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Sensationalism killing the soap operas?


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Old 18-08-2012, 02:24
cobwebsoup
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It seems over the last ten or fifteen years, soaps have relied more and more on sensational plots - explosions, murders ect. - Is this going to kill the soaps eventually? Emmerdale has had 11 fires/explosions since 2004, Eastenders and Coronation Street have had countless murders and explosions too. Surely if the sensational plots continue, it will just make the shows become ludicrous with a fire or murder every year/six months, but if they stop, the shows will seem to become "boring" as they're not as exciting as they used to be...
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Old 18-08-2012, 02:34
Willard
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I think that soaps are long past the stage were any realism is involved. It's just a silly naff way to spend 30 minutes of an evening. Also, perspective wise we're seeing the lives through a group of people. So they you have 20 cast members in a week, that's 20 points of view, 20 things happening to those people & it's not beyond the realms to imagine that out of those 20 people conflict and serious things happen to them. Maybe not murders and fires but in general I always remind myself it's about different points of view of various characters which I'm just watching as one person.

So in that sense, I can actually imagine a lot of those things do happen to 20 odd people in my street etc, I'd just never personally see it as I can only live my life. You never know if you asked around people in your local area I'm sure some of them have heard about murders, are hiding secrets, seen a fire recently etc.
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Old 18-08-2012, 02:34
Joe_Zel
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I think the murder storylines work to a point. Like the recent Heather murder plot.

It's when they go all out with silly serial killers like Lucas and John Stape that it gets ridiculous.

But, overall, I'd say they do need to tone down the disasters and major accidents.
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Old 18-08-2012, 02:55
priscilla
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I like the sensationalism, yes sometimes its ludicrous and quite repititive, but this is what makes it gripping to watch.
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Old 18-08-2012, 03:30
cobwebsoup
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It is great to watch, to a certain degree, but years ago people were gripped by far less exciting plots. I guess it shows just how much TV has changed over the last few decades...

I think if the seemingly constant fires/stunts/explosions continue, in time they'll become boring to watch too because they can only go so far. I think the tram crash on Corrie was the biggest stunt I've seen on a soap, I wonder what they'll do next. I can see Eastenders doing a similar train crash plot at some point in the future...
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Old 18-08-2012, 03:33
Fudd
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It is great to watch, to a certain degree, but years ago people were gripped by far less exciting plots. I guess it shows just how much TV has changed over the last few decades...

I think if the seemingly constant fires/stunts/explosions continue, in time they'll become boring to watch too because they can only go so far. I think the tram crash on Corrie was the biggest stunt I've seen on a soap, I wonder what they'll do next. I can see Eastenders doing a similar train crash plot at some point in the future...
The ultimate disaster for EastEnders will be related to the tube IMO - either an explosion or a collision underground.
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Old 18-08-2012, 03:39
cobwebsoup
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The ultimate disaster for EastEnders will be related to the tube IMO - either an explosion or a collision underground.
I think so too. I wonder if they'll ever do something like that. To make it the ultimate disaster they should kill off like eight characters in one go, few deadwood cast, a few high profile characters and a few surprises too
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Old 18-08-2012, 03:44
big dan
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I think the murder storylines work to a point. Like the recent Heather murder plot.

It's when they go all out with silly serial killers like Lucas and John Stape that it gets ridiculous.

But, overall, I'd say they do need to tone down the disasters and major accidents.
I agree, and this week's climax to the Heather plot is a testament to that. They even managed to avoid having a big, packed Vic-style 'reveal', which I sort of envisaged when spoilers first emerged that the drama would unfold on the day of Phil and Shirley's engagement party. Whether people liked this week's episodes or not, credit where it's due, I actually think the show managed to produce a climax that was not entirely predictable or conventional to the storyline model.
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Old 18-08-2012, 03:48
cobwebsoup
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I agree, and this week's climax to the Heather plot is a testament to that. They even managed to avoid having a big, packed Vic-style 'reveal', which I sort of envisaged when spoilers first emerged that the drama would unfold on the day of Phil and Shirley's engagement party. Whether people liked this week's episodes or not, credit where it's due, I actually think the show managed to produce a climax that was not entirely predictable or conventional to the storyline model.
I thought every bit of it was fantastic and I'm glad they didn't go for the usual Queen Vic reveal with half the square in there.
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Old 18-08-2012, 03:49
cobwebsoup
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I think the murder storylines work to a point. Like the recent Heather murder plot.

It's when they go all out with silly serial killers like Lucas and John Stape that it gets ridiculous.

But, overall, I'd say they do need to tone down the disasters and major accidents.
John Stape was ridiculous, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I've not quite seen a murder storyline like his before, some of it was really funny and it shouldn't have been
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Old 18-08-2012, 03:57
priscilla
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John Stape was ridiculous, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I've not quite seen a murder storyline like his before, some of it was really funny and it shouldn't have been
Yes john stape was funny because it was so ridiculous.
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Old 18-08-2012, 03:59
cobwebsoup
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Yes john stape was funny because it was do ridiculous.
"It's okay, I've got airbags!" haha.

And how he survived that roof fall I'll never know...
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Old 18-08-2012, 04:03
priscilla
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"It's okay, I've got airbags!" haha.

And how he survived that roof fall I'll never know...

Dont forget his multiple names (john stape/colin fishwick/mr chip)
Same he must be superman to have survived that fall without needing treatment after it.
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Old 18-08-2012, 04:09
cobwebsoup
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Dont forget his multiple names (john stape/colin fishwick/mr chip)
Same he must be superman to have survived that fall without needing treatment after it.
Haha completely forgot about Mr Chips. He should have stayed on the run and come back in like five years time
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Old 18-08-2012, 05:25
crafty_1
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when soaps have a normal day, a filler ep
people complain and stop watching so...
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Old 18-08-2012, 09:23
Creamtea
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Corrie last night really p!ssed me off. The cliffhanger to the 7:30 episode was just dire, lazy, sensationalised crap. Completely unrealistic and done purely to produce said cliffhanger. As if people would really behave like that at a Christening.
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Old 18-08-2012, 10:14
The Queen Vic
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But twenty odd years ago, when soaps were at their peak ratings wise, there were only a select few channels to choose from. Now, soaps like EastEnders and Corrie are competing with big US dramas on Sky One, or all the movie channels, or Azerbaijan's Next Top Model or some other rubbish.

They kind of need sensationalism to draw the audience in, otherwise they wouldn't watch. I really doubt an episode like the first episode of Corrie would be very well receieved in this day and age - very good writing, brilliant dialogue, but not much happens. Soaps have made their beds now - it's all about fires, murders and rape...
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Old 18-08-2012, 13:43
Deschanel
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Soaps have made their beds now - it's all about fires, murders and rape...
I don't see why it has to be one or the other. *Balance* is key. Neighbours is a good example of being character driven, without veering into sensationalism with the recent Troy drama (ratings in Australia increased during this story). You should be able to be character driven, without having big OTT plots dictate everything. Sharon's return would have been so much better had they remembered this.
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