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Soap's most annoying clichés


View Poll Results: Soap's most annoying clichés
Who's the daddy? 5 9.62%
'Shock' pregnancies from one-night stands 13 25.00%
Wrongful imprisonment 1 1.92%
Character wrongfully accused even though friends & neighbours have known them for years 4 7.69%
Characters becoming sworn enemies for no apparent reason 0 0%
Miraculous recovery from life-threatening injuries 1 1.92%
Chance encounters/overheard secrets 6 11.54%
Sudden infatuations/affairs that come from nowhere 8 15.38%
Major disasters that have no lasting impact 6 11.54%
Character suddenly moves away for a new life and packs everything up in a matter of hours 5 9.62%
Other 3 5.77%
Voters: 52. You can't vote on this poll right now - are you signed in?

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Old 04-09-2016, 12:51
KornerKabin
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Most of us would agree that soaps these days are very formulaic and repetitive in the storylines they deliver, but what is your most annoying soap cliché? The thing that seems to get wheeled out time and time again in all of their storylines.

I've compiled a list of the things that immediately spring to mind for this poll, though there will undoubtedly be more. Vote 'Other' and leave a comment if you'd like to add another cringeworthy cliché ...

Thanks to attitude99, xItzDannyx and Ben96 for the suggestions.
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Old 04-09-2016, 13:12
Nico_D
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For me it's the sudden infatuations that come from nowhere, and the I love you after a 3 month relationship
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Old 04-09-2016, 13:12
Ben96
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Out of those in the poll "Who's The Daddy?" and "Affairs that come from nowhere" have got to be the worst.

However, I have a few others

"The guilty over the shoulder look" during a hug.
Characters always get their own private room in a hospital
No one EVER goes through with an abortion. Whilst in the waiting room they are talked round by one of their friends and then decide not to go through with it.
Being "Skint" but still having money to drink in the pub.
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Old 04-09-2016, 13:17
attitude99
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In the poll the wrongfully accused one is the most annoying, but another one is the younger characters having very little to no ambition and are happy to work on their doorstep just like their elders.
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Old 04-09-2016, 13:20
KornerKabin
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Just to explain that there is a distinction between 'wrongfully imprisoned' and 'wrongfully accused'.

'Wrongfully imprisoned' is when a character ends up in prison for a crime they did not commit.

'Wrongfully accused' covers instances like the entire Street turning on Tyrone from Corrie when they thought he was being violent towards Kirsty even though they'd known her for 5 minutes and him for many years.
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Old 04-09-2016, 13:20
xItzDannyx
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I voted for 'Chance encounters/overheard secrets', but have a few others

- A character turning gay overnight (usually after being hugged by Ste)
- Turning up drunk at your child's assembly/performance/mee​ting
- Characters suddenly developing an attraction and then spending months staring at their body in a really obvious way with nobody else noticing until months later when a close friend/relative says "you fancy him don't you"
- I hate when someone's guilty of something and you could be able to tell just by looking at their face but no-one ever does... like Darren/Nancy/Maxine in Hollyoaks last week!
- Normally nice people suddenly becoming professional body hiders/are able to instantly wipe all evidence away from the scene of a crime
- A confiding in B that their boyfriend C has been having an affair, with B being the one who has been sleeping with C
- Characters dying and then being forgotten a week later, only to be brought up again when the story needs it
- Secret relatives will always nearly get together
- Nurses work in all departments - if there's a nurse in the main cast, they'll always be the ones to treat you
- Someone's wife/husband dying, and then them being massively in love within two weeks before marrying within a few months
- Characters marrying someone so they can stay in the country, but then them randomly falling in love (Graeme/Xin, Corrie etc)
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Old 04-09-2016, 13:27
Bona drag
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I hate it when a character says they are leaving for a new life and just as they are about to board the plane / train / taxi they are persuaded to stay, usually by someone declaring their love to them.
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Old 04-09-2016, 13:31
Ben96
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I hate it when a character says they are leaving for a new life and just as they are about to board the plane / train / taxi they are persuaded to stay, usually by someone declaring their love to them.
Or just as they are on the plane/train etc about to leave, someone who has just found out that they are leaving rushes to the airport/train station to try and get there to stop them.
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Old 04-09-2016, 13:36
londongirlGre
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Out of those in the poll "Who's The Daddy?" and "Affairs that come from nowhere" have got to be the worst.

However, I have a few others

"The guilty over the shoulder look" during a hug.
Characters always get their own private room in a hospital
No one EVER goes through with an abortion. Whilst in the waiting room they are talked round by one of their friends and then decide not to go through with it.
Being "Skint" but still having money to drink in the pub.
When was the last time there was an abortion in EastEnders? I know that Libby had one, but she doesn't count because she isn't a regular. Lucy had one, didn't she?

To be fair, most of the people who have recently got pregnant in EastEnders have been in decent relationships, so there was no major reason to get rid of their babies.
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Old 04-09-2016, 13:37
Oldnjaded
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I'm just disappointed it's not a multiple choice Poll - every last one of them annoys the hell out of me.

