Days: Inside Salem "The Days of Our Lives" Podcast Episode 1

Over this past weekend, a new official and sanctioned podcast was posted about "Days of Our Lives", it was initially on only NBC.com and their app, but later it ended up everywhere on October 29, 2018. Below are my thoughts on this new promotional tool.

I'm surprised it took this long for a soap opera in the US to do a regular (even if it is only every other week) podcast for its audience. (Back when "Guiding Light" was still on the air in 2005 they did podcast audio versions of episodes, but this is about the behind the scenes of the show, and about 30 minutes in length. And during the online "All My Children" and "One Life to Live" time frame, they had various online things like their Friday interview show, and their live chats, hosted by Michael Fairman, who is the digital producer for this Days project.

The first episode was in two parts, the first half focused on Robert Scott Wilson (Ben) being interviewed by Michael Fairman, who produces this show, while the second was with Mary Beth Evans (Kayla) talking about her dressing room, and then being joined by James Reynolds (Abe). They used Deidre Hall's (Marlena/Hattie) voice for the breaks between the sections, they focused on some best scenes in the recent past also.

The interview with Robert Scott Wilson was about his career before and since he started on Days, he spoke about "The Price is Right" and also the online "All My Children". How soap fans can accept Ben even though he is the necktie killer was another topic.

Mary Beth Evans and James Reynolds discussed the earlier years at Sunset Gower studios, the restaurants nearby, and other things that if you don't live in Southern California or know studio geography, would understand. Though how action scenes used to be taped in the parking lot was funny. The whole Kayla and Abe near relationship was mentioned, and how it didn't happen (writer swap.)

The podcast was decent for a first episode. Though I think something of this nature if focused on only three cast members, will have some episodes that appeal to some viewers more than others. I wonder if they will continue in this format, or if over time it would adjust based on comments from the audience.