The Buzz - BuzzWorthy Radio

DAYS OF OUR LIVES STAR SUZANNE ROGERS!

Suzanne Rogers, Maggie Horton from NBC Daytime's Days of our Lives, will be making an appearance for the first time on BuzzWorthy Radio!

A former Rockette, Rogers started with the show in 1973. Her character was killed off in 2003, the third victim of the Salem Stalker story arc. The storyline was controversial, and resulted in the firing of nine veteran actors over the course of a year. Eventually, executive producer Ken Corday rehired all of the fired actors with new contracts. The storyline was explained as being a hoax. Rogers is the only current cast member on Days to have won an Emmy in a competitive category.

Rogers was diagnosed with the rare muscle disease myasthenia gravis in 1984, but is currently in remission. Later, Rogers insisted that her character, Maggie, be diagnosed with the same disease on the show, in order to educate viewers.

Duration:: 1h 3m
Broadcast on:: 26 Feb 2010
Audio Format:: other

Log told radio. Go get you live. It is Buzzworthy Radio. Where you can get the latest buzz. I'm all your favorite children's buzz. Buzzworthy starts now. Hey, good evening everybody. Welcome to a new edition of Buzzworthy Radio. It's Thursday, February 20th, 2010. 730 p.m. Eastern, 430 p.m. Pacific. Here on blog talkradio.com. I'm your host, Navell J. Lee. And I am very, very excited for the fight show. You have no idea. We are going to be having on the wonderful, talented Suzanne Rogers on our show, who plays the role of Maggie Horton on the NBC Daytime days of our lives. They'll be calling in very, very shortly. And you are welcome to call in to the show with your questions for our guest tonight, as well as ask away in our chat room. If you want to participate via the phone call, the phone number to dial in is 646-595-4228. Chat rooms right now up and running. Also, we are on Twitter to follow us at Buzzworthy Radio. And we'll definitely get your questions asked on the air. Notice I'm like stopping in between because I'm just right. I was seriously very, very, very sad. And when I just read about Andrew Koenig, everybody who was a growing pain fan remembers him as Mike Weaver's best friend, bonus to bone. Apparently, his body was found in Vancouver Park. And it's just a sad moment to read about that. I'm just a little bit shaken by that. He was one of my favorite characters on the show and really, really hoped it wasn't going to go that far. But I don't know, man, it's terrible. My condolences and thoughts go without this family. It's really tough to hear. I'm sorry guys, but wow. You know, it's just like one of your favorites is passed on. You just can't garner your composer right off the second, you know what I mean? But it was just tough to read that. I wasn't going to be the news, but it was. I feel for that family. I really, really do. And I know some of you out there are growing pain fans as well, too. It's just terrible. Apparently, CNN just had released it. So, yeah, that's where it was. But you guys, I am excited. I'm excited to have with us right now on the line is Suzanne Rogers. Hi. From NBC's Days of Life, how are you? How are you? I'm doing just, thank you so much for doing this show. Oh, my pleasure. Let me just start out to say what an honor and privilege it is to be talking to not only a former rock cat. But one of many, many people's favorites on days at this point in time. I tell you, my heart was like racing. Oh, I am so happy. I am so happy to be found again. You know, you go on for time and nobody knows you're there or even still on the show. And then all of a sudden, a producer walks in and says, "Why aren't you working?" And I go, "Yes, why am I not?" Why are you not working? Yeah, exactly. Well, isn't that nice? Well, it was nice to be found again. So, I had a writing team that wanted to write for me that had written for me years ago. And our producer was also a writer way back then. And he wrote stories for me and he didn't understand why I wasn't working. So now he's a producer and he could do something about it. That's right. Isn't it funny how that works out? Isn't it funny? Isn't it funny? Yeah, I know. If someone had said, you know, a year ago, you will still be on the show and have something to do. Some kind of a storyline, I would have said, "Mm-hmm." You would not believe them. I wouldn't have believed them. I really wouldn't have. I would have said, "No, I don't think that's in the cards anymore." But here we are. And here we are talking. Isn't this nice? Here we are talking about it. This is so cool. I mean, you've been on the back burner for so long and then right out of the clear booth, right out of the clear booth sky, you've gotten so much meaty material within the last several months. I'm happy with everybody. Yes. You're working with everybody now. Oh, look at everybody. Isn't that nice? What took them so long, what took them so long to come up with something like this? Is really the question that everybody is asking. Well, I think there were other, you know, people under contract that had big guarantees that had to be used. And I never had a big guarantee on the show. And so a guarantee for your audience that doesn't know is that so many shows a week or a month that you have to work. And I never had a very big guarantee. Yeah. So that was kind of what I think it kind of hampered them. But I also don't think there was any story at the time. You know, at the time the writers at that point in time or the producers or whatever didn't see me involved in any other story lines. And here, you know, the doors opened and a new writer comes on and a new producer comes on. And they go, "Well, why isn't she with this story or with that story or why isn't she here?" And it was just like they were open to see. And that was what it was. That's all I can say. And aren't I lucky? Yes. You are lucky. I mean, you've been through so, your cat has been through so much on this show. I mean, you started on the show in 1973. Yes. And who would have thought that not only would your character get bludgeoned by a wine bottle, wind up coming back alive on an island that looks reminiscent of that of Salem. I know. And they, right now, just going through the ups and downs, warning the loss of Mickey and... Am I purely Melanie getting shot? I mean, you know... Melmy getting shot. Yeah, that's what's stressed. I mean, that just pushed me right over the edge, you know, because she's just a deer. And I'm loving this feeling of these characters calling me, you know, grandma, maggie. You're like a mom to me. I mean, it's just deer and it's loving and it's touching. And I think the audience is just eating it up. So I'm very happy about that. We are eating it up. Yay! We are eating it up. And there was something I had read and I definitely wanted to clarify this. You were Sean that they killed off the character of Mickey. You didn't expect it at all or anything. You didn't expect it to go down the route. I was shocked because Mickey hadn't been on