‘Days of Our Lives’ Boss on the Show Leaping One Year Into The Future
Q&A
Days of Our Lives has just gone where no other daytime soap has gone before — into the future.
Of course, the longtime NBC soap, which celebrates its 54th anniversary on Friday, has played with over-the-top storylines over the years, like visiting a version of purgatory, the demonic possession of Dr. Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall), and killing off the entire town of Salem only to have them actually survive. But no daytime soap has employed the story device of a time jump to skip ahead into the future.
Starting with the November 8 episode, when Jennifer Horton (Melissa Reeves) wakes up from her coma, she’s told by husband Jack Devereaux (Matthew Ashford) that she’s been asleep for a year, and she’s missed a lot of life in the town of Salem. Will she remember that it was Princess Gina (Kristian Alfonso) who pushed her over a balcony just after Jennifer remarried the love of her life, Jack? And what else has happened in Salem over the past year?
To find out more, TV Insider talked to head writer Ron Carlivati about why now was the right time for a time jump and what we can expect from our favorite characters and their storylines. One thing we found out — expect the unexpected!
The obvious first question is why the time jump?
Ron Carlivati: I have to admit, it’s something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time. And it’s a concept I pitched at One Life to Live and at General Hospital, and for various reasons we did not do it. And then at Days we thought about doing it a year ago and the timing just did not work out even though we were all excited about the idea, the pieces weren’t falling into place. I kept it in the back of my mind and finally the stars aligned, and we realized with the anniversary show coming up, it would be a perfect time and stories were in the right place, and we started to steer in that direction.
Is the opportunity to reset the stories across the board the main impetus to do this?
Definitely, that’s part of it. It’s this idea of almost a reboot thing where you can suddenly just take stories to a new place. It allows you to jettison some stuff, start new stuff. And the exciting thing for me, and for the rest of the writers was just the creativity of it all. Just having to look at the whole canvas and think, ‘OK, if a year went by, what could have changed? What’s changed since Salem? Who’s together? Who’s apart, who’s alive, who’s dead?’
A lot can happen in a year, especially on a soap opera. So we thought, ‘Wow, wouldn’t it be fun that all of that stuff has happened and the audience is thrown in at once, and then we slowly peel back and reveal what happened.’
XJJohnson/jpistudios.com
How did you arrive on Jennifer Horton being the starting point for leaping ahead a year?
This [time jump] is a lot for the audience to digest and take in and we were mindful of that. I thought the best way is if a character is going through the same thing as the audience and we finally hit upon Jennifer. So Jennifer wakes up [from her coma], and the audience only saw her fall into a coma that same week and so when she wakes up, you assume it’s been like a day or two. And then finally at the end, Jack says to her, “Sweetheart, you’ve been asleep for a year.” So that’s the shock. As Jennifer learns about all the changes that have happened in Salem, the audience is finding out along with her.
Was it always going to be a year? You could’ve done five years or 10 years or even six months.
It always seemed like a year was the right thing to do. To make it longer would probably be too much. I also wanted it to be an exact amount of time, an exact year because that way Valentine’s Day is still Valentine’s Day, Christmas is still Christmas. So a year was perfect.
How do you decide where the various stories are a year later? We’re going to see some characters in places we would’ve never expected, right?
Right! We sat down with the whole canvas and for me there needed to be big enough changes to justify doing this. You want the audience to be shocked by some stuff. Why pass a year if some big changes aren’t going to happen? But at the same time, also it’s not an entirely new show. For every couple we broke up, there’s a couple that stays together. So we wanted to change enough big things in Salem that it was worthwhile to go on this journey. But at the same time keep some stuff that’s familiar because we are asking a lot of the audience to go on this little journey with us.
I’m guessing if John and Marlena were not together, people would flip out.
Because we have some big couples that we did pull apart but if you pull apart every couple, it’s just a little bit of a downer. And it’s a little unbelievable that every couple in Salem broke up in the course of one year, even in Salem. For John and Marlena, there are obstacles still in their path like Princess Gina. But, the love between them is there and it’s strong and it’s something that they’re going to battle together, although they are separated in a way when we first come back from the jump.
And we’ll see returning faces. How did you decide who would come back?
