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Are there now too FEW soaps?


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Old 13-02-2011, 01:17
Phoenixbliss
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Dreaming back 20 + years we had Corrie,Eastenders Emmerdale AND Brookside,Dallas Dynasty,Take the high road,Crossroads, Falcon Crest Prisoner Cell block H, Sons and Daughters,A Country practice,Richmond Hill,The Sullivans, The Young Doctors, Howards Way, The Colbys, Families, The Flying Doctors, Knots Landing, Albion Market

Now we have the Big 3 and a handful of others.We dont seem to have a television environment that will take risks soap wise anymore.There was more experimenting and risk taking in the past.The BBC lost its nerve soapwise after Eldorado and I dont think ITV have tried anything new since Night and Day flopped.

Its as if its not guaranteed to be as sucessful viewing figures wise as the big 3 and last for decades then its not worth trying.Whats wrong with experimenting creatively with soaps who are likely to run a much shorter period than Corries 50 years?Whats wrong with a good run of 5 years,8 years etc?Come on TV execs be daring,be creative and dont always use the big 3 as the yardstick of sucess in a narrow way.
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Old 13-02-2011, 01:24
blazingfire
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re : A good run of 5 or 8 years

Yeah, that's alright for the viewers. But think of the team, the inital costs - the set costs, all the filimng equipment, all those producers, bagging your production to whatever channel....

It'll be alright in the long run if they cover their costs but it's be very cost-sore just to do a soap for 5 years IMHO
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Old 13-02-2011, 01:26
Hetal
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I consider EE and Corrie the main two. I don't watch Emmerdale but respect it. Hollyoaks deserves an axe due to how unprofessional it is. There's also Neighbours and Home & Away. Surely that's enough?
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Old 13-02-2011, 01:30
Phoenixbliss
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But if no one takes that chance thered have never been a Corrie or Eastenders.

Plus the beauty of big media organisations like the BBC is that bigger more popular productions make most of the money like Big Brother for C4 or the movie studio system were big blockbusters prop up and allow more thoughtful but less popular films to be made.

The news on ITV or SKY for instance operates at a loss but the bigger ventures enable the companys./channels to absorb this.
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Old 13-02-2011, 01:47
Phoenixbliss
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BBC should step up to the plate and have 2 big soaps like ITV but keep them distinct.
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Old 13-02-2011, 01:53
blue_cobalt
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There are only 3 proper soaps nowadays, they should bring back Family Affairs
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Old 13-02-2011, 03:38
The Alpha Gamer
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No, there's too many! Hollyoaks and Eastenders are all that's needed
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Old 13-02-2011, 03:43
Harlowe
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I think there is enough you count 4 UK soaps and the two aussie ones it makes 6 a whole lot of viewing time there.
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Old 13-02-2011, 08:47
Beautiful_Harv
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I consider EE and Corrie the main two. I don't watch Emmerdale but respect it. Hollyoaks deserves an axe due to how unprofessional it is. There's also Neighbours and Home & Away. Surely that's enough?
Im not a hollyoaks fan, i never watch it but how are hollyoaks unprofessional? Genuine question.
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Old 13-02-2011, 09:42
ravensborough
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I think the problem is that the few soaps that are still on air are on too much.
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Old 13-02-2011, 10:12
rossyrahrah
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I think the problem is that the few soaps that are still on air are on too much.
I agree with that. More quality, less quantity. 2-3 episodes per week really should be the maximum. It would certainly give both scriptwriters and actors more time to work on and develop storylines and characterisation.

I liked Eldorado. I thought the BBC gave up on it too soon without giving it time to establish itself and develop. Yes it was a bit ropey to start with but as time went on some of the better actors were coming to the fore and it was definitely improving.

I enjoyed Night and Day as a guilty pleasure but it really was pretty ludicrous. A good soap needs to be as realistic as possible, we're not Americans dahling.

If Channel 5 want to be taken seriously as a contender to the four main network channels they should give up their reliance on the tired Australian soaps that most people stopped watching 10 years ago and look at developing a soap of their own. They won't of course. Desmond is far more interested in investing in trashy magazine shows and Big Brother.
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Old 13-02-2011, 10:56
D.M.N.
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BBC should step up to the plate and have 2 big soaps like ITV but keep them distinct.
Does Doctors not count? OK, its not big, but it definitely classifies probably in that category. (as does arguably Holby and Casualty)
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Old 13-02-2011, 11:26
Old Man 43
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Dreaming back 20 + years we had Corrie,Eastenders Emmerdale AND Brookside,Dallas Dynasty,Take the high road,Crossroads, Falcon Crest Prisoner Cell block H, Sons and Daughters,A Country practice,Richmond Hill,The Sullivans, The Young Doctors, Howards Way, The Colbys, Families, The Flying Doctors, Knots Landing, Albion Market

Now we have the Big 3 and a handful of others.We dont seem to have a television environment that will take risks soap wise anymore.There was more experimenting and risk taking in the past.The BBC lost its nerve soapwise after Eldorado and I dont think ITV have tried anything new since Night and Day flopped.

Its as if its not guaranteed to be as sucessful viewing figures wise as the big 3 and last for decades then its not worth trying.Whats wrong with experimenting creatively with soaps who are likely to run a much shorter period than Corries 50 years?Whats wrong with a good run of 5 years,8 years etc?Come on TV execs be daring,be creative and dont always use the big 3 as the yardstick of sucess in a narrow way.
It seems to me that you have miscounted.

Coronation Street
East Enders
Emmerdale
Hollyoaks
Doctors
Neighbours
Casualty
Holby City

That is eight that I know about. Also if you look at the Satellite /Cable/Freeview channels you will find many more (mainly American) soaps.

