Days of Our Lives Watching Days of Our Lives

Daniel Avery

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I was reading a recap of the latest episode and the recapper pointed out that while Deidre Hall/Marlena arrived in "heaven" in a lovely white suit, she was wearing camel-colored heels. "Is Days too cheap to get La Hall a matching pair of shoes?" someone asked. Actually, it is a brilliant telegraphing of where she really is, because the idea of her shoes not matching her outfit is indeed Hell on Earth for Marlena.
 

Monzo

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How are the episodes for the international market delivered? Are they already cut to the usual 36 minutes or do stations have to do it themselves if they suddenly can't air 48 minutes?

I'm surprised Days doesn't cut the episodes down to half an hour. That's what I expected so that in the streaming competition there would be no more filler scenes, instead we got as many filler scenes as ever.

Isn't it expensive to produce more minutes and shouldn't Days save money on Peacock?
 

Daniel Avery

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If they were to re-edit the show to 30-minute episodes, I don't think there would be any cost savings. They would have to pay editors for long hours of editing, and the paychecks of the recurring actors would have to be adjusted since they get paid per episode. Despite their best efforts, a lot of already-filmed material might end up on the cutting-room floor, which might make the scenes feel disjointed and certain dialogue-based plot developments might end up being left out (since the editors will not know when the character's dialogue might be dropping an important hint). They might be forced to go back and film new scenes to drop into the episodes just to clean up the mess made by bad editing, which would mean additional headaches and expense. I'm sure Ron Carlivati would feel put out, seeing his material being switched around and decisions about scene order, lengths, etc. being made by non-writers.

If they were to ask him to start writing new episodes in that half-hour format (which would be what...19 minutes?), that's one thing....but going back and doing surgery on the already-completed episodes would be problematic.
 

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George DelHoyo first appeared on Days in 1986, Bryan Dattilo joined the show in 1993. Right now, their two characters' paths cross in prison. Bryan Dattilo tells a story that shows how little George DelHoyo knows about Days' history:

“It’s the first time I ever worked with him, ever met him; we never really ran into each other because we didn’t have scenes or storyline together. When we had our first scenes, he really wanted to rehearse. He was amazing with it. He said, ‘Are you sure you’re okay?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I’m fine.’ He said, ‘Let’s do it one more time.’ I said, ‘Okay, it’s up to you,’ because I never say no to more rehearsal. Well, we must have rehearsed this thing, I don’t know how many times — like, for an hour! The next day George came up to me and said, ‘Bryan, I’m so sorry.’ I asked, ‘Why?’ He said, ‘I had no idea that you had been on the show for so long. I thought it was your first episode. I just wanted to make sure you felt comfortable.’ I told him, ‘I just wanted to make sure you were comfortable because you kept wanting to run the scene.’ It was really funny.”
 
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Carrie Fairchild

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What a surprise!
I think this is good news for soap fans overall. I’ve been apprehensive about how soaps would perform on streaming platforms but there’s obviously an audience there / the existing audience is willing to follow the show online. Maybe in the future, if networks are considering dropping a soap from their linear schedules, streaming may be seen as the alternative option rather than cancelling a show outright.
 

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I got happy when I read the news, although there are times when Days is too supernatural for me that I don't want to watch it anymore, but when it's more grounded for soaps standards, it can keep me entertained.

I find it strange how few comments there are on the renewal. Just two on Deadline, more on Soap Opera Digest (while there's more talk that most stopped watching when it went off the air), but when Days got cancelled on NBC, there were way more comments. Maybe Days is like Dancing with the Stars - it's suggested that almost everyone who's watched it on TV before is now streaming it so I should do it, too, but no one really knows how successful the show is. Being in the daily top 10 doesn't mean much if you don't know how successful in streaming numbers the top 3 shows are.

In my opinion Days is on the perfect streaming service right now. Peacock wants to be more successful and cancelling a show whose viewers come to the platform daily and thus get recommendations for other shows is useful. I don't think CBS soaps are in danger of cancellation, but I'm always worried about General Hospital. Maybe Disney would try one season of GH on Hulu, but since the competition is stronger there, I don't see GH surviving there.
 
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Daniel Avery

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The cynic in me always comes out when I hear about these renewals. Rather than saying "Oh, good---the show will continue," I think "I wonder what new concessions had to be made in casting, studio space, and budget for the network to agree?" And then I wait a month or two to see the concessions shake out.
 