To start, Chad and Abigail are such a popular couple and it was always in our mind to bring them back at some point. And [Abby’s mother] Jennifer has been in this terrible way so wouldn’t it make sense that they might’ve come back to town? And, yes, there are people who may look a little different, there are a couple of new sets in town. A lot of people’s circumstances have changed, some are pretty outrageous. I can’t wait for the audience to see it! I’ve been waiting so long for these episodes to air. I really think it’s going to be a lot of fun to see what’s different and, also, there’s some mystery to it. You learn about certain things that have changed but you don’t find out exactly why. This couple’s apart but what happened? Or this person’s dead and what happened? You learn a lot up front but it allows us to let the story unfold over time.
Will we actually see flashbacks of the past year or will it be done more in dialogue?
You will see some flashbacks in the missing year for the sake of clarity. Some that won’t happen for awhile, some that you won’t even see for months. But we did feel it was important that if we were going to make the audience miss a year, show them some of it. What I didn’t realize at the time what a big undertaking this was. There were production issues for how many flashbacks to do because it means, let’s say in one show we have to recreate something from six months ago, those characters have to be in different clothes, maybe a different time of day, lighting changes, all of that. So stuff that I don’t necessarily always think about as a writer but production is quick to remind me. But everybody stepped up and was like, ‘OK, we’re going to do this!’ We just had to pick and choose our moments, the things that we really needed to show the audience.
What do you predict will be the audience’s first big question when they see these episodes?
Wow. That’s hard to say because, look, a lot of the show is about romance. It’s about love and it’s about family. I think they’re going to want to see who’s together, who’s apart, why has this changed? They want to see the love stories. What has happened to everybody’s love story? And really, you’ll see there’s some dramatic changes and most of them are rooted in the love stories of the show.
The holiday episodes are always so big on the show so safe to say we’ll see some Thanksgiving and/or Christmas episodes coming up?
Yes. I love to play the holidays on the show, depending on the circumstances of the story. But especially with Christmas in Salem, if we didn’t hang our ornaments then the audience would hang me. And New Year’s Eve, I like to do something big and fun at midnight. So we are doing that this year as well. There are some familiar faces coming back and I think some people may have a hint or two about that. So yeah, you just have to see how it unfolds.
Days of Our Lives, Weekdays, Check local listings , NBC
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This stinks I hate it Why not leave well enough alone. This was my favorite soap. Not any more
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What were the writers thinking jumping a year into the future is just STUPID NOW THEY HAVE TO REWRITE EVERYTHING SO WE WON'T KNOW WHATS COMING. If they don't whats the point in watching at all!!!!!!!
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Really dislike the time jump. Way too many great couples broken up and the storyline with Princess Gina and Stefano coming back in Steve's body is so stupid. Need better storylines and quit bringing back Stefano. Also hate Kristen and Lani as nuns. Would so rather see it dialed back with Jennifer really waking up and it was all a dream. Bring back the couples that should be together. I don't see Days gaining any new fans but definitely losing many long time fans.
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I agree Stupid Stupid
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This is........not exactly encouraging. Basically, they wanted to shake up the show and apparently just randomly chose couples to separate and keep together? What will this all have been for by the time it all plays out? Just a cheap stunt to attempt to garner ratings? What the hell is my incentive for watching when the only couple I'm invested in is now separated, with the reason maybe not being revealed for months? When it's revealed and confirmed next week that my favorite couple is no longer together, I'm out. I only like seeing my favorites together, and will not sit through garbage because, oh heck, that was just one of the couples we landed on as far as separating them. This is not off to a good start, as far as I'm concerned.
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Don’t complain about it before you’ve even seen it. Give this a chance. I’m excited to watch something new, something that will make me think.
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Here's the thing: I've been more than open to seeing how this goes. The more information that leaks out, paired with this interview, make me far less confident that it's something I'll enjoy. Ron has to be reminded of very important details by the production team? How well thought out was this? I hope it's awesome and that I can eat all the crow in the world, but I'm feeling way less than hopeful at this point.
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I've seen it and I don't like it, at all.
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He meant that with the Flashbacks. Not with the regular story.
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The "flashbacks" that have been created to fill in the stuff that was missed from the jump? Because those are part of the regular story, and would have had to be part of Ron's plan, and he apparently whiffed on some key details involving those scenes. That's why I'm still not exactly filled with confidence that they'll stick the landing here. Some of the stories are okay thus far, others are a little too out there (the nun stuff) or involve too much of the same stuff I didn't want to see continue (the baby stuff + Ciara continuing to be a complete idiot regarding her belief in her serial killer boyfriend). I'm hoping it's fantastic in the end, but it's still pretty uneven for me at this point.
