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EE - Would happy relationships work?


View Poll Results: Would happy couple work?
Yes 38 92.68%
No 1 2.44%
Not sure 2 4.88%
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Old 16-09-2012, 00:12
*TribeSpirit*
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We all know, no couple last few months together without either cheating or splitting up but would happy couple work? Or would it too boring?
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Old 16-09-2012, 00:25
monalisa62003
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yes

what i liked about phil/shirley is that they could be happy but still have good storylines that didnt always involve cheating. they had the ben/heather storyline in april 2011, the rainie one in june, the stalker one in november and leading to phil going to prison. then they had ben killing heather yet they still had nice and happy moments during all the angst. they also had a huge drinking s/l which kept them interesting

janine and michael are quite complex too but they were rarely happy

if they have a couple who are complex enough for big storylines that dont involve cheating then yes they can have happy couples and still give them angst

max and tanya can be happy with angst too and it didnt always involve cheating masood and zainab aswell.

i think couples like this work best with a family who could generate different storylines. kat/alfie only have a young family so they had nothing else to give them for big storylines.
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Old 16-09-2012, 00:40
big dan
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I agree (for once) with mona that happier couples (by soap standards) are more workable in bigger family units with older children. That also opens doors for the couple to be featured heavily in a matriarchal/patriarchal position, rather than just stories revolving around their own love lives.

I would definitely like a stable family like that in the show. I think we need more domestic-style stories, and less family/relationship issues that focus on adultery.
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Old 16-09-2012, 00:45
Otis Hill
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-Jim and Dot seem to be the only lasting relationship in EE and they were happy up until Jim had his stroke. They probobaly still are somewhat happy when they spend time together although the relationship will probobaly never b the same.
-Patrick and Cora seem to be happy at the moment and they can have plenty of storylines. they probly have one coming up with the arrival of Ava.
-Dennis and Sharon were happy and that relationship worked....until Dennis's "helicopter crash and subsequent drowning at sea"
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Old 16-09-2012, 00:50
Joe_Zel
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Happy relationships would work if the writer's focused on developing storylines that didn't involve the breakdown of them.

Giving a couple challenges is fine and provides drama, but giving them needless affairs and separations just for the sake of something to do is irritating.
It smacks of lazy writing when they resort to it, especially with couples like Kat/Alfie and Max/Tanya who seem like that's all they ever do.
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Old 16-09-2012, 00:51
monalisa62003
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I agree (for once) with mona that happier couples (by soap standards) are more workable in bigger family units with older children. That also opens doors for the couple to be featured heavily in a matriarchal/patriarchal position, rather than just stories revolving around their own love lives.

I would definitely like a stable family like that in the show. I think we need more domestic-style stories, and less family/relationship issues that focus on adultery.
it also helps when the couple are complex in their own right not just cos of the family.

dennis/sharon were happy but i think they wouldve gotten boring had they stayed and always been happy
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Old 16-09-2012, 00:57
*TribeSpirit*
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what i liked about phil/shirley is that they could be happy but still have good storylines that didnt always involve cheating. they had the ben/heather storyline in april 2011, the rainie one in june, the stalker one in november and leading to phil going to prison. then they had ben killing heather yet they still had nice and happy moments during all the angst. they also had a huge drinking s/l which kept them interesting
Phil cheated on Shirley and I wouldn't really say they were happy together. When I say happy couple, I mean two people who treat each other as equals, don't cheat on each other at all. And oh, one isn't a doormat


janine and michael are quite complex too but they were rarely happy
I can't ever see Michael/Janine being happy together. They're far too similar and there will always be trust issues there.

if they have a couple who are complex enough for big storylines that dont involve cheating then yes they can have happy couples and still give them angst
This I agree with.

max and tanya can be happy with angst too and it didnt always involve cheating masood and zainab aswell.
Max & Tanya didn't always involve cheating? Masood & Zainab are the only couple I can see being happy together after everything.

i think couples like this work best with a family who could generate different storylines. kat/alfie only have a young family so they had nothing else to give them for big storylines.
I agree with you here. Couples with older children should work better then.
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Old 16-09-2012, 01:05
RichmondBlue
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I think you just need a realistic mixture. In EE's they give the impression that everybody's "at it" all the time..I'm surprised they've got the time these days ! At least give a few of the relationships time to grow, the Michael/Janine coupling was inspired with some wonderful script lines, now that's finished or at least suspended.
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Old 16-09-2012, 01:06
monalisa62003
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Phil cheated on Shirley and I wouldn't really say they were happy together. When I say happy couple, I mean two people who treat each other as equals, don't cheat on each other at all. And oh, one isn't a doormat



I can't ever see Michael/Janine being happy together. They're far too similar and there will always be trust issues there.