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I don't think CBSsoaps are in danger of cancellation, but I'm always worried about General Hospital. Maybe Disney would try one season of GH on Hulu, but since the competition is stronger there, I don't see GH surviving there.
Yes, I think international sales also bolster the value of B&B (and possibly to a lesser extent Y&R) so it’s unlikely to be going anywhere. GH on the other hand, is ABC’s last soap, which to my limited knowledge isn’t big internationally. So it’s the one most at risk of the last three left on network TV.
 

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I wonder if the intense gay sex scene between Paul and Andrew aired (or will air) in countries where Days actually still airs during daytime or if it was cut.I think NBC would have cut it if Days was still on air.
 

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For Peter Reckell it is only a short-term return. I don't understand why Bo had to be revived for such a boring story.

Kristian Alfonso is also back for just a few weeks, but I haven't read anything about Steve Burton's status. As pleasant as he surprised me on Y&R, I now find him very unpleasant on Days. His character has no depth.
 

tommie

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KA & PR are apparently only doing 15 episodes. Originally this was going to be the Beyond Salem 3 story and they basically just folded it into the show since there's no point of producing something extra for Peacock now that it's all digital. I get the feeling that Kate and Kayla was never meant to be a part of the story and it was going to be a Marlena / John and Bo / Hope story.

Burton has allegedly signed a long-term contract with the show and still filming.
 

Daniel Avery

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NBC/Peacock might have felt they needed to decide on whether to lock Burton into a deal or let him go once it was publicized that ABC had (finally) disbanded their Covid-19 protocols. Either Burton or ABC may have started negotiating for him to return to GH, so locking Burton into a deal before a bidding war (might have) started would benefit Days, since I doubt Days could have won such a war over money.

GH isn't hurting over his/Jason's absence, so Burton might be better off exploring new acting challenges at Days. Lord knows Jason was never allowed to stretch as a character.
 

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Is it just me or does Camila Banus indirectly confirm in her farewell interview that the working conditions at Days have continued to deteriorate since moving to Peacock and that is why she is leaving. I can't imagine the Days actors gaining new fans and followers since moving to Peacock. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of cast members who need to support their families are only still with Days for exactly this reason.
Anyway, I'm wondering how many days was Kristian Alfonso on set for her return? Perhaps her scenes were shot in two days or even just one long day.
 

tommie

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The issues with shooting has been there for a long time - basically very long days, but also a lot of time off.

What's happened recently is that they seem to have cracked down on actors who only wants to do "recurring" and be there occasionally; Marci Miller was written out for this reason because it was hard to write for Chad if Abby was only there part time.
 

Daniel Avery

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Yeah, they also seem to be creating the very conditions that ultimately tempt the actors into leaving. If you work (hard) for about six weeks, then have a month off, then return for six more hard weeks...well, the coming and going allows the actors to take short-term gigs like plays or short films which makes them want that freedom to do other work all the time. If they had a regular schedule with a place to be every day, they would not be exposed to such options as often.
 

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Yeah, they also seem to be creating the very conditions that ultimately tempt the actors into leaving. If you work (hard) for about six weeks, then have a month off, then return for six more hard weeks...well, the coming and going allows the actors to take short-term gigs like plays or short films which makes them want that freedom to do other work all the time. If they had a regular schedule with a place to be every day, they would not be exposed to such options as often.
Exactly, and the initial appeal of daytime for actors was that they would work fairly normal hours, even if it kept them busy through most of the year. The DAYS set up is the opposite of that - when they film, they work absolutely brutal hours and then have a lot of time off. Of course cast members will always be looking for side gigs and those will always be more tempting. If Banus follows the pattern of previous exits, she'll probably be back filming before her "final" episode airs.
 

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So, I haven't actually watched DAYS in ages and am ages behind (though I know what'll happen), but I turned it on Pluto and have it running in the background. I'm at the episodes where the ladies are "dying" - while Kayla basically looks like absolute shit, both Marlena and Kate look pretty much flawless. It just made me lol.
 

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I am happy that this story is behind me. I didn't like it at all.

It's amazing that there are currently six Di Mera siblings on the air. Everyone entertains me except Stefan. For me, Gabi was more interesting with Li than with Stefan, Stabi's love story has been told. Apparently, Ron C takes pleasure in Brandon Barash, but neither Jake nor Stefan advanced the story. I would love to see Brandon Barash back on General Hospital, similar to Steve Burton who doesn't click at all on Days.

I liked the reveal of who Megan's son is. But who is the father?
 
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