the canvas, meaning used. John Clark had decided to leave the show, which was about four years ago. And he just wanted to, you know, retire. So he left and he was also very upset that I had gotten killed off. So there was kind of a double whammy with him. He said, you know, why don't they kill me off? I want to go, you know, and leave you there. But that's not the way it was supposed to be anyway. So when he left, they tried. They replaced. They had, you know, there were three guys. Different ones that came in. But it never kind of clicked, not necessarily. I mean, it was me. It was fine. I mean, you know, you work with who you're given to work with, you know. But I guess the audience or the writers or the network or whoever just didn't, and they just never thought it worked or gelled. And so for the last three Christmases, there has been no Mickey at the Christmas trimming of the tree. And so when Gary Tomlin came on, he said, you know, I think we need to wrap this up. And I'm like thinking, okay, does that mean wrapping me up too? That's your question because you're a couple. And you, even though you talk about Mickey being on a trip or a business trip or somewhere else or on a case or whatever, you're still a couple. And all of a sudden I thought, well, I said, well, what about me? He said, oh, no, no, you're not going anywhere. I said, okay, this is good. I mean, it was that minute of, oh, my God. And then, oh, my God, you know, that kind of is so needless to say when I knew it was going to be an actuality that they were going to kill the character of Mickey off. I called John and because I thought I need to tell him, he can't be seen this in print somewhere and not know about it. So when I called someone had already sent him some scripts, which I hadn't even, I didn't even have scripts yet, but he already knew, so it made me not have to be the one to tell him easier. But he told us all with his wife and we were talking and everything. And I just said to him, I said, I just hope I do, I hope I do you justice and I hope everything, you know, I hope you're pleased. And that's all you can hope for. You know, that's all you can do is you just have to do, you try to do your best. And so it was, it was very, it was hard to do though, because it was another Horton gone, you know, so that's, that's what makes it, that's what makes it tricky, you know. So anyway, that's, that's what happened. Yeah. So I was kind of stunned, but they weren't going to recast, they were just going to, you know, have him have a heart attack. Yes. Yeah, or stroke. I mean, I just find him on the floor, but they don't, the audience doesn't see me find him, they see me go upstairs, and then they see me come back downstairs and I'm in shock. You know, and of course, that's, you know, because they didn't have a quote body, you know, to use, you know, anyway. But I think it was done well. I mean, I think the audience, you know, obviously they, they're, they're upset that he's gone, that the character's gone, but they, they felt that it was probably the best thing to tie it up and then to move on with the story. Look what came from it after that. Look what happened after that. Isn't it amazing? I know. I, I just, as I said, pinch me. That's all I can say, you know, because I just like, yeah, it's like, whoo, okay. Yes, exactly. I actually had a question that was posed to me to ask you, which I felt was a really good question. This came from Tim, and I think this was something that he wanted to have clarified as well. When they revisited your condition on the show, were you uncomfortable when that was done or was that brought upon by you and you wanted to have that story be told? Well, see, no, I was, I was stunned that they were bringing it up again because it, the way it was heading, it almost sort of looked like Maggie was going to start drinking again. You know, that's kind of the way it was kind of leaning. That's what we all thought, yeah. They went the other way, and Gary told me, he sat me down and he said, you know, we're going to, we're going to touch on the Myastenia again. And I said, oh, and he kind of was sitting there looking for a reaction for me. I said, well, I, I can't say this is, I'm thrilled about it. I said, because you must understand, when we did this story before, I was in the throes of, of having the Myastenia. And I said, now I've been in remission since '95, and I want to keep it that way. So he says, well, it's not going to be, because I, when I had the, the illness, now I'm in remission. There is no cure, so I just am in remission. I had it from like the neck up. I, you know, it affected my face, my facial features on my face, and then the prednisone on top of that affected the features of my face. So it was that kind of, of, I wasn't, I had difficulty speaking. You wouldn't have been able to understand me. I wasn't, I mean, you couldn't, I couldn't enunciate because I couldn't move my mouth and my tongue properly to, to enunciate. So, but that's not what they were going to do it of my limbs, of the arms or legs or whatever, and the dizziness or whatever. That's how they were going to do it. So I thought, okay, if I was driving home after the conversation with Gary, I thought, okay, well, I'm just going to approach this as if someone had said, here's the script, and you're going to be blind, or here's the script, and you're going to be, you know, something. I would approach it as an actress doing playing a role, and that's how I'm going to do it, so it's not so close to home, you know. Yeah, because it is, it is, you know, it's obviously something that when I had it, it was something that was on my mind every second of every minute of every hour of every day. Now, I don't think about it other than if someone else has some kind of neuromuscular disease, and I, of course, it pops in my mind that yes, that's what I have to. But the good thing about what I have is that it's not a degenerative disease, it's not like MS, it's not like MS or Parkinson's or Lupus, or it doesn't get any worse than what it is that you have. You know, now of course you can have it really bad, Aristotle, he died from it, so you can have it very badly. But for me, it didn't ever go down into my chest because that's when you can't breathe, and that's when you die. So I didn't have it knock on wood, I didn't have it, that's how it affected me was from my neck up, so what I needed to do used for the show, I couldn't use. It was, you know, I always said it was like God tapped me on the shoulder and said, "slow down, you know, slow down, you're going 110% slow down." And it totally slowed me down, you know, I was completely out of commission for a year. And then, of course, when I came back on the show, I was still on the prednisone, I was on the prednisone from '84 to '95. So it was a long haul, and they put you on it, they ween you on it, but they ween you off of it twice as slow as they put you on it. So, I mean, there was a stage when the doctor said, "You will never