GLATWT88

To be completely honest, I was surprised it took a whole decade before network TV lost another soap. I feel that the CBS soaps will last a while longer but conditions, budgets and quality will be limited.

I caught today's episode on W. I'm living abroad and seeing as I won't be able to watch on NBC anymore, I managed to get a stream of W channel. Why was everyone passing out today? Is it something stupid? Why can't Days do a serious storyline...

Just to add to this. I would love for GH to do a special series with fan favorites for its 60th anniversary.

General Hospital was the first (that I recall) to venture into the spin off series category with Night Shift. I remember it being quite successful on SoapNet. Now, Days seems to be doing well with its limited series, Beyond Salem, at least it seems so as it was picked up for a second installment. Is there potential for YR and BB to develop their own programming of this style? I do feel like Days and GH both have the best reach for these types of shows, as they seemed to do well in the key demo through the 90s and early 2000s. I think there's a market for those that may have stopped watching around then for whatever reason but might still have nostalgia about their soaps and are young enough to be on streaming platforms. I know that YR and BB also perform/ed well on these demos but the audience just seems older and more traditional to me - but I may be wrong.

The platform is gonna be dead before Days even makes it on there 😂

I remember being confused the first time I tried to watch live post-switch and Days wasn't on at it's usual time. I actually thought it got cancelled and I didn't know about it 🙃 However, the change from 1pm to 12pm doesn't seem like a huge shift to make for viewers. Especially, since it only directly competes with half hour of YR at its new time. Now GL definitely had to be impacted by moving from a mid-afternoon slot to the morning.

I agree. My initial and gut feeling is that this is a way to get rid of Days. I also didn't mean that they would turn Days into a telenovela in a traditional sense, but some telenovelas nowadays have multiple seasons or series. So instead of Days producing 200+ daily episodes. Stories can be condensed to a telenovela of 120+ episodes that are released all at once to viewers each year. Stories can have a set course and some can wrap by the end of the season - taking viewers through a story beginning to end, while other stories can be left to pick up on the next season. It would reduce the number of episodes produced, but also create content that is more accessible to the modern viewer

You're right...anything is possible. There's nothing in the announcement that says Days will continue with its original format of 5 hour long episodes per week. I can see Peacock doing more of these 5 episode specials like Beyond Salem or maybe producing something more similar to a telenovela with 80-150 episodes per year "book" style and release all the episodes at once on a yearly basis. Netflix has heavily invested in telenovelas lately and they've found great success.

I don't know. It all just seems a bit rushed which is often never a good sign. The announcement should have read that 2022/23 would be Days final season on NBC before moving to its new home on Peacock. This would have given writers more time to wrap up stories on Network TV while being able to create a fresh start for the soap on Peacock that would allow for casual viewers or unaware streamers to pick up or dive in to the show. It would also allow for promotion of the switch over an extended period of time to allow viewers to make the switch more seamlessly. The only benefit I see with this transition is that there will be no pause in new episodes, which for retention, I believe is a good sign. Viewers won't have to wait months or a year for new episodes. However, everything about this sudden move, from the fact it has seemed to come out of nowhere down to episodes just being the same old stuff that's already being produced for NBC, screams like a last ditch effort by Days but also Peacock. No offense but Days is not going to save Peacock and if Peacock is this desperate than it's not a great sign.

I'm not very optimistic of this move from NBC to Peacock. Knowing the feeling of losing a soap, I would honestly wish that Days could go out with a bang on network TV than endure this prolonged death that seems inevitable on Peacock. I want to be optimistic, but a soap opera, one that is on a tight budget and with lackluster storytelling is not going to be draw in anyone. I think an established soap would find it very hard to create draw in a new audience on streaming. Good luck and I hope that Days could be successful in a new platform.

Thank you. I was looking at the ratings and noticed that there were several weeks we’re GL outperformed GH in 2001. It could have just been that GH was having a bad year. However around July to October GL had several weeks were it did better than GH, but also before then as well. It also had a nice demo boost around July compared to the start of the year.

What was happening on GL in 2001, as it seems the ratings were quite strong. Although, 2002 seems to be where it took a bit of a dip.

I also feel a bit as you do. I've wondered is it because the writing has gotten so bad on soaps, are production values so low that it just takes away from the pleasure of watching, is the genre as a whole having an identity crisis, is it me? Even back in 2011 after a few years of not watching soaps, I was able to get hooked on BB for a short while and still found it entertaining albeit not as before when I was an avid soap watcher. I watched the episode with Sheila jumping and in fact I've had soaps on in the background since the pandemic brought me back because of the classic episodes. Even still nothing remotely interesting happens to draw me back in or to care enough to know what's actually going on. The jump, the drama surrounding it, was just one major who cares. It's been done and a lot better before.

Brooke wakes up from a dream and undoes 15 years of storyline.

Just finished this season and during these scenes with Afton, I remember saying to myself wow, I really love this character. I was a bit unsure of the character in earlier seasons but have begun to really love her so far.

