DS Forums

 
 

Falling out of Love with a Soap


Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 04-09-2016, 21:23
clever3000
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: England
Posts: 1,713

Due to what ive felt lately about Neighbours i felt that it is an applicable subject really for all soaps, Eastenders, Corrie, Emmerdale, Hollyoaks, Home & Away, Doctors etc...

The issue with Neighbours is that i have grown tired of the repetitive cycle of things. Love Triangles, Secrets always being exposed, Forgiveness seemingly so easy. Really it has been the case for years and all three are very good for writing a soap but it just becomes tiresome after a while. Why not allow a secret to remain a secret, why not have characters not able to forgive others. It is just so predictable and sickly sweet in areas that has made Neighbours slightly tiresome. Unpredictability would be nice and storylines that havent been done to death would be good as well. It is hard for soaps i know to come up with new ideas but could they just not make things so predictable.

Maybe this is a Neighbours only issue? I dont watch any other soaps so wouldnt really know but it always seems to go round in circles.
clever3000 is offline   Reply With Quote
Please sign in or register to remove this advertisement.
Old 04-09-2016, 21:44
soap-lea
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: With MyAndy!
Posts: 15,200
I have recently stopped watching Eastenders due to not being happy with a storyline and the show in general. I accidently watched fridays episode and one other in the last 3/4 weeks.

I have felt like that with other soaps tho and sometimes switching off for a while helps
soap-lea is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-09-2016, 21:51
0...0
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: I like to singy singy singy...
Posts: 17,667
To be honest you've just described EE. I think all the soaps are in a mess.
0...0 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-09-2016, 21:52
Ben96
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: It's CHRISTMASSSSSS!
Posts: 2,943
I have recently stopped watching Eastenders due to not being happy with a storyline and the show in general. I accidently watched fridays episode and one other in the last 3/4 weeks.

I have felt like that with other soaps tho and sometimes switching off for a while helps
bib - How can you "accidently" watch an episode
Ben96 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-09-2016, 21:54
soap-lea
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: With MyAndy!
Posts: 15,200
bib - How can you "accidently" watch an episode
I was not feeling well, a bit stressed and turned the tv over automatically. I was doing other things so it was more in the background than watching intently
soap-lea is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-09-2016, 21:56
0...0
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: I like to singy singy singy...
Posts: 17,667
bib - How can you "accidently" watch an episode
She tripped over the remote.
0...0 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-09-2016, 22:33
secretagent
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 1,410
I stopped watching EE soon after the Lucy reveal episode. I thought the outcome of that was silly and I hated the Carter family and the way they got all of the storylines. I had watched it from the very beginning but Mick and Linda finally drove me away lol! It's surprising how quickly you get used to not watching something. I do still look on here from time to time to see what is going on though.
secretagent is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-09-2016, 22:59
Tomski12
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 789
I stopped watching Corrie in Autumn 2014 because I had just fallen out of love with the show and didn't recognise it any more. Depending on what KO does I could be drawn back in again.

Stopped watching HO when the GHK storyline was the final nail in the coffin for me. I would never go back to it now as its like a parody of itself

To be honest if DTC was still in charge of EE and showed no sign of leaving anytime soon. I'd probably have stopped watching. But although it's far from perfect it's enjoyable if a bit contrived. ED is the best atm but is starting to show just a couple of small signs of a drop in quality.
Tomski12 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-09-2016, 23:29
All Of Me
Inactive Member
 
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 2,019
With the soap destroyer at Corrie if Eastenders gets its act together with the new producer it could be in trouble.
All Of Me is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-09-2016, 00:01
RetroMusicFan
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Herr Flick's dungeon
Posts: 5,939
She tripped over the remote.
And headbutted the tv accidently pressing the on button in the process.
RetroMusicFan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-09-2016, 09:39
SuperSoaper
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 4,686
Coronation Street to an extent, but I haven't given up on it. I've faithfully stuck by it by rarely feel satisfied with an episode. I think the last time I thought it was worth half an hour of my life was when Hayley died. That was nearly three years ago!
SuperSoaper is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-09-2016, 14:08
stellers
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 896
The main proplem I have with the soaps is the number of episodes each week. I'm out quite a lot so there's too many of them for me keep a proper track of what's going on.
stellers is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-09-2016, 14:28
Heanor_Man31
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 403
At one point I used to watch Doctors religiously but over the past few years it's only been the odd bank of episodes I've invested in.

