teplin

Well, we know we see her again, thanks to the winter preview.

I wasn't watching closely enough today to tell if those are Kate's ashes in the urn Roman is carrying around or if it's just the urn he plans to put her ashes in. If she's already been cremated, is Rolf going to grow a clone of her or something? (Not that this show would let a thing like being reduced to five pounds of ashes prevent a miraculous return to life.)

Jake & three Vickys on AW.

Also the very liberal use of fake-outs, in which a long-awaited plot development would unfold onscreen only to be revealed as a character's dream or fantasy.

Quinn was great as villain-with-a-twinkle-in-his-eye Alex Marshall on DAYS. And I really enjoyed his "romance" with Sister Marie. Unfortunately, his character got shunted aside in the ways of the DAYS' supervillain formula. He also dated Deidre Hall IRL. And, of course, he was an Oscar-nominated screenwriter, for his work on Michael Cimino's "The Deer Hunter."

Yeesh, that handheld work is terrible. I didn't remember it being that bad. I don't remember those sets lasting very long, either ... am I wrong about that, too? I liked that intro as well, but yes, it didn't make sense in terms of keeping up with cast changes. Lord, I still miss Vicky Wyndham.

I'd say they overcorrected on today's show. Alex is channeling AW's Iris Carrington.

That'll do wonders for his future employment.

Yeah, it would be nice to see him struggle even just a little bit with the tenets of his beloved Church -- such as the prohibition against premarital sex -- as he builds his post-priest life. He may be the most guilt-free practicing Catholic I've ever encountered.

I've never seen a good campaign story on a soap, yet virtually all of them tried it at one point or another. Caveat: I did not see the Frank Ryan political story on Ryan's Hope. That one sounds pretty good from the recaps.

They do bother me, but I built up such a huge reservoir of affection for her work in the '70s and '80s that I try to overlook them. I'm still happy whenever she pops up on screen.

Days pivoted his character so much over the years –- from archvillian to romantic hero to cuckold to comic relief (and back again) – and it is a testament to his talent that he managed it all flawlessly. It was evident that his health has been declining lately, but I hoped we'd have him around for longer. Condolences to his DAYS family and especially to Suzanne Rogers, who has now lost two longtime scene partners.

I'm reminded of multiple interviews with DAYS newcomers through the years who said Dee was always aware of her lighting and would nudge them out of it during scenes if need be -- and that she taught them how to do the same.

Armand Assante was bland? He seems completely wrong for the part, but I've never seen anything in which I'd say he was bland. A ham, yes. 😀

I like the (friendly) brotherly rivalry between Tripp and Joey. I don't know if either of them is back to stay, but I fear Ron would make one of them try to kill the other over Wendy if they were. (Then just forget it ever happened.) I agree Tripp has more chemistry with Wendy, though to be fair, he's gotten more screen time with her.

Yes, as bad as Drake can be with, I totally buy that John fiercely loves his kids and grandkids (and Marlena). It's like Drake's essential good-guy quality shines through his questionable acting choices.

I really liked both Dee and Nancy. I don't think either fit the mold of traditional soap heroine, which is likely why they got rid of them, but I would have gladly watched many more years of them.

I would actually be up for that story. And it would help explain why Marlena suddenly lost 30 IQ points under the Reilly regime, and has seemed like a pod-person ever since.

I loved Julie both as a romantic heroine in the 70s and a sophisticated businesswoman in the 90s. Unfortunately, she didn't last in either incarnation. When Reilly brought her back, his writing had become increasingly broad and SSH decided/was directed to play to the cheap seats. She hasn't stopped since. It's given her longevity, but it really is a shame, because SSH is best at quiet, heartfelt moments and dry, wry wit. The real Julie would size up and dismiss Leo (and Xander and Gwen and Gabi and other pebbles in her shoe) with a devastating bon mot and withering glance. But Ron doesn't write her that way. Nonetheless, I am always happy to see her on screen, just as I am Maggie and Marlena.

But Greg Rikaart later says he thinks it's more like 4-6 months. I hope he's closer to the truth.

I doubt that would happen. Peacock needs a constant stream (no pun intended) of fresh content. Even if it were just a hundred people watching Days ever day, it would behoove Peacock to keep them on the subscriber rolls as long as possible rather than giving them a reason to cancel the service early. NBC lost 750,000 viewers in the 1:00 hour with the switch from Days to NBC News Today. I'm not running around in circles about it, I'm laughing.

It's across all TV platforms. It's certainly not an exact science -- Parrot Analytics "quantifies interest in shows based on viewing, online buzz, press coverage, etc." - but its data is consulted by a lot of media companies and content creators. As to the continued viability of Peacock: The first official hint we’ll get about how Days’ performance will probably come when Peacock owner Comcast announces quarterly earnings late next month. The company will almost surely reveal how many new subscribers the service signed up over the past three months, and it’s possible execs will include a mention of what part Days played in boosting subscribers, assuming a large increase comes to pass. And odds are, Peacock will get a big bump this quarter due to a slew of high-profile content beyond Days, including the summer run of Love Island and new drama Vampire Academy, and big movies such as Jurassic World: Dominion and Minions: The Rise of Gru.

From an email newsletter by The Vulture's Joe Adalian: As for how Days is doing so far on Peacock, that’s a much trickier proposition. One not-so-great sign: Parrot Analytics says audience demand for Days actually declined during the soap’s first full week as a streaming exclusive. Days went from having 11.6 times the demand of an average show in the U.S. to a 10.1 demand score, a drop of 13 percent. That’s not what you’d expect for a series making such a big move and getting more publicity than it has since the last time somebody was possessed by the Devil. But given how little time there was to promote the switch — and the relatively small footprint of the Days audience when it was on NBC — it’s not that surprising. Unless the internal data for Days ends up looking awful, I’d say odds are good Peacock will be patient. For one thing, the show is very inexpensive on a cost-per-episode compared to so much other streaming content. What’s more, Peacock doesn’t have a ton of megahits, so it doesn’t take a lot for a show to have a positive impact. Even if the Days audience ends up being relatively small, if it consists of a decent number of new subscribers and shows up consistently, then it could have similar value — and cost efficiency — than more high-profile titles. Plus, Peacock really doesn’t want to make enemies out of 2 million loyal soap-opera fans.

Seriously. Congress should pass a law against soap spoilers. Because I obviously don't have the strength of character to avoid them myself.

Yes, I watched it at 7am.