be below 10 milligrams every other day." And I said, "Oh, well, wait a minute, I've already gone to seven milligrams every other day." And I said, "I've had a dream that I'm going to break a five milligram tablet in half, and I'm going to get down to two-and-a-half, so I know I'm going to get down to two-and-a-half." He said, "Well," he said, "I, you know, you're still having flare-ups." I said, "I only have flare-ups when I come to see you." So anyway, you know, it wasn't very nice, but I mean, he kept calling me his guinea pig, so I thought, "Well, I mean, if he's going to be that..." I mean, I felt that was kind of rude, so I thought, "Well, if he's going to say that to me, I can say what's on my mind to him." So, no, I just, I was in my heart of heart. I prayed a lot, and a lot of people, I'm sure, I'll never know how many people were praying for me to get well. And God's hand that got me well and got me into remission and got me back on the show. Absolutely. We're glad you're here on the show. Oh, God, this is so fun. That's too funny. That is too funny. I actually have, I actually do have a collar on the line. Joanne, Joanne, one of my colleagues is joining us right now. Okay, hi, Joanne. I wanted to put her through. Hi there. Hi, Joanne. How are you? I'm fine. How are you? I'm great. Just great. Thank you. Pleasure to speak with you. It's so much fun. This is so fun. Now, aren't these cool and shows great? I love it. I absolutely love it. There's no better way to get into feedback from people. Well, there you go. I was listening to you guys talk about, I don't want to mispronounce it. My amemia. My amemia gravis. Yeah. I'm the survivor of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Oh, congratulations. Thank you. I was diagnosed when I was 32. I'm 40 now and I'm mostly smelling all that and eventually had to have a bone marrow transplant. The side effects from the bone marrow transplant are a lot of what you describe how you were. It's five years, it'll be five years this September that I had the bone marrow transplant. Wow. They say there's never a cure. You're always in remission, but five years is a good mark to help. No kidding. No kidding. You know, so my question to you is because I know I'm very critical when I see so many other shows trying to portray these diseases on television and how accurate they are. Do you find yourself doing the same thing? Well, what I did was I called the foundation and I got the up-to-date brochures. And when I got the brochures here at the house, I took a yellow marker. I know we're all familiar with those. And I walked through all the things that had personally affected me, that I had gone through, that the medications I had been on, the -- I had a fineectomy, which was an operation that they took out my finest gland. And I highlighted everything that was in those brochures that had personally affected me. And then I gave them to Gary, the producer, and he passed it on to the head writer. So they have all the information, and that's -- you know, they can use it or do with it, you know, as they see fit. Right. But I just -- as I said, I'm glad that I am in the state that I am now that I can play it as an actress, as opposed to actually trying to fight it at the same time they were trying to write it, you know. Right. That was not pleasant. Yeah. Oh, I can imagine. I can imagine. Oh, I can be in front of a camera when you're feeling rotten. Not at all. I mean, I think -- if you keep up with all my children, the JR character is going through Hodgkin's lymphoma now, and I'm watching him, and they're doing a really, really good job for training it so far, and he's doing a really good job, but I am pretty critical about it. And I do make comments to the actors if I see them or talk to them on my show or whatever, if they're doing it right or if they're not doing it right, because, you know, I think if you're going to portray these diseases, do it justice. Well, that was my feeling also, because I said, "Well, it's got to be informative, and it's got to be truthful." Right. And, of course, everyone has it differently. They're not like they're not two people that are the same. I mean, when I started -- when the prednisone -- when I was leaning off the prednisone and I was getting better, I was their spokesperson. I went around the country, and I did a lot of, you know, seminars for them. I went to -- you know, I just -- I did walks. You tried to raise money for this cause. Nobody knows about this illness. It's very -- it's very unknown. So, a lot of the people said, "You don't have it." And I said, "What do you mean? I don't have it." And I said, "Well, you're so -- you're fine." You know, because the one -- you know, some people had it so much worse than I. And it was -- and they kind of doubted that you had it, if you were well. If you were in remission, they didn't -- they couldn't believe that you actually had it, ever. You know, so there you go. And so -- but I was -- I took my mom. I had to go down to Australia to do this, you know, this magazine that was down there, and they wanted me to come down. And when I got to my hotel room, there was a note in the box at my hotel room, and there was this woman, and she said, "You don't know me, but my husband was just diagnosed with this illness that I think you have, and you think you could call me and talk to me or talk to him because he's very depressed." And that's the kind of things I was doing. You know, I would call people -- I didn't know -- or if I'd get a fan letter from someone who was talking about themselves or their family or someone, and, you know, and I just would call randomly, just pick up the phone and call these people to help. I mean, just to give them a little bit of encouragement because nobody I knew knew what this was, and so I didn't have that somebody to call me and say, "Now, come on. Buck up and get going here, you know." Yeah, yeah. So anyway, it helps to have -- I think it just helps to just talk about it and get it out -- just get it out there and, you know, let people know about it. Absolutely, and like I said, as long as they're doing it justice, then that's okay with me. Exactly. Exactly. I'm absolutely right when you say that two people don't suffer the same. I really always get, "Well, so had this," and they bounce back fast. And I say, "Well, I ain't selling so, and I'm not." You know, after my treatments, I had to go to physical therapy to learn how to get my gate back, because it was so unsteady that as I was, I would just automatically fall. My legs would get out underneath me at the drop of a dime, and it would look at me and say, "Why is this 33-year-old girl in a wheelchair? She looks healthy. She looks sick." You know, I was one of those girls who didn't lose weight with cancer. There you go. There you go. Well, I had double vision so bad, and here's my doctor who's down at the time. He was at UCLA, and then he moved down to Long Beach, and he's telling, "You've got to come down and, you know, you