I'm getting a bit fed up with my favourite soap. It goes in cycles, and Corrie has its ups and downs for all fans, I'm sure. And at the moment, it's on a down for this Corrie fan.Here's why:
Graeme, Tina and Becky are fantastic characters. But I don't want them on screen - all the flippin' time! Anyone else cheesed off with GraemeTinaBeckynation Street?
I know Carla Connor's away right now but when she comes back, Michelle joins her in the factory - it's a storyline I'm not looking forward to at all, despite the fact that two women running the factory will be fantastic news I feel it's the wrong two women. Carla and Hayley would have been better. We'll have the two darkhaired Connor women on screen - all the flippin' time!
The tabloid news that David Platt might be involved in a rape storyline against Tina, chills me. I can only hope that this spoiler is so wide off the mark it's untrue. Sexual violence isn't entertainment.
Not enough use of some of the stronger, older characters like Eileen Grimshaw, Ted Page, Bill Webster and Aunty Pam.
The MolVin storyline did my head in - it's going to be a long time for Corrie to recover its credibility with this fan over that storyline but it looks like it's going to run and run and run...
Women who were brought into Corrie as strong, quirky, interesting - e.g. Fiz, Natasha, Mary - reduced to wittering neurotics.
And here's why I still love it and keep watching:Rita, Sally, Roy and Hayley, Deirdre, Audrey, Sian and Sophie, Emily, Eileen, Steve, Liz, Lloyd.
When oh when will Corrie bosses realise that almost ANY character can become annoying if they are grossly over-used. It happened with Sean, it certainly happened with Michelle, it's happening now with Tina (who has become very unlikeable) and Graeme too. And of course then there's Becky. Opinions about her have always been sharply divided, but there's barely a scene these days that she isn't shoe-horned into, and she is completely spoiling the show for me. I am just praying that the rumour she would be out of the show for a few months turns out to be true. We need a rest!
ReplyDeleteStill better than Eastenders and other soaps though. Stick with it!
ReplyDeleteI've also been dismayed by the Tina/Graeme romance - as someone else commented recently, no chemistry, and it seems false/contrived. I've always found Becky way too much, and I dread her sister arriving. Michelle is okay in small doses, but leave the factory to Carla. What keeps me watching, in addition to your list - the Windasses, Mary, Lewis (!), John Stape, Chesney and Fiz, David Platt, Gail, the Websters, Carla, all the Barlows...Eccles...faith that it will all come out in the wash somehow...
ReplyDeleteI thought it had picked up recently, funnily enough. I've certainly had a chuckle the last couple of episodes, cos I do like Graham and think his romance with Tina is quite sweet. The John Stape storyline turns me off completely. Never been a fan of Me-Me-Me Michelle and if I have to look at that tattoo one more time... agh! Like the Windasses, and can take Becky in small doses. Corrie is apt to ram characters down our throats at times, which drives me nuts. However, it's been lovely having a break from Molvin!
ReplyDeleteWhat everybody else says. The producers run their focus groups, find out which characters are popular and then do them to death. I suppose it's too much to expect them to learn from past mistakes and take a longer term view.
ReplyDeleteI'm already sick of Tina and Graeme together.
ReplyDeleteUnless things change I feel he should have been left as the caring person we've come to know and not been paired up with Tina.
She's already showing her bossy self with him and the 'comedy' injections now seem not to fit; let's face it, Tina isn't funny.
Becky, same thing, they can never replicate the Karen/Steve union, no matter how they try.
I hope she takes a break too, judging by her numerous screen appearances,she's certainly earned it.
I think that Eastenders does the same thing with it's young characters; over uses them.
In both shows,trying to appeal to all viewers of all ages is a tough balance to maintain, but somehow I think that those of us who appreciate the mature characters and what they bring to the show are on low priority.
