Before I fully begin this blog, let me give you a little background to what drove me to write it and warn you of the great potential that it will turn into a full blown rant. I was on the NBC boards for Days this morning and see a topic that is a letter to to the writers. It started off well written and outlined a few of the problems that this person had with the show in general, then turned into yet another attempt at pushing the couple this person supports. It didn’t help that said couple was my much loathed Chan pairing, but it also enraged me on a different level as well.
I’ve commented on this a little before, mainly in a back and forth commentary with the ever awesome Paxton in the Oh Baby! blog, but it was time to expand upon it here. The writers and producers are not going to get a pass from me, they’re the ones putting the show on air and taking it in the direction we currently see, but they’re not alone in the blame for what we’re seeing. The fans are a big part of the problem as well.
When did we become so involved in our shows that we felt entitled to have the story go the way we expect it to, particularly when it comes to couples? I mean, what makes my opinion more valid than the next guys? I think I’m awesome, but I’m sure there are plenty of people who don’t agree and that’s just fine. You go to the message boards and you can find support for just about any damn thing, some of it’s real, some of it’s joking or retaliation to something another fanbase wants. The thing I keep seeing, over and over again, is the threat that if I don’t get MY couple, then I’m not watching! I’ve put in X amount of time on this couple and I deserve to see them play out! How dare they derail the perfect love story that is this couple and go with the chemistry free pairing that is that couple??? It goes on and on, but you get my point.
I’m partially guilty of this, not giving myself a free pass here by any means. I like who I like and if you dick around with them, I’m going to get mad. However, I have never posted that I am going to quit the show if they don’t go with whatever couple I happen to like. As long as the story makes sense though, I can generally go along with it. I’ve loved Bo & Hope since they became a couple, but when Hope was “dead” and Bo moved on with both Carly and Billie, I was able to enjoy those pairings. When Hope returned, I understood that Bo wasn’t ready to just go back, he’d moved on and I could understand it. Did I root for them to get back together? Damn straight I did. But I didn’t write letters or threaten to quit the show if I didn’t get my way either. The story as it was written made sense, the conflict felt real and you could understand why Bo wasn’t ready to dump Billie just because Hope was back. It made for good soap.
Unlike what we have now, where fanbases are dictating storylines. I focus specifically on the EJami, EJole, Lumi, Phloe, etc grouping. The spoilers we have, which I’ve already discussed, feel like further catering to angry fans. And when you cater to all of them you end up telling a crappy story that satisfies nobody. You can actually picture the writers saying to themselves, “Alright, we gave EJami a happy little family moment last week, so this week we need let EJole have a romantic moment to offset that.” “Sami got to have sex with EJ, so Lucas should get to have sex with someone….let’s throw him with Chloe!” And on and on. Is there one person who is a fan of any of the pairings that is happy with the way they’ve been written? I can see EJole fans possibly being appeased for now, but that’s only for the moment because there’s more stuff coming that will swing the pendulum yet again. It’s just tiresome, you know what I mean?
And now I’ll address Chan. I did not post in the post on NBC, I knew I was not going to be able to do it without getting myself banned from the site altogether. Which, actually, might be a good thing because I truly am sick of the attitudes of the people who post there. But one must keep their options open, never know when I’ll have to go there to fight the good fight again (just in case that Chan fanbase does get their way). I find it extraordinarily insulting that Chelsea/Daniel fans feel that they are entitled to get their pairing because they have invested all of 6 months or so into the couple. 6 months people! We’re not talking 25 years like Bo & Hope or S&K or even 15-20 years of Jarlena, who I also hate but I can at least understand the emotional investment some have to them. The way those whiners carry on you’d think that Chelsea and Daniel had been the second coming of Romeo and Juliet (who had a much shorter yet more believable romance as well, by the way).
I outlined all the problems I had with Chan eons ago, so I won’t rehash it all, but it seems to me that Chan fans had to fanwank an entire relationship into happening. What they see doesn’t at all match with what I saw on the screen. They yammer about finding one another through their mutual pain. WTF? What pain does Chelsea have? She killed her brother and got forgiven by everyone under the sun. She lost her parents but found a bigger, happier family that she was wholeheartedly accepted into, even after she killed her brother. Daniel apparently had a wife die, a wife he barely knew by all accounts, as he met and married her from her damn death bed. Since then he’s been surfing the world and playing the field. I don’t see a lot of pain there. When you have to make up your reasons for liking a couple, how valid are they really? Throw in the fact that they were in love before their first date (supposedly, he never showed love in my eyes) and the age difference and you lost me and a majority of the audience. Sorry, but it’s true. And there’s no changing that, they were fucked up from the start.