have to make a trip down here every week." And I'm thinking, "And who am I going to get to drive me down there every week?" You know, so I drove down the 405 Freeway with one eye open and one eye shut. Now, imagine that out there in the freeways, but you have to do what you have to do. Because your friends are working, and they don't have the time. And they, you know, they know, but they don't know what you're going through. So that's what I did. I mean, God, I never got pulled over, but I mean, I could have easily been pulled over, and if they had said, "Walk the white line," I would have said, "Which one?" Yeah, because I couldn't have seen it. I mean, I was being two or three, you know. I'm always slowly going really slow. Yeah, right. And you guys are dead. Anything could have happened. Yes, yes, yes. Anything could have happened, and thank God it didn't, so. Well, absolutely. And much, much, much success to you and everything. Oh, and you and me. May you be in remission for the rest of your life. Yes, may you also, and it's a pleasure talking to you now. Oh, thank you so much. And watch the show. Yes, I will. I promise, I will. All right. Thank you so much. Okay. That's fine. Bye-bye. Thanks to it. Bye-bye. Oh, she's so sweet. Oh, this is me? I love it. Yeah, it's really sweet. Yes, she's awesome. So sweet. Well, how are you? You're so nice. Well, thank you. I try to be, sometimes I fake it. I don't know if I could succeed. Oh, come on. Nah, you're dead. You know, you've got to like your little demons at every once in a while, but that's okay. I love it. I love that. I love it. I love it. I actually, um, actually had a note to pass on to me from a very close source to Brian de Tillo. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. I love Brian de Tillo. He found out that you were coming on the show today. Oh, my God! I love you. Oh, my God. I love him so much. I miss him so much. I mean, you know, that was just such a shock to me. Talk about a shock about whether I was going to have the my C or not. Talk about a shock. Finding out Brian was no longer going to be on the show. I went, I mean, I couldn't believe, I just couldn't believe it because, I mean, this was one person that, over all these years, I've had scenes with, and we've had some wonderful things together. And, you know, I just love him to death. And, you know, I just was shocked. I was so shocked when I found out that he wasn't going to be on the show anymore, and I couldn't understand why. You know, so there you go. You, you don't, you can't understand, you can't, you know, well, you know, it's just this roller coaster that you go on, and all of your emotions are going up and down, and you're going, well, what is the reason, and you wonder why? But, you know, it's, it's, you don't always get that answer. Unfortunately, you know, it's not because he wasn't a wonderful actor because he really is. He's the best. So, I mean, I just want him to go and, and go onward and upward, and that's it. You know, that's the thing. You, you just hope for your friends to do well, and to do what they want to do in life, and that's what I hope for him. Absolutely. We all did. I was very upset that he was not going to be part of the show anymore, but it's just, it was, it was, it was heartbreaking. And, to hear that you and Joe Mascolo gave him a phone call letting him know how you felt, it was absolutely touching. Well, I, you know, Brian has just always been very special to me, and, and, you know, he was sort of like the first person on the show. I mean, there was the group of, of, you know, the mature actors, and he was the first person that I got to work with that was younger. You know, when he came on the show, and he was so lovely and so respectful, and he goes, okay, everybody's got to learn their lines. I got to see what's his hand today. You know, I mean, that's, it's okay, we got to get, we got to shape up here because I'm working with the Benny's winner here. I'm working with the Emmy winner here, you know. I mean, you can hear him, you know how he is. You know, he was just great. Yeah, I do. Always great. Always great. Oh, just God, he would just crack me up to no end. I just love him. Just love him to death. So yeah, I mean, Lauren, Lauren Coslow and myself and Jolene, we're, we're going to take him out. We wanted to wait. We thought all this adulation would happen right after he left. And they said, okay, when, when, you know, when things are down the road and he, you know, he's feeling kind of maybe someday when he's going, okay, I need to be cheered up. We're all, we're taking them out to dinner, you know. So that's the three girls are taking them out. So he'll have a fun time. Absolutely. Absolutely. I like that. I like that. Oh, yeah. There you go. Yeah. I mean, he can handle dinner. You know what? Take him out to dinner. Yeah, he can handle the three of us. Oh, God. I got blackmailed. I got blackmailed to take this collar on the line. I mean, I love the guy. Don't give me wrong. I love the guy. Yes. But he blackmailed me to make sure that he gets on the line tonight. And because he said that if I didn't, he would wind up telling everybody, I was 47 years of age when I'm only 24. So, and so instead of having him do that, I decided to take out this phone call. Okay. Tom is with us right now. Hi, Nobel. My name is Tom. Tom. Hi, Tom. Hi. I'm a fairly new fan. I've only been watching Maggie since 1974. And it is just such an honor to have the chance to talk to you. Oh, you're so sweet. Thank you. And I just want to tell you. Yes. I'm sorry. Go ahead. I just want to tell you that I was one of those fans in high school and college whose grandmother coerced me into watching the soaps with her. And as she got older, especially, I would come home from college. We would sit down and watch days and then another world every day before I went to my night job. And as she got older, really watching the shows kept her sharp and we would talk and discuss the storylines. And I think it really helps to keep her going a lot longer than the fact that she was so engaged with what was going on. Oh, aren't you, sweet. Isn't that? That is a lovely thing to say. That is so nice. That is so nice. And she loved the character of Maggie. It was Maggie and Alice for her two favorites. Oh, well, that is so nice. And, you know, I do hear that a lot. And, you know, it's nice to have changed someone's life or have had someone, you know, get peace with watching someone else, you know. And I always said, you know, people say, "Well, a lot of people watch themselves." I said, "Because we have it so much worse than they do." And they go, "Well, my life's not so bad. They're like terrible." And if they can survive what they go through, we can survive with it. Absolutely. Absolutely. And, you know, my mom lives with me. So I understand, you know, my dad passed away in '96 and my mom came out to live with me in '97. And she said, "You know, if I were not here with you, I would have probably been gone