Are they making Michelle Connor even more horrible than usual for a specific reason? Is there a big storyline ahead that we don't yet know about? I'd really like to know why we're having this gob on a stick front and centre so much at the moment.I love Steve McDonald. Always have and always will. Back in the day he was a bit of a lad and high drama followed. Remember the wonderful Jez Quigley, dear reader?
Then the powers that be discovered Simon Gregson could do comedy as well as drama and the rest is history. Simon is terrific behind the bar of the Rovers and equally wonderful in the Streetcars office with Lloyd and Eileen. A real asset to the programme and something of a rarity. He came in as a young actor and has stuck with Corrie into adulthood.
So why oh why can't they find him a decent woman to play off? Becky was more than a match for Steve, but like Tracy Barlow, she ran rings around him and made him look more than a little bit daft. Karen did that too, but Steve was far less emasculated back then. Steve and Karen were a great partnership, their scenes together were zingy, if you know what I mean. You never knew who would come out on top.
Not so with Michelle. I didn't get their relationship the first time Steve and Michelle were together (baby swap disaster anyone?) and I still don't get it now. Michelle is rude, bossy, arrogant and treats Steve and anyone who agrees with him like something she's just trodden in. Her reaction to the arrival of Andrea was very telling, she obviously felt threatened, although my feeling is Andrea will end up with Lloyd. This vasectomy business is bad enough, but the pinnacle of Michelle's unpleasantness came when Steve enrolled at college. The belittling he received at the hands of his partner was just foul and as usual with Michelle, there was no come back. She pretty much got away with it scot free.
I love the McDonald's back behind the bar, but please oh please can they ditch Michelle? Steve needs someone who treats him like an equal, not a drudge and a silly wee boy. I'm not sure I see any suitable candidates in Weatherfield at the moment so perhaps it's a job for the Corrie casting director. It has been suggested before that Liza Tarbuck would be good behind the bar and I think she might also make a good partner for Steve.I'd make one final change at the Rovers too.
I know Liz is giving Jason's dad the glad eye at the moment, but please can we see big Jim McDonald once again? There has been no mention of him since Liz returned (unless I've missed something). Liz and Jim behind the Rovers bar would be magnificent. I can't remember if Jim is still in the Big House, but Tracy Barlow was once and that didn't stop them springing her out to get on everyone's nerves.
So catch yourself on Steve, ditch Michelle!
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26 comments:
Great blog, Graeme. I love Steve too, and would love to see the back of Michelle. I just wish that Karen could come back!
I would certainly also like to see Jim, so I would, but probably only fleetingly.
Finally, thank god for Liz behind the bar and not Stella!
Bev
I agree about Michelle I have never liked the character but lately she turned into a complete bitch! She was snotty and rude to Andrea. If I treated a friend of my husband's like that he would certainly call me on it. Andrea is like a breath of fresh air and am looking forward to seeing more of her!
Anonymous...there may be issues you need to deal with...lol
I think that the writers need to take a long hard look at how they present Michelle. We are not amused.
As a woman I find her offensive.
So most of you woman out there wouldn't be bothered if your partner came home from work and said he has meet a new woman friend and they are going out for a drink and your not invited you would be happy?
I don't think the writers have a major story on the horizon with Steve and Michelle. They just didn't know what to do with her and domestic strife was the only thing they could come up with. Played by someone else, we might have got Jack and Vera, Stan and Hilda but, unfortunately, Kym Lomas doesn't have much in the way of acting skills. There's no warmth or humour in the scenes and not much chemistry. Like my mother used to say, looks aren't everything.
I don't think the writers have a major story on the horizon with Steve and Michelle. They just didn't know what to do with her and domestic strife was the only thing they could come up with. Played by someone else, we might have got Jack and Vera, Stan and Hilda but, unfortunately, Kym Lomas doesn't have much in the way of acting skills. There's no warmth or humour in the scenes and not much chemistry. Like my mother used to say, looks aren't everything.
You're so right Humpty, there's no chemistry there, Steve and Michelle just don't gel, and I agree Steve could go on to become the next Jack/ Stan, but not with Michelle. Karen was his best match, she brought so much out of him. Alas Karen is no more, I hope tptb will come up with another suitable playmate in the near future.
I think the whole vasectomy/sex strike thing was meant to be comedy, but it didn't work with Steve and Michelle because there was nothing funny about Michelle, she just came across as nasty and self-centred. In contrast, the scenes with Steve, Lloyd, Eileen and Andrea on the same topic were very funny. (Btw, it was nice to see Eileen get her sense of humour back at bit. She used to be quite funny.)
Graeme, great blog..and you read my mind. I would LOVE to see Jim Mac D back at the Rovers with Liz. Come on writers, you let Tracy out of a murder sentence, surely you could get Jim out on a robbery. I said it before, and I'll say it again, "do the writers or anyone associated with the show not read these blogs???? So frustrating!!! I would threaten to tune out, but that would be a lie, I just can't help myself!!
Roy & Hayley adore each other - it's right on the surface. Everything they do for each other is a loving act. Jack & Vera adored each other - they had a lifetime of squabbles but knew how to both get back at the other as well as get back into their good graces. With every fight, we knew there would be a making up worth waiting for.