This I agree with.


Max & Tanya didn't always involve cheating? Masood & Zainab are the only couple I can see being happy together after everything.


I agree with you here. Couples with older children should work better then.
he had the glenda affair but didnt cheat after he proposed. they had happy moments not always happy but thats what i mean.

not since max and tanya got back together no.
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Old 16-09-2012, 01:24
*TribeSpirit*
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he had the glenda affair but didnt cheat after he proposed. they had happy moments not always happy but thats what i mean.

not since max and tanya got back together no.
Max was off flirting with Roxy few weeks after he got back with Tanya, if he loved Tanya so much, he would've been far too worried about her cancer to think about Roxy.

As for Phil, the man thinks he can do better than Shirley and he couldn't even promise he wouldn't cheat on her again Not what I call a happy couple.
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Old 16-09-2012, 01:26
monalisa62003
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Max was off flirting with Roxy few weeks after he got back with Tanya, if he loved Tanya so much, he would've been far too worried about her cancer to think about Roxy.

As for Phil, the man thinks he can do better than Shirley and he couldn't even promise he wouldn't cheat on her again Not what I call a happy couple.
he never did after that. he couldnt promise cos he's attracted to pretty women - he regretted the kiss with rainie straight away. i said they had some happy moments like in the club just before xmas last year & xmas episode itself
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Old 16-09-2012, 01:39
big dan
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I think in soap terms 'happy' equates to a stable/fairly healthy relationship. Max/Tanya and Phil/Shirley definitely do not fall under this imo. The closest thing the show has to stability is Zainab and Masood but even they split for a while. Ditto Ian and Jane before them.
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Old 16-09-2012, 01:43
monalisa62003
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I think in soap terms 'happy' equates to a stable/fairly healthy relationship. Max/Tanya and Phil/Shirley definitely do not fall under this imo. The closest thing the show has to stability is Zainab and Masood but even they split for a while. Ditto Ian and Jane before them.
i wish they had kept to their dynamic that they had back in 2008. shirleys line about them being friends once was very true they were but had genuine feelings for each other. had they kept them stable with kids they couldve generated a stable family and had stories for years they had good chemistry at the start

max and tanya might not be a great couple dynamic wise but they are stable. well at least they should be
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Old 16-09-2012, 01:47
big dan
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i wish they had kept to their dynamic that they had back in 2008. shirleys line about them being friends once was very true they were but had genuine feelings for each other. had they kept them stable with kids they couldve generated a stable family and had stories for years they had good chemistry at the start

max and tanya might not be a great couple dynamic wise but they are stable. well at least they should be
I do agree re. Phil and Shirley. I was rooting for them back in the early days, and I could have imagined them as the heads of dysfunctional yet endearing working-class family.

We really need a family like that in the show imo.
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Old 16-09-2012, 01:51
monalisa62003
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I do agree re. Phil and Shirley. I was rooting for them back in the early days, and I could have imagined them as the heads of dysfunctional yet endearing working-class family.

We really need a family like that in the show imo.
they worked best in the pub i think. that house was too dark for them they weren't a couple that worked good in dark storylines. they didnt explore phils side in it so people didnt care after he treated her crap.(well actually i think they did with the rainie s/l in June 2011 but that s/l was crap) they cant expect couples to have fans if it looks one sided and not explore it. its like with michael/janine they were popular at the start - then it looked like he didnt love her and now it does. shouldnt really be making viewers confused over whats true and whats not
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Old 16-09-2012, 02:06
*TribeSpirit*
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i wish they had kept to their dynamic that they had back in 2008. shirleys line about them being friends once was very true they were but had genuine feelings for each other. had they kept them stable with kids they couldve generated a stable family and had stories for years they had good chemistry at the start