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I gave it a chance and it sucks
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I have watched this show since the Mid-80's. Faithfully. I DVR it and I was significantly behind schedule due to my work load and travel. I finally sat down over the weekend and started catching up. With all of the STUPID Impeachment interruptions, I thought I had missed something....I even went back to see if I was missing something. This leap frogging is very disappointing. There were some story lines that were just getting going only to have them ripped apart. So, OK...I'm rolling with it. I'm coming to grips with the fact that this is really happening and since it is, I'm trying really hard to keep an open mind....but I've got to tell you Writers, if you're reading, this Princess Gina/Patch as Stefano line has got to be the worst ever. EVER. I hated the whole story line the 3-4 other times you tried to bring her back, but trying to bring an iconic, definitely DECEASED person & thus his character (God rest his soul) and replacing that person with another equally iconic character, without his patch, and trying to pawn him off as Stefano has to be the most stupid thing I've ever seen. I find myself consistently hitting the FF button on the remote every time I see Princess Gina or Patch. See, I can't even call him Stefano. It's just SOO SOO dumb. I sincerely hope that you'll do away with this line as quickly as you brought it in. We all have our favorites and those we hate. This is my first time ever posting like this, too, so you know it's bugging many people!!
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Ron Carlivati and his writing team love daytime and it shows in their efforts. Daytime must take risks and do things "out of the ordinary" while still staying true to the roots of soap operas. Ron and his team are trying to do just that and I appreciate it.
Ratings can be deceiving. While reported to be the lowest rated soap of the four remaining soap operas, I also read that the soap is the most watched of any show on the NBC website, including primetime shows. The show is often a hot topic on Twitter feed over story and casting surprises.I do hope I continue to visit Salem on a daily basis for many years to come.
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I saw today's time jump episode.All I knew was that the hourglass was somehow going to end up in Jack's hands and that he was going to turn it upside down, once again sending the 'sands of time' sifting to the bottom. Applause and kudos to headwriter Ron C.,The time jump scene was beautifully executed in the most understated way. There were no Y2K end of the world explosions, no apocalypse, no time travel machines, no zombies, no gimmicks...Using the show's iconic symbol, the hourglass to push the story forward was brilliant as was the decision to make Jennifer Horton the pivotal character in the scene.
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Don't like the jump at all. I was hoping Jennifer was having a dream while in a coma. I am sad to say after 20 years of days being my favorite soap, I won't watch it anymore.
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Then you weren't much of a faithful fan to begin with!
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it stinks I am thinking of not watching anymore after 49 yrs
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I want see Jennifer back to normal again and have her wedding night with Jack onscreen sex soon in his bed. They might be grandparents but they are not old either. Jack and Jennifer look good. Matthew Ashford looks hot we need shirtless Jack scenes with Jennifer. Watching him with Eve was horrible. Jack and Nicole pairing together would be interesting too. Anyone but Eve.
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I'm amazed by the number of people who are confused by the time jump! Like every other soap ever, the story will unfold. You're not supposed to understand what's happening. Just watch it and find out!
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I had a feeling something was going to greatly change when Marlena quoted Tom Horton's "As the Sands of the Hour Glass......." I think it is great. It will be fun guessing who is still around and seeing the new babies!!
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Agree totally!! That Gina is RIDICULOUS!!! That pathetic accent is nauseating!! Come on!! I haven't gotten far enough on my DVR recordings to have seen Steve as Stefano...YEAH RIGHT!!! LOL!! Might just erase them all and give up if this is going to continue. I'll give up!!
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Dumb
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Absolute worst!!!! I for one quit watching, ruined the whole story. Thanks for nothing NBC , another fail.
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I've watched it this week and I don't like it. I have watched for 35 too 40 yrs and I guess its over. I was hoping it was a dream, but the joke is on us. I can take some changes but every story is upside down and I will really miss the show. I come home every day after work just to watch the show and eat supper, I will be lost without the show, I feel really let down..
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This is a horrible idea.
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Myself I LOVE IT! I watched and for the first time in years I felt so touched and near tears just watching the show. Ben as he was in torment when he thought it was Ciera. And how she comforted him when he was scared of being blamed for his sisters murder. Jack and Jennifer being reconnected, the love could be felt through the screen! And the BABY! Oh my Lord! She is the most adorable infant ever seen on the show! The way Sarah was talking and interacting with her. And I think Jen felt that something was very off when Hope hugged her....she will remember!