Steve & Michelle do not adore each other - their spats are just prolonged anguish for the viewers. Why are they together, what is their relationship based on? Rekindling something that was never there? For the sake of kids that don't exist and never will? Steve's brand new platonic relationship with Andrea is deeper than this coupling - at least those two can study, shop and banter, she likes his friends and his friends like her. Steve and Michelle do not work as a couple and if I ran the zoo, they'd be rehabbed or dissolved post haste.
Liz is an easy fix -- she needs more Deirdre time. They were fun even when Deirdre was kinda boring, they should be amazing now. More, please.
Only disagree on Jim, but maybe because he was already gone when I started watching in the early 00s so there are no fond memories. His last stint was awful, all accent and stupidity. No thanks.
If I was watching Corrie for the first time I'd be thinking that they were heading for a plot where Michelle started mentally and physically abusing him because it is THAT bad now. It's so bad that when Michelle proposed the no sex ban in her usual horrible manner, I wanted Steve to just dump her right there and then, and throw her out of the pub. He deserves MUCH better than her.
I kinda like Liz and Jason's dad ( I forget his name... Tony! That's it!) so I'd rather Jim stayed away right now. Besides his story was so bad last time he was on. I still need to recover.
Another Jim fan here, please bring him back!
And I've never liked Michelle, probably because I've never liked Kym Marsh/Ryder/Lomas/Marsh ever since the Popstars: The Rivals days when she came across in real life as particularly unpleasant.
agree with much of this but Jim and Liz? No Way! He's a controlling, jealous abuser. I started watching when he hit her and his character devolved from there. He isn't without redemption but not with Liz.
Michelle is not a "realistic" representation of women - she is a caricature. Any man who believes otherwise should spend less time chasing plastic tarts at the bar and find some real women to hang out with. I see that Graham has included the best photo of Michelle at the top of this post - it's the only facial expression this character ever does! It's time for her to leave the Street,a s I think the majority of viewers have stopped caring about her and see no future for her.
Sorry, I meant *Graeme - I know you're not a cracker! ;)
I agree with you Graeme. I'm so glad to have the MacD's back in the Rovers! I love Big Jim and would love to see him come back. I don't think I'd pair him with Liz again, but I could see Steve helping him out by giving him a job. I think he'd be good as a worker for Jason too, but I can't see people feeling comfortable letting the man who killed Jez Quigly (best villain ever!!!) into their homes to hang drywall.
Michelle is one of those characters that make absolutely no impression on the programme. She flits in and out, speaks to people, but no-one remembers what she said. I don't think I have ever seen once ounce of warmth or likeability from the harpy, and her pairing with Steve is mismatched and fake. Along with Beth and Stella, they make a triumverate of useless people.
Love Steve, they give him some great one liners. Michelle is a nightmare but that's the point I guess but she really isn't likeable and I feel that's a disservice to the actress and character, they're ruining her. Steve, Elieen & Lloyd are great at Streetcars and I think that "Carry on Cabbie" would be a great spinoff web series as mentioned in Fridays episode. I think Jim coming back would be great. Him & Liz were really good together but I don't see that happening. I too agree that Andrea will end up with Lloyd and I do hope so but, I think Lloyd & Steve's friendship may suffer at the hand of it, unfortunately. Hopefully they could get past that..
Michelle is not married to Steve so the way she barks her orders at him and demands he have a vascetomy even though they have only one child each and none together was frankly outrageous. I detest the character of Michelle and the way she is played - what barmaid slouches across the beer pumps with a sour look on her face, you would walk straight out again. I have said it before and Frosty will say it again WHY do they keep renewing her contract over and over again when the character was exhausted when Kieran left?????
AbbyK you are right, Liz really does need more Deirdre time!
Anonymous @ 23:57 - thanks! Although I do fancy some smores now! X
I reckon Andrea and Lloyd will start dating, but Andrea really has the hots for Steve. Michelle will "push" Steve into the arms of Andrea, betraying both his girlfriend and his best mate.
I wouldn't put Beth in the boring triumvirate, Beth is gobby and common but she's also got heart and a very good side to her. And she smiles! Michelle moans, whinges and complains constantly, even when she wasn't with Steve or was working in the factory. I always thought she dragged Steve down even back the first time they were together and she's doing it again now.
Ok, Steve didn't handle the new friend thing well, telling Michelle about her was fine, and honest to a point but he didn't tell Michelle Andrea was attractive and never invited her round so there would be reason for Michelle to be suspicious. But if you're really jealous of a new female friend, would you really ban your partner from sex? That seems like the slippery slope to me
What an hilarious photo heads up this blog...Michelle looks like some sort of venomous, hissing snake!
I'm truly tired of her negative and nasty behaviour, particularly towards Steve.
What is left for them and who on the street would want her? There's no turning back the clock on her horrid personality.
I agree with Tvor. I love the way Beth has been developing. She is a new Vera Duckworth: gobby, larger than life but with a big heart and gooey soft centre.
I think it's time for her, Kirky and our Craig to have more air time as a solid family unit. I hope Kirk's little side comment about her looking for bar work means she'll be at Rovers soon.
I agree, about Steve not being the same as he was back in the early/mid 00's with Karen etc. But I did find the scenes pretty amusing when Steve and Michelle had that argument a few weeks ago and he was grovelling to her out on the street when she was yelling at him from the window of Peter and Carla's place, while she was complaining to them about about him and Andrea. It felt rather 'classic' Corrie in style and reminded me of Jack and Vera.
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