Here's what I think:
ReplyDelete1. Tina & Graeme - Great pairing, Tina needs someone like Graeme after what she has been through, though it wasnt fair what she did to Jason
2. David rape storyline - Either not true at all, or a half truth (Such as David trying to kiss her and Tina pushing him off)
3. Carla and Michelle - I'm looking forward to this, Michelle has been pretty much stuck behind the Rovers bar all her Corrie life, it will make a change to see her somewhere else
4. Molvin - People assume this storyline will be like it was before, but it is most likely that it will be a very different storyline, there's no affair no more, that ended 7 months ago, now we're nearing the end, Phil just didnt want to end this storyline badly (like Michelle's sons storyline) when it could actually be made into an interesting story
I agree with the original post 100%. I'm in Canada where the Molly/Kevin saga has just begun and I already hate it. I don't know if I'll be able to stand it for another year.
ReplyDeleteAgain, 100% agree about Fiz. Taken a character I loved and made her mostly annoying and stupid.
We just had Andy and Jim back for a few days and it was great to see that family back together! They need to bring back more old characters from time to time vs people just forgetting they existed.
I would alos like to have at least a couple people who stay in relationships and NOT CHEAT! The constatnt bed hopping is cheap drama.
I will probably never stop watching though :) Still an adict.
I agree about Fiz, she's unbearable, her voice does my head in, she used to be good too
ReplyDeleteI have also found episodes being funny now in comparison to the Tony saga. A balance of characters makes it more interesting - young and old. My fav episodes have to include Rita and Norris, Emily, Eileen, Audrey, Roy and Steve. Over using characters happens in all soaps. One values characters who don't appear that often like Emily and Betty in Corrie. I won't give up watching now in its 50th year. We'll see in years to come. One enjoys comparing it to episodes from the 70s and 80s on DVD.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to give the Graeme/Tina pairing a chance before i judge it. Atm i don't really like it but i'll wait and see.
ReplyDeleteI agree about Corrie over-using certain characters but i don't think there's such a thing as too much Graeme, he's hilarious.
I agree Hayley and Carla would be far better than Chelle and Carla. Although i am glad that they're going to mend Carla and Michelle's relationship.
Molvin = yuck yuck.
Use more of the oldies i agree, they are what Corrie is all about.
This past month has been a massive improvement IMO
ReplyDeleteThey lowpoint for me, suprisingly was Tony's return, I'd been looking forward to it because it was similar to Mad Maya, which got me into the show, but this past month has reminded me what KEPT me watching, not what drew me in.
I stopped watching from Feb-May, becuase I'd had enough of Joe, Gail, and pretty much the whole show, I thought that was it for me and Corrie, but then one week I tuned back in one week in May. You guys probably didnt notice, but the show had improved over the time I didnt watch
I regret missing Kelly's exit though
I find myself agreeing with most of the above. I think our beloved street are losing it and it saddens me. I wish the powers that be could take a deep breath and say, yep, we've got it wrong on so many levels.
ReplyDeleteIt's clear that a huge number of true Coronation Street fans are worried about the way Corrie appears to be going.
Viewing figures are down to serious lows and the episodes are very much concentrating on the same few characters and repetitive stories in the main (Gail and her husbands etc, the younger characters and who they have relationships with etc, a fire, although the Tony Gordon storyline was excellent, but Steve and Beck, both nice characters are boring me from the amount of time they are on. I think Granada, if they are that keen on them, should launch the Becky and Steve show and get them out of the STREET!
Surely someone up in the Ivory Towers at Granada can see what's happening. I thought the new producer was going to make changes, but didn't expect them to be sackings for many who we love and new contracts to those that are in some way, responsible for the viewing figures decreasing.
Corrie has some wonderful characters and actors who are simply not being used either enough or at all. A sizable group of us Coronation Street fans were discussing this and none of us can think of a sensible reason for what is going on other than the producers may want to continue focusing on the younger characters more to try and get younger viewers and win awards etc as we all appreciate that it's the younger people who vote for people awards.
BUT .... it's always the same old nominations up for us to choose ... and guess what ... it's never our favorite performers in the main.
I for one can't understand why we don't see more of the amazing Aunty Pam (Kate Anthony) who always makes us laugh with her classic one liners (a perfect Blanche replacement) or keeps us on the edge of our seat when she has a serious storyline, like sorting Kevin and Molly out. Now that Molly is leaving us, regretfully, it's about time Bill and Pam tied the knot for an hilarious wedding!
