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Corrie - The Future
VoodooChic
Posts: 9,868 Forum Member
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ITV needs to seriously think about the future of the show - it's clearly one of the biggest moneymakers for them, I'm sure they "encourage" the producers to have stunts and OTT disasters to sell advertising and ratings shares.....but this is all short term gain, not to mention a bit strange, the street seems to have a bad week EVERY SINGLE May - when Britain's Got Talent is on.....this strange phenomenon seems to go unnoticed by the characters and emergency services.
I feel ITV don't give a flying **** about the rich history and long term characters still played by original actors..... well they won't be there forever - and when they're gone the show will DIE with them, thinking of the age of our long termers - we're talking 10 years? maybe less....
Soon the long termers will be Gail, Tracy, Nick, Kevin, Sally, Steve and David - if you look at the cast that joined post 1998....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Coronation_Street_characters
I don't see the show surviving with these characters as they are/what they've become.
Mary - needs her sinister dark side back (I LOVED it when she used to be nicely chatting to someone and then suddenly turn menacing - that's gone). The scene that I love most with Mary was her in the bath with the duck puppet.....that's the Mary I love - not this Mary Poppins creature she's become.....AND BRING IN "MOTHER". Corrie is missing an old battleaxe. Brian Packham is returning - Mary and Brian??? Could work.
Eva - has all the assets to be a Corrie great - but she's saddled down with the very bland Aiden - in turn she's become slightly bland. With Toyah apparently returning - it would interesting for Eva to be jealous and feel out in the cold.....Eva reminds me of Raquel.
Eileen - She's lost her spark - whether that be down to writing or whatever - she used to be fun, now she's a moaning harridan intent on clinging onto whatever man she's managed to bag - whatever the consequence - the Eileen of 2002 would have seen through Phelan in 5 minutes and sent him packing....she wouldn't have looked twice at Tiny Fireman, Parrot man or Wimpy Rodwell!!!!
Michelle - like her or loathe her (most seem to loathe on here) - she's with Steve and will be staying regardless....I don't mind her to be honest. Kym has given the show 10 years and has vastly improved acting-wise. They need to acknowledge the Ryan/Alex baby swap - maybe even re-visit it. It's like a big elephant in the room.
Tim - Used to LOVE the Tim/Sally relationship - but now I just like it. Tim has become too comedic and Sally has become too Hyacinth Bucket. The realness of both characters needs to be revived....Sally (like Gail) has been through a LOT - it needs to be in her character. The low-point for me was the beer explosion and oh look Sally has just bought a posh new frock....what's going to happen?? YAWWWWN
The Nazirs - I actually really like them and would like them to stay. They just need to do something with Alya - and bring Rana into the fold by marrying Zeedan - she's got a spark that works with the family.
Maria - She's proven she can deliver the goods when needed - I have no idea why they don't give her more. I enjoyed her obsessed with Tyrone storyline....I'd put them together - she always had much more chemistry with him than Fiz.
Kirk - Never has a actor had an easier job. I can't think of any storyline that Kirk has had ON HIS OWN - in 16 years!!! I mean - time to go Kirky lad
Beth - Needs a new bloke as she has all the right Corrie elements and Craig is a nice lad too. I would rescue Gary from Izzy and put him with Beth - in turn creating hell for Anna....
Anna - Like Eileen has turned into a moaning old whingebag - she not working with Kevin - put Jenny back with Kevin....Yet I think Debbie Rush is a good actress - Anna just needs a new direction
Fiz - just drags the whole of No.9 down with her fake niceness and patronising voice. I felt NOTHING during Hope's cancer storyline - NOTHING. Jenni was quite spunky when she arrived - but now it's such a chore to endure any scenes in the Duckworth Museum.
to be continued.....maybe
I feel ITV don't give a flying **** about the rich history and long term characters still played by original actors..... well they won't be there forever - and when they're gone the show will DIE with them, thinking of the age of our long termers - we're talking 10 years? maybe less....
Soon the long termers will be Gail, Tracy, Nick, Kevin, Sally, Steve and David - if you look at the cast that joined post 1998....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Coronation_Street_characters
I don't see the show surviving with these characters as they are/what they've become.
Mary - needs her sinister dark side back (I LOVED it when she used to be nicely chatting to someone and then suddenly turn menacing - that's gone). The scene that I love most with Mary was her in the bath with the duck puppet.....that's the Mary I love - not this Mary Poppins creature she's become.....AND BRING IN "MOTHER". Corrie is missing an old battleaxe. Brian Packham is returning - Mary and Brian??? Could work.
Eva - has all the assets to be a Corrie great - but she's saddled down with the very bland Aiden - in turn she's become slightly bland. With Toyah apparently returning - it would interesting for Eva to be jealous and feel out in the cold.....Eva reminds me of Raquel.
Eileen - She's lost her spark - whether that be down to writing or whatever - she used to be fun, now she's a moaning harridan intent on clinging onto whatever man she's managed to bag - whatever the consequence - the Eileen of 2002 would have seen through Phelan in 5 minutes and sent him packing....she wouldn't have looked twice at Tiny Fireman, Parrot man or Wimpy Rodwell!!!!
Michelle - like her or loathe her (most seem to loathe on here) - she's with Steve and will be staying regardless....I don't mind her to be honest. Kym has given the show 10 years and has vastly improved acting-wise. They need to acknowledge the Ryan/Alex baby swap - maybe even re-visit it. It's like a big elephant in the room.