Also a lot of drama series now include soap elements in them. Modern versions of The Professionals and The Sweeny would include much more about the characters personal lives than the originals did.

The real problem is that television generally does not produce as much Drama as it used to and that is would needs to change.
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Old 13-02-2011, 12:32
poshbakerloo
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I'm surprised Channel 4 or 5 hasn't tried to bring out a new 'big one'. C4 had Brookside but thats now history
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Old 13-02-2011, 12:39
Angel_Delights
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I think the problem is that the few soaps that are still on air are on too much.
Yes ITV and BBC just added more episodes to the exsisting soaps they have left instead of creating new ones. Thats why soaps like corrie and emmerdale have doubled in episodes over the past 10 years.
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Old 13-02-2011, 13:00
gmc93
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I only think about there being 4 soaps - EastEnders, Corrie, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks. I think the BBC should make a new one, or just put a repeat of Doctors on later on in the day so people who can't see it because of work, school etc. can watch it. Doctors is really good from what I've seen. Neighbours always had a repeat slot on BBC1, they should axe The Weakest Link and put on Doctors.
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Old 13-02-2011, 13:12
Good_boys
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I think that many people are simply not prepared to put in the hours getting to know a new set of characters. If a new soap was to begin, I honestly think they would have to introduce one family at a time rather than introduce the whole ensemble in a oner!
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Old 13-02-2011, 13:15
SoapWorld
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Originally Posted by rossyrahrah;48*****6
I agree with that. More quality, less quantity. 2-3 episodes per week really should be the maximum. It would certainly give both scriptwriters and actors more time to work on and develop storylines and characterisation.

I liked Eldorado. I thought the BBC gave up on it too soon without giving it time to establish itself and develop. Yes it was a bit ropey to start with but as time went on some of the better actors were coming to the fore and it was definitely improving.

I enjoyed Night and Day as a guilty pleasure but it really was pretty ludicrous. A good soap needs to be as realistic as possible, we're not Americans dahling.

If Channel 5 want to be taken seriously as a contender to the four main network channels they should give up their reliance on the tired Australian soaps that most people stopped watching 10 years ago and look at developing a soap of their own. They won't of course. Desmond is far more interested in investing in trashy magazine shows and Big Brother.
Channel 5 should never have axed family affairs, it was going for stregnth to stregnth and won its first BSA. This was there own home grown soap, money was better invested in this rather than purchasing Neighbours from BBC.
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Old 13-02-2011, 14:29
ads84
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The OP named lots of soaps that were on 20-odd years ago, but didn't really take into account that there were less episode back then...a maximum of 2, maybe 3 per week. Nowadays, the soaps are all scheduled to be screened 4-6 times per week - a lot of screen time!

I must admit however, on Wednesday, when there was no Emmerdale because of the football, I felt a bit lost...only HO, Neighbours and H+A - none of which I watch.
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Old 13-02-2011, 15:21
CPW4EVER
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There would appear to be less soaps on TV probably because UK TV doesn't show as many imported soaps as they used to. In primetime, the homegrown soaps have become less in number but the amount of hours that they are on have increased so the schedules are still saturated with soaps.

The daytime schedules on the other hand only really have Doctors, Home and Away and Neighbours. However, the only other foreign soap that I can think of that they'd potentially air in daytime is Shortland Street. Aside from Sunset Beach, US daytime soaps have never really taken off on terrestrial TV and there aren't any Knots Landing or Falcon Crest style schedule fillers like there was in the 80's. And Aussie TV now only produces 2 soaps (H&A and Neighbours) so we don't have the choice that we used to when they were churning out a multitude of soaps like Sons and Daughters, A Country Practice etc.
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Old 13-02-2011, 15:23
Kyle123
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I think it's probably better to stick to what we've got now. The more soaps there are, the more chance for similar storylines and more ridicolous plots to compete for airtime.
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Old 13-02-2011, 15:37
CPW4EVER
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I think it's probably better to stick to what we've got now. The more soaps there are, the more chance for similar storylines and more ridicolous plots to compete for airtime.
I agree, there have been similarities drawn to various EE, Corrie and Emmerdale plots in the last few years. However, I think there was much more diversity in the style of the soaps 20 - 25 years ago. We had a prison soap (Prisoner), a soap set in wartime Australia (The Sullivans), a soap set in an outback hospital (A Country Practice), a soap set in a Midlands hotel (Crossroads), a soap set in England and Australia (Families), a soap set in the world of sailing (Howards Way) and so on. Nowadays, there is nothing diverse about any of the soaps settings. They're all so samey. They all basically follow the same premise of people of different ages living in a street, square or village with the central point of the action being the local pub. That's why I liked soaps like Night and Day and Out of the Blue. They weren't afraid to try something different to your standard soap premise.
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Old 13-02-2011, 16:43
ravensborough
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Channel 5 should never have axed family affairs, it was going for stregnth to stregnth and won its first BSA. This was there own home grown soap, money was better invested in this rather than purchasing Neighbours from BBC.
It's funny because Family Affairs was axed because of low ratings, but now Home and Away is getting similar ratings (and sometimes does even worse.)
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Old 13-02-2011, 17:15
*TribeSpirit*
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I think there are too many soaps tbh
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Old 13-02-2011, 18:26
SoapWorld
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It's funny because Family Affairs was axed because of low ratings, but now Home and Away is getting similar ratings (and sometimes does even worse.)
Exactly the raitings on FA were not that bad and had improved in my recolection.
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