The same goes for Coronation Street. Doesn't really bother me if I go for a couple of days now if I don't watch the episodes on the ITV Hub.

I agree with the PP that the amount of episodes mean it's easy to lose track of things; I also think it harms the general quality overall.

I think it's a massive mistake that Coronation Street is going to six episodes a week from next year.
Heanor_Man31 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-09-2016, 14:32
lou_123
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 7,927
EastEnders is in a right old mess. It's the most uncertain I have ever been about the show (Bar 2013 maybe).

I fell out of love with the show back in 2011 though, after it was butchered by Kirkwood.

Classic EastEnders ended around 2005, but Santer created a new and exciting EastEnders 2007-2010, where he mixed the old with the new, and dragged EastEnders back to the top by telling great stories with great characters. It's never quite done that since.
lou_123 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-09-2016, 14:35
notdebbiedingle
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: whitby , n yorks
Posts: 10,143
The main proplem I have with the soaps is the number of episodes each week. I'm out quite a lot so there's too many of them for me keep a proper track of what's going on.
This is why i have never been tempted to try watching any more than one soap, five episodes of Corrie, two & a half hours a week (3 shortly) is quite enough of my time taken up & if I came on here debating on four or five soaps rather than just Corrie, I really would get nothing else done!!!!!
notdebbiedingle is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-09-2016, 14:37
Harlowe
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 14,370
I watch EE, Corrie and ED sporadically, I'm not enjoying them atm so can't be bothered to watch unless I make the effort to catch up.

I have been watching HO as I have actually been enjoying that for the last few months.

I've started watching a welsh soap called Pobol Y Cwm that I've been enjoying and think its been much better then any of the bigger soaps presently!
Harlowe is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-09-2016, 14:56
Andy_Marlowe
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 3,097
The main proplem I have with the soaps is the number of episodes each week. I'm out quite a lot so there's too many of them for me keep a proper track of what's going on.
I totally agree with this.No soap should have more than 3 episodes a week, I feel. In particular, though I watch Emmerdale I am usually working when it's transmitted and when I do see it, I fast-forward a lot of the dross with the moaning minnies, Zac, Lisa and Belle (and Belle's apparition, "Ellie"). Last week's episodes, when they weren't dwelling on them featured Charity constantly dropping her knickers for Cain, and one of the most hilarious birth scenes ever shown anywhere. like Robert, Aaron, Chas, Moira, Lawrence, Ronnie, Paddy, and Eric, but there are more than a few characters who need to go because they drag the show back rather than move it forward.
Andy_Marlowe is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 05-09-2016, 15:08
bean_of_sb
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: London
Posts: 4,617
I am an EE fan. I stuck with the show through all of the rough patches and always try and support the show

But at the moment I'm just so tired of it. Fantastic actors are going to waste, characters are being re-written to suit storylines (and the storylines that are going on are weak and not capturing my attention).

The show needs some new blood. Once great characters like Masood, Ronnie and Roxy have become so useless so i am glad they are taking a rest.

When I think back to how the show used to be in the late 90s, the scripts just don't compare. It is absolutely down to the writing. Samantha Womack, Nitin, June Brown, Adam Woodyatt, Diane Parish, Laurie Brett, Linda Henry and Steve McFadden are some of the best actors in soap, but they aren't being given the material.

Some episodes are really well written but they are so few and far between that I t puts me off watching. Fingers crossed we have a transitional Autumn leading to a really strong winter and Christmas.
bean_of_sb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-09-2016, 15:14
LaneKent
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 1,900
I have a love hate relationship with the 3 big soaps. I dip in I dip out I dip in and out. Sometimes I can go years without watching. However I cannot see me going back to Emmerdale. Turned off after Val's death last year. It wasn't so much her death, but I realised she was just one less reason to watch and I hadn't been enjoying it for a while. The whole plane crash was ridiculously executed as a story, although well done in acting and special affects. I thought I might start watching when Nicola came back - but I didn't. She returned before I realised she was back and then I though to myself, "I dislike most of the characters so why bother?"

Corrie I have watched for the last 18 months after several years away. It was Jenny Bradley's return and my husband had been watching it for several months before that. Kylie is a huge loss to us though. We are about 4 weeks behind, and this year has varied in enjoyment drastically. We first stuck it out for Carla's exit and then Kylie's. How we find the last four weeks (when we get chance to watch) will be make or break for us.