I myself think this time jump is just what the show needed to perk it up and breakout of the norm! So many of you grip, complain and threaten to stop watching the show when things got boring or you favorite character ticked you off. So now they are trying to make it better for all of us and what do you do...carry on like a bunch of spoiled brats! I've watched the show for 45 years and will continue to the end. I commend and respect the writers for at least trying and personally, I'm looking forward to the rest of the jump! 😄💜
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I want see Jack and Jennifer hitting the sheets they been through so much. They are not old either. I want see Jack and Jennifer have real hot sex romance onscreen as husband and wife now. They deserve happiness for awhile.
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I absolutely hate this jump ! I have watched the show for 53 years and have always loved the stories.This jump screws with my mind ,to the point of considering dropping my favorite show.
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I absolutely agree!!! I've watched Days since days one 54 years ago. The writer's have steered so far away from the original over the year and I've left several times. This has to be the absolute worst! It as if the writers can't do anything but bring everyone back from the dead or come up with new storylines. If this doesn't improve, I'm out for good this time!
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I agree,I don’t like it at all.
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I agree. Worst thing the writers have done yet. I look for some fans to stop watching Days all together. Stupid!
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I don't like the time jump. I've been watching this all my life 51 years. It's ridiculous to jump a year in the future! I hope they make it a bad dream soon or I will quit watching it.
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Me too, possibly THE most stupid twist I've seen to date on a soap. The plot is so lame, it's making really GREAT actors look like amateurs. And I've been watching since the beginning, I'm giving it another couple weeks and I'm gone. Is there a timeline for this or is it permanent stupidity?
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I totally agree.
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I have watcher Days almost since it's inception. This current time jump is ridiculous. At first, I thought you were just having fun with a "flash ahead" type of nightmare one of the characters was having. I kept waiting for the nonsense to end and for you to get back to the normal programming. I get more frustrated every day with the ridiculousness of the whole thing and for the first time in 65 years am considering not watching it any more. You have always had such great, creative writers, but this new stuff is just juvenile and silly. If it doesn't soon go back to Jennifer waking up to "right now" and this exasperating period being her malfunctioning mind while in her coma, then Days will be losing a loyal fan of over 65 years. I will have to find something else to watch during my lunch hour every day! DO IT!!!
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I have been a fan since 1974. I’ve been watching and waiting for this moronic jump to be over. Princess Gina I a joke and Stefano reincarnated as Steve is an insult to viewers intelligence. As usual, NBC has made another stupid decision to go with a jump. Other networks had the good sense to op out of a jump. I guess the jump is here to stay but alas, I’ll be on my way.
NBC has ruined a soap who has celebrated over a 50 year run. Way to go NBC !!! Bye bye Days, Rest In Peace !!!
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Days of Our Lives has never been this bad.. I have been a fan since a kid. My folds grew up with it and they quit watching when Marlena killed people and was possessed by the devil... Bringing Stephano back in another mans body , and Princess Gina , and breaking up steve and Kayla , killing off Justin's wife , and is stupid .. Nicole and Eric deserve a chance ... Bringing back Princess Gina , Ralph, Stehano , Is repeating the past .. Write new stories. Jumping ahead in time sucks.. Totally left fans out in the cold..
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I use to watch Days Alot. But now that you jumped it ahead a year , not so interested ... To kill Aiderene off the show , and Split Patch and Kayla up, and to Bring back Prinecess Gina , Stepheno in Steves body stinks.. Not a fan at all anymore... Won't watch it .. I have watched it up till now.... I hated it when you made Marlena the devil's works.. I am so disappointed in the story line .. Would of loved to finally see Eric and Nicole together..
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I deleted so many episodes because I thought it was one of those “dream episodes” until I realized that it was going on way too many episodes. What a disappointment!
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The time jump is stupid and childish. The writing on this show has been going towards a comic strip show. When they come back From their break I wish they would hire writers who can elevate the scripts to be more like GH and Y&R. No stupid gimmicks for ratings, just good scripts and story lines.
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HATE THE TIME JUMP!! Good time to get over this show!!
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Dont like the time jump. This was my favorite soap and now not so much. Dont like the constant confusion. Make it a dream and make it all come back to normal. PLEASE!!!
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This will only work for me if they end up going back and everyone makes better decisions that don't lead to the circumstances we now see one year in the future. Then, the writers can get back to really creating interesting story lines but please don't forget that you're writing for your audience. Stop writing for yourselves just because you're bored with your job. We want characters and story lines that we can root for.
