Ok I know some ppl on here adore soaps. This is just a suggestion btw (and probably really long too)

Even tho I only watch coronation street this post applies to all soaps


Ok here we go:
Think about this. Do you think soaps serve a purpose anymore? Honestly, in your deepest soul, do you think they still serve a purpose?

For starters, spoilers are getting out of control. Coronation street is the worst offender for this, they can't seem to keep nothing hidden anymore. Everything they do is given away, so there's never a twist anymore cos ppl know what's gonna happen when they watch the show. They might as well just release episode scripts online FFS!

Soaps have been going round in circles for yrs. Always the same stories, just different characters. Usually it's a pregnancy or affair

Soaps are also unbelievably far fetched. Nothing ever happens on my street but Coronation street, pfffftt! I thought soaps were meant to reflect real life? Yeah right! How can they allow characters to do the most scandalous things but not swear at all? That's just pathetic! Ok ok, I know soaps are for families, but surely they could have just a lil bit of bad language to make it seem like everyday life?

Soap bosses don't give a shit what viewers want. They kill the best characters off just so they can get big ratings and trend on social media. So they're just ratings stunts really. That's all they care about. I am actually clinging onto coronation street by a thread. It's only cos of Gemma and the Platts that I'm actually still watching, but I can see myself quitting soon

Some ppl on here can be quite bitter and moan and criticise everything about soaps, which makes me laugh cos I wonder why they even bother watching them in the first place. You got a box, yeah? Switch the channel! Big soap fans say how crap soaps have become but yet they're still watching in hope they'll get better, whats the point? If you don't like it, just switch off. I think part of the problem tbh, with some ppl, is how addictive soaps can be. They sort of become a habit I guess. Ppl say things like "I've been watching for yrs, how can I switch off now?"

When characters are cast, its always the same description. Women differ but men is always: charming, dark, handsome hunk with an eye for the ladies. Yeah yeah we've seen it all before! Actors are getting worse, its pretty obvious theyre only cast for their supposed good looks, which is bang out of order

Then there's stunt casting. Giving someone who's really well known a role in a soap just cos they're well known. Les Dennis, Shayne Ward, etc.

Soaps are so predictable. You can see stories coming a mile off! Characters never interact at all, then suddenly they're interacting, then what? They're ripping each other's clothes off and having affairs! Ridiculous

Some of the sets are really old fashioned and nunty looking. It's 2016 FFS! Not 1900!

This new boss is being brought in to "save" Coronation street. Well tbh I think it's wayyy too late for that, she's just ruined it even more

I think maybe it's time to put soaps to bed forever within the next few yrs. Maybe they should finally pull the plug. They're all kinda past their sell by date really

They are certainly nowhere near as good or authentic as they used to be, and the big 3 have certainly been in decline for a while no, but they can still produce some excellent material and many people still enjoy them, so I don't see why they should be taken off air.

The viewing figures are fine aswell. As long as they consistently stay above 5 million in this day and age they'll be fine. Soaps don't attract anywhere near as many viewers as they used to, but a lot of people don't watch them LIVE anymore. For example, if you broke it down, ED CS & EE wouldn't have actually lost that many viewers from 2010, because a lot of people will watch online, record, catch up, etc... These days.

I think that depends on peoples reasons for watching them. I've always thought the purpose of soaps was to entertain - I watch them for no other reason. When they stop entertaining me then I stop watching them. I used to watch ED, Corrie, EE and Home and Away. I now only watch ED because over the years I've stopped being entertained by the others - Home and Away only in the last couple of weeks but Corrie and EE years ago.

YES........ They have had their day and should be GONE.........................

No. They just need to be produced and written by competent people.

Spoilers, now there is something that is starting to really spoil watching soaps. They are now standard, rather than the odd release of a bit of juicy information. Spoilers are no longer about teasing a rare huge storyline; they're about pulling in a particular demographic, to a particular storyline using particular characters, *constantly* throughout the year.

I would rather - for ED - the episodes are reduced, the cast list is reduced, there are less high-impact storylines (and less "lets-have-a-social-issue-and-pretend-we're-breaking-down-barriers" storylines) and more simple, general storylines involving many, many cast members interacting rather than one particular group. The current situation where many cast members have simply disappeared is just ridiculous. James is currently sniffing around Moira all the while in a tiny village where his three sons and partner have seemingly just disappeared. It's silly.

