Vee

I think this was always inevitable for DAYS assuming it proved somewhat cost-effective for them (but no, I wasn't expecting it now either). Beyond Salem has always seemed like a pilot program to me. How long it can sustain itself functioning daily year-round with the classical format in a new medium is another story. It would not shock me if it became seasonal/arc-based like most streaming shows, and like AMC and OLTL 2.0 once hoped to do.

Neither am I. And it's probably for the best - the only future soaps have is streaming - but I'm still a bit shocked it's come without warning.

Cannot believe I scooped y'all. I put a thread up as well.

Not a dream, not an imaginary story, folks. Like sands through the hourglass, another iconic TV title is switching to streaming: NBC’s Days of our Lives will become a Peacock exclusive starting September 12, Vulture has learned. The move will end the show’s 57-year run on broadcast television and also marks the exit of NBC from a genre it pioneered 73 years ago with the launch in 1949 of These Are My Children, widely credited as TV’s first-ever daytime sudser. It comes as two other major broadcast titles — Thursday Night Football and ABC’s Dancing with the Stars — prepare to shift to streaming this fall. In the case of Days, there has been industry speculation about it jumping to Peacock for some time now. The series, produced by Corday Prods. in association with Sony Pictures Television, has dodged cancellation multiple times over the past 15 years, with Sony and NBC often engaged in very last-minute negotiations to hammer out deals which make financial sense to both parties. Days has been the least-watched of the four remaining network daytime dramas for years now, making it increasingly difficult for NBC execs to justify keeping the show around absent reduced license fees (which Sony has largely been able to deliver). ..... “This programming shift benefits both Peacock and NBC and is reflective of our broader strategy to utilize our portfolio to maximize reach and strengthen engagement with viewers,” Mark Lazarus, chairman, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming said of the decision. “With a large percentage of the Days of Our Lives audience already watching digitally, this move enables us to build the show’s loyal fanbase on streaming while simultaneously bolstering the network daytime offering with an urgent, live programming opportunity for partners and consumers.” NBC will fill the gap left by Days with a new one-hour news program, NBC News Daily, anchored by Kate Snow, Aaron Gilchrist, Vicky Nguyen and Morgan Radford. -------- Full article in Twitter link.

@DRW50 This is from cross-promotion around the time of the first Trek film, I believe.

The Alex Jones/Sandy Hook trial is too much for this thread to keep up with too fast, but this is just one of many huge developments in this thread:

I've been off the grid with my first ever bout with COVID and I'm still not fully recovered, but:

There's some deep character work in the pre-Barnabas stuff, especially on Burke Devlin and Roger, even if a lot of storylines do focus on characters and plot points who never fully show up or come to fruition (like all the talk of 'Ned Calder,' a character clearly intended to pair with Liz who never appears). It's very well done for what it is, and Mitch Ryan is extremely magnetic (and great with Alexandra Moltke). I knew the show like the back of my hand as a kid and still have a great deal memorized, but I have never revisited the overlap period with both Ryan and Jonathan Frid and I should - I can't imagine the show being big enough for both. I wouldn't necessarily recommend starting pre-Barnabas. I think it's good stuff, but I think you gain a deeper appreciation for that slow, dreamy material after you've seen the show's primary self. And I think the first year of Barnabas, the initial storyline, is terrifying work.

Moonves' purge of female shows from CBS was well documented several years ago when the allegations about him first came out. Linda Bloodworth-Thomason and a variety of other people came forward and discussed how he blackballed female creators, stars and female-driven shows. It was across the board, it was not a question of one show. He remade the entire network in the image of what came not long after: NCIS, CSI. We discussed the sea change at CBS and these women's public comments at length in the Hollywood Sexual Harassment thread at that time.

The Tears of Politico:

Just a series of legends today, especially Nichelle Nichols who I grew up with. Her last years had allegedly been plagued with grifters and shifty figures trying to take advantage of her as she declined due to dementia. I'm glad that's over; it's no way to remember her. This is.

Absolutely incredible, even after everything.

Kylie talks more gushing about the show in this BTS interview than in the episode.

I imagine the only way it could've is if they'd kept a much larger and stronger younger ensemble vs. a few young players. It would've meant a substantial shift. I also very much doubt it would've survived the Les Moonves purge of female-centric sitcoms and dramas that came not long after.

Won't pass the Senate but this is good for the base and messaging, especially right now. Now all we need is the IRA:

I haven't watched it all and have only a passing familiarity with Neighbours (I'm pretty sure I used to watch it a lot during an extended trip to Australia as a child and found it baffling), but I was particularly impressed with how much they pushed Hollywood hunk Guy Pearce with his former love interest, a woman of a certain age who is still beautiful but not the starlet you would see him put with in film work (because there's always a double standard with older women vs. older men). They didn't hesitate to make those two a central storyline in the finale despite both being well over 50. That's classy. And what a great final line. Up there with Search for Tomorrow. However hokey it is that everyone on the street suddenly decided to stay on, I think that's the ending they owed the audience - I think one of the creatives said this as well in that recent special about the show someone posted, but I've always felt that serial dramas owe it to their audience, especially younger audience members who grew up watching a soap (like so many of us did), to give them a sense of comfort that that world keeps going, that it doesn't conclude or die but that it's just out there where you can't see it, with stories still going and those characters still living their lives. They did that beautifully.

Life and work has gotten in the way but I promise I'll be back at it in here! Knots is just such a deep watch at this point with a lot of note-taking; I've already gotten through an episode or two since last time, but I feel obligated to write 'em up (and will probably continue to do so through most if not all of Season 5, we'll see about Season 6, but I intend to keep going as a viewer either way). Cheers all. Go see Nope with Donna Mills, it's amazing.