A Summer DAYS' Dream: The show must go on

As DAYS' fiftieth anniversary approaches, find out what Two Scoopers, Laurisa and Tony, are wishin' and hopin' for in this year's Summer Series: A Summer DAYS' Dream! In this last installment, they focus on sizzling storylines they'd love to see played out for the golden anniversary (and beyond)!

Alas, your faithful Two Scoopers have reached the final countdown on our DAYS Two Scoops Summer Series: A Summer DAYS' Dream. The good news is that in a few short weeks, we'll continue to find out if more of our DAYS wishes and hopes come true as we march toward November. Until then, we have this list to keep us occupied!

From the beginning of time, okay, well, since 1965, DAYS fans have faithfully followed the lives of our beloved Salemites. Of course, back in the early days, fans didn't have message boards and tweets to voice their opinions. There was no "Team Atom (Alice + Tom)." No one made blogs ranting and raving about storylines. There wasn't even a hub like Soap Central to bring everyone together -- or Two Scoops! Fortunately, times have changed.

Yet even though nearly fifty years has passed since the sand started to sift through the hourglass of our beloved show, one thing still remains true -- soap fans have imaginations and are always wishing for their storylines to be told. That's where we come in. We've compiled a list of ten storylines we'd love to see happen during the 50th celebration (and beyond). Below are some of our visions, but we'd like to hear what your wishes are, too, so be sure to leave feedback or Tweet us!

For the most part, we don't know what Chelsea has been up to in London. We also don't know how Philip has been spending his days in Chicago. What we do know is that we want these two back in Salem with the same idea -- to take control of Titan (sorry, Brady)! It would be an epic not-so-civil war pitting Victor's golden boy against his beloved spitfire-with-a-heart-of-gold granddaughter. Who will side with whom? We don't know! But we want to see this showdown begin, like, yesterday!

As most DAYS fans have probably picked up, it seems that Salemites go to Africa as often as they go to Chicago. Heck, even Alice Horton had a secret African bank account. Yeah, about that -- we'd love to know what happened there. Doug and Julie were supposed to look into it, but we suspect they couldn't resist the lure of a casino night and all-you-can-eat buffet on Carnival. That's where we want Hope to step in!We think this would be a great case for Detective Fancy Face to investigate, and perhaps Jennifer and Kayla could tag along, too. Jennifer is a Horton and was once an investigative reporter (hint, new writers). Kayla lived in Africa (shock!). The cousins Horton and Kay could meet up with old friends or enemies along the way, too. We'd love to see Eugene and Calliope again; perhaps Alice entrusted them with a secret. Maybe Jeremy Horton, in all his shadiness, knows a little something-something. Is Mike Horton still in Africa? What about some of the missing Hortons -- Sarah, Tommy Jr., Sandy, Nathan, etc.?Point is: we think it's time for this storyline to wrap up in a totally awesome girl-power way that would make Alice proud! Oh, and Bo and Steve can stay home with Ciara and Joey this time. They'll have a new appreciation of what Hope and Kayla went through while they were gone.

Let's be honest -- one of the best versions of Marlena is when she's a strong, stoic shrink. Yeah, we'd like to order up an extra-large helping of that with a twist. We'd like to see Statesville's warden ask Marlena to give psychological evaluations to its inmates. Deidre Hall could totally pull off a therapist version of Clarice Starling, and we'd love to see who her Lector would be! Not only would this spotlight Doc Evans at her finest, it would also be a great way to usher in old incarcerated faces from DAYS gone by, add a few new faces for a short sinister stint, and drum up some danger and mystery along the way. Will Marlena's work follow her home? *Insert ominous music* Plus, Marlena could ask John how he likes having a mate with a dangerous job. Win meet win!

Confession time! We're theater geeks. We love musicals and music in general. Okay. We know, we know. That's not much of a shocker. With that in mind, we can't think of a better way to bring some music back to DAYS -- as well as tip our hats to the past -- than having Doug and Julie start an open mic night at Victor's club (or open a place of their own).Doug's voice is delightful, no doubt, but DAYS has other tremendous voices, and we'd love to see the actors showcase their talents. I mean, come on, an Eve/Theresa duet? A blue Brady singing about losing another lady? Anne crooning "It's Raining Men" while trying to touch fellows within reach!? This could be classic!Bonus: with the musical door open, former Salemites or musical guest stars could join in the fun. Maybe Sarah Horton is a singer now. Chloe could belt out a tune or two. We'd surely welcome back Liz Chandler to the spotlight with Neil Curtis waiting in the wings, finally confirming that these two worked out their differences and got together. We repeat, "Classic!"