If you axe soaps what would you put in their place? Most tv shows suck these days anyway. Theres generally not the budget to invest in good quality programming any more.

For me EE is escapism, it might not be high quality drama but it keeps me amused.

To be fair I think its just TV in general that is dying, soaps are just one genre that has declined like everything else.

The reason soaps have died is because they are trying to cater for a generation that isn't interested in them. No point aiming them at the 18-35 group anymore, they are the least likely group to watch, yet most of the main characters in soaps are in that age group and as the OP alluded to they cast them based on fame or looks.

Also, those running the soaps are very out of touch with reality and the age groups they are aiming their storylines to. You only have to see how anyone under the age of 25 is portrayed, they are all boring farts, happy to live their lives on street or square, never doing anything normal people their age do.

It would be nice if they could all just move with the times and show the lives of normal people in the 21st century. They all seem stuck in the last century and wish to have the popularity of their heyday and think being stuck in the past is the way to do this.

I genuinely think soaps will be a thing of the past in the next 10-15 years as the generation gap is getting wider and more diverse and soaps cannot appeal to them without changing drastically. That is why TOWIE and similar shows are popular, its the soap of the 21st century.

You're kidding I hope!!
Heaven help us all if f***ing TOWIE & it's horrendous Chelsea, Newcastle, Cheshire, etc stablemates is the future of television!!!!!!!!!
What figures do they actually get compared to soaps as a matter of interest?

In answer to your question OP no, I think 6 million people for every episode would disagree that soaps need to be shelved!! As the poster above says at the end of the day people watch soaps cos they want entertaining, it's only a few saddos like us lot on here that analyse them too much!!

Most people, if not why would there be a soap forum on here and several others across the internet?
There are many, many people who love their soaps and don't post anywhere, perhaps aren't on the net at all. People in homes and hospitals, people who don't see any need for it, people who can't afford it. Why discriminate against them happily watching soaps wherever they are?

If you only watch Coronation Street how do you know that?

Is this all because you've taken the hump at Corrie getting rid of a sour faced fairly new character?

Does anyone know what the viewing figures were for EE, emmerdale corrie and hollyoaks 10 years ago? Because if someone does then compare them to now and then imagine what they'll be 10 years from now because one things for certain, the figures won't be rising.

Uh oh, ok I can see this wasn't a popular thread! I just thought what with so many ppl moaning about soaps for yrs, what they thought about the suggestion

I don't really watch them any more bar episodes where I know something really significant is taking place e.g. a character getting found out 1000 years after doing something one other thing I'd agree with you on is finding out what happens beforehand. Yes I know there are ways to avoid this, however if soaps did their best to keep even relatively mundane stuff secret then soaps would be more enjoyable to watch i.e. the unexpected element.

'OOHHhhhh I can't wait for tonight's episode when Dr Jones has the fight with the deranged patient ... I wonder if he'll survive?!?'

flicks a few pages forward in tv guide

'OOOHHhhhh I can't wait for this Friday's episode either, says here Dr Jones refuses to tell police who attempted to kill him ... how exciting!!!'

BIB and underlined: That thought did cross my mind as that is the OP's sole topic of conversation. Ah well, life goes on, including for Paula Lane. It's a shame that the same can't be said for Sheila Stelfox who sadly died at the end of last year (Edna in Emmerdale for those who don't know). I still miss Edna.

Now THERE was a legend.

My day revolves around soaps - I watch five of them! They are something to look forward to every day, and for someone who is very shy and not at ease with people they are a great source of comfort for me. I'd be gutted if they all stopped. But I cannot see that happening any time soon!

I think as long as soaps are pulling in a good amount of viewers, they should continue to be shown. A lot of people out there will love their soaps, including me.

I would be sad to see them end. I watch 7 of them. And i just love them

I don't think soaps will ever come to an end, but i can see them popping up in different formats in the near future. Perhaps primarily online.

