"ITV’s Director of Television, Kevin Lygo, said the news reflected the broadcaster’s commitment to high quality soap for its hugely loyal audience."
They're all very excited at ITV, citing "The plan, which was unveiled to the writers, cast and crew today, will create employment opportunities adding a new and exciting dimension to filming the UK’s longest running soap drama."
Many fans have long complained that the quality of the show has actually suffered for the extra air time it's gained over the past couple of decades. The cast have often said it's a tough job, learning lines and getting ready for scenes when they're trying to fit in so much each week and that's only going to get tougher. I have a lot of respect for the actors under such conditions.
I'm sure some of the fans can't get enough of their favourite show and will be rejoicing. I wonder if they'll continue the double episodes on Mondays and Fridays or if they'll go to singles from Sunday to Friday. That might make more sense.
I imagine it's a matter of keeping up the competition, but how much is too much?
NEW!The Little Book of Carla Connor
A Decade in the Life of a Soap Queen
An unofficial Coronation Street companion book
Like us on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter
Download our free App | Visit Corrie.net
Please read our advice for leaving comments on the Coronation Street Blog
All original work on the Coronation Street Blog is covered by a Creative Commons License
Disaster. Too stretched as it is.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I love Corrie and am excited by this news, I just feel that this is too much to handle all in just one week. I do watch other programmes on TV, although recently I've cut down so my mix of Corrie and Emmerdale, amongst other shows, is just perfect right now.
ReplyDeleteI really feel for the cast and crew and I hope that this will only become a temporary thing, though I doubt it. Having said that, I will enjoy this new direction in Corrie's history and will just have to cope with staying in for an extra episode.
I've stopped watching Corrie because if the dreadful storylines and writing. An extra episode a week certainly won't encourage mean to start watching again, unless it comes with a cast iron guarantee of better all round production.
ReplyDeleteIn Canada we get a 30 minute episode of Corrie each week day, resulting in a similar amount of viewing per week as you have. Right now, we are slipping behind to over 3 weeks behind on CBC due to the weeks you have had over the last few months where 6 episodes (3 hours worth) of Corrie have aired (due to football, etc.). I would hope that CBC would adjust its schedule to both catch up again and stay in sync with what ITV plans to do. A few years ago when we were many months behind, CBC did a marathon of an hour of Corrie each day (5 hours!!) until we almost caught up. This is a LOT of any one show and with the competing shows on, it may be too much for many to keep staying with it. However, with the binge watchers among us, this is heaven. :-)
ReplyDeleteWe weaned ourselves off Corrie before last Christmas, Don't miss it a bit. Not watching gives you so much more time and freedom.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you read the blog for a programme you don't watch?
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteWhen I saw the headline for this, I thought it was April 1 again. With cutbacks on everything these days, it appears on the surface as more of a good thing. Unless the show's makers can pull off a miracle, I can't see how this will make Corrie better. Will be watching though!
ReplyDeleteMore air time means parallel storylines with an ever-increasing cast. I'm sure it won't lead to more viewers; I would just follow the storylines that I'm interested in. Are they opening up the streets nearby so that new characters from the factory might live on Rosamund Street?
ReplyDeleteWhen I read this blog,I thought of the saying 'Less is more and more is less'with the latter being so true with Corrie lately.
ReplyDeleteSadly another episode will only mean dragged out storylines with the same characters, namely the Platts while other underused characters will get the axe due to 'lack of storyline'.
For me Corrie is no longer essential viewing. As it is, due to an abundance of boring or badly written stories I will watch the show if I am in front of the telly when it airs only. I will not go out of my way to put myself in front of the telly just to catch an episode, or use any other media to catch a missed episode. It's just not good enough to bother anymore. Going 6 episodes a week just means I will miss more episodes. I can usually follow whats going on more or less by watching about 2 or 3 episodes a week. If by chance I actually miss a good scene, then that's just the way it is. I just want the show to be really good again, justify more episodes.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand (as far as UK viewers go) - in this day and age, you don't have to watch Corrie as it is airing - there is such a thing as catch up, so it doesn't really matter how many episodes there are, just watch it at your leisure when you have time to kill. Everyone, even the busiest of people, has time to kill at some point, I don't care who they are.
ReplyDeleteAnon 05:21, my other half only watches the odd episode - the problem with this is he keeps asking me why this is happening or why that is being said and I end up having to pause the programme while I explain it to him.
ReplyDeleteEither watch the whole thing or don't bother watching at all.
Groan! In my view 2 episodes per week, or possibly 3 at a stretch was the ideal number. With 5 episodes we already see stories regularly stretched beyond breaking point, and it's pretty clear the writers have a hard time coming up with original plots, so again and again they resort to the old chestnuts - affairs, murders, more affairs, yet more affairs...
ReplyDeleteOverall, the actors won't be working longer hours, so the cast will once again expand, the older characters will be even more marginalised, and individual cast members will be having even more breaks. Even now characters often disappear for so long, you've almost forgotten about them by the time they reappear, invariably with glowing tans.
Even though I only watch one soap, it still takes up way too much of my leisure time, and as an old time viewer I have long realised that watching Corrie now is 90% habit, and only 10% pleasure. Going to six episodes per week will probably be the time I switch off for good.
Oh dear, oh dear.
ReplyDeleteQuality please, not quantity!
ReplyDeleteAll that "spin" about reasons for expanding leaves out the real reason -ad revenue. ITV's greed could very well lead to the demise of the program, as more viewers decide the time commitment just isn't worth the effort.
ReplyDelete