Losing Stefano and Alice has really damaged this show

[Silentfan]

I want to address the elephant in the room. Alice and Stefano are gone and there is no one to replace them. Alice was the heart of the show, and now the show has no heart. No character is worthy of being the next Alice Horton. Stefano is gone and the show has tried to make several character take on the role of a villain at different times.

so my question is what can the show do to fix this?

[Key]

I don't wish to offend the writers but I strongly believe the writing is the main problem. DAYS has a wonderful team of actors, but the scripts are dreck.
Posters right here, as I've said several times, have more imagination and fidelity to the show's history. Too bad the industry is so sclerotic, that you have to be an insider or a union member (or both) to write for DAYS.
Needs new blood. Desperately.

[UncleHourglass]

Thank you for introducing me to a new word! I'll definitely be using sclerotic.

[CanaryFan98]

All of this. People can't be surprised the same problems show up again when you hire retreads. Iconic characters come and go and sadly in RL death but with good writing and direction it can be overcome. This show doesn't have a lot of either.

[ericw808]

I happened across a scene on Youtube with Stefano, Will and EJ (the scene was Stefano looking at an iPad with the story "6 killed in explosion"). The man filled the room and drew out powerful performances from his scene mates.

Every show needs a soul; Another World was not quite the same after Mac Cory died.

I'd agree wholeheartedly that Days has a very talented cast. My issue wit the writing is the balance between building, story and followthrough. For example, the whole Leo/Ted story just ended. Will gets his memory back at the wedding and the best response we get from anyone is "that's great." Gabi sneaks upstairs at the Horton house and we dont see her for a week. There's something off with the balance of stories as well. We get two doppelganger stories at the same time, two "who's the daddy" storylines at the same time. Characters disappear for weeks at a time - where's Val in the whole Marlena story; no visit from Maggie; no one called Carrie to tell her "Marlena" is alive.

In the same way it is easy to win at Jeopardy at home, its easy for us to be couch critics. I'm not sure I could come up with new and fresh stories 52 weeks ago. So I'm willing to give the writers the benefit of the doubt that every storyline can't be a winner.

[gymguy68]

I completely agree and Stefano's shoes are impossible to fill. And yes, Another World was never the same, but Carl Hutchins kept things interesting. We also had great couples like Jake and Paulina. Cecile was always good for comic relief. DAYS writers just can't seem to come up with that many interesting story lines, sad to say.

[tiff5555]

What about Bo????? He was the face of Days with Hope!!!!! They are on iTunes episodes cover, if anyone likes to know.......the reason why the ratings are down too!

Bo
Caroline
Alice
Stefano
EJ
Now Steve
Nicole
Soon to be Lucas
Sami
Can't believe I am going to say this, Daniel

[gymguy68]

Tiff, ICAM!! All the "power house" characters are gone. Kristen/Susan is not on screen enough and Stefan had so much potential. The writers failed him miserably. I also miss Tony and Anna.

[JackandJenfan]

Daniel was horrible. He doesn't belong on the list.

[Key]

Can't believe I am going to say this, Daniel

Tiff you naughty girl. Saying the D word.

[EjamiandSamifan]

Joe is a huge loss to me his loss is bigger than even James and Ali and i am a Ejami fan saying that he was best actor Days ever had such a great bad guy as for Alice i never watched when she was there so i can't comment to much about her but i know she was well loved by many fans. I think Bo and Caroline are big losses as well as for Lucas and Steve i can't say i miss them especially not Lucas but of course its sad for his fans that he be leaving soon.

[CincyLady]

I didn't watch Days all that long when it started. I was busy rearing children and working. Alice and Stefano were never imbedded in my memory - neither were Bo, Hope, or Sami. I don't have a problem with any of the current characters but the writing definitely is 'sclerotic' - (love that word!). I don't see any hope for improvement since writers seem to be caught in a revolving door with other soap writers so they just use their same plots over again. We don't have writers like Agnes Nixon, Irma Phillips or Doug Marland any more. I do understand it's difficult to let go of characters we love - whether they leave by death or choice - but good writing always works. It's also unfortunate that Days writes six months in advance.

[Hope4BetterDays]

I definitely think it's a creative writing problem. I noticed these writers don't think outside of the box like a James E. Reilly. He came up with characters the show use today. Shawn and Belle should be more enjoyable to watch than they are. I always feel like they settled down too young.

[CanaryFan98]

Also didn't help that they SORAS'd Claire as well for them.

[gymguy68]

There can never be a replacement for Alice or Stefano. He was the classic iconic villain that filled the room and commanded all the attention. To answer your question, the writers need more creativity and stop bringing back characters for a few weeks stint. Try re-writing for Stefan and make him more like his father. Xander has the potential and so did Demos at the time. They let Vivian go way too soon. It's the fault of the writers and lack of creativity.

[Silentfan]

I agree with Stefan, but it is very easy to make a replacement for Alice. If the writing for Hope, Jennifer, Marlena, and even Maggie were better they would be prime candidates. You just need a warm motherly type figure for Alice where as Stefano is much harder because, as you said, he had a presence that commanded attention.

[CherryPoppins]

It certainly was a negative to lose Stefano and Alice. I think losing Bo, then EJ as male leads was really a negative hit on the show. Sami and Nicole are also two heavy hitters whose departures are felt. I do like that Days makes an effort to include their veteran cast in scenes on a more regular basis than other soaps today, particularly GH.