Patti

 misuse of Carly’s professional ethics.  She also lied to the nun when she registered her not only under a false name, but as her (Carly’s) patient, and said she was not from this country and spoke little to no English.  Maybe since I assume it was a catholic hospital, they gave her some sort of charitable leniency regarding payment, which would tack on another lie.  Boy, this just gets better and better, doesn’t it?

 obtain it under false pretenses, regardless of the fact that it may have still been okay for her to use a false name for Chloe.  Patient privilege may work for her here, but lying to obtain Dan’s DNA does not.  Also, I would imagine that Dan could not protect her if he decided not to testify against her.  It would still be a matter of her using unethical practices in her profession.  But, she’ll probably walk away unscathed.

 normally I wouldn’t want Nikki within 2 feet of Sami’s children, regardless of what some think about Sami; but, yesterday, Nicole seemed genuinely interested and concerned for Johnny, spoke to him very lovingly, and I liked the way she played with him and tickled him so that he would look at her; but, again, not so sure whether she could have seen a tiny spec of white in his eye just by looking into it.  Oh, well, Sami and E.J. are so absorbed in so many other other inconsequential things at present, they should both be kissing Nicole’s derriere if Johnny doesn’t lose his right eye by catching it so quickly.

 or suffered a burn, or even cut herself badly preparing a meal than to have her, or anyone else for that matter, suffer a serious illness or disease and then be miraculously cured in a week, with no side effects or long term therapy, as in Kate’s 4-stage lung cancer (shame on you writers), or the loss of Philip’s leg and face transplant (uggghhh).  And why doesn’t anybody go to jail, lose their business, or their medical licenses, etc., for the crimes they commit?  WRITING IS GETTING SLOPPY AGAIN, and I’m losing faith in the show to ever be able to present itself in a good light where I can once again wait on pins and needles for the next day’s show.  I can honestly say there’s not one storyline right now that I’m really into with that kind of anticipation.  It’s more like they’re taking me one step forward, three steps back, with every new storyline, with still no real romance, and no loving couples who’s marriage can survive loner than 3 to 6 months.  If I sound pessimistic, it’s only because I am.

 when he gave those critical remarks about leaving.  A lot of the actors who are not given the chance to shine must feel this way if they’re not given the opportunity to show their true talent.  I loved Mark’s acting today.  It just goes to show how wrong TPTB can be about an actor that’s let go simply because they just don’t want to write for them.  This all happened too fast for me to believe that they simply decided to change the story line with Melanie and Philip.  Parker will probably now turn out to be Daniel’s after all and once again Melanie will make a decision she will probably regret.  Just my speculation; don’t know how this one will wind up.  But, I do know that Mark Hapka is a much better actor than anyone gave him credit for being.  I enjoyed  his performance today.

 due to all of the stress she’ll be going through, but I totally agree, this show does not need another pregnancy.

 I don’t think there’s any question about that.  I would love to see them last, but those that have gone by the wayside have been a direct result of poor ratings.  And, IMO, ratings are controlled by the general public’s interest in your show.  If the writing is poor and the audience is generally disappointed, who’s fault is that?  I would say it is the head writers, and if the head writers don’t provide good story lines, the ratings begin to fall, and if the ratings continue to fall, and the writers continue to deliver a poor product, then that to me is the executive producer’s fault.  So, I guess I’m simply stating an opinion about what I believe to be a problem with all soaps, not just DOOL.  It’s up to the EP and the HR to keep their show going by recognizing whether or not their general audience is happy with their product.  I just do not believe the writers of today put forth the effort to make the show as exciting as it once was, and if the ratings continue to fall, sooner or later they lose sponsors, and when the sponsors are no longer interested, the network axe cannot be far behind.  So, it’s up to the EP and the HR to see that that does not happen.

 and very direct quote from Mark Hapka’s interview.  Tells me a little more about who’s running the show as far as writing is concerned.  Looks like you don’t want to be on Dena’s *hit list.  I get the impression that she cracks the whip where the cast is concerned as to who stays, who goes, and who gets the front-burner story lines.  It explains a lot, since I’ve read other articles that claim she is simply hell to work with if she doesn’t care about the writing for your character.   Guess that’s why for so long we’ve had to endure the Sami/E.J. show.  Anyway, MH states:

"[DAYS executive producer] Ken Corday is a good man. [Co-executive producer] Gary Tomlin really believed in me from what I was told," Hapka stated. "As far as [head writer Dena] Higley goes… we don’t speak. We never really have. We may have uttered a few words once during the Emmys. That’s it though." 

"I don’t know who got the final say but that person is going to be the demise of this show if there isn’t a powershift," Hapka added. "I’m not trying to burn any bridges in any way here. I am simply giving credit where credit is due. I haven’t said an ill word about anyone. I simply have an opinion of the collaborative efforts. I see so much potential in the show and it’s so clear to me some of the simple changes that can be made to better it…" 

Back to me …. all I know is IF Ken Corday and Dena Higley want this show to fail, you can best believe that it will most certainly do so.