Tim - Used to LOVE the Tim/Sally relationship - but now I just like it. Tim has become too comedic and Sally has become too Hyacinth Bucket. The realness of both characters needs to be revived....Sally (like Gail) has been through a LOT - it needs to be in her character. The low-point for me was the beer explosion and oh look Sally has just bought a posh new frock....what's going to happen?? YAWWWWN
The Nazirs - I actually really like them and would like them to stay. They just need to do something with Alya - and bring Rana into the fold by marrying Zeedan - she's got a spark that works with the family.
Maria - She's proven she can deliver the goods when needed - I have no idea why they don't give her more. I enjoyed her obsessed with Tyrone storyline....I'd put them together - she always had much more chemistry with him than Fiz.
Kirk - Never has a actor had an easier job. I can't think of any storyline that Kirk has had ON HIS OWN - in 16 years!!! I mean - time to go Kirky lad
Beth - Needs a new bloke as she has all the right Corrie elements and Craig is a nice lad too. I would rescue Gary from Izzy and put him with Beth - in turn creating hell for Anna....
Anna - Like Eileen has turned into a moaning old whingebag - she not working with Kevin - put Jenny back with Kevin....Yet I think Debbie Rush is a good actress - Anna just needs a new direction
Fiz - just drags the whole of No.9 down with her fake niceness and patronising voice. I felt NOTHING during Hope's cancer storyline - NOTHING. Jenni was quite spunky when she arrived - but now it's such a chore to endure any scenes in the Duckworth Museum.
to be continued.....maybe
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Comments
Blackburn outstayed his welcome; a series producer should really operate on two-year cycles. He lost the plot with the coach crash and fire, two storylines which did little to boost the declining ratings.
Sally and Tim are a great pair but as ever with the Corrie numnuts when they are on to something good they run with it. That's how Carla became intolerable, and her relationship with Roy morphed into something navel gazing.
Michelle isn't a massive problem, it's the environment in which she works in that bugs me. Get her and Steve out of the Rovers, bring in fresh blood.
I think there's a certain dilemma attached to making soaps. The goal is to attract new viewers to give it long term appeal. When you bring back older players they mean nothing to new viewers. Its quite boring for them trying to write their glory days into the script. For older viewers new younger arrivals behave as they do and don't hold much interest. Then there's some who arrive that appear to be test dummy's to see if they make an impact. They serve no purpose for the most part. It feels like it's produced on a day to day basis. The shotgun effect. Give it both barrels and something is bound to stick. It's time to set long term policy that doesn't include the constant barrage of bullshit that has become the norm. If the talent to produce a well paced and balanced show is unavailable locally start looking overseas.
Coronation Street is a popular brand. It brings viewers to ITV and thus is a money-spinner. The introduction of the 8.30 episodes in the 2000's served to bring viewers back to ITV after EastEnders. Since then, in my opinion, ITV has been using the soap purely for commercial gain. They literally do not care about it's heritage or quality, they want viewers and blowing things up does grab headlines and temporary gains which pleases advertisers.
For me the 8.30 episodes are very significant in the decline of the show. Look at how Monday and Friday episodes are structured - they always feature a 'cliffhanger' at the end of the first episode. Regardless of the storyline featuring these cliffhangers invariably centre around younger cast members apparently to draw back the 15 to 35 year olds who leave to watch EastEnders.
Prior to this episodes often, though not always, featured a cliff hanger but they had a pace and rhythm which is no longer there. If you compare episodes from the beginning to the year 2000 they featured fewer scenes and fewer cut aways. This allowed time for characterisation and performance that is just not there today.
We very well may see an improvement under Kate Oates, but unless the fundamental issues are approached the show's future is not very bright. In the year 2000 I would have said Corrie will run forever, but now I feel it may be entering it's final phase and a slow decline.
Considering it's history that's a big pity, but it's down to the show being exploited as a brand and not given the attention and care it deserves.
Take Les Dennis for example. He's to leave the Street later on in the year and there's talk of an event in which someone may die. Why not have this disaster (even if they seem to happen every other month!) and leave people shocked when someone suffers as a result of it.
You mention Kirk Sutherland. The recent, if short, pairing with Norris Cole could've been interesting. We were starting to see another said to the surprise coupling but like everything of late on the cobbles it's soon been forgotten.
And then there's Fiz... When she first appeared on the Street as the foster child of Hayley and Roy she gave them grief. As time has passed her character is irritating. I'm sorry to Jenny McAlpine but if Fiz didn't appear for months on end I wouldn't miss her.
And then there's the Street itself. Some of the sets need updating. There's the Duckworth Museum which needs a revamp. Jack and Vera will be very much loved as a classic couple but it needs modernisation.
Stop giving people jobs on the Street. Even if it's off-screen give them jobs elsewhere (remember the days of Sun Loungers and Bettabuys) and don't let them just walk into a room at the drop of a hat with no form of interview and employ them there and then.
And for some of the less used sets use the newer, larger backlot and film them inside the properties. And for the sets that are used too frequently for it not to be feasible make them actually look like houses rather than it being blatantly obvious it's three walls and stairs to nowhere!
From a dramatic point of view I absolutely agree, Kylie's death would have been riveting if we had not known it was going to happen. However the show wouldn't have had the ratings peak if it didn't publicise this event in advance. People tuned in because Kylie was going to die. This is ITV exploiting the show and leaking all the storylines to maximise audiences at the expense of the shows integrity.
There ought to be an absolute ban on spoilers for a period of time but ITV won't risk a dip in advertising revenue and they know that death and destruction will deliver for specific epsiodes.