DAYS Co-Exec Producer Greg Meng: 'Women Want To See Romance'

TV Guide Magazine's Michael Logan published an insightful interview on Tuesday with DAYS OF OUR LIVES co-executive producer Greg Meng on the recent firing of head writers Marlene McPherson and Darrell Ray Thomas, and the hiring of Gary Tomlin, Chris Whitesell and Lorraine Broderick. Meng says "what we're hearing is that people want really good romance." Below is an excerpt from the interview:

TV Guide Magazine: Or just straight romance? Could it be possible that the mainstream Days audience does not want to watch the gay storyline and where it might be going? ABC claimed that was the case when One Life to Live suddenly dropped the Kish romance.
Meng: I don't know. I think it's a beautiful story and we are committed to it. But probably it's not the story that most women are going to tune in for every day, the one they don't want to miss. I think it's a story everybody likes, but the women want to see romance. Our goal is to get back lapsed viewers — our family of viewers who stopped watching altogether or aren't watching us every day.

TV Guide Magazine: Is that "next step" going to involve some major actors going away?
Meng: Yes. We're looking at weaving people in and out, and bringing them back later if we can.

TV Guide Magazine: Will it be as shocking as, say, the time you axed Drake Hogestyn and Deidre Hall a few years back? Will these firings be epic?
Meng: Yes. And that's all I'm going to say about that right now.