A daze of their lives
By GARRY WILLIAMS, TV Editor
12sep04
CHANNEL 9 will go ahead with its controversial move to dump about 2000 episodes of its daytime soaps Days Of Our Lives, and The Young And The Restless.
More than four years worth of plots will be condensed into two one-hour specials, Days Of Our Lives - A New Day, screening tomorrow at 1pm, and The Young And The Restless - The Next Chapter on Tuesday at 1pm.
Some cynics would say the shows move so slowly that not much will be missed except thousands of shots of actors staring into the middle distance. Even Nine's director of daytime programming, Lauren Sidler, agreed.
"It's fair to say the shows became a bit dull," she said.
"Days, in particular, was in dire straits. But about a year ago its head writer (James E. Reilly) returned and there has been a real resurgence in the US. Fast-forwarding was the best way to capitalise on that and help revitalise the shows."
But Sidler admitted some good moments have had to be sacrificed. For the record, here is a guide to those "lost" storylines.
Days Of Our Lives:
THE Salem Stalker. His victims include Abe Carver, Maggie Horton, Caroline Brady, Roman Brady, Tony DiMera, Doug Williams and Alice Horton.
WEDDINGS, including those of Bo and Hope, Victor Kiriakis and Nicole (essentially, he marries his stepson's wife), and Kate and Roman.
ALTHOUGH in love with Sami, Brandon marries Angela to get access to a tape that implicates Lucas in the murder of Franco, and help Sami consequently reclaim custody of her son Wil.
The Young And The Restless:
CONTINUING saga between Victor and Nikki Newman.
BRAD and Ashley marry and have a baby.
SHARON kills Cameron, a man she met in a bar, and covers up the murder.
JILL Abbott discovers her arch-enemy Katherine Chancellor is her birth mother.
IT IS revealed Victor Newman is the real father of Ashley's baby - this storyline is revealed a couple of shows before the new episodes begin.
While Sidler said it was easy to be flippant, the decision was not an easy one.
"We know the shows have loyal and emotional following and we have tried to be respectful about the way we have done this," she said.
"We haven't cut any corners. We sent a crew over to the US to do these specials properly.
"Some fans are still upset, of course, but there's been plenty of positive feedback."
After the move, Australia will still be six to nine months behind the US.
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