When I read these people carrying on about a couple that was barely a blip on the radar that is Days, it just irritates me to no end. And when these people take valid criticisms of the show and use those to further the agenda of their coupling, it really diminishes what they were saying in the first place. It’s time for the writers and producers of Days to stop listening to the fans and just tell their damn story. If it sucks, we’ll stop watching, they’ll lose their jobs and the show will end and that’s fine, what will be will be. Writing haphazardly and trying to please this fanbase and that fanbase is not helping the show at all. It will probably drive it into the ground before just telling the stories the right way would.
Awesome awesome awesome post! Awesome! Applause.
I too am guilty of wanting what I want from the show, but nothing makes me angrier then when characters act OOC. That’s all I really want. I accept this is a soap opera and though I get tired of your garden variety soap opera I do expect my characters to have flaws, make mistakes and pay the consequences. That’s why it’s easier to enjoy the happier moments because they should come few and far between.
It’s why I feel like I’m compelled in saying I’m correct in hating Chan, chelsea should never have been written in this way to “fall for him” because as she does tend to be all hero worship, she also doesn’t take too well with new people, especially ones spouting ridiculous jargon like surfer speak. I also hate how she has become this following who lets him dictate how she would live her life. Again, not Chelsea. Stupid show.
And constantly changing the storylines to fit the fans is most of the reason we are in this predicament.
It totally is the reason the show is such a morass of crap and nonaction. They’re trying so hard to please everybody that they’re pleasing nobody.
I’ll admit, there are places in stories they have gone and could go that I would absolutely hate, but as long as it made sense in the context of the show and with the character, I could deal with it. But don’t neuter characters, don’t whitewash them, don’t pretend that they’re past never existed and don’t have them do things that in direct contrast to everything we know about them. Higley was with the show before, she knows most of the characters. Corday has always been there, so he can’t claim not to know how Chelsea would act or how EJ would act or most particularly and most irritatingly how Sami would act.
All of us have watched Sami grow up on this show and by now we all know her, so having her so screechy and crying and running around between men is just not what we’ve come to expect. I want scheming Sami. I want Chelsea with a backbone who, you’re right, would have laughed and told Dan what a jackass he was the instant he started with the surfer speak. Sigh.
I just hope that they write whatever they’re going to write and stick with it, not retcon paternities and throw chemistry-free characters together to appease their small but rabid following.
I think all fans have the right to say they’ll turn off the show if their couple isn’t together. I think they have the right to write letters if they want to. I mean, the show is entertainment; if I’m not entertained, if I’m watching and getting pissed off because I can’t stand a single one of the couples (on a couples show) then I’m not going to feel one bit guilty about saying and posting that I’m quitting the show. I mean, I just don’t think people who say they only want a good story are morally superior to the rest of us who want a good story AND the couples we like.
That being said, the problem does lie IMO with the people who are actually in charge–a/k/a The Idiots. I agree that they have to stop catering to ALL the fanbases because all they’re doing is pissing everyone off and pleasing none. I have no problem saying that if Morgan were still on the show and it was clear EJami was endgame, I wouldn’t be watching. I would have nothing to enjoy and I see no point in torturing myself with crap. However, TIIC have to create a vision and direction and stick with it, even if it pisses some people off. If I don’t get what I want, I have the right to tune out–and TPTB have the right and the control to not give a crap what I do, to go with what they prefer as long as they think it’s the overall best direction for the show.
So blaming the fanbases, even the radical lunatic fringedom–I’ve decided I’m not going to do that anymore. I finally know exactly how they feel and I don’t like it. But I do acknowledge the right of TPTB to go with what they want to do even if I hate it–and they can acknowledge my right to turn it off. If they put out a good product they’ll get viewers, even if one of those viewers is not me.
Sure, fans have the right to tune out and even to let the powers that be know they’re going to do so and why. That’s valid and I don’t have a problem with that at all. What I have a problem with is in an attempt to keep one fanbase from tuning out, they throw them a bone that doesn’t go with the story they were telling in the first place. Then another fanbase must be appeased and then another and so on.
