Days: June 2023 Discussion Thread

[Soapsuds]

Its been dead for a long time but no one has plugged the plug.

[Errol]

Where did this Dena Higley stuff come from? I'm not talking about her, and what I'm talking about hasn't been discussed before. So, it's 0% related to anything discussed in this thread or externally.

I said something similar to Albert and Mike, the CFO taking over as "PR" on Monday. In my email, I commented on the PR move and the messy way Peacock has handled things with the sudden move to streaming only, based on the lack of discussion online about the show since the move and how certain popular DAYS destinations are dead or dying, or awaiting their "burial space."

Two snippets I wrote:

"It tells me your show is barely hanging itself together and that you’re just riding the most recent renewal until everything collapses."

"I don’t know what else to think but that the show is veering towards its end."

[AMCOLTLLover]

Can’t believe this show has two more years to keep embarrassing  the show further..

I wish the would’ve been cancelled this year. I don’t even think a new regime could save it tbh. 

[ArizonaDaze]

I'm wondering the same thing.

[Errol]

The show airs 6-8 months ahead. Have we forgotten?

[Liberty City]

I do. Especially a regime that would write for a streaming-only soap opera.  But so long as Ken Corday, Albert Alarr and Ron Carlivati are involved, I don't see hope.  I look at how Greg Meng handled the DOOL App exclusives and thought they were executed ten times better than Beyond Salem and even what we're getting on the main serial now.  Meng is needed back, first and foremost.

Snaps to you, Eroll, for having the balls to say that.  I feel like [most] soap press would've stepped back and kept their mouth shut.  It's refreshing to see someone in soap press still have the actual gumption to not kiss the backsides of others. 

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[Khan]

If Ellen Wheeler's creepy Mormon version of GL taught us anything, it's that...

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Frankly, @AMCOLTLLover, I don't feel the same sense of futility about DAYS that I felt about GL toward the end of that show's run.  I think a new HW'ing and/or EP regime could save DAYS - even a DAYS that's been relegated to a third-rate streaming service and has had to rely for the longest time on found objects on the sides of streets for its' costumes and scenery - if they would re-commit themselves to telling smaller, simpler, character-driven stories that matter.  Like Bill Bell once said, all you need are a man, a woman and a waterfall, "and who in the hell needs the waterfall?!".

IOW, the "disaster" you've referred to, @Errol, is something that will play out on-screen down the road?

Edited June 25, 2023 by Khan

[j swift]

I'm not BTS fluent. To me, it is like hearing other people's office gossip. Who cares?

But, I was curious about Albert Alarr, so I read his wiki.  I think it may have been either edited by an AI bot. 

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Alarr

Is ChatGBT the next headwriter at DAYS?  Did I solve @Errol's riddle?

Edited June 25, 2023 by j swift

[Khan]

As I've said, I think DAYS could be salvaged if TPTB would do away with the camp and the gimmicks and re-commit themselves to pure and honest storytelling.  Unfortunately, even if Corday/NBC/Sony were to score a new EP like Shelley Curtis or Wendy Riche, or a new HW like Nancy Curlee or Pam Long, the fact that DAYS continues to tape its' episodes 17 years ahead would ultimately work against them. 

If the show's ratings or view counts or whatever magically went up on Peacock, then TPTB would pressure the new regime to give viewers more of the same; and if they inched downward, then they would likely panic and mandate that the show has to get even wilder or else risk being dumped from the platform.  Either way, if a better production regime were to take the reins, it would be MONTHS before we'd get to see the results, and who knows what could happen, both on- and off-screen, in the meantime?

In a perfect world, I guess, DAYS would hire a new EP and HW pronto, dump the appropriate number of episodes already in the can, allow the new team's stuff to air or stream as quickly as possible, and simply eat whatever production costs they have incurred on the "lost" episodes.  However, as @Vee puts it in another thread, the studios and streamers are in panic mode.  They're crashing, slashing and burning (or burning down).  They're stripping whatever properties they can and selling them for parts.  No one, especially NBCUniversal/Peacock or Sony, is gonna be interested in simply scratching months' worth of (shitty) episodes and starting fresh.

Honestly, @j swift, I feel like AI bots have been writing DAYS since at least 2000, lol.

[ranger1rg]

I agree with you about Errol.

It is so great to see someone in the soap press who's so honest and upfront about what's wring with a show or the industry in general. Almost every soap journalist gives softball interviews and fluff coverage to every show. I don't think there's a more dishonest arm in journalism than the soap press, who seem to be afraid their arms will be cut off if they're critical.

[Manny]

Haha Well you could say that too, indeed. I don't really watch to show anymore, but I still hang around here and read what's happening and it saddens me what this show has become. 

You said it well. I hope they take notice, although I don't think the show is salvageable. It is airing one of the smallest streaming platforms. Who knows how long this platform even has, let alone a 60+ year old soap opera which is in such terrible condition, that writes 324 years in advance and cannot course-correct even if they wanted it to. Even if they improve, I don't think enough audience watches Peacock or watches DAYS on Peacock to make the positive word of mouth spread. So best case scenario, they keep the numbers they have now, but I doubt this would keep the budget from getting slashed, because if your numbers are stale and costs keep growing (due to inflation or otherwise), the budget will go down. 

[AbcNbc247]

Gotta tell ya, I really hate when they do that few hours later time jump crap. If you want things to happen at a later time, just do it in another episode. Especially if you’re gonna have only one day in Salem time span multiple episodes.

Now that Rafe and Jada are officially together, I just wonder how long it’s gonna be before Rafe cheats

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And do y’all think there gonna go there with Kate and Harris? I’ve been wondering. 

[Soapsuds]

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[Errol]

Combination of onscreen and behind-the-scenes. Mostly behind-the-scenes, which will impact what's onscreen. It's complicated.

[Khan]

Unfortunately, @Manny, I feel the same way.  From a creative standpoint, DAYS isn't "dead" the way I thought GL was.  The characters and storylines need help, and under better circumstances, they could be helped, too!  However, in DAYS's case, there are just too many, overwhelming obstacles - like you said, @Manny, the fact that Peacock is one of the smaller (and, from what I understand, less successful) streaming platforms; the fact that DAYS writes and tapes so far ahead that a course correction, if even possible, would happen so far down the road that viewers might just throw in the towel; the fact that inflation and such, along with the soft numbers, will continue to play a major part in determining the show's budget - for this show to overcome.  That's why I have resigned myself (more or less) to the fact that DAYS cannot be fixed and just to accept the show as it is for however much longer it's on the air.

Let me guess: DAYS is so cash-strapped now that every scene of every episode will take place in the (in)famous Blue Room of Boredom, lol.