I finally plumped for the "shock pregnancy after one night stand", because apart from being statistically incredibly unlikely, (writers really need to check out female biology), it also encompasses the inevitable "woman leaves pregnancy test stick on top of the pedal bin where any Tom, Dick or Harry can (and invariably will) find it".

Then weeks of agonising over whether Tom, Dick or Harry is the daddy.
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Old 04-09-2016, 13:37
KornerKabin
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I'm just disappointed it's not a multiple choice Poll - every last one of them annoys the hell out of me.

I finally plumped for the "shock pregnancy after one night stand", because apart from being statistically incredibly unlikely, (writers really need to check out female biology), it also encompasses the inevitable "woman leaves pregnancy test stick on top of the pedal bin where any Tom, Dick or Harry can (and invariably will) find it".

Then weeks of agonising over whether Tom, Dick or Harry is the daddy.
I'm always a disappointment to you
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Old 04-09-2016, 13:40
Ben96
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When was the last time there was an abortion in EastEnders? I know that Libby had one, but she doesn't count because she isn't a regular. Lucy had one, didn't she?

To be fair, most of the people who have recently got pregnant in EastEnders have been in decent relationships, so there was no major reason to get rid of their babies.
I'm talking about when people are at the actual clinic waiting to be called for their appointment and then are talked out of it.
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Old 04-09-2016, 13:43
BlueEyedMrsP
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Out of those in the poll "Who's The Daddy?" and "Affairs that come from nowhere" have got to be the worst.

However, I have a few others

"The guilty over the shoulder look" during a hug.
Characters always get their own private room in a hospital
No one EVER goes through with an abortion. Whilst in the waiting room they are talked round by one of their friends and then decide not to go through with it.
Being "Skint" but still having money to drink in the pub.
The last one... coffee as well. Everyone on EE works on a stall and lives in an expensive flat and still has enough to eat out every morning and lunch time.
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Old 04-09-2016, 13:44
0...0
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The shrugging off of traumatic events and onto the next plot is what annoys me the most.
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Old 04-09-2016, 13:49
hello.member
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'Chance encounters / Overheard secrets' for me. All soaps are guilty of this.
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Old 04-09-2016, 13:59
londongirlGre
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I'm talking about when people are at the actual clinic waiting to be called for their appointment and then are talked out of it.
Yeah, but it made me think about the last time someone had decided to have an abortion and actually went through with it on EastEnders.
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Old 04-09-2016, 13:59
Oldnjaded
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I'm always a disappointment to you
Never KK! ((((xxx))). You know what I mean though - they're all incredibly annoying and overused and it's really hard not to be able to stab away at the keyboard until every last one has been ticked.
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Old 04-09-2016, 14:23
.exe
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Yeah, but it made me think about the last time someone had decided to have an abortion and actually went through with it on EastEnders.
Wasn't it Dannielle?
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Old 04-09-2016, 14:33
londongirlGre
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Wasn't it Dannielle?
Really? That's a long time ago.
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Old 04-09-2016, 14:44
HiMyNameIs
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The phrases 'no more secrets', or 'from now on we tell each other everything' are always said to people who are hiding a deep dark secret of their own.
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Old 04-09-2016, 15:02
notdebbiedingle
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The phrases 'no more secrets', or 'from now on we tell each other everything' are always said to people who are hiding a deep dark secret of their own.
That's an annoying one!!

I voted the disasters with no lasting impact!!

Usually trumped up for months in advance with a 'Who/how many characters will die?' when we all know at most the death toll will be a character who was leaving anyway & maybe a random extra!!
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Old 04-09-2016, 16:25
julie_kelly
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When a female character has died recently in Emmerdale their husband/ boyfriend has always refused to attend the funeral and have pushed away others who are also grieving. Some got there eventually. Thinking of Andy, Eric, Nikil.
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Old 04-09-2016, 18:26
alienpanda
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mine is when they get a job abroad, or need to go abroad - and leave pretty much immediately

Neighbours is bad for this with characters applying for, and getting a job in one scene, and then packed and leaving in a taxi to board the flight by the end of the episode
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Old 04-09-2016, 18:45
James_Langan
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I'm just disappointed it's not a multiple choice Poll - every last one of them annoys the hell out of me.

I finally plumped for the "shock pregnancy after one night stand", because apart from being statistically incredibly unlikely, (writers really need to check out female biology), it also encompasses the inevitable "woman leaves pregnancy test stick on top of the pedal bin where any Tom, Dick or Harry can (and invariably will) find it".

Then weeks of agonising over whether Tom, Dick or Harry is the daddy.
It usually is Dick.
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Old 04-09-2016, 18:58
Gulftastic
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Not an actual situation, of the type you list in the poll, but I am heartily sick of 'whodunnits', and all the accompanying nonsense of clues and false clues leading up the reveal.
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