I also take issue with a person writing an open forum to the writers and starting it off with nice general issues with the show and then changing the whole post into a support my couple or die kind of posting. I’m sick of those people and I’ve decided to stay the hell away from them for my own sanity.
People can and should have their own opinions, we all do, and they all have the right to express them. I don’t consider myself morally superior for wanting a good story though and not caring so much about the couplings, I don’t think that at all. I just think sacrificing a good story for pairings is the issue.
“What I have a problem with is in an attempt to keep one fanbase from tuning out, they throw them a bone that doesn’t go with the story they were telling in the first place. Then another fanbase must be appeased and then another and so on.”
Undoubtedly. As you say, it pleases no one. And believe me, I agree with you that it’s maddening to hear a fanbase claim they “deserve” a happy ending, because they’ve waited for six months or two years or whatever. Unfortunately not every fanbase can have a payoff–not with the triangles that this show so adores. We all just want it to be somebody else’s fanbase that get shafted. And when certain fanbases have gotten shafted I won’t pretend I haven’t celebrated. Usually as quietly and tastefully as I can . . . but there’s some celebration! 🙂
Ha! Let there be no doubt about that, the day we got Granny!sex spoiler, well you saw my reaction. I definitely include myself amongst the anti-fanbase crowd at the very least. Thanks to Tripp, fighting Chan has been like a parttime job over recent months. I’m glad to NOT have to do it anymore!
Really it’s the whole thing you just mentioned, the “deserving” to have their romance play out because they’ve “invested so much time” in this couple. What? Just cause they spent all their free time posting on the boards and creating websites doesn’t entitle them to their happy ending. It just drives me insane and today set me off so I had to get it out. I couldn’t post it there, so I had to bring it here.
Thanks to Tripp, fighting Chan has been like a parttime job over recent months. I’m glad to NOT have to do it anymore!
It’s not over! We have to continue are hatred of THE CHAN! It can never resurface!
Actually I do get tired of reading people constantly posting on how they hate the show and no longer watch. Sony is full of people who have reportedly stopped watching for years yet they continue to post. I’m not sure why.
So I have no problems with people leaving the show because their couple is no longer featured. Life is too short and if it upsets one so much, he or she should move on. But don’t keep getting on MBs and posting around that they hate the show and no longer are watching anymore. Maybe taking a break from the show is fine and still checking in to see if it’s worth visiting, but I say if it’s been 6 months or more since you’ve seen an episode, it’s time to remove those MB bookmarks from your list.
And I must admit it’s AMAZING I didn’t tune out because of Chan. But I felt that just because I hated one couple so much, they were not going to send me away from the show, I still loved S/K, Nick, Bope, Philip and such to carry on.
But it’s so much easier to watch now that Chan are done. At least until after tomorrow.
Yeah, see there is enough for me that even if they keep EJ in an endless loop of suck I think I can keep watching. If all the others go too and the show becomes Chan and Stax, twu wuv 4eva, I will be gone. And you can bet, I wouldn’t stay on message boards reading the rapture of those fans.
The Chans start thread after thread denying that their couple is over and denying Daniel’s chem with everyone else and blah blah just drive me insane. We get it, you love them, say something new or move the hell on. That’s what drove me to writ this more than anything.
As to fighting the Chans, I shall only do it when necessary, you know you call me to step in when needed. For now, we have won and I bask in that knowledge.
“Life is too short and if it upsets one so much, he or she should move on. But don’t keep getting on MBs and posting around that they hate the show and no longer are watching anymore. Maybe taking a break from the show is fine and still checking in to see if it’s worth visiting, but I say if it’s been 6 months or more since you’ve seen an episode, it’s time to remove those MB bookmarks from your list.”
I agree with this too. If you really, honestly are not watching any of the show, at all, not clips, not scenes with your favorites but literally, not watching because you hate everything on it–STOP POSTING! That just makes no sense to me at all that somebody would do that.
It depends on who the couple is you hate. If you dislike both characters separately, as I do Chelsea and Daniel (although I’ve miraculously started liking him away from her), it’s a simple matter to FF. But when your fave is pairing up with someone you HATE, it’s difficult. To put it mildly. It’s especially hard when it’s your favorite guy–I feel like I could handle Nicole with just about anyone, for example, but I will not accept just any pairing for Philip, even if lots of shirtlessness ensues. You see, I have my standards. Believe it or not.