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I don't understand the reasoning behind the time jump. I've watched the soap for many years but no longer care to watch it. The writer's spoiled the show for many of we faithful Day's fans!!
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I think you stink the show is horrible it is so bad i don't want to watch anymore
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Hi everyone. When they jumped a year ahead I was shocked .I thought it was a joke. Then I watched it for 2 weeks no joke .I don't like how they twisted everything. It totally sucks . So I deleted it from recording and will no longer watch it after 35 years of faithfully watching it everyday. Enjoy the future
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Me either Dumb as dirt Won’t be watching any more 😡
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I was a little surprised about this time jump on DOOL and confused. I had to come and look it up on the internet (is this real?). I thought it was just a dream sequence. Now I have to wait to find out what happened in this year. Am I happy about it, no but I still support the show. And maybe the show got so predictable and this is a way to get everyone really interested in the storyLine again.
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Sounds like DOOL is copying the hit show "This is Us" which I happen to love, so I think it will be great!
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That was my actual thought today as I watched!
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Personally, I think this is a brilliant way to refresh the show with the possibility of lots of new storylines!
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It’s too weird. I really am not enjoying this. I hope it turns out soon to be just a stupid dream!
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Try being an Aussie who has watched DOOL with her Nanna from the age of 7. I grew up with The Horton's The Brady's I love it. Now I'm 53. We have had the show skip 6 years ahead to catch up with the US as Australia was that far behind. I was spewing as had no idea what was going on. I loss 6 years of my life not a year. Then after all that they took it off our television and we didnt get it for 8 years I missed the whole Sonny and Will storyline which was just about to play out. We missed Bo dying missed a damn lot in 8 years. It has now returned and I'm hooked again watching all my favs I grew up with. Jennifer Horton is my absolute favourite so I'm going to watch because I just adore Melissa Reeves. I love Nicole, Gabbi Clare and Eve. I love the not so nice ones and their evil ways cant wait to see the planted pacemaker in Julie and what has happened in that year. Xander is hilarious he makes watching the best fun. I never know what he is going to say or do next. I love that Maggie likes him. Go Days I've missed years which I hated Australia for but one year jump. I'm tough I'm staying put.
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Why - during the time jump - did the kids not age - like Charlotte and Thomas?
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AMEN!
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The writers have gone completely BONKERS!! Putting Stephan Dimera in Steves body. Who's the idiot that thought that one up??????
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I Totally agree with you the writers have ruin my one and only DOOL. I will never come back. Too many good characters they go. SHAME on the writers.
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Come back to the present and bring the dead people except Jordon back to life and make this a dream. Get with the program. I’m getting sick of this crap. I’m sure you are losing fans
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Its still the future and still stinks!! BLAH!! Go back to normal, and for goodness sake, please turn gabby nice again,
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I hate the time jump!!! It ruins everything including the plot. This was a very bad idea.
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I watched Days everyday - but i haven't watch it in over 2 months except to see if it has gone back - hate the jump ! And how does "steve" have two good eyes when stefeno is using his body that only has one ? Stufpid show now - they have lost me as a fan.
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This is awful!! This was a great show!! There are WAY too many talk shows and this was the best thing on afternoon TV! If it was in trouble, this was a sure way to make sure it dies! So disappointing! As is true with all serials day or night time, it's all about the details. Flashbacks for folks to catch up on something they might have missed are one thing. The entire show being flashbacks is ridiculous. I thought the Halloween show was goofy but hey, it was Halloween! I thought this might be another joke but apparently it's not! I love this show...say it ain't so!!!!
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i too have been watching days since i was in high school, a long time, i have been watching since the time jump thinking ok its just me resistant to change but after almost 3 months i'm done. i HATE the steve and hope storyline. Putting Gabi back with Eli seemingly minutes after the death of her husband ....too many things that don't make sense and are stupid storelines..
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Days has been a 5 star show for ( 54 ) yrs. If its not broken don't FIX IT.. All the STARS should RELEASE the BOSS!!!..and they can all be the BOSS, and the SHOW would go on for another 54 yrs. I WISH YOU ALL the BEST and ALL the LUCK in the WORLD. LADY DI
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"Chad and Abigail are such a popular couple". Not popular to me. Honestly I could have done without seeing them for a bit longer, I feel like they just lef. They eat up the whole damn show when they are on and they have a whole web series dedicated to them...
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This is an excellent idea and makes this story so much more interesting!!
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