Annoyingly unrealistic things in soap operas

[Floogal]

Ones I've noticed are:
People frequenting cafés and pubs, especially when the characters are supposed to be skint (I'm not skint thankfully, but I can't afford to do that).

People who seem to earn a good wage working for the local family firm or start up.

In the case of doctors, GPs that are caring and read between the lines and chase up patients. Oh and the reception staff rehearsing for a dance competition

People go off on holiday at the drop of a hat with never any issue about getting Tim E off work.

*time, not Tim E. Don’t know how he got in there.

No one locks their doors. People just barge in unannounced. Phil Mitchell, supposedly a big east end gangster, wanders around with no body guards and his back door open to anyone.

People get sacked on the spot for very flimsy reasons with no notice and no rights. Just told to sling their hook.

The empty mugs annoy me too. No steam rising.

Hardly anyone wears glasses.

The black women wear the same costume cupboard weaves year in year out, while the white women go to the salon regularly.

People always say 'No it wasn't like that' or 'I can explain.' And then they don't explain.

Murderers can transport corpses or bury them in busy places without anyone noticing. They can dismember them in the house using normal kitchen knives and have it all cleaned up by tea time. And not be traumatised by the experience.

Hospital staff are always 'running some tests.' As soon as relatives come to the hospital they're racing to get coffees.

Forgiving terrible things. Fighting in the street then on normal speaking terms the next day.

Use of the word 'flaming' to replace swear words (mainly in Corrie). I don't think I've ever heard anyone say 'flaming' in real life. It's so obviously a replacement for another word beginning with F a lot of the time.😄

Ha! they did that in The Bill too ( no bad language there except "scrote" )

You toerag
You reprobate
*You monster^

Everything!

@WildBactrian yes yes yes regarding the black women and weaves. Some dreadful cheap wig just plonked on their head for the whole time they are in the show 🤦🏽‍♀️

On Emmerdale yesterday, Bernice managed to just walk into the surgery for a same day appointment

Labour and childbirth only lasting about 20 minutes
Upping and leaving to move to America all of a sudden with no mention of visa applications, embassy interviews etc (I've been through this process and it's extremely long winded and takes several months)

Oh, and vomiting in the kitchen sink. I mean, at least go out the back door if you can't make it upstairs to the bathroom 🤢

People swigging vodka straight from the bottle all the time.

If you’re a teen taking your GCSEs or A Levels, you either get Oxbridge level grades or fail miserably - and you either have no idea which it will be until you open the envelope, or you get exactly the opposite result to what you expect. “I know there’s no way I’ll pass; not after the year I’ve had… [opens envelope] I don’t believe it… 17 A stars, 12 As and a B!!!”

No one is predicted two Bs and a C and gets that or thereabouts.

Only really watch Corrie but:

1. number of people in one street who drop down dead under mysterious circumstances
2. number of previously straight people who discover they’re gay
3. forced ethnic diversity
4. how no one moves away in divorce
5. Nearly everyone seems to work on the street
6. clear the writers have never set foot in a church and seemingly can’t be arsed to research
7. number of delinquent kids

“Forced ethnic diversity”? I thought Corrie was based in or around Manchester. Do only White people live there?

Of course not, but it’s somehow so false and quite clearly a white person slotting in an ethnic family for the sake of diversity. I’d like to see the script writers becoming more diverse

Which ethnic family are you referring to? I can’t quite understand the point you are making. As I recall (don’t watch regularly) there is one Black family, an Asian family a few other Black and Asian characters. They were introduced as just everyday characters who run businesses or work in normal jobs. No different to anyone else.

Why does that strike you as ‘false’ and ‘for the sake of diversity’? The reality is that there is a Black and Asian population in the part of the country Corrie is based. It follows that the scriptwriters should reflect that diversity otherwise it wouldn’t be very realistic (and I know soaps aren’t generally which is the subject of this thread!).

As for diverse scriptwriters, well I agree with that but surely diverse scriptwriters would be inclined to introduce diverse characters..which seems to be the very thing you are complaining about🤔

Sorry I’ve not read the whole thread. How much would the houses in Albert Park be worth now. I remember in the 80s some yuppies moved in, are there any professionals living there now? Its on a tube so wouldn’t that increase the prices as well?
seems to be no gentrification going on, no rents going through the roof.

Coronation street would be the same wouldn't it.

And the recycling of partners. Steve McDonald, Leanne battersby, Eileen's sons, Nick Tilsley, and I don't even watch Corrie!

Something I've noticed in Home and Away is that people's operation scars miraculously heal invisibly.

The way they can up and leave their entire life in a day. Marvellous job offer comes up and character departs in the next episode.

The amount of things that are overheard by people just happening to eavesdrop at the right moment.

All the women that find Phil Mitchell irresistible. I mean how realistic is that? 🙄😱

I live in the neighbouring borough to the fictional area in EE. A 3 bedroom house costs around £1.2 million. Yet there are unemployed or characters on minimum wage jobs in Albert Square who move in and out of the houses without batting an eyelid😂

@cobblers123 It’s a mystery. I’ve always assumed Phil must have a talent in a certain department to keep all those women lining up!

Having a baby or a toddler/young child. Those kids are magically well behaved and quiet. Not a squeak out of them! Sometimes shoved into a corner or travel cot where they play impeccably in the background when a detailed conversation is happening in the same room.

If it is your birthday, then not only will nobody sing 'Happy Birthday' properly, you can pretty much guarantee that something tragic is going to happen before you've had a chance to blow out the candles on your cake.