Originally Posted by glow_worm:
“I think, like you say, they were just making it up as they went along. You got the idea that the scenes were being written and filmed for the next week shortly before they aired, like a rewritten storyline. It was sloppy & felt messy. A real dog's breakfast. So it's amazing to think that it was actually a storyline they thought of and planned the normal way!
Dropping it is simply ridiculous but everyone hated it. I think you're probably right about that being the reason they dropped it. It would've been suicide to continue with that particular unpopular story thread. It wasn't just a disliked storyline and awful idea, it was ruining good characters like Steve (and Corrie doesn't have many good characters left at the moment) and was diabolically awful.
There was no easy way to tie it up either. It had already dragged on for months and didn't look as though it was running out of steam when they dropped it. Corrie should have known they were driving themselves up a cul de sac with it. These things are thought out in advance...what were they thinking...surely they could see it would end up a dead weight. Not to mention the storyline being unbelievable, I mean babyswaps happen everyday don't they, NOT,...pure fantasy land...American soap stuff, what next, an alien abduction?
They had no choice but to just drop it really. It does make you wonder if they have any professionals still working on the show these days...I get the feeling most of the team behind it are young, fresh out of uni bods who have no idea what Corrie is really about. That would explain the lack of continuity and characters acting completely out of character on a regular basis nowadays. It doesn't help that most of the good classic writers have left the show...the storyline would still have been a load of crud and a big mistake but at least if they were there then we might have got some decent scripts throughout to salvage something from the car wreck.”
I think the making-it-up-as-it-goes-along mentality plagues most of the soaps now. Sometimes viewers don't notice, but they did here. I'm not sure if the thought process was anything beyond, "People seem to like Kym Marsh, let's show her day after day after day after day." The same process they used with Anthony Cotton. At least they haven't gone so overboard yet with Tina or Becky. I know Coronation Street has some brilliant writers. I'm not as sure about the people handling the production.
I know Emmerdale is seen as in trouble, but focusing just on their baby swap story, not the entire show, I think their cot death/baby swap story was much better planned and has provided riveting drama for most of the year.
With all the focus on actors leaving or returning, or on sex scandals or explosions, the overall story planning has fallen by the wayside on most soaps. People are less likely to watch if they can't trust stories to be handled properly.
