Last night wasn't the first night I've sat and watched Coronation Street having to concentrate on it Really Hard. And judging by a few comments I've seen online, I'm relieved to read that it's not just me who's feeling this way.
I thought perhaps it was my age - I've been watching Corrie for over 45 years - and I've been a bit scared thinking that perhaps it isn't relevant to me any more. Perhaps, heaven forbid, there might even come a day when I feel I'm too old to watch my favourite show. But it's not being old, it's not being tired at the end of the day when I sit down to watch Corrie... something else is happening that is making me feel a little behind the times with my favourite telly show.
It's now moving too quickly... and I'm having a hard time keeping up.
Six episodes a week is a lot for fans to invest in. That's three hours of Coronation Street a week. I've had to forego the pleasure of watching the classic Coronation Street that's being shown on ITV3 otherwise my life would be wall to wall Coronation Street and that can't be healthy for any fan. Fortunately, I can keep up to date with classic Corrie through our blogger Graeme's wonderful blog posts.
We're being given storylines right now on Corrie, great storylines, exciting and dramatic and explosive storylines. There's a lot going on. Pat Phelan, Underworld, the new set is being built, Carla's coming back, Rita might be dying. There's a lot to think about - which is great.
What's not so great are the small things that are being overlooked in the rush for more dramatic storylines. When did Mary move in with Norris? We found out about this in a throwaway line from Dev this week. How does Nicola know already that she's pregnant with Gary's baby? That's a bit soon, isn't it, surely? Having Liz back behind the bar at the Rovers is great but she left the medical centre and Sean's in her place before you can say "Betty's Hot Pot". What's happened to Johnny Connor's MS?
I found myself last night turning to my husband, one eyebrow raised, asking 'When did that happen?' and 'What's going on there?'. Okay, so it was Friday night and I was tired but I feel like Corrie is "skipping" over details at the moment, details that are important to fans who invest their time and energy into watching the show.
Is it just me thinking this way? I really would love to know what you think.
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23 comments:
I'm in Canada, and we are 2 weeks behind UK, and I completely agree with your thoughts. Way too many loose ends in the stories. And to make matters even worse for us Canadian fans, our broadcasting (CBC) cuts out scenes in order to show us commercials/adverts!!!! It drives us crazy! (And the even crazier part, is the employee(s) at CBC who is responsible for cutting the scenes clearly can't be a fan of Corrie, because some important stuff is cut!!!!!) Fortunately, we are able to rely on a superfan who posts the missed scenes online. So we never know if the lack of continuity is due to a cut scene, or a deliberate move on the Corrie producers part!
Things are moving very quickly and it feels like someone in Corrie has put a stick of dynamite under the writers' table. Bethany's storyline and Phelan's were both stretched too long IMO. Now, Phelan's story is suddenly exploding: Andy, Vinny, Vinny's mum, Nicola. What seems odd is that with six episodes a week, there's time to sort out the niggly bits without having to throw in the odd line to explain things. Oth, I've watched Classic Corrie and found it too slow and a bit stagey: characters standing in a line, talking about nothing much and then the door opens and it's another character to join the line. So it's a quandary, too slow and the viewer gets bored and gives up; too fast and the viewers loses track and gives up.
I agree with Frustrated in Canada we Canadians are missing important bits that are cut,last night I felt I must have missed some big things but had not missed an episode. I love Corrie but hope they don't forget the everyday stuff we all love. My husband gave it up a year ago. Hope they can keep the balance of funny quirky characters they are known for and the the big stories.
DA in Canada
Things are moving fast, I agree, apart from the Phelan storyline. That is moving way too slow. There's so many facets now, it's unbelievable. I love Todd, but how can he get out of this Scot free when the while Calcutta flats story unravels. Also, bringing Lydia in last night with the Nicola/baby storyline is gonna send Corrie off into a different tangent. There's obviously some history there between Lydia and Phelan, I really dread to think where that will end up. Also, what will happen to Eileen when the truth is out? I really hope it will all happen soon though
I think it’s been heading in this direction for some time now. To a point, I understand why, but it’s been pointed out that the writers now have more time than ever to play with. But they don’t seem to be using it wisely.
Maybe once the new Wednesday slot has become the norm, the pace might settle down a bit.
Corrie used to use high drama sparingly and that’s what made it feel all the more dramatic. I miss those days.
I dip in and out of all the major soaps but I feel as though they are all heading in a Hollyoaks-shaped direction, which fills me with dread.
Yes, we want drama and surprises.
But we also want the odd scene where old friends Gail and Sally put the world to rights over a bottle of wine. Or Ken and Audrey have a good catch-up over a meal in the Bistro.
Something real.
Please.
I agree completely. I don't think it's so much the fact that we have a sixth episode either, I was feeling like this before that even started. It's too many BIG story lines at the same time, and we've lost some of the day to day kinds of stuff that used to be filler to give the viewer a mental break, time to process it all. I think back to a CD by a band I bought years ago, they were borderline head bangers, and the entire CD was that way, no ballads to break it up. I got rid of it, by the time I was done listening it became boring and gave me a headache. I hope someone puts the brakes on Corrie before it reaches that point!
