Starting this week, NBC daytime show ‘Passions’ will become the first soap opera streamed online for free. Episodes will post at NBC.com after 6:00 PM EST everyday, and will be available to soap fiends for an entire week.
Additionally, cult hit ‘The Office,’ a show about work-time antics in the Scranton Branch of fictional company Dunder Mifflin, will air a special “producer’s version” (think “DVD extra”) online following the November 9 episode. The episode concerns Jan (Melora Hardin) informing Michael (Steve Carell) about the closing of his Scranton Branch. According to TV.com, NBC will show additional scenes and footage not seen in the 8:30 PM EST television broadcast.
Executive vice president of NBC digital entertainment and new media, Vivi Zigler said, "This is a first-of-its-kind and a real bonus for fans of The Office."
Shows like ‘Office’ have already developed fame on the web from popular media sites like Cracked.com and Gorillamask.net; sites that frequently post video embeds sometimes of whole episodes via YouTube.
Still, Zigler is confident in NBC making a name for itself with the web crowd. She continued, "We're seeing an incredible audience reaction to the evolving digital extensions of our programming and anticipate this being one of their favorites."
