30 Days of TV: Day Six

Favourite Episode of My Favourite Show

Days of Our Lives (1995)
Dr. Marlena Evans: Possessed by the Devil

Now the problem with soap operas are that one story usually lasts anywhere between six months to a year, depending on its popularity and the ripple effect it causes throughout the show. So with my next two posts it seems more fitting to be focusing on my favourite story on my favourite show, rather than just a single episode.

I remember being glued to the TV when Marlena Evans was possessed by the Devil. It had never been done before in soap opera history and Deidre Hall was magnificent! She was the perfect actress for the role and watching her slip in and out of being possessed was chilling. At the time her soul mate John Black was a priest and he was there for her every step of the way, eventually performing the exorcism that saved her. 

The funky eyes. The deep booming voice. The evil laughter. Everything about it was groundbreaking and seriously edge of your seat stuff. It was a risky move by the show, but head writer at the time, James E. Reilly, was a renowned for his often wacky stories and used this to boost the ratings of the struggling show. 

Marlena being possessed epitomised the classic early to mid 1990s under Reilly. Another popular, yet highly controversial story was the insanely good "Carly Buried Alive" story in 1993, which is in my Top 3 best stories on Days of Our Lives. 

But that's for another time...

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30 Days of TV: Day Five

A Show I Hate

Jersey Shore

I'm just going to come right out and say it. I HATE this show. PERIOD. Every fibre of my being cringes whenever I see any mention of this show. I cannot believe people watch this crap and actually enjoy it. One day I sat down and flipped through the channels and happened to stop on one that was showing Jersey Shore. I watched about 5 mins and I literally wanted to wash my brain out with bleach. The idiotic nicknames, the ridiculously over the top attitudes and the pathetic things they get up to just disgusted me. 

I'm not going to give this show any more of my time than it took to write these few lines about it. If someone could please explain to me what I'm supposed to enjoy about watching trashy overgrown children giving the state and the ethnic community a bad name, I'd appreciate that. I honestly can't even get past the fact that people are watching a show about some punks who don't actually even live in the area that the show is based around.

This is what's wrong with reality TV and the celebrity hype machine today. Jersey Shore's cast...getting rich and famous for being idiots on TV. At least they have the good sense to milk it for all it's worth. 

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30 Days of TV: Day Four

My Favourite Show Ever

Days of Our Lives

 

As you might have already noticed, I love me some soap operas! Far and away Days of Our Lives, DOOL as it is affectionately called, is my absolute favourite of all the soap operas I follow. In my household, it's always been called Roozaia Zendegi, and it was watched every day without fail. Mum would get so cranky when I would forget to tape DOOL and The Bold and the Beautiful, which, let's be honest, was quite often.

Days of Our Lives holds a special place in my heart because I've grown up watching the show and it's characters have been a constant in my life since I was in the womb. I love good soap and, for the most part, DOOL has delivered tenfold. From Marlena's possession to Sami and Lucas scheming to come between Austin and Carrie to Vivian burying Carly alive DOOL has always been the craziest of all the soap operas...and it's been a hell of a ride following along. 

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30 Days of TV: Day Three

My Favourite New Show of the 2011 Season

Downton Abbey

Seven episodes of goodness make up my favourite new tv show of the season this year. I've always been interested (read: obsessed) with period dramas, in particular those that revolve around the English aristocracy. I guess re-reading Pride and Prejudice and re-watching the BBC miniseries every single year without fail since I was 15 might possibly have a little something to do with it. 

But what you'll find in most novels about the English aristocracy is that it will solely focus on the social dynamics within that particular class. You'll be introduced to accomplished aristocratic ladies whose lives centre around parties, gossip and finding a gentlemen worth 10, 000 pounds and a large country estate to settle down with. And a title, if possible!

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30 Days of TV: Day Two

A Show That You Wish More People Were Watching

It'd be a cop out if I said American Soap Operas once again...so I'm going to go with...

Parenthood

This warm little nugget of television goodness is shockingly underrated and mostly ignored by mainstream viewers. I'm not entirely sure why Parenthood hasn't reached the popularity levels that family-centric shows like Brothers and Sisters and Modern Family have, but I suppose it comes down to a few factors.

• Going up against uber popular crime and legal shows on other networks
• Lack of star power
• Lack of storyline sensationalism

To put it bluntly, Parenthood just isn't sexy. It's dysfunctional (without being pretentious) and, while it has some recognisable tv stars, they're mostly faces you might remember from a show way back when, but you can't quite make out their name. Are Peter Krause, Monica Potter and Craig T. Nelson household names? No. Not even close.

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30 Days of TV: Day One

A Show That Should Never Have Been Cancelled 

American Soap Operas

It's hard to say what show I'd like networks to desperately bring back. As an avid soap opera watcher, I'd like to reserve the right to group all cancelled soap opera shows together as my "Show That Should Never Have Been Cancelled". 

There's something about sitting down with the women in your family and watching your stories. It's something that was passed down from my grandmother to my mother, and hopefully, if the survivors stick around, to my daughters. Soap Operas are about family, love and life in its essence and it's about setting aside the dreary doldrums of life for an hour or two to watch the characters on your favourite show. It's about following along with the show's decades old family circles as they got married, broke up, had children and we all watched those children grow up within the show's context. I grew as they grew.

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