A Satirical Review of Recent Soap "News"
:::: Please REFRESH!!! ::::SOAP OPERA DIGEST
Jan. 22, 2008Late-Breaking News - "DAYS: Marlena and John Reunited!" Digest gives a preview to the storyline with some quotes. DRAKE HOGESTYN (John): Marlena walks into the labe and John is in the chair and shackled, being fed all the input, having everything stripped from him. Hope goes to get Bo, Marlena walks over and when she touches him, obviously there's a reaction. She pulls off the goggles he has on and he just looks forward and blinks. She puts her hands on his shoulders, which forces him to look at her. She says, 'It is you,' and he says, 'I assume it is. Who are you?' She starts to undo his writst and he says, 'Your perfume. I've smelled it before.' After she undoes his writst he gets up to leave and she says, 'Wait, I'm Marlena. You're John.' And he says, 'I know that,' and he says, 'Then why are you trembling?' She says, 'For so long, I thought you were dead.'"
He goes on to describe John being put in the hospital and Marlena telling him how much she loves him and he's not interested. "He just wants out. His mantra is, Can I go?" He goes on to describe John's conflicting feelings, "Anything that's conflicting is confusing and he gets conflicting information from this person Marlena all the time. Is she lying to him? Is she with Stefano? They are creating all of these layers and already it's so rich and so full, and it's so fun to play."
Ratings - Week of December 17: DAYS 1.9
Hot Off The Net - Actor: DRAKE HOGESTYN (John)
Flashback to 1994
SOAP OPERA DIGEST
Jan. 15, 2008Ratings - Week of December 10: DAYS 1.9
Comings and Goings - Days Of Our Lives: "DRAKE HOGESTYN (John Black): Yes, he's back." SHIRLEY JONES (Character Name TBA): The famed Partridge Family mom has been cast on the show. She will appear in 2008." Wow, things are looking up at DAYS!
Hot Off The Net Poll - DAYS: Actor DRAKE HOGESTYN (John)
Cover Story - DRAKE HOGESTYN Resurrects John for a Front-Burner Tale on Days Of Our Lives" By Stephanie Sloane. (Full page photo of DDH) Sloane reports that "According to Executive Producer KEN CORDAY, Hogestyn's exit was never meant to be permanent", and quotes him: "I can't lie, it was my plan all along to bring him back. We knew in the beginning of October, as the shows were being penned, that he would be back. I had to say the character was dead and I didn't want to parenthetically add, 'for now,' because there would be more emotional impact if we kept it quiet. We didn't tell anybody." Corday is also quoted as saying, "He's (John) a man without a past and without a memory, like the Pawn all over again. It's as exciting a story as I've ever seen for John and Marlena. From the moment he comes back to the end of February, he's on almost every day." Gee, we get a whole month long story...
Now for the story according to DRAKE HOGESTYN (in third person no less)...
Digest: John Black was dead. Did you think you'd get the call?
Hogestyn: No. He had met his maker, Drake Hogestyn had fired his agents, hired new representation and was out doing different auditions.
Digest: Were you hesitant to come back?
Hogestyn: Hesitant from the standpoint that if the story is not in the right hands, is not written correctly, there is no point. I am very emotionally attached to everything John Black has been through -- especially the early years -- and to try and go back and capture that and fail? That would be heartbreaking. I had reservations that anybody was capable of writing that kind of story.
Digest: So, are you taking a leap of faith?
Hogestyn: I am putting a lot of trust out there. I love the show; it's what I do. I love the relationship I've had with the audience and that has really opened my eyes here in the last couple of months. A lot of people are still very emotionally attached to this show. There's a way to turn this show around. All we have to do is get it out there on the stage. We have to get it on the page. It has to be strong story that involves the veterans of the show. That's what the audience wants to see. If they can bring that forward, we'll be just fine. If they fail in tat attempt, well, we've got a year and I'd [still] like to be a part of it.
Digest: Were you hoping to play John again?
Hogestyn: I don't think that way. The way the death was presented to me, they didn't know what to do with him. I believe I mentioned before that when you take someone like John Black out of his element, out of the ISA, out of the police, you have him shot by a kid after you have established that he has the ability to dodge bullets, you have his liver (oops, he should have said kidney) removed from him in an incapacitated state, you have him out of a coma and all he wants to do is go home, but you've taken that away from him, too, there wasn't much left. The writing was on the wall. So, as an actor you accept that, realize it for what it is and prepare yourself to move in a different direction. Bitter, no? Confused, somewhat. Consider the source, though [laughs].
Digest: What can you say about the story?
Hogestyn: The audience is going to want to see this. We're going back to the beginning. When I left, I said to Ken, "It's a damn shame that we're never going to find out what John Black was all about in the first place. From Miami to Salem to the ambulance accident, to rolling into town, to having Patch take him, to ripping off the bandages, nobody knew who he was. What was the mission? What was the ultimate goal? Never got there. Had a few good stories, got sideways quite a bit and then crashed and burned this last year and a half. I don't know who this guy is anymore. Don't even like him." But this is a story the audience is going to want to see. We're going to tell it and hopefully, tell it right. I can only do what I can do as an actor, which is come as prepared as I can every single day. And bring a lot of intensity and truth to every scene. It's up to the writing. It's all in the writing.Sloane also gets some quotes from DEIDRE HALL about John's return... "I was pleased and excited," she says of learning he (Drake) was returning. "I hadn't spoken to him since he left and I hadn't really thought about it until the Crystal character came in and then I thought, 'Oh, wait a minute,'" Hall says she's also very enthused about the story. "It's such a compelling story and it's one that I thought for years that they should play. It's money in the bank. It's gold, a surefire winner, edge-of-your-seat kind of story. And they're finally doing it. It's two people who have been pulled apart and are finding their way back together. It will be a long term story, no stone unturned or moment overlooked. The moment that you see Marlena realize what's happened and what her part in it is, I think you'll lock onto her hip. You'll be right there." She reports that she's been impressed with Hogestyn's performances since he's been back. "I have been watching his scenes and I went, 'Oh, look at you.' This is fun. He is having a great time and up to the challenge of playing a John that you might have seen 20 years ago. It's dreamy and we love it and the audience has to come play with us again. It's a home run, as Drake would say."
