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Thursday 10 May 2012

Corrie's "Big Week" - what do you think so far?

I hate it when Coronation Street's shifted around the schedules to make way for an ITV money-spinner. And that's what's happened this week as Corrie's been on every night at 9pm to make way for Britain's Got the X-Factor Idol or whatever it's called.  In order for us fans to get behind the change to our Cornation Street viewing schedule ITV have given it a name, "Big Week".   Big Disappointment, more like.

It reminds me too much and too painfully or that awful dip in Corrie quality last summer when ITV showed Corrie every night as the John Stape storyline played out to its end. I turned Corrie off twice during that week, and that's not something I've ever done to my favourite soap before in over 30 years of watching. And I'm in danger of not giving a toss about it this week, either.

At the end of every episode so far this week, we've had trailers and previews of more "exciting" times to come the next night. But the trailer and preview turns out to BE the excitement. The rest of each episode feels like filler, every episode feels diluted. There's precious little in the way of quality dialogue, humour or action. It's moving too slowly, with the same scenes between Tina and Tommy for instance, played over again, the same words spoken in a different way. 

So Tina's been left for dead in a pile of blood on the floor of a lapdancing club.  On paper, I bet that sounded like a great idea. Exciting, even. But we know Tina will recover, we know Terry will leave, we know Lesley will die. We know all this because ITV have told us.  There's no drama, there's no suspense, there's no... hang on, I'm losing the will to tune in tonight. The only thing worth watching is Nigel Pivaro as he stumbles around the set as Terry Duckworth, he's so bad he's brilliant.

Or am I being a miserable old grump?  What do you think of Corrie's "Big Week" so far?

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14 comments:

Anonymous said...

The trailers are giving too much away, hardly worth watching

Frosty the snowman said...

The usual silly nonsense - Terry gives Tina a little shove and of course she falls to the ground and is suffering brain trauma. Absolute tommyrot. That squirrel she wears on her head would have acted as a protective shield. And for goodness sakes will someone tell that idiot Eileen that if she wants full attention from a bloke, dont pick one that has a wife - its really becoming irritating now.

Anonymous said...

Totally agree, FN. I don't really care about Tina/Tommy/Terry, and I actively loathe the Pieleen and Snarl duos. So this week is making for pretty painful viewing. Worst of all, I haven't cracked a smile let alone laughed once. Seriously wondering if I'll bother to tune in tonight.

Dolly Tubb said...

I've actually preferred to do my economics exams revision that watch this week's Corrie. I can catch up with what's happened either in the trailer or on this fantastic blog.

Tedious stuff.

Anna in nz said...

Yes, I've been feeling the same.

Karl and Sunita are painful to watch.

Paul is irritating, the whole 'can you look after Leslie?' thing and Eileen fed up about it.

I'm not a fan of Tommy, couldn't care less if he burns down the lap dancing club and gets done for it. He's so one dimensional it's just hard to care.

I like Tina normally, but I am losing interest in her character now that she's with Tommy.

Sunny Jim said...

Big Week? Bit weak.

matto79 said...

Agreed. These event weeks to accommodate other shows push Corrie into over-dramatic territory where it loses it's light and shade. Fair enough, the Lesley storyline had to come to a head but it's only served to make me dislike Eileen and it gives no hopeful resolution for viewers in similar situations. As for the Tina/ Terry/ Tommy storyline, it's a blatantly sensational ratings grabber which will be forgotten about in a matter of weeks. Just like the factory siege and Fiz being run over in the previous 'big weeks', these events are now so regular that they have no long term impact on the characters, so why not keep moments like this up their sleeves and use more sparingly for greater impact? Tram week was a fantastic one-off for a reason that culminated several long-running storylines. Let's just focus on emotional drama and comedy for a while - Corrie is so keen to promote upcoming storylines that we already know that Tina won't die so what is it that is supposed to be gripping us? I challenge Corrie to a month with no hospitals, prisons or courts - go on, I'd love it!

Humpty Dumpty said...

I stopped trying to avoid spoilers when the soap mags began screaming storylines on the front page. Suspense doesn't work in soaps, anymore. As for Paul and Eileen, are we really supposed to sympathise with that weasel? Please let this be a permanent end to their romance. Unrealistic that not one of Eileen's close friends told her she's being taken for a mug (even if it turned out not to be true). Karl and Sunita: there's something decidedly gross about their relationship. Karl started out with animal magnetism, now he's been turned into a lecher.

Nathan Johnson said...

The whole NEXT TIME trailers for a big week is getting tedious now. It worked for the tram crash, when only used once and I found it quite shocking and a surprise. But obviously producers saw the success of the tram crash, so thinking using this over and over is going to make it any better, it isn't.

I actually like Terry Duckworth, I find him entertaining the way he acts. But come on, now Tina is in hospital, under critical condition. This is just getting tedious. We have already had the likes of Audrey and Sally this year, and many more last year. And we know Tina is going to survive, so stop trying to "tease" us about her fate producers!

And Karl and Sunita make me sick. How Corrie think this is great is beyond me, it just makes me feel uneasy. And hopefully Paul leaves soon after Lesley's death, although Eileen is annoying me too.

Anonymous said...

Tina and the loan shark...again. Don't call the cops or anything Tina. Just as dumb as her dad was I suppose. Give him the money she tells Tommy. Pair of boobs. Maybe the smack on the head will knock some sense into the dumb quiff...but I doubt it. I'm not watching this week either. The whole Lesley thing from beginning to end made me feel nauseous. Paul is a douche and Eileen a bigger one for going along with it. They need a whole new line of writers...an idea, no matter how stupid is put together and dragged to it's inevitable end.

End of rant.

Adam Rekitt said...

Presumably this week is meant to be a showcase for Coronation Street and help it to capture new viewers. It’s frightening that programme bosses think that this week’s rubbish is the way to do that.

Here are all the usual ingredients: Sex (The repulsive, unconvincing nonsense of Snarl), Violence (The tedious, suspense free, repetitiveness of the three Ts and the loan shark) and Tragedy (Lesley’s Death – Only a tragedy because Lesley is the only good thing about this story). The scripts are atrocious, the characters one dimensional, the dialogue dull and the humour rarer than Terry Duckworth’s charitable gifts. The programme is in Acorn Antiques territory and in real trouble, I think.

ChiaGwen said...

These comments are better than watching Corrie right now! Loved the weasel reference to Paul Big Egg LOL! There is no escape at the moment because either it is Tina/Tommy/Terry, icky Paul and Eileen or gruesome Karl and Sunita, no interjected little funny scenes to soften the blow. Sad really.

mac said...

I support matto79's challenge "a month with no hospitals, prisons or courts". A laugh here and there wouldn't hurt either.

corrierules said...

There was a time, can you believe it, when leaking storylines was a firing offense? I wish I could be disciplined enough to forgo spoilers, but they're everywhere nowadays. It does detract from enjoying the show.

And Flaming Nora, you're not a miserable old grump. You're a lovely young grump!

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