I would like to point out that GL was truly a pioneer in awful, cheap openings. That 2003 opening still shocks me to this day. I remember thinking how terrible it looked in comparison to the others at the time. Like some kid in a graphic design class put it together for their dad. However, when I saw GH's a during the lockdown after not tuning in for a while, I was equally shocked. It's so cheap looking. Here's hoping they do something simple but powerful for the 60th anniversary. Maybe a recreation of the original opening which wouldn't require cast photos or many changes. Exactly what I was thinking!

He's 27, avid reader, enjoys sports. Soap operas are not really up his alley. I know he likes Friends but may be due to nostalgia and connection with his mom. He likes A Fish Called Wanda. The TV show Boys. Big Mouth. These are just things from random conversations we've had. I don't know much of his taste in TV or movies as he does spend a lot of time reading. We have become really close friends and he just knows my fascination with soaps so gave me the opportunity to show him two episodes so see what it's all about.

Considering today's viewing habits, I definitely think a major push towards streaming platforms alongside regular airing on networks. For streamers, it would be nice to have a omnibus type feature but a condensed version of the weeks episodes with the major plot points and key moments so that viewers can easily catch up. And writing! There needs to be a freshness injected into the stories on soaps. A major overhaul in storytelling to make it appealing to audiences today BUT maintain the key features that make soaps. Soaps! I feel that's where many soaps went wrong in the naughties, by keeping the same tired stories but removing all those fun soap elements that make a soap a soap.

The Days one is a good one. My sister used to watch Days back then and I would watch with her. That would be a fun one. This has been very helpful.

Thanks for the recommendations. I believe most of 1997 AMC is uploaded somewhere as I remember finding a channel on YouTube a few years ago with all of the 1997 season. Hopefully, it's still up. I would still be interested in what you shared.

I need your help! I talk so much about soaps that I have convinced a friend of mine to come over and watch two episodes. I am tasked with picking two episodes that really showcase what soap operas are all about. Now, I will obviously fill him in about storylines and events that led up to said episode, but I'm having trouble picking an episode that would be great on its own. I really don't mind which soap. I have a fondness for most. My faves are ATWT and GL, but I have watched all soaps on air on or off since 2003. I also love watching old clips that are posted on here. Thanks for your help!

My own journey with soaps started in 2003. I watched soaps with my sister a few times before then, but 2003 is when I started to watch on my own. Watching as a kid with my sister, I remember being so fascinated by soaps and that interest always stuck with me. Unfortunately, I was dissuaded from watching because of the perception that soap operas were girly. I randomly caught a bit of a soap one day and that pretty much convinced me to watch. I was so intrigued by the kind of storytelling in daytime, the way you invest in characters almost every day for the entire year. It was exciting and fun and it brought about emotions on both extremes. I remember being enthralled and shocked - it felt so exciting to go through all the twists and turns with a character. Eventually, life happened and it was hard to continue watching. Unfortunately, my end with GL was when the new filming and budget cuts made the show completely unwatchable for me. I still get upset that I didn't stick it out until the end, but part of me felt that somehow GL would always be there. I could come back and catch up with characters I have known so long, see what they were doing and how life was going for them. Sadly, GL is gone and I do miss those characters very much. A few years later I tried to get into soaps again and decided to watch BB and it was great for a while. The feeling wasn't the same as when I watched soaps around 2003 and 2007/8ish but it did the trick. I stopped watching again after a while. Now during this quarantine, I picked up watching soaps again. The classics were great and even Days had its moments. However, watching the last few episodes of GH, YR and BB before they went into repeats, it just didn't feel the same. Sure, I saw many familiar faces, but something was really off. Soaps had lost themselves in the midst of budget cuts, chasing ratings, changing to become what they believe younger audiences want to see, and uninteresting and uninspired writing. I hadn't watch soaps in years by this point, but part of me wanted to invest again. To maybe get that feeling I once had while watching soaps or maybe from a fear that one day they will all be gone and I'll regret that I didn't take the time to watch. I have most recently moved out of the country, but I do come on here and read about the soaps. I don't have a way to watch the soaps from here, but I'm not sure I want to. Maybe it's for the best to just keep up with them on here for now.

I never thought of TP as a pretty boy. In fact, his look paired with the character he played and acting style always made me think of him as gross and creepy. I also liked the Danny/Michelle/Tony stuff at the time, but this is when I first started watching so I feel like there was a forced fondness but looking back I'm not sure I feel as positively about it.

False. Look up the demographics of Latin America and you will easily discover you're statement is wrong. Yes. The Iberian Peninsula were dominated by Moors and Moorish culture for century. You'll definitely witness some with darker complexion who claim to be full Spaniard and Portuguese lineage but may have Moorish roots. Not to be confused with the many African people who hail from former Portuguse colonies now residing in Portugal.

I loved it too. I wish we could get a few more 70s episodes.