Omg really tho? some ppl on here are like a broken record.....smh

I have read a comment from a few weeks ago where someone suggested it was time for soaps to end, and it got me wondering what ppl thought. The backlash tho to this one question is ridiculous. As you can see i have pinpointed reasons that could cause the end of soaps in the next few yrs, I didn't mention ANY characters whatsoever. Maybe you should both thoroughly read my post, you'd probably agree with some reasons

So FYI I'm not bothered, think what you want, but this suggestion has nothing to do with what you think, or the "sole topic of conversation" yeah right! Gemma is my new fav character now Kylie has gone, I have discussed Gemma quite a few times, I also discuss Coro a lot. Btw I am getting SICK TO DEATH of these Kylie jibes. They're getting old now and actually starting to bore me shitless

Am I not ALLOWED to have an opinion?! I was throwing it out there for ppl who complain about soaps, and to get opinions off ppl, whether they watch out of habit, or cos they still love the shows, but of course some ppl have to spoil it don't they? Why would I want a whole show to end just cos my favourite character got killed off? That's a bit extreme. I was actually considering the end of soaps when she was still in the show tbh

Right now I find soaps tedious. Like I said they just go round in circles and I dunno how much longer that can go on for. If they don't get updated within the next few yrs and made more realistic then I can see them going

Actually yeah, maybe that would be a better idea rather than axing them altogether cos as some ppl have said, what would you watch instead? I never actually thought of what shows would replace soaps I agree that soaps are stuck in the past too

And yeah! The under 25s are so far from reality it's unreal!

I hate towie, made in Chelsea and Geordie shore so I really hope they don't take over TV if soaps end!

I can't actually imagine TV without soaps tbh, but if they continue to nosedive maybe they will end in maybe about 10 yrs

Emmerdale and Coronation St have a wide age range of main characters. I thought Hollyoaks was the only one with majority of main characters in the 18- 35 age group? There's s nothing wrong with soaps aiming at middle aged and older people by having a good age range of characters. In ED for example although some of the twenty something's are major characters there are many older ones who are leads - Cain, Charity, Chas, Zak, Marlon, Lisa, Chrissie, Bernice,David, Ashley, Laurel, Lawrence all spring to mind. It's inaccurate to say they focus on the twentysomethings.

When I was in my twenties I barely watched soaps but I came back to them. They're entertaining, they can be extremely good. I personally hate these faked, scripted, so called ' reality' shows. I' m sure a lot of younger people will go off them as they get older. Let's hope TV bosses recognise that they need to continue to provide for middle aged and older people, not just the young.

I think TV as we know it in general is dying. The rise of streaming services such as Netflix and Now TV prove that. I know plenty of people who have gotten rid of cable TV altogether, and it's not just the younger generation. The reason it's so popular is because it's so much cheaper than cable TV, and there are no adverts. People don't want to have to fit TV shows into their time slots anymore, or have to set tons of programmes on record before they go to work each morning, not at the pace life goes these days, on demand streaming services defeat that problem. It's much more flexible to use.

I like soaps, I wouldn't want to see them end, but I don't think their "decline" is only happening it them. It's time people looked at the bigger picture.

Emmerdale did, but we lost Betty, Alan and Edna and they made no effort to replace them.
Pearl, who can pick and choose how much she does, is seen less and less.

America is certainly winding them down. The daytime soap has been a staple since the 1950.....they peaked with 19 different shows per week in the 1969/70 season and have gradually dwindled to just 4 today

1969–1970 Season

1. As the World Turns 13.6
2. The Edge of Night 10.8
3. Search for Tomorrow 10.0
4. The Guiding Light 9.8
5. Another World 9.6
6. Love Is a Many Splendored Thing 9.5
7. Days of our Lives 8.8
8. The Doctors 8.6
8. The Secret Storm 8.6
10. General Hospital 8.5
11. Love of Life 8.0
12. Dark Shadows 7.3
13. Where the Heart Is 7.0 (Debut)
14. One Life to Live 6.7
15. Somerset (spin-off of Another World) 5.7 (Debut)
16. Bright Promise 5.2 (Debut)
17. All My Children 4.4 (Debut: January 5, 1970)
18. A World Apart 2.8 (Debut)
19. The Best of Everything 1.8 (Debut/Final Season)

2015–2016 Season

The Young and the Restless 4.8
The Bold and the Beautiful 3.6
General Hospital 2.8
Days of our Lives 2.4 (50th Anniversary Season)

No they're re not so good on elderly characters but the majority of their main cast are middle aged, not twentysomethings or teens. I' m not surprised that older actors want to do less, though. At least they are bringing in

Spoilered bit > Oh yes, I can see fireworks!