max and tanya might not be a great couple dynamic wise but they are stable. well at least they should be
Me too. Shirley wasn't so desperate to be with him then and Phil actually seem to care about her, like when he went with her to the hospital (was it cancer scare?)
Getting him drunk to sleep with him just showed her desperation
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Old 16-09-2012, 02:09
monalisa62003
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Me too. Shirley wasn't so desperate to be with him then and Phil actually seem to care about her, like when he went with her to the hospital (was it cancer scare?)
Getting him drunk to sleep with him just showed her desperation
he was already drunk when he slept with her i didnt see it as desperate i saw it as her being confused and insecure that he liked her. he said she was ugly the xmas before. she was the one who dumped him then he tried to kiss her after dawn and she said no

yes those were the best scenes it all got ruined from 09 which is weird considering the year build up in 08
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Old 16-09-2012, 02:34
*TribeSpirit*
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he was already drunk when he slept with her i didnt see it as desperate i saw it as her being confused and insecure that he liked her. he said she was ugly the xmas before. she was the one who dumped him then he tried to kiss her after dawn and she said no

yes those were the best scenes it all got ruined from 09 which is weird considering the year build up in 08
Didn't she keep giving him drink to sleep with him cos he wouldn't go there when he was sober?
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Old 16-09-2012, 02:38
monalisa62003
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Didn't she keep giving him alcohol to sleep with him cos he wouldn't go there when he was sober?
(they had already slept together in 08) he slept with her when he was drunk she was already very insecure about him and confused but then he came onto her and she thought he only wanted her when drunk. i think he wasnt ready for a relationship it wasnt about not wanting her when he was sober as we clearly saw he liked her in 08 but from shirleys pov she never believed he liked her

that whole drinking s/l developed throughout their relationship and the proper conclusion was that he couldnt drink it cos he loved her. i dont see any other reason for that scene if it wasnt that
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Old 16-09-2012, 03:01
big dan
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Didn't she keep giving him drink to sleep with him cos he wouldn't go there when he was sober?
Yeah, she pretty much took advantage of his reliance on the booze at that time, actively encouraging him essentially to keep him on-side. That was the death-knell for me rooting for them. It's a shame as I think they had a lot of potential initially. And without getting into THAT discussion again, I think especially when the producers set their heart on bringing back Sharon (it has been said on-record that it took over a year to woo Letitia back) that they decided to downplay the Shirley relationship.

But this thread isn't really about discussing couples that could have been happy but weren't. I think Denise for one deserves a happy, long-lasting relationship that establishes her as a matriarchal figure in a family unit dynamic.
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Old 16-09-2012, 03:08
Joe_Zel
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he had the glenda affair but didnt cheat after he proposed. they had happy moments not always happy but thats what i mean.
Lol, he didn't really have a chance did he? It was a matter of days after the proposal that Sharon returned and Shirley discovered the cover up.
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Old 16-09-2012, 13:09
monalisa62003
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Lol, he didn't really have a chance did he? It was a matter of days after the proposal that Sharon returned and Shirley discovered the cover up.
The very first proposal after his heart attack
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Old 16-09-2012, 13:11
monalisa62003
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Yeah, she pretty much took advantage of his reliance on the booze at that time, actively encouraging him essentially to keep him on-side. That was the death-knell for me rooting for them. It's a shame as I think they had a lot of potential initially. And without getting into THAT discussion again, I think especially when the producers set their heart on bringing back Sharon (it has been said on-record that it took over a year to woo Letitia back) that they decided to downplay the Shirley relationship.

But this thread isn't really about discussing couples that could have been happy but weren't. I think Denise for one deserves a happy, long-lasting relationship that establishes her as a matriarchal figure in a family unit dynamic.
See this is why i believe theyve set phil/shirley up still to show he loved her even when they knew sharon was back. Why bother going to all that stuff with shirley lying to phil about ben being his stalker and the emotion he showed over shirley not only in wedding ep but when heather died not being able to chuck her out for ben etc. If they knew sharon was coming back they shouldve made it extra clear he didnt love shirley and stop making viewers confused
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Old 16-09-2012, 15:29
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But this thread isn't really about discussing couples that could have been happy but weren't. I think Denise for one deserves a happy, long-lasting relationship that establishes her as a matriarchal figure in a family unit dynamic.
I think AJ and Denise will end up together at some point. I'm just glad they aren't doing the usual sisters fighting over a bloke with Denise and Kim. She's so much better than that
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Old 16-09-2012, 16:33
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I think happy couples would work fine, they just have to be more imaginative and stop being lazy corrie and emmerdale have couples that don't cheat and even hollyoaks has a few (nancy and Darren, franki and Jack) If they can all do other storylines besides whacking the cheating stick at thier couples I don't see why EE can't
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