Soap Opera Update, October 1988
by Allison J. Waldman

We asked Michael T. Weiss, DAYS OF OUR LIVES' irreverent, fun-loving surgeon, Mike Horton, to give us from the top-of-his head, impressions of some of his DAYS co-stars. As you might expect, Mike has a unique way of summarizing his feelings about fellow actors, like...

Melissa Brennan, who plays Jennifer Horton, his character's sister. "Ugly, awful, hate her guts!... Missy is the cutest thing in life. If I could just nibble on her, I would. It's been great exploring having a little sister since I never had one and we just get along swimmingly. When they first started working with us and they realized that we had so much chemistry, they sort of wished they had put us together as boyfriend and girlfriend, but I think it works as big brother-little sister. We get a lot of mail from people who like our relationship."

Karen Moncrief, who as Gabrielle Pascal, almost had a fling with Dr. Mike: "She's another lady I had a great time with. She was great, real fun, real sexy. She like smolders when she walks down the hall. The best legs on DAYS."

Stephen Nichols, DAYS resident anti-hero, Patch Johnson: "Steve's got the best legs on DAYS. Steve and I worked together on Spontaneous Combustion (Michael's improv group) for a while. He's an excellent actor. Everyone really respects him. He works very hard and he's a good actor. We're all really happy for him, very supportive of one another. Everyone really gets along, I know that sounds corny, but it's true."

Mary Beth Evans, Steve's paramour Kayla, who as a nurse and patient, occasionally has scenes with Mike: "Mary Beth is always positive, always up, laughing, always having a good time. She's great. She's got a cute baby (Daniel). Yeah, I really like Mary Beth. I haven't seen Patsy Pease's baby yet, but the pictures of him are really cute. All babies look like aliens. Cute little aliens."

Frances Reid, who plays Mike Horton's grandmother, Alice: "I love Frances. Frances is great, she's so ballsy and bright, not at all like the sweet, old grandmother, you know. She's just a very bright, very sweet lady. She's different. She's totally together. She's like talking to a twenty-year old. She's great."

Genie Frances who plays Diana Colville, and, for a time, was Mike's best friend: "Genie and I have become very good friends. I kind of miss the fact that I don't get to work with her too much anymore. We got along great. I think Genie and Drake are great together, I just miss working with her. I think they (Mike and Diana) had a nice relationship."

Charles Shaughnessy, DAYS favorite English espionage agent, who for a while viewed Mike as a rival for Gabrielle: "Charles and I are very good friends off the set. We live right near each other. He and his wife are great. Charlie always has his hands in a million different baskets. He's real bright. A great guy."

Arleen Sorkin, the looniest character on DAYS, Caliope Jones: "Arleen and I just get along swimmingly and I'm going to marry her and have all her children. We just get along great."

Hey, Mike, you sound like a politician! Any problems with anybody on the show? "There's not really anybody on DAYS that I don't get along with. I don't think there's anybody that has friction with anybody else, we all seem to get on very well. You know, I've been on that show almost three years now, and this particular cast is the closest."

Who's the prankster on the set? "Me. Although, one day I came out of my dressing room and I had just taken a shower and I had a towel wrapped around me and Kristian Alphonso (ex-Hope) and Holly Gagnier (ex-Ivy, now Cassie, OLTL) burst out the closet and ripped my towel off and took a picture of me, a Polaroid. They just thought it was the funniest thing and they kept telling everyone that they had a book of all the guys they'd gotten and we vowed that we'd get back at them. I vowed, I just locked it away in my memory. One day, Kristian was in the makeup room and she said she was going to get dressed, so I ran and got a camera and I just waited for the opportune time for her to take off her bra and I took a snapshot and to this day, I have naked pictures of Kristian Alphonso. So if Bob Guccione of Penthouse is reading this, you can contact me.... We spend 12 hours a day together. That's more than you probably spend with your spouses. You've got to keep it light."

Now that it's been over for a while, what about the Mike and Robin story line? "I think they underestimated the power of that story. When they ended it, they didn't realize the following they had. Who knows, maybe Robin will come back. It wasn't a perfect story, but... it would be interesting if she came back." Hmm... wonder if Mike knows something we don't know?