According to countless commercials, more couples met online than ever before. Sure, DAYS has dabbled in online romance. "Lonely Splicer" Nick catfished "Dark Angel" Chelsea even before catfishing was a thing. Kayla also mentioned she was trying it out, though it never materialized on-screen. Paige used an app to wrangle in guys for revenge. That's a start, but its time DAYS dives headfirst into online dating. It's topical. And there's tons of potential there for romance, comedy, and mystery.For starters, bad dates can be an amusing train wreck. It would be hilarious to watch one of our favorite Salemites on a string of them then later commiserating with a friend. The romance part is obvious as well as the mystery, but we'd ultimately like to see this have a happy ending filled with giggly message exchanges, late night phone chats, and a big payoff. Maybe someone like Jennifer unknowingly reconnects with old flame Frankie or a former Salemite like Chris Kositchek. Heck, we'd even like to see Roman log on and find love again. This storyline has a lot of potential and is just a click away!

Have you ever wondered what happened to Tom and Alice's oldest child, Tommy Jr.? Don't worry, we have, too! The only thing we know for sure is that he ended up in Hawaii, never to be heard from again. It's time to change that.Sadly, we feel that Tommy has probably passed on, but he's left a legacy -- a daughter named Delia Horton, whom he had later in life with a woman he met in Hawaii. Yet, Delia isn't your typical tradition-loving, doughnut-eating Horton heiress. She doesn't care about her namesake ornament. She's a bit more of a heel, feeling out of place around her father's side of the family.In true woman-scorned fashion, sassy schemer Delia returns to Salem for a little comeuppance. She wants her slice of the Horton estate (Hello, Jennifer, you might getting an unwanted roommate). She wants Alice's secret African fortune. And perhaps she wants a little revenge on a certain handsome Salemite she met while he vacationed in Hawaii one steamy summer a long, long time ago. In any event, we want Delia to blow through Salem like a tornado with a toothache.

Chad has proven that he will stand up to Stefano. He didn't let his father dupe Abigail out of her potential pot o' gold. We'd like to see Chad do it again. That is, we want Chad to find E.J., Tony, Lexie, and Benjy's real last will and testaments that Stefano hid away from their spouses. In the wills, each states that their spouses get their interests in DiMera Enterprises. More so, we want to see Sami, Anna, Abe, and Sonja team up to take on Stefano in the boardroom. Actually, we could see Abe, and perhaps Sonja, not wanting their parts of the evil empire, and because of that, we could see Sami and Anna scheming to get the majority share while Stefano does the same! Plus, what would happen if Sami and Stefano find out what Clyde did to E.J. and it's in their best interest to work together to take him down? Magic would happen.

Though our veteran Salemite crime fighters still have a lot of swing left in their punches, we'd like to see Paul become the next international man of mystery and follow in his father's footsteps. It really wouldn't be hard, either. He's in impeccable shape, is worldly, and is wise. We'd love to follow him as he trains with the ISA (hello, Shane Donovan guest appearances) and in his rookie cases, which could lead him to investigate baddies like the DiMeras, Marshalls, Toscanos, and Vitalis, to name a few. Plus, perhaps Paul could be partnered with Salem PD's newest cyber-crime consultant, J.T. Reiber, and sparks could fly between them. Who's J.T.? Check out Part Four of our Summer Series, Somewhere out there, and find out!

Sans Sami, err, "Stan" parachuting into a combat zone (yes, we're still simultaneously rolling our eyes and laughing about that one), DAYS has yet to explore Philip's time in the military. We'd love to see a handsome stranger come to Salem with ties to Philip's days in the service. Perhaps Philip tries to help him out with a job and/or is a little nervous about a secret his old pal holds. Whatever the case might be, we'd like to see this explored because it's part of Philip's past that shouldn't be swept under a rug, as it reminds us he's not just a suave guy in a suit -- he's served his country, and that's heroic (and it cost him a leg and a face). Like Jack's time with his PTSD group, we believe it would be a topical issue as well as give some lucky lady (or lad) an intriguing new paramour.

Rarely a sequel lives up the original. And we're not saying that DAYS should do another "Cruise of Deception." The first was epic enough. But some high drama on the high seas might be a good way to add adventure, action, romance, and danger to DAYS again.To begin with, Doug and Julie could invite several Salemites on a cruise. It's legit. They spend more time on the ocean than seaweed. Once in open waters (and trapped snuggly together on a ship), anything could happen! Run-ins with old friends they didn't know were aboard*, estranged lovers reuniting, young love birds taking the next step for first time, and, of course, danger -- bad guys and bad weather.One thing in particular we'd like to see is Sami spotting a familiar-looking stranger who stows away after the ship stops in some exotic port. Has she seen a ghost? Nope! Through twists and turns, she finds the stowaway to be none other than an amnesic E.J. -- it's later revealed he was "revived" by whatever was in that syringe Stefano ordered Kristen to inject Eeej with. He escaped whatever DiMera compound he was being held in, found the ship, and attempted to sail for freedom. Sami's love helps him rekindle his memories, Marlena arranges for their children to meet them at the next port, and they (literally) decide to sail off into the sunset and give EJami fans the happy ending they wished for all along.

* We'd love to see Carrie and Austin coincidentally be on this ship, too, and finally be introduced to their kid, who may or may not look slightly Hispanic.

Part One: Dream GirlsPart Two: A Few Good MenPart Three: Phantoms of the Soap OperaPart Three: Somewhere out there... please come homePart Four: The show must go on