Streaming ideas

[ShaunP(not ShawnD!)]

It’s been over a year now since Days moved to exclusively streaming on Peacock. It seemed pretty clear at the time that it was a rushed decision and that it was going to take a while to get through the already recorded episodes until they could start “exploring new ways” to produce the show. Aside from some more crude language, I don’t know that I’ve really noticed much different.

How would you choose to produce the show given the many ways streaming services offer content? Continue the daily posting of an episode or maybe drop the whole week at one time? Do more specialized stories like Beyond Salem where a big portion of the cast is involved in one over-arching storyline?

Maybe do episodes that focus on one character’s perspective of a story like some shows do where they flash back for an entire episode until all is revealed after all suspects get their moment to contribute to the plot?

Visit some characters out of town for short story arcs - like a visit to Switzerland to see Carrie, Austin, and Noah, or to South Africa to see Claire, Theo, and JJ, or NYC to visit Craig, Nancy, Mike, Chloe, and Philip?

I know contracts are a thing and certain actors have to have a certain number of appearances, but if you controlled the way the budget was used, what would you do?

 

[katmouse]

As a person who writes summaries, daily episodes are the best and not drop the whole week of episodes.

I miss families in Salem. Lately, people are getting dumped into stories that don't seem to belong there.

It would be nice to see characters that are mentioned and not seen. I think I would like that if money
wasn't a big problem.

 

[Poirot]

Personally, I think it was a mistake to go streaming, but I understand the why. However, when folks say they could watch anytime, heck, people recorded the episodes and could watch any time. But, streaming makes the time needed to watch much shorter, so doubt they would go back. Time marches on. Daily is best, agree with Kat......those who do summaries already take more time, watching & then writing. Bless them all. (And being I used to do that, I know exactly)

Currently, the show seems to have veered away from the close family connections, adventures, problems, etc. That is what endeared the show to so many. Alice & Tom Horton were a hoot, loved them.

 

[TinaY]

Obviously, daily is best for keeping up the viewing habit, but if budget is such an issue that the storytelling suffers (bad sets, recasts that don't make sense, shoving characters who don't belong into a story), then less than every weekday of the year might be a way to reduce the number of episodes. I'm not so much talking about not releasing episodes daily during a "season," so much as reducing the overall number of shows so each one is better.

They could take a break to hit the reset button and shift to a more Beyond Salem plan. Fewer characters involved in a series of adventures and story arcs delivered daily with stories lasting 1-2 months before rotating through to the next. Get actors lined up for shorter stints through 1-3 story arc periods. It seems like some actors only want to be on for a couple months at a time anyway.

During the reset break, they can dip into their decades of film and edit together retrospectives. Those could air for a couple of weeks or a whole month. Catch people up on the history of families, do episodes on Days super couples over the years, and do countdown shows of the most outrageous plots, best romances, most adventurous moments, etc. with commentary from the show's actors. Do tributes to actors they've lost. They could easily fill weeks while they retool. That would be great for loyal fans, and if they promoted it, they could give backstory for newer viewers as they announce, promote, and launch a new format.

Or they could use week-long retrospectives as daily breaks between "seasons" of the new show, catching people up on storylines and characters that will be leveraged in the next bundle of shows. Do behind the show interviews to talk about the last season and tease the next. Think the fan show they do after the Walking Dead or the little interview show they do after each episode of Only Murderers in the Building. Interview shows and retrospectives have to be cheaper to produce. They can probably pay the actors to appear as themselves (and maybe fulfill appearance requirements per their contracts). Celebrity fans of the show might participate and give them extra juice. Use the money saved to improve the actual show production. People might tune in just for the hit of nostalgia. Post some of those on YouTube or post clips on social media to encourage viewing interest again and push them to Peacock.

They could even keep going as they are but still hit the reset button with a break to film new stories with a new production team and think through how to get from the mess the old regime created to something that honors the roots of the show. That would only work once, so they better commit to a better path. Otherwise, it'll be like the time jump and fix nothing. Also, I think a bigger change is needed to create buzz and momentum.

Literally, the options for retooling while staying true to the fandom are endless. Streaming allows them to be totally flexible in release schedule, format, length, etc. They aren't taking advantage. Limping along doing the same thing with worse and worst content and fewer and fewer committed actors isn't working.

 

[oldschool]

I would go with less episodes a week for sure. One of the biggest problems with a daily show, especially in the day of no real money going into it, is dragging things out just to fill time. People disappear for weeks and I forget they even exist. I always think it's interesting that a show that's on for an hour a week can cover more character background and story than a show that's on five times a week.

Honestly I'd do once or twice a week, film all in one shot with commitments from people to show up for that time. Honestly it's sort of ridiculous that this show is built around people that have zero interest in living where it's filmed. I've harped on it before but acting like these are the only people on earth who can play these characters or be on the show probably killed it. I like a lot of the actors but they've really allowed a lot of them to make the rules. It's made a mess of things. Although I'll still never get why they don't edit things better. Just because they all film at different times doesn't mean they can't edit better so characters don't disappear for long lengths. They're working 6 months out for heaven's sake.

 

[JasonDíSpeech]

I mean, the show couldn't even beat repeats on the other networks for months, so it was only a matter of time until NBC found a way to give them a soft ax.

I pretty much second everything TinaY said. In addition, to the question at hand.

I'd run the show 4 episodes a week instead of 5, dropping episodes on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Storytelling would not be affected by this change. Cycle the actors on 13 week contracts and the stories in arcs of 7, 13, or 21 weeks to allow more flexible scheduling (and rotate the writers in a similar fashion). I might also do 13 weeks on, 1 week off, to build in some climactic moments. Give teams a chance to reset. It benefits every other show format but soaps never get a break.

Characters would have to react to each other in logical ways instead of plot-mandated ways. Why does Steve hate Jeannie T? Why did Kayla hate Leo before he helped Dimitri escape? Why does Marlena hold more ire for Talia than for Ben? I'll admit in the first two examples I could be forgetting details, but if they're important, then remind us of them. Too many characters get reduced to goldfish who react (mostly those foisted on re-Ron by fan demand, à la Kayla, Steve, John, Marlena) however the plot demands they react, and there's too much in vs out-crowd writing. We might like someone that Kayla likes, but we won't hate someone just because she hates them.

Before I rant too long, the other change that I'd make in tightening the stories is fewer villains that just settle down in Salem. And if I were going to tell business stories, I'd not change the way the company functions every 11 weeks to suit some silly two-week plot point. It's insulting to viewers and not fit for the modern age.