Yes, they seem to be a bit sloppy in the little details. Not only do we not know where Mary was sleeping in Number 3, but now she's gone back to the phantom extra room in Dev's and three people are taking her place at Norris'. Maybe he's done an Eileen and changed the front room from a sitting room into a bedroom. It's the only explanation I can think of since Sean has the extra bedroom upstairs. Dev's got two bedrooms, so the twins are sharing one of them and they're getting a bit old for that. He does have the attic room where Curly used to have his telescope so that might be where Mary was sleeping. It's stupid pedantic thinks like that which irritate me even more.
I don't mind the plots speeding up. I imagine these new twists in Phelans' and Nicola's story are all going to mesh together into his ending storyline.
The Andy in the cellar storyline is not moving fast enough. Something, anything, should happen so that this preposterous ridiculous never-ending storyline will end.
I watch from Canada and I watched an episode last week where Summer was in the hospital or had been taken there.Did I miss something? I remember something about her having scissors and then it seems she was being picked up at the hospital by Billy and Todd and Pat Phelan was there.What did I miss? I didn't miss an episode .
I think part of the problem is that members of the same families[Platts Connors Grimshaw Phelans]are featured in storylines at the same time and other characters are left by the wayside or in Mary's case moving in with Norris,an afterthought without any explaination.
I'm grateful for this post. I thought that we were missing episodes! We would see something that seemed to come out of nowhere. Storylines are not being developed naturally.
I can honestly say that there are too many episodes, too many dramatic storylines and not enough moments to take a breath before the next cliffhanger. Corrie used to have dramatic stories but what set it apart from the other soaps was the fact that as much time, if not more, was given to the characters reactions to the drama. Now the pace of the show means that these moments get overlooked and that means corrie has lost something. I have been a loyal fan all of my life but am finding it hard to keep the love for the show that I was once obsessed with. - Micky
Emmerdale under Kate Oates was incredibly fast paced - I even wrote a blog post about it here! It got so you missed a week's episodes and everything had changed. It doesn't feel right for Corrie. As you say, details are missed - the bulk of a storyline is dealt with so there's no attention paid to aftermaths. Nicola's pregnancy in particular feels rushed; she had literally had sex with Gary two weeks ago, and yet now she's not only DEFINITELY pregnant, she's also experiencing morning sickness!
I agree anon. Todd was in 2 storylines on Friday. Summer in trouble at school and getting arrested for suspicion of burglary of the factory. In his own admission, he said he wanted to go for a drink before he went home for another telling off. Maybe too many dramas for one character for one episode?
I have been a lifelong Corrie fan. Have always enjoyed the mix of humour, intrigue, drama etc.
About 14 months ago i began to feel Corrie was losing the plot abit with so many big stories all coming at once, less humour and very far fetched, to my surprise i found myself getting bored and frustrated with Corrie.
Regretfully I no longer watch Corrie, it feels like it has lost its way. I miss it.
I had to come here and check that I hadn't missed an episode or two! I too hope that the writer's will settle down a bit when they get used to the extra episode. But wouldn't they have hired extra staff and made plans *before* this happened? It's not a nice feeling thinking we're losing our memory while watching our fave soap!
Keep Calm and Keep Corrie Real. Please!
Roy Barraclough predicted that Corrie wouldn't last another ten years as all of the comedy content has been replaced with.....stuff...and not the greatest stuff either. I will say it again...give us stories and characters we can identify with. Corrie had charm...and characters that we fell in love with. I don't give two hoots about many of the characters anymore.. Why are they trying to Americanize Corrie...If I wanted to watch bullshit soap operas...I would..I don't I want my Corrie back!!
I think he did change the front room, when Brian moved in. Then again, we never saw it.
Where’s Emily, if they were going to ‘americanize’ Corrie, there’d be evil twins, folks coming back from the dead, and everyone would be rich and in possession of perfect teeth and fabulous clothes. No thank you.
I am bothered by the incredible speed of the smaller stories, like the already mentioned Nicola’s pregnancy (and also the repetition of the ‘single women get knocked up right away, married women are barren’ trope). I hate when stuff appears out of the blue. You didn’t have to show us Mary’s move, but Mary buying a round for Luke and the young’uns for helping her move her boxes woulda been nice. Lightning moves like Bethany becoming a trainee stylist instead of finishing school and going to uni — not so much as a heart to heart over this huge life decision. But the big sensational (read, straining credibility) stories — Callum, Nathan, the cellar — they drag on with all the gory detail of a feature film series. Which would be fine, if Corrie were a movie. Its not, it’s a soap.
I like long arc stories that are grounded. Let David retake and fail his drivers license because of his epilepsy, and forever deal with the frustration of having to be driven by others. Let Bethany reconsider her future; she can do nails while she’s in school. If Mary and Norris are making a go of their odd marriage, let’s see it. How does Sean fit in? Dylan is old enough to write and Skype; slowly leak that in before you have Sean longing for more daddy time. If you have to be sensational once in a great while (!!!), keep it moving and don’t do it at the expense of character and relationship development stories. Those are what keep us watching.
Well put, abbyk! :-)
Some are what's happened Rita her story hasn't been me ironed for while I just wish phelan story finish it gone on to long there's been lots great story lines but some have gone to fast some haven't been long enough
Exactly. While some storylines flash past in a minute, others drag on & on until you feel like they'll never end.
Seems Rita will be killed off soon..
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