long ago." And so, I mean, you know, it just touches your heart to know that there are people that watch the show that don't have anybody else. And so I always want to be truthful and I always want to be true to myself. So I think that kind of helps. I don't know, when somebody watches, if they love your character, they love you. And, of course, Maggie is a part of me. So that's the way it is. Well, that's one thing that I noticed as you watch the shows over a long period of time. It does mean that the character is written for the actors. And then it gets to the point where you question how much difference there is between the two. And I was wondering of all the great actors that you've worked with over the years. Who do you think was the most likely characters and who was the least? Oh, let's see. I guess, hmm. Well, I think the least was Francis, Alice, because she was a Spitfire, you know, in, you know, Francis was. And Alice was very homey and sweet and whatever. Not that Francis wasn't any of those, but she was so much more. You know, she liked to have a good time. She liked to have a cocktail and she liked to have a little cigarette every now and then. I mean, so, I mean, you know, what I'm just saying, she just was very, she was a normal person. You know, I mean, I heard that, that she was a free spirit in the industry. Oh, I mean, you know, when Francis, you know, in Francis's day, smoking was the big thing. You remember, if you look at all the older movies back when that was their mode of expression was to light up a cigarette. Light up a cigarette and have a beer? Yeah, I mean, you know, just every time you'd see a movie, I mean, a black and white movie, look at all those black and white movies. I watch them on AMC and there's like, that's all they do is smoke, smoke, smoke, smoke, smoke. Well, I mean, Francis didn't do that, but I'm just saying every now and then she'd like to have a cigarette, you know. But she was so much more feisty than Alice Horton. And I think the person that was the most like her character was probably Brenda Benet. Do you remember Brenda? Absolutely, that was so special. Well, she was so lovely and she was so lovely in her character. So, I mean, that, you know, I mean, that was the Brenda Benet I knew. I mean, I don't know the Brenda Benet that is no longer with us, you know. I just know the one that was on the show with me the years that she was on the show and she was a lovely person. And she totally saved that character because what normally happens on a soap is when they break up on the wedding day and the ex-wife was back from the dead. It doesn't work unless you care about that person who came back and Brenda made you care about her character so much that it's a story for me. That's right, that's right, absolutely. Yeah, go ahead. In that respect, I have to tell you that in a sense, I'm glad that my grandmother didn't live to see Maggie die. That story line, I've watched movies. I'm one of these people, you know, turn of classic movies is the only thing I'll tell you. Yes, yes, yes, yes, turn of classic and AMC, exactly. And I've watched the soap since the mid-70s. I'm used to seeing characters die, I mean, and when Maggie was killed, that was so real and so visceral. It actually made me physically ill to watch it. I was so disturbed by it. But yet admiring your work in the process. And how was that? Well, let me tell you, that was so, I was told seven weeks before that I was going to be killed off. And I was not to let anyone know. And of course, now I knew, and I had to, and I was told, well, you know, you're going to have to play this like you don't know that you're going to die at the end. And that was so unnerving and so hard to play that you know at the end you're going to die, but not to play it. You know, that was so, that was so hard to play. It was just so gut-wrenching. And as hard as it was to watch, it was that hard to play. And is it really true that at that point that you didn't know you were coming back? Oh, absolutely, absolutely. I had no idea, I had no idea I thought we were all gone. I thought all ten of us, that was it for the rest of us. Certainly, would you hear in the industry cutting the budgets, cutting the law. There you go, there you go. And you thought, whoa, you know. And I mean, that was kind of what pushed John Clark because he was upset. He was so upset that I was getting killed off. He said, why don't you kill me? Kill me? You know, I want to go. I'm ready to go. You know, he said, don't kill her off. But, you know, back it was the, they were going to kill one person out of each family unit. And that's right. And then it came on. And I was the one that was killed out of my family unit, yes. And dug and the rest. Yeah, I mean, it was just, it was just really, it was so. And then, you know, I thought, oh God, you know. And then to sing for like a minute, for the audience to even think that Marlena would have done it. You know, I thought, how cruel was this? Exactly. And once they killed Alice, you, that's when we knew there was something was up here. Yeah, I mean, I thought, whoa, whoa, this is, we're really getting down by the nitty gritty here. And I have to tell you that I guess I sadly do agree with the idea of killing off Mickey because nobody captured the character the way John did. No, you're right. You're right. And I felt so bad for John Ingle. I love him. I love him too, but he was so wrong for that. He was so wrong in that part. Because they put him in the part immediately upon putting him in the part, they changed the way the character acted. Oh, I know he acted. It was like a fool. I thought, why are you doing this to this man? You know. But then I was gone. See, I, they were, they had already killed me off. Right. And then you came back. In fact, there I had heard that he is a teddy bear and a gentleman. Oh, he's lovely. He is so lovely and so sweet. And like the last day when I was shooting my last scene with him, he was, we were in the, we were in the set. And he said, and why are, why are we killing this girl off again? I mean, he was so, he was so lovely. Very nice. But you know, when I found that, that, that Mickey was going to be, they were going to remove the character from the canvas. I called John and I, and Patty and John got on the phone and I said, you know, I, I need, I have something to tell you. And someone had already sent him some script, which I hadn't even had any script yet. And he knew. So I didn't have to be the one to break the news to him, but he already knew and he was fine with it, you know. And I just, I, the only thing I just said, well, I hope I do the character and, and I hope I do you justice and, and that's all, you know. So it was, that was kind of a, I had to tie that end up. Do you know what I mean? I hear you. Well, I have to tell you that, that it, with life being crazy, I had sort of drifted away from the show a little bit. And when I heard this was happening, it brought me back because I had to see. And