Norris only ever seems to be seen with Mary now. Malcolm Hebden can offer the Street so much more than the occasional fringe storylines. Why don't we have him and Pam together more often. Ken Barlow was a classic character, but seems so boring now and Rita is all but gone. Also Roy and Haley should link in with more characters. Pam would wind Roy up no end and it would be very funny. Sorry for mentioning Pam so much, but she is brilliant and so underused as is many others.
I love and care about Coronation Street, but would it not be worth thinking about getting back to the roots of the programme, which made it the most famous and loved soap throughout the world? Surely worth a thought?
Let's not go down the Albert Square path please - Corrie is so much more than that ...... it's success has been based on its 'true to life comedy aspects' and its reality of northern life.
I hope you will all forgive me for getting on my soapbox (pardon the punn. I am passionate about Coronation Street want it to work and make me laugh and smile again as well as keeping me on the edge of my seat with suspense.
Dobbin
Hardly down to serious lows, since its still the highest rated drama on TV consistently, we're only down to 6m due to the world cup and the summer sun.
ReplyDeleteAlso, its worth noting, the episodes we're seeing right now are still produced by Kim Crowther, and not Phil Collinson
It's a *given* that ALL soaps will eventually implode upon themselves with implausibility piled upon implausibility. That's why the melodrama of a soap - makes it a soap.
ReplyDeleteIf you watch Corrie regularly, never missing a single episode, then like every other soap you will become dismissive of the absurdities thrust upon you. When that happens I often don't watch it for a period, usually until something pertinent in the trailers/media about it catches my interest - and the process starts all over again.
Here's a test. I think of it this way:
If you watch Corrie regularly, never ever, criticising it, nor losing faith in it, because you love it, your mental make-up is closer to that of Norris's mad Mary than you realise.
If from time to time the implausibility causes you to despair for the future of your favourite soap, then you are more likely to have the well-balanced outlook of Gail's dad, Ted.
At the moment all the best lines (IMO) are being handed to Graham because of his superb comic delivery. As long as the Graham/Tina pairing stays comedic and they don't end up as a 'normal' couple, I'll buy in to it.
Eventually, I'd expect Graham to find someone more suited to him and then shock! Horror! Unbelievably - HE dumps Tina, but in a nice way.
Anyway we've been in this beauty-and-the-beast territory before with Curly and Raquel.
And with Tyrone and Maria, second time around, when it was Ty that finished with Maria, I seem to remember. He dumped her for somebody else, I think, but I can't remember who, or why. Anyone?
ReplyDeleteI agree that some characters are featured too much, and others not enough. We don't see enough of Emily for my liking, but I can't get enough of Graeme.
Nice to see some love for Lloyd. Underrated character in my opinion.
Think he left Maria for Fiz, then Molly.
ReplyDeleteI really hate Pam but I guess I am in the minority. Comparing her to Blanche is ridiculous, Blanche is infinitely better.
ReplyDeleteKevin/Molly was painful, agreed.
Liking Sophie.
Loving Julie's funny scenes actually.
Lloyd/Cheryl = boring.
Never liked Rita.
I want Amber back.
Hate Lewis. Hate John Stape.
They killed off "the worst character ever", thank god. (Joe)
I love Carla so I don't want Michelle to ruin her :S
I don't "hate" Pam, but I don't get why she's so popular. I wouldn't miss her at all.
ReplyDeleteI'm the same. I don't "hate" Pam either, she's a decent character, brought in for Molly who is leaving. I can't say I would miss her because she's been more of an occasional support player so far.
ReplyDeleteI dont like tina and graeme together it just too sweet i liked david and tina they had a more fiery relationship and it was more fun to watch, we need to see more of the platts and barlows again too much mcdonald love them like but just getting boring
ReplyDeletereason i watch corrie
david platt
tina
graeme
eileen and Gail, the Websters, Carla, all the Barlows oh yeh tyrone love them all probably more but there me main ones want a storyline with david platt tina mcintyre and graeme proctor