'DAYS' Haze

I peeked over the covers long enough yesterday to send email and check my weekend forums for soap scoop (conspiracies, publishing talk, and crafts forums reign during the week.)

Many daytime fans have followed the WGA strike as if it were a soap, anxiously watching the days tick by as scab scripts aired. If I weren't damn near in traction, I would have jumped for joy after reading that the strike may be over soon (they ain't rolling over, and good for them!) and that all would be well again with my TiVo-ed wishes and Youtubed dreams.

But then I read something shocking: the powers behind Days of Our Lives, NBC's last great soap, fired roughly 3/4 of its writing staff, including head writer, Hogan Sheffer. Former associate head writer, Tom Casiello, blogged about the situation.

My first thought was DAYS is done. NBC seems to want out of the expensive soap-making business and will probably fill the airtime with gameshows or reality fare. The industry has watched viewership erode steadily since the late 80s, and some believe the capper was 1995's OJ Simpson trial which preempted daytime serials for months. When soaps finally returned to air, many viewers had already moved on.

1995 was the year DAYS and I first parted ways. After Marlena Evans Brady Black literally turned into the devil, I ran away from my television. I checked back in a few years later just in time to see Marlena "murder" Salem's matriarch, Mrs. Alice Horton...with donuts. Donuts, people! I've watched the show rarely since that time.

Still, the news of the dramatic staff cuts is saddening.

Dena Higley--recently ousted from One Life to Live after wowing viewers with storylines like Rape O' Todd, Spencer Knows Every-fricking-thing, and Sonfucker aka Kelly Does Duke, among others--returned to DAYS, her first home, and is now said to be taking over as head writer. I wish Dena much success (especially since she's off MY main soap) and I sincerely hope my prediction of DAYS' demise will not materialize.

But...I've already seen spoilers floating around. Spoilers--hopefully fake--that indicate the male half of one of my all-time fave supercouples could find himself tied to a bed. A crazy woman is leering over him and demanding hot, hot loving...and I can't complete that sentence. It's so silly, but, I can't dismiss the spoiler because, well, this writer once described a character's death as "fun."

So yeah, I wish Dena and DAYS well. I'm no longer a viewer, but that doesn't mean I won't mist up if and when it disappears from the screen. I'll always carry Bo and Hope, Patch and Kayla, and Jack and Jennifer in my heart.