Days: Inside Salem "The Days of Our Lives" Podcast Episode 5

The fifth episode of Inside Salem premiered this week. Below are my thoughts. This is slightly spoilerish for casting.

The fifth episode had an interview with Susan Seaforth Hayes (Julie) and the best scenes of the week (one in regards to Holly's custody and the other with Julie and Gabi fighting in the mansion). The second portion was with Matthew Ashford (Jack) and Kassie DePaiva (Eve).

The first section was Susan speaking with Michael Fairman. Since Susan had her 50th anniversary of her start on Days, they spoke about her history with the show, along with her special episode. The show blew the budget for the music used that day, which was appreciated. They also discussed the kind of advice she'd give new performers, and how they should be professional, while learning though they shouldn't treat it like a training ground. There was also chatter about people she worked with many years ago, who if you know Days history you'd know, but otherwise you probably would not unless you watched other shows also.

The second part was with Matt Ashford, in the dressing room he now occupies that had been Bryan Datillo's (Lucas) most recently. If someone wasn't watching the promos and heard this podcast having him and Kassie on would be a shock, as if someone was spoiler free, this would be awful. The chatter about the room itself was so vague that it didn't need a visual. They talked a bit about how they worked, and Matt mentioned how Melissa Reeves told him that he marks his scripts the same way he did 30 years ago. Kassie and Matt also spoke about how Matt was on "One Life to Live" as Drew, and was best friends and cousins to Bo, and how later he was on "Search for Tomorrow". Matt said it was like smelling the grease paint as it was an old show (starting in the 50s), and Mary Stuart was mentioned by name.

The one thing I liked/disliked is that this podcast didn't talk down to the audience. They didn't go into long explanations about things/people/the past, though if you don't have a long soap history it may have been a bit confusing. Many Days viewers aren't going to know who Mary Stuart is (she passed away over 15 years ago) and Search for Tomorrow ended over 30 years ago. Mary Stuart's last soap role was on "Guiding Light", so she doesn't have a true Days tie. I do wish they had held off on doing the podcast with Matt and Kassie as the characters have yet to return to Salem.