normally you think the actor might get a little, you know, be very, you're sort of hysterical and uncontrollable. But you played it with such a subtle, subtlety. It was just like devastation, not hysterics. But your, your acting choices were so spot on that it was beautiful to watch the way you would, you would be reserved. And then the moment dug with Julie put their arms around you, then you'd kind of crack a little bit. And I, I just want to want you to know that people see all those little subtle acting choices that you gave through that storyline. And you know, when Lisa, when Lisa Tracelle came back, my daughter, you know, Melissa came back the day I opened the door. And she was there, I said to her, we saw each other in the makeup room. And I said, I don't, I said, let's not talk until we get out there. You know, I mean, because I wanted it to be that, you know, that the first time you, you know, and the day. And then of course, the day that she had to say goodbye, it was just, it was just so, oh my God, you know, it was, it was hard. And that is so great. They're willing to bring the original actors back. Oh, wasn't that lovely? It was really lovely. Yes. Yes. And I've heard that they're going to be doing that again with involving Alice's death. Yes. It's going to be done, and we don't know exactly when, but there was some mention about it in the spring. I don't know what that means, whether that's when we're going to shoot it or that's when it's going to air. I'm not sure, but I'm sure that's kind of what they're heading up to, you know. Well, I appreciate that they're taking the time to do it right because she was. I mean, it's not an overstatement to say that she was an icon in the industry. Oh, my goodness. She was, you know, she was the show. I mean, once Mack, when Mack passed away, I mean, it was the two of them were such a, you know, a cornerstone of the show. And when we lost Mack, I mean, it all fell on her shoulders and she didn't, she handled it beautifully. And so it's, yes, it's, we, we owe this to her. Yes, we do. Do you sort of feel that Maggie is now becoming the heir apparent to the Alice character? Oh, I don't think anybody can, can fill her shoes. It would, it's just nice to be, as far as I'm concerned, it's just nice to have something to do to be playing with so many characters that I've never really played with before. And to just be on the canvas again, it's, that's what's lovely for me. And that's how I'm looking at it. I'm not, you know, I have no aspirations of filling anybody's shoes. I just want to fill my own. Well, you're doing a beautiful job on it. And I, and I have to tell you that I think the reason why things work so well with you and with Brian, and I'm very upset about Brian. I am, too. Is that something like alcoholism in the eye, the concept of Maggie being Lucas's sponsor, when the two characters really have no storyline connection. This, this situation out of left field links them together. And in any time I saw Lucas or Maggie, that thought came right back into my mind that the, the, the these two people who wouldn't normally really know each other very well. Yeah. Yeah. And this created the bond and the two of you absolutely just portrayed that. And just, those are the kind of things that make these stories realistic to the face. Well, we really clicked. We always clicked from day one. I mean, we really did. So that's what, that's what the lovely thing about it was. And that's why, even though we worked hard on our scenes, they seemed to flow so beautifully because we had, we worked on them at, you know, at home. And, and then we got there and we just let it go and let it fly. You know, and that's kind of what it was like. And that's, and that's what shows. It's like I can see that you put a lot of work into it, but then it looks so effortless, which is what you're trying to get through. Sure. And, and the people are making fun of me on the message board. They're saying that I'm hijacking the show here. Oh, my. Well, Tom, then maybe you better. I know I'm seeing everybody else was saying getting so much material out of Suzanne that I can make in my co-host. So I say, no, well, this, I mean, it's just that, that when you have, you know, someone who's such, such a big fan and knows so much about so many of the characters that, you know, it's just nice. You, you feel a kindred spirit there, you know, and that's nice. Well, I just, what, the one thing I don't understand is how I turned from a college student into an old man and you look above three years old that you did the first time I ever saw you. Oh, aren't you sweet? Well, I, I, I'm sure that's not the case at all, but thank you for saying that. And, and my mom is, is a lovely woman. And so if I can only, you know, look half as good as my mom when I'm her age, I will be blessed. I have no doubt. Well, well, I'll, I'll move on and let other people talk. I just want to tell you that this has been an absolute honor. No, Tom, thank you so much for calling and thank you for sharing me all your wonderful memories of your mom and, and thank you for being a wonderful fan of the show still. And I'll, and I'll be there right along the way. All right, darling. Okay, you take care of yourself. Okay, take care. Bye bye. Tom, great. Yeah, we go up and my southern accent slips in there. Do you hear it? It just kind of slips right on in there. I don't hear it. I do hear it. That's Virginia for you. I can't get rid of it. You know, it's fair. So I have to curve that little factory and I'm on the show. You can't take Virginia out of a girl. That's it, honey. That's it. I definitely was glad that I let Tom come through because we definitely hit upon one of the things we definitely wanted to talk about was trans history. We, you know, lost her and, you know, it was definitely something that everybody was definitely in mourning about. Not just cast members and crew, but everything. Oh, I know. Not even a fan of days. I know. We were just, we were just heartbroken. I know it was, I mean, we knew that, you know, in the last few years that she had slowed down and she was, you know, not her pistol pack and momma's self, you know. But, but it was always like she was never going to leave us, you know, she was always going to be there. And that's what, so, so physically she's not, but she's always in my heart, you know, and I think about her and I, you know, well, I, you know, I'm very religious. So I pray for rest and peace for that particular week. In six days, I lost three people that I knew. So it was very hard. It was a very hard week. So what got me through was, you know, my prayers, you know, that they rest in peace, you know. And, and so it's just things just trigger when I see certain things. It triggers, you know, memories of her. So it's just, she'll always be in my thoughts. So that's, that's all I can say. Absolutely. And like, and like Tom said, we all said, they got to do, I hope they do this justice and do this right because-- Oh, I'm sure they