No, this blog will not be Days of our Lives-centric, but damned if it isn't entertaining as of late. Yes, they actually are running a storyline where Police Commissioner Bo Brady's broken his soon-to-be-ex-wife Hope out of jail. Not especially exciting on its own. Except for one small detail:He's breaking her out because the Prison Warden is having All My Children's Janet Green kill off the inmates to have their organs harvested and sent to University Hospital where the host of Merv Griffin's Crosswords will use them in transplants.
That sounded strange, but allow me to explain.
Days of our Lives has a habit of hiring actors who are known for their work on others shows in similar roles to what they'll play on DAYS. In Robin Mattson's case, she spent six years playing a similarly homicidal character to the Prison Impaler she's currently portraying...except on DAYS' direct competitor.
Alternately, the doctor using the dead prisoners' organs was the host of Merv Griffin's short-lived Crosswords. He was about as convincing as a game show host as he is as a potential love interest for Hope's cousin Jennifer on DAYS. Hint: The answer is two words, has 7 letters and rhymes with Hot Berry.
There's never been a less engaging "on the run" storyline as this one, really. Back in the 80s when Hope's life was in virtually constant danger, Bo would ride in on his motorcycle to save the day from pretty much every conceivable misadventure. Now he's hiding in the kitchen of an unnaturally bright houseboat, looking for clues on a laptop computer for weeks at a time. Indiana Jones, eat your heart out.
Of course, since there's about $6 in the budget these days, going on location is an absolute no-go, but of course they continue to write the show as though it were 1984, which in turn, leaves the storylines slightly....lacking.
As for the doctor looking for livers, he's out courting Hope's cousin Jennifer, who is, in turn, using her investigative reporting skills by working undercover, using her mother's maiden name, of course. Who knew you could get a job at a prison without a background, let alone a background check?
The most frustrating part of all this is the fact that these characters, who've been on our screens on and off for the better part of three decades, are being given some of the most shallow, vapid stories I've ever had to sit through. Besides this we have YET ANOTHER paternity test switcheroo on the heels of yet another baby switch storyline. A "classic teen romance" between two characters who have so little chemistry they seem disgusted with each other whenever they kiss (the guy has more chemistry with his male co-star, probably why they're never in the same room anymore *rolls eyes*).
This show is entertaining in SPITE of the storylines, not because of them. Even my dear ol' faithful Vivian Alamain has failed me. Far too goofy and her lines are atrocious. Louise Sorel is likely disgusted every time she has to go to work. Her former sidekick, Ivan, won the lottery and quit, so now she has a new henchman: Gus. An expressionless gay man (the only one on the show, of course only a prop for Vivian devoid of any desires of his own) whose rage even seems forced. I'm hoping he never comes back from the island they've recently been deserted upon to "hilarious, wacky" results. *yawn*.Now, given the choice between General Hospital's mob-sympathizing and Y&R's doppelganger-o-rama, I'd take this crap any day. But come on, it could be so much better than this. All it takes is a writer who can write anything interesting. When you need organ harvesting storylines to bring in the viewers, you're in trouble.