I understand your standards, Paxton, I really do. Having EJ hook up with Kate during the apex of my hatred for her was hard to tolerate. Fortunately they only did it a few times, cause that I couldn’t stand. I get it, I really do!
Also, I liked Daniel the other day for the first time when he was defending Lexie. I’m amazed because I was sure I would always hate him but there you go, he was actually decent in that scene. What could have been had they not immediately saddled him with Chelsea?
(Forgive me if this makes no sense…I’m high on pain meds at the moment)
Excellent post. This issue is exactly why I’ve been staying away from most mb’s lately…the constant sense of entitlement, the “we DESERVE this” and “this is a SLAP IN THE FACE” talk drives me nuts. It’s actually turned me off characters and couples I used to love (yeah, I know that’s crazy, but seriously, the fanbases are way too intense).
I really want to see what would happen if The Idiots planned out a story and actually stuck with it, without any regard to fanbase response. Of course, the story should make sense for the characters, hit most of the emotional beats, etc., but I feel the reason we don’t get that type of writing anymore is because of the fanbases–or, to be fair, because of inappropriate response to fanbase letters/campaigns. So much focus is given to the end results, and going by mb posters, most fanbases only care about their couple being together, period, without any thought to the process, that we get these really disjointed stories. So we have EJ/Sami/Lucas STILL being an issue, even though that story has been beaten to death and all characters would be better off well away from each other. And that’s just one example.
Now I’m off to read that Oh, Baby! blog. Because I never get tired of ranting about babies.
Welcome lascuba! Good to see you here! And thank you! Your post made perfect sense and was much more concise than mine for sure.
That’s what gets to me, the we deserve this stuff. It just drives me up the wall reading people say that they’ve invested all this time in couple X and the writers absolutely have to go through with them. Firstly, for every person that loves couple X, there is another person that hates them. It generally all balances out. What also kills me is fanbases uniting to promote a coupling just in the hopes that their coupling will live on. You wonder who really likes what or if they’re just so hellbent on having their couple they’ll push for some pairing that makes no sense.
I can totally see that the Ejamicus triangle is coming back. They’re taking Chloe out of it and throwing her back to Phil and of course the returning Brady, so there’s a triangle. Nicole/EJ and FBI guy may be another. And Ejamicus, with EJ straddling two couplings. I’m sorry but that’s just too much. Add in the fact that maybe we’ll have Nick at the center of a Chelsea/Melanie triangle as well. (Don’t yell at me Tripp, I’m not against the concept, I am against the idea of 4 potential triangles!)
EJ, Sami and Lucas should all have moved on but with baby upcoming, EJ will get sucked back in. And don’t tell me Lucas, who acted like a loon throughout the last pregnancy, would be ok with being with Sami while she’s carrying EJ’s baby. That goes in direct contradiction to everything I’ve seen since he got back from prison and even before he went.
That’s why I agree with you, I want them to just tell a story, don’t worry about the fanbases, just write something within character and most of us will be ok with it. I won’t be happy if Lumi reunites, but if it makes sense, I’ll deal with it (as long as EJ does not remain mopey and sexless, that’s an EJ I don’t want to revisit). I’d be great with EJole if he picks her because he wants her, not because of a baby. I actually would be happy with any one couple out of the group solidifying because at least one triangle possibility would be out. I’m so tired of triangles. Hehe Guess I’ve got another blog to do!
You see this a lot with Lost too. I know it’s hard to believe that writers have plans for what they do, but they do (unless they’re Bob Guza). There is a lot of producer and network exec interference, I mean look no further to 90210 for that sad reality.
Haha Oh yeah, I firmly point my share of the finger at Corday as well. His interfering has helped create the clusterfuck we have on our screens for sure. But I think a lot of that comes from what he sees in fan feedback as well. If everybody would just sit back and let her write, she might actually tell a decent story, who could say?
Ok no triangle so Ej/Sami as a couple without another person !! lol and ej/sami/lucas was maybe annoying but far more interesting with the Dimera/Brady feud than the triangles we have now …(Lucas/Chloe/Daniel…no thanks the baby switch which don’t want to end !)