will. She would date. And I'm, I'm sure they will. I'm sure they will be. I have no doubt about it. I have no doubt whatsoever. I would love to see some returns come to the show. Oh, wouldn't that be lovely? Yeah. Yeah. Misery would be one of them. Right at the top of the list would be Misery's. I love it. Ryan's a pillow came back as well. Yeah. Oh, yeah. It's got a lot of-- Yeah, there's so many, so many, you know. So it will, it will just be, it will be, it will be a scrapbook of memories, I hope. Yes. I agree. It was funny. It will be, yeah. It was funny too that he had mentioned this because I actually had a question from somebody saying, are they building you up to be the new Make Tree Arc of Salem? Well, you know, I just, you heard what I said to Tom. I said, I wouldn't presume to kill anybody's shoes. And I just want to be the best that I can be. And wherever that takes me, that'll be where I go. And I just want to, I just want to be Maggie. That's all. You know, and so I'll just be whatever it is I can do. However, I can help in any way. That's what I'll do, you know. But nobody can fill their shoes. It's like nobody was ever able to fill Max's shoes. And no one will ever be able to fill Alice's shoes, nor should they. Nor should they. You know, that is, that is something precious and no one should ever disturb that. Absolutely. Absolutely. I like that, I like that sentiment. If, you know, they'll have anybody else try to fill anybody's shoes. No, no, no, no, no, no. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. That's it. That's it. That's it. You know, develop other things, but don't touch what's, what's been perfect. Absolutely. We got time for one more caller. Okay. Jamila is on the line right now. Okay. The artist is in. Hi, hi, she's in. Hi, Jamila. How are you? I'm good, and I'm good. I'm good, and I'm good to you too. So, Dan, thank you. Oh, thank you. To Dan, I just have to say that it's like, I love you. I love you too. Thank you. Very sweet. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. That's hard to tell somebody that, but you really don't know. I mean, and I feel very good. That's very, very good. I've been, my grandmother was actually an ABC watcher, but every now and again, you know, I just came around. I would put the channels and go to channels and, you know, watch NBC, and I fell in love with Maggie Horton. I mean, I just, she's definitely one of my favorites, and I am so glad that they reversed the whole killing you off the show, Dan, because that kind of kissed me off. So, I just, to be subtle about it, that pissed me off. And I just can't believe I'm talking to you, and I think, Tom, I actually maybe forget all my questions. So, I'm rambling a little bit just to try to remember. Oh, that's okay. Would I remember that? Okay. That's perfectly all right. Like, and he touched on those, like, what I loved. One of the things I loved was watching you and prying to tell you. Oh, I know. Form the relationship between with you. I know. And Maggie, and I think, what I love about those kinds of relationships is because I think those kinds of organic relationships that come out of real issues are just as important, just not more so than the romances. Well, weren't the scenes that when I went into the, into the little bar, and I thought I'm drinking? Yeah. Weren't they wonderful, but getting hard? Yeah. I mean, not just myself. I'm just saying, I just felt they were so, you know, visceral, you know, those scenes that I had with him, and we were so, like, there, you know? Yeah. You were so angry. Yeah. And I thought, this is good. This is good, you know? Yeah. And then they said, you got to, you got to, you know, get, he's going to go to drink, and you just stop him any way you want. And when I knocked the drink out of his hand, it was like, he left to me, and I was, I was like, look at him. Oh, my God. I felt very, very powerful and very well done, and I just, I love those organic moments. Yeah. Yeah. They're really good. Yeah. It was fun. Yeah. I just recently, just, right before to show it, because I wanted to reaffirm myself with it, which we watched when you found out Mickey died. Yeah. And they felt like I was watching when Alice found out Mac died. Yeah. Well, Tom, I'm sorry. Yes. Tom, yeah. Side. And I thought, wow, it's just so beautifully done. Aww. It's so real. And so it brings tears to me. Because, you know, Tom and Alice were the highest tree branch up there, but then you had Mickey and Maggie right there. Aww. Aren't you? And so, you know. Yeah. It was hard to play. Yeah. It was saying goodbye, you know. And I really felt like I was saying goodbye to him. Yeah. You know. And that's what made it, you know. So I was trying to bring that. I was trying to make it seem exactly the way I was feeling that day, you know. That's, that I was saying goodbye to someone that had, you know, listen, let's face it. If it weren't for him, there wouldn't have been a Maggie. There wouldn't have been a Maggie. You know what I'm saying? He saved so exactly, and that's how I felt about it. And that's why it was so poignant for me to call him up personally and talk to him. Yeah. So I would know exactly how I felt when I first came on the show and the first day I met him. And, you know, I just, I had to go through that all in my, in my work process, you know, to make sure I was there. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You did it really beautifully. I think I remembered my question if you don't mind. No, go ahead. Okay. We, we know that now it seems like daytime is dying. Yeah. That's all we hear in the industry is that daytime is a drying breed and everything. I just wanted to get your take on that with, you know, like guiding light was canceled. It didn't, as well turns was canceled. Yeah. Yeah. You know, what do you think about that? What is, what are your thoughts? Well, I, I think I don't necessarily think daytime is dying. What I think is that people years ago, there was only one, one adult in the family working. Whether it be because, whether it be the father or the mother, but one was working. And the other one would be a home, taking care of the home. Now there is the industry that we're in and, and the way the country is right now. They have to have both parents working. Now in my, in my mom and dad always worked, both of them always worked. So they never knew, there were never soaps on when I was, you know, coming up. They were, they didn't have mom because they weren't in the house. And by the time I came home from school, it was sit down and do your homework and, and, you know, and then they would be home. Um, so I think people are still watching. They're just, they're just videotaping them. They're PCRing on them, they're, they're DVDing them, they're doing whatever, they're doing whatever they're, you know. And that's what's going on because, obviously with all the fans that we still have, somebody's watching. So, so, but I think what happened was, is that the industry itself