Coronation Street Producers

[CG Wendy]

I'd much rather watch old eps. They had a feelgood factor whereas now it's too depressing

I couldn`t agree more. Yet in those times the sets weren`t built as well as they are now and in the 70`s it was cold and depressing - especially in the winter. But the producers always made it seem real and alive. Shame I can`t say the same now.
I`m all for hurrying along a storyline, but when it comes to such a great character as Mike Baldwin then he should have had a much better storyline up to the day of his departure. Johnny was robbed of an excellent storyline and so were the viewers.
Ditto with Fred Elliot.

[RitaLittlewood]

No and they wobbled, people fluffed their lines (notably Pat Phoenix) but were never criticised the way Crossroads was due to their higher budget.

Then we get the stories which drag on forever and go around in circles (Charlie and Shelley for one). They just don't know when enough is enough.

There was no reason to kill either or Vera. They just think death makes for good ratings.

Have you noticed three major characters have all died from a heart attack in the last three years?

Patsy

[sallywebster]

Very true Patsy.

[CG Wendy]

Have you noticed three major characters have all died from a heart attack in the last three years?

Now that you mention it Pats...you`re right. You`d think the writers could have come up with someone a bit better...like an anurism(sp) or something.
I`m still feeling Freds loss even now. He had tons more mileage left in him had the bosses/writers thought to give him a bit of a rest every now and again.
It`s a case of the golden eggs time and time again. Killing off a character to boost rating for one episode. True Liz Dawn wanted to leave, but I don`t think John Savident wanted to leave but I bet he felt he had no choice - it was either that or that stress getting to him. And of course the fans lost out yet again because of it.

[RitaLittlewood]

Wasn't he pushed because he slagged the show off in the paper? Bill Roache did the same thing and is still there so double standards. Now John won't even talk about Corrie.

We all know Mike's heart attack was the biggest cop out of all. I said all along if they had to kill him off it could be that way. He had a history of it. But they'd tangled themselves up in this ridiculous Alzheimer's drivel, did it badly, gave him rather sudden pneumonia after getting wet then bam in Ken's arms (cliché if ever there was one) while ranting about Deirdre being mine. I'm laughing about that even as I type because it was just so pathetic and badly done.

Fred wasn't under any sort of stress when he died so that was daft.

Now Vera.

Why can't they just do a Hilda for crying out loud?

Patsy

[CG Wendy]

Why can't they just do a Hilda for crying out loud?

Agreed....or an Elsie Tanner.

[RitaLittlewood]

Well I used Hilda as an example of a farewell bash then slipping away off screen. Course there were less eps in those days. LOL! But what's wrong with a farewell party for a long-term resident going to pastures new instead of killing them off all the time?

Patsy

[CG Wendy]

lol sorry Pats - I got my wires crossed. When I said Elsie Tanner I was talking about a character emigrating to another country.
But now I think about it....was Hildas going away party the last one that a character had in Corrie? Because if it is, then that`s whats been wrong with Corrie all these years - no sense of community spirit anymore. And that`s a massive shame because that was what Corrie did best.
Even Emmerdale has more storylines involving the community that Corrie does. At least it has a church hall - Corrie doesn`t anymore.

[RitaLittlewood]

LOL! That's okay. Not many have even done that.

I think it was. The others just went, usually in a taxi after a bit of a farewell scene. I agree and even EE has more community spirit than Corrie. They've lost what made them great by chasing ratings like Brookside. Look what happened to that. I stopped caring about the characters years before I stopped watching (even Reet). I often said at the time Emmerdale was what Corrie used to be. Course that was before I watched EE regularly and went off Emmerdale again. LOL! I think Corrie's biggest mistake was copying EE by having everything so close. There is no way a garage would be allowed in a residential street. What was wrong with keeping the Kabin and caff on Rosamund Street? Why would businesses be built at a time they were (and still are) building