How ‘Days Of Our Lives’ can avoid cancellation (from NBC’s standpoint)

Courtesy: NBC

What’s The Peacock Think?

On Tuesday, TV Line reported that the entire cast of “Days Of Our Lives” have been released from their contracts, speculating that the 54-year-old soap opera is getting cancelled, but sources say the casts will be offered new contracts at lower salaries, filming resuming in March, and that NBC wants to keep “Days”, with episodes filmed 8 months in advance as the serial goes one year into the future, filling the NBC daytime schedule up until summer 2020, so let’s talk how “Days Of Our Lives” can stay on the air, not on a viewer’s observations, but from what Daniel plus Lauren thinks NBC’s plans are based on knowledge and experience learned over the years.

Releasing the entire casts, only to renegotiate for lower salaries definitely means right of refusal by each cast member, and reason for NBC to cancel “Days Of Our Lives”, but if NBC wants to keep “Days” in spite of offering lower salaries, followed by those that accept, then NBC’s plan could be to move the longtime soap from their daytime TV schedule, and onto NBC Universal’s new streaming service, Peacock, which debuts in April 2020, a month after when production hopes to get back up and running.

Now if the sand runs out on the hourglass with “Days” on TV, but turns a new chapter (or the hourglass gets turned over so the sand keeps on slipping) via Peacock, then July 24, 2020 could be the day that “Days Of Our Lives ends its near 55-year run on TV, that day because it’s the day the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan begin with their opening ceremonies where daytime programming is preempted by Olympic coverage for the next 2 weeks, and 8 months of “Days” episodes will have run out by then, so it could be a pivotal day for NBC with “Days Of Our Lives” ending on TV, and the Summer Olympics beginning that same day.

Now after the Summer Olympics end, and before the new TV season begins next fall, as well as “Days” hopefully celebrating their 55th anniversary on November 8, 2020, it’s anybody’s guess when “Days” would return if their future lies on NBC’s new Peacock streaming service, or how the longtime serial’s episodes would be structured on a weekly or daily basis.

An important fact to point out is since the streaming audience is much smaller than a true television audience (not true with “Stranger Things” or other popular shows), salaries are negotiated much lower because of it, so there could be reluctance from veteran “Days” cast members to sign on this new streaming platform with the longtime soap, those that could sign on could either see success or failure with “Days Of Our Lives” as the first-ever streaming soap opera, which NBC will be proud as a peacock to strut.

In the end, it all comes down to the viewing public’s love for “Days Of Our Lives”, and whether loyal fans are willing to make “Days” apart of their binge watching appetite, as well as if it’s economically feasible for NBC’s portfolio, and the quality of the writing, dialogue, and storyline on “Days” behalf.

Courtesy: Daniel plus Lauren YouTube Channel (filmed by Eddin Martinez Media)

Since “Days Of Our Lives” is still part of pop culture, there’s still a time or two where the soap opera gets referenced in another TV show, even as small as an Off, Off Broadway sketch comedy stage show called “A Sketch Of New York” does “Days” get referenced, thanks to Daniel plus Lauren who changed up a line in a “Shrink” sketch earlier this year back on March 31.

Daniel Quintanilla