EastEnders - when it is good it is very very good and when it is bad it is horrid. On average my least favourite and I haven't really watched in the grand scheme of things. I tuned back in for Kathy last year and have been watching with my finger on the FF button ever since. I am just hanging in there to see some upcoming exits and then I will be done with it for certain. I thought I already was but have decided to see the exits through. My husband was always a big EE fan but he hates it so much now that he couldn't care if it got axed. So it is possible to fall out of love with your favourite soap.

It's quantity affecting the quality that ruins soaps. Also if you watch them continuously for years, it becomes inevitable that stories will get repeated. It takes a skillful storyliner to present the same story differently. The thing that really bugs me is when they repeat the same story with the same character.
LaneKent is offline Follow this poster on Twitter   Reply With Quote
Old 05-09-2016, 15:25
bean_of_sb
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: London
Posts: 4,617
EastEnders - when it is good it is very very good and when it is bad it is horrid.
I absolutely agree. EE seem to either be firing on all cylinders, or they decide to shut up shop for a while. This year started so well, but as it has gone on it has got weaker and weaker. I'm pretty sure that by December we will see things improve, but as fans of a show, why should we have to settle for such extreme inconsistency? Again, I blame the writing and the large number of episodes. Soaps should be looking to scale back a bit if they want to survive, not be spreading themselves even further than they already are.
bean_of_sb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-09-2016, 15:36
Hollo and Gonch
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: London Town
Posts: 3,535
I am an EE fan. I stuck with the show through all of the rough patches and always try and support the show

But at the moment I'm just so tired of it. Fantastic actors are going to waste, characters are being re-written to suit storylines (and the storylines that are going on are weak and not capturing my attention).

The show needs some new blood. Once great characters like Masood, Ronnie and Roxy have become so useless so i am glad they are taking a rest.

When I think back to how the show used to be in the late 90s, the scripts just don't compare. It is absolutely down to the writing. Samantha Womack, Nitin, June Brown, Adam Woodyatt, Diane Parish, Laurie Brett, Linda Henry and Steve McFadden are some of the best actors in soap, but they aren't being given the material.

Some episodes are really well written but they are so few and far between that I t puts me off watching. Fingers crossed we have a transitional Autumn leading to a really strong winter and Christmas.
BIB: I think that's spot-on. EastEnders used to have some fantastic writers, such as the much-missed Tony Jordan. He just "got" the characters and his scripts were full of spark. The writing today is just so bland by comparison.

The soap I've most fallen out of love with though, is Coronation Street

When I catch it now, I usually find it tedious. What I loved about it before were the brilliant and believable characters. But I feel there are so few great characters left now, and the storylines are less than gripping.
Hollo and Gonch is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-09-2016, 15:55
Hound of Love
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 56,123
I don't watch EE that much these days.

And I stopped posting in the episode threads quite some time ago.
Hound of Love is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-09-2016, 15:57
M_J2
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 621
It's funny, its the same kind of "tiredness" that people have with sitcoms and game shows. I think sometimes SOME of us may need a break from things we used to like.

Some soaps may try to change things and some people do not like it and refuse to watch, some soaps stick to the same formula and some people think its repeating itself....its hard to win around some of us viewers/fans.

There is people i know who got back into Neighbours after over 9 years of not watching it....sometimes it's good to have a break.
M_J2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-09-2016, 16:01
M_J2
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 621
I don't watch EE that much these days.

And I stopped posting in the episode threads quite some time ago.
I am now coming around to that point (not watching EE), i will check this forum to see if there is a episode not to miss or major improvements but i think it's that time to invest my time in different types of shows. To many good options to watch rather than over see another "transition" soap cycle.
M_J2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-09-2016, 16:17
Cheekymonkey09
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 673
I gave up on Corrie a few years ago after watching nearly all my life. It became stale, unrealistic, tired, unfunny, stupid and the characters became unlikable - even faves like Rita, Norris etc

I don't think I'd ever start watching full time again, it just seems depressing - almost like EastEnders is.

I think when you stop looking forward to an episode of your favorite soap and it becomes a chore, that is the time to question whether you follow it or not.

I always look forward to ED episodes to this day going as far back as 2013 - once Blackburn had left. I genuinely enjoy watching it.
Cheekymonkey09 is offline   Reply With Quote
 
Reply




 
Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 12:20.