spikes were just people who had to tune in because they couldn't believe Marlena was the Devil or a psycho killer. After that, not much left.
***
Okay, LOL this just simply wasn't the case, so I can't debate it. I followed the ratings religiously and week after week Days topped Women 18-49 under Reilly, sure there were ebbs and flows, but he kept the show consistently near the top.
22 January 2008
7 hours 16 min
Yes, and Corday did that because Reilly was going out of his mind! Did you really want Alice Horton to die, choked to death on her own donut? Did you really want Victor Kiriakis taken out in his own bathtub by a hair dryer? Reilly was going too far. And if he had been a professional, he would have realized that there was a reason Corday wanted those characters alive again. Because they were popular characters! Instead, Reilly spitefully wrote stupid stories for them or backburnered them so much that they might as well have stayed dead. Reilly was incapable of collaborating with either his actors or his producer because he couldn't get past his overblown ego.
***
Had Corday be mining the store, he could have said, "No, don't kill Gran or Jack", but he wasn't. He was content to let Reilly have free reign, because all he cared about were the ratings and the advertising dollars Reilly was bringing in in the droves. I didn't like all of the deaths, but the story was amazing and was bold for daytime. A serial killer storyline that actually took out fave characters, imagine that! There was so much more jeopardy for that storyline than the usual serial killer saga that takes out day players. Soaps are showing vets the door anyway, at least Reilly attempted to send them out with a bang.
9 September 2008
6 days 13 hours
This thread alone ought to be named Passions.
19 November 2008
1 year 48 weeks
He also made Thaao one of the most memorable villains of the 90's with the Aremid storyline and later in the 2000's with the serial killer story.
***
Sorry, I can't swallow that one. Reilly wrote Tony to be a fool in order to pimp the Kristen/John romance...a romance which I recall that no one particularly liked. Even Andre wouldn't have been such a chump. When Thaao dared to complain to the egomaniacal Reilly about it, Reilly decided to make Tony crazy, evil and suicidal. He was only made into a villain so Reilly could get rid of him.
I disliked the Aremid storyline. I hated seeing Jennifer marrying Peter Blake. I hated the bad Jack Deveraux recast even more. And I hated seeing Tony Dimera commit suicide over the likes of that hypocritical tramp, Kristen. If you were a John and Marlena fan at the time, good for you. You got some entertainment out of it. But I thought it sucked.
And then Reilly wrote Tony to be crazy again during the Melaswen stuff just to get revenge against Thaao again...I guess cause Corday forced him to rehire Thaao. And Tony's motivation for the whole mastermind plot made no sense. He put Marlena through all that because he was upset about Kristen? Why didn't he just kill them all for good instead of having them on a recreated Salem island with poison darts and forcefields and Billie Reed? And he was raving on about world domination. WTH?! Tony was not a great villain; he was a cartoonish bad version of Stefano. If Reilly was such a savior of daytime, surely he could have done better than that.
22 January 2008
7 hours 16 min
But I thought it sucked.
***
I think you're missing my point. Of course some people hated Reilly's writing. No writer is ever universally liked. The editors at DC love Ron Carlivati, but if you go to certain message boards, they loathe him and call him Re-Ron. I'm not saying because I liked Reilly he was good for Days, I'm saying because he took the show to almost the top of the Nielsens he was good for Days. We can argue story points all day long, but no writer in the last 20 years of soaps has managed to bring a soap from the bottom almost to the top and keep it there for so many years like Reilly, or draw in the younger viewers this industry is thursting for.