took a huge cut. And, and not just our industry, but I'm talking about, oh yes, you hear it every day, the unemployment rate and all that stuff. Everybody is losing their job. Yeah. And so we were, we were presented with, okay, these are cuts that we've got to make in order to keep this show on the air. Now, you can take the cut, we had one cut a year and a half, you know, well, now it's been two and a half years ago. And then, and then we had, that was a 15% cut. And then the next cut that came along was 50%. So in total, in a number of two years, we were cut, you know, 65%. So you go, whoa, that's a lot of money. That's a big cut. That is a lot of money. That is a lot of money. That's what we were presented with. And our show was, was this, we were either going to do, we were either going to take the cut and do the best show we could do. And, and prove to whoever, the powers that be, that a show could be as wonderful as it ever was way back when, or we were going to go off the air. So we decided to take the cut. That's what we did. And that mean everybody. That means crew, cast, everybody took the cut. And I think the show is better now than it's ever been. Absolutely, it's definitely a group of people. Well, the group of people that we have there right now, really working hard. They really want the show to be good. And it shows the ratings are up. So, I mean, I have to feel that, you know, 60% is a lot, but I feel that, consequently, we said, whoa, I want to keep working. I better take this cut and I better do the best I can do. That's how everybody thinks right now. And do you think that somehow, you know, with the industry, that they have shifted from actually looking at the numbers people who are watching. Like, it's like not so fan oriented. It's more of a business decision that needs to be made. Well, obviously it is a business model. Well, yeah. Yeah. Well, I think it is a business. I mean, obviously, it is a business, no matter what. And they want to see a profit. So, by cutting down to the bare minimum, they've got to get their profit. I mean, they've got to get something out of the show, or the show is going to go off. So, by us taking the cuts, you know, and getting back to what is important, putting out a good product, getting the audience to watch, and getting people that are fans, to write in, to keep watching, to showing up at our event, a fan event, and whatever. And getting the word out that we're still as good or better than we ever were, then I think that they're taking a second look at it. Yeah. So, I think the shows that we're maybe hanging on, you know, by a thread before couldn't survive the cut. Right, where we survived the cut, and I think that's kind of where it is. I don't know how to, I feel all I can think of is that. I just love that this, my life, what I love about it is that you guys are being used again, that they're actually looking up at that and saying, "Hey, we've got stories for these people. Let's actually tell it." And that is the awesome thing, and I wish that other shows would follow your example. Well, it's nice to be found again. I've always been there. I was just so on the back burner that other people had bigger guarantees or whatever, and they were being used. And I hadn't gone anywhere, and my love for the work was still there, but it's just nice to be appreciated again, that's all. Yeah, well, thank you very much. Well, thank you, sir. I'm kind of on your talking to you. Oh, well, thank you. I remember this. Oh, well, great. Thank you. You too. Bye-bye. Bye. Bye. Don't we have the best fans in the world? We do, don't we? We do have the best fans. You and me. I love them. Yeah. I love them. They're the great. Well, I'm sure. It's funny, too. Someone just like popped in. Someone just like popped in. Yeah. And one of my friends, Sean, he said he loves you. You're a great actress. Oh. And he enjoyed meeting you at a, and Cindy missed it. They enjoyed meeting you at the day of days. Oh, really? Oh, wonderful. Well, I, you know, the thing is when people come into the, you know, come backstage or at the fan events or whatever, sometimes you, if I'm working, of course. You know, I always talk to my fans and, you know, if they want to sign pictures or take pictures or sign autographed or whatever I do. But sometimes, you know, if I'm not there that day, I miss them. And it's, you know, it's, you know, I go, yeah, but I want to see them. I want to meet them. So that's why the fan events, that's why the fan events are so important because, you know, we all show up and, and we want them to come. You know, because it gives us a boost. So we know what we're doing, you know, and, and we, we come back the next, like, we have the fan event on a Saturday. And when we come back to work on Monday, it's like we're all charged again. You know, it's that, you know, we got the boost that we needed. Yeah. It's good. It's good. It's all good. I'm, I enjoy this. Did you have a good time here? I had a wonderful time. And any time that you want to do this again, I'm, I'm game. Oh, I would love it if you came back to the show. Are you kidding? I would love it. Listen, your, your producer is probably going to say, she talks too much. I don't want her, you know, but I love it. Oh, please. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. Everything is under my watch. I love it. I say so. It's going to happen. Oh, I love it. Well, I love to hear that. I can't talk about anything. I mean, as long as, you know, I know it's, I can talk about it, I will. You know, I will. I mean, there's things that happen here yet. I can't talk about yet. Do you know what I mean? I do know what you mean. That's true. That is true. Absolutely. The door is always going to be open for you to come back. Absolutely. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. And I, and this, and what a lovely day this has been. You've made my day. What an honor it was to speak with you. Suzanne Rogers, everybody, from Dave's Realize. Thank you so much again. All right. Take care. And any time. Remember what I said. Okay. Anytime indeed. Okay. All right. Take care. Happy Thursday. Bye. Okay. Bye. Look at that, guys. Invitation to come back. Right off the bat. I love it. Oh, man. Oh, man. I'm going to remember this for the rest of my days. Suzanne Rogers, Maggie Bornz, from Dave's Realize. We date with NBC weeknight on Soap Net. Make sure you guys do through Olympic coverage. Make sure you check your local listings tomorrow because Dave's Realize is going to be airing at different times in specific time zones. So make sure you guys find out when it's going to air in your area tomorrow. For now, I am signing off. We'll probably be back very, very soon. We'll definitely keep you updated. Follow us on Twitter. Buzzworthy Radio. Facebook page is at Buzzworthy Radio and our website is www.buzzworthyradio.net. For now, I am signing off. This is Novald Jay. They're making sure you guys get the latest Buzz with Buzzworthy Radio. See you guys next time.