To think coronation street is rubbish now?

[noaccess]

I mean it is, isn’t it? Stupid storylines, boring characters … shame really as it was really good once (obviously it’s always been a soap and some cliches but still.)

Can it survive once the older established characters leave? I don’t know anyone young who watches it. Or am I out of touch and everyone else thinks it’s amazing?

Another thumbs up for the classic coronation Street .
Was brilliant today when Shelly showed Charlie the door haha

Well done Shelly absolutely great .
No more simpering Shelly .

I used to watch Corrie, Emmerdale and Eastenders, and like a PP said, it became a chore.
The night of the first Covid lockdown was the last time I watched a soap and it’s so freeing. I see the odd classic episode in the afternoon, but the few minutes I might see of the new stuff looks awful.

Agreed. I watch it now and then if I'm at a family member's house and it really is poor now. Variable degrees of acting, too many characters, and boring stories. I gave up in 2017 after watching for 25+ years - just couldn't justify watching six episodes of mediocre TV alongside work and going back to uni - and don't miss it at all. I remember reading and agreeing with what Sarah Lancashire said "The show I was in doesn't exist anymore".

I think the rot set in during 2003 when it went to five episodes a week.

I was a huge fan for decades, and I’ve often been quite cynical about people who say “Oh, it’s crap now; not like the old days”. These were often the same people who were saying the same thing in 2005, but are now waxing lyrical about the classic episodes on ITV that are from the exact same period!

However, over the last couple of years I’ve found I can’t defend it in the same way. I’ve come around to the view of the critical fans. I hate saying it because I used to REALLY love Corrie, but I don’t think it can ever get back to its best days now. ITV added more and more episodes and have over-milked their cash cow - and now it’s knackered 😕 The cast is too big; the pace is all wrong. Storylines either move at breakneck speed or drag on endlessly until we’re all bored. Subtlety seems to have been abandoned.

Apart from anything else, I think they just don’t have the same quality of writers anymore. Maybe it’s because there are so many streaming services now, so young writers are pitching their own stuff rather than looking to soaps as their training ground. When you think the likes of Paul Abbott, Kay Mellor and Sally Wainwright all came through Corrie - who do they have now of anywhere near that standard?

It is awful now. I'm 43 and have been watching since I was about 10! So I have stuck with it because it's been so long but I'm definitely on the verge of stopping. Storylines are stupid and boring, characters forgettable. Don't even care if a character dies anymore! Keeping up with it feels like a chore tbh. I think I'm going to stop if the Christmas episodes are rubbish.
They really need a major overhaul and to get rid of a lot of the actors and bring in new writers. Get it back how it used to be, even 10 years ago was so much better than this tripe!

It is absolute rubbish now with unbelievable storylines and terrible acting.

I agree the rot set in when it went to 5 nights a week, I finally gave up probably 5 or 6 years ago, the Connor family really killed it for me the last few years that I was watching. I watched it religiously from the early 70s but can't ever see me going back to it now. I would hardly know who anyone was.

Tbh I just watch it out of habit but do find it boring sometimes

I stopped watching Corrie a few years ago sadly, but I found I was no longer invested enough in the characters, the stories were weak / ridiculous and the acting now is based on nepotism. Too many characters are related to others in the show/industry as opposed to introducing new talent to audiences.

All the soaps are terrible now.
Cant stand any of the woke nonsense which has taken over them.

Watching now, I used to love it and have watched for decades. But this story line with Joel/deedee/lauren/max and others is so dull. The suspenseful music is doing my head in, and i can also hardly see it, it’s soooo dark. ( not my tv) They did the motor neuron storyline well recently, but the rest of it is barely watchable! ☹️

I started watching in 1961 when we came back from our honeymoon and rented a TV. I stopped about 3 months ago, and don't miss it at all.

I have never watched it. No soaps interest me. Have never watched them.

We stopped watching it earlier this year. Don’t miss it at all, watched it for my whole life.

Too many characters, too many episodes and too much unbelievable crime stuff.

I see that Maureen Lipman is still in this. From The Pianist to Corrie, circa 2024. I bet she cringes every day she’s filming.

This has genuinely been the worst soap whodunnit I’ve ever seen. Police officers and solicitors casually swapping details of a murder investigation in the local pub and café where most of the suspects drink/eat/work. People only vaguely connected with the investigation demanding confidential information from the police (yes, I’m looking at you, Carla Connor). Bernie’s evil policeman son making it blatantly obvious to the world and his wife that he wants to get his boss fired.

It just. Wouldn’t. HAPPEN!!

I saw a piece of dialogue on Tik Tok recently between Ena Sharples and Elsie Tanner. No histrionics, no special effects or music - just a heart to heart at the dining room table. The writing was amazing, funny, thought provoking and sad all in the space of a few minutes.

If they carry on the way they are they won’t be around for much longer. It’s on too much. There are too many cast members. The storylines are abysmal!! There’s a revolving door to prison and every other person appears to be a serial killer.

And who on earth is being employed, and paid exceedingly well, to come out with the mind numbing claptrap at present? It’s never been as bad

Agree with others .
I watch it out of habit ...just like Emmerdale .
Stopped watching Eastenders years ago.

Ah, fuck it...I'll admit I love it! I used to watch it when I was teens/20s but my ex banned me from watching soaps because they were 'low brow'. Not that it mattered but for reference I out-earned and out- qualified him. He just had to have control.

Now, 10 years later, I have taken Corrie, Eastenders and Emmerdale up again (I never gave up on the Archers 😉) and I make myself enjoy them as an act of defiance.

It can definitely be argued the quality has dropped but, personally, I think it has just changed and lots of us hate change. It couldn't stay how is was because life hasn't stayed how it was.

Lots is unrealistic and unbeatable but wasn't it ever thus? Otherwise, we'd just peep at neighbours outside the window. I don't want complete realism...it is grim!

Stopped watching around the time of the tram crash. It has totally lost what made it special.

I stopped watching this year after 40 years. It's a shame it became like Hollyoaks.

Same as others stopped watching years ago.
Hold no interest for me now, and once you make that break you realise your nor missing out on anything.
It's just nastiness and violence disguised as entertainment.
They drag society down imo.

Its terrible but I still love it. We mostly enjoying mocking it, David's hair, Toyah's horrible clothes etc. I've been watching for over forty years, too late to stop now!

Haven't seen it for decades but someone told me it's on for three hours a week? If so, that's unsustainable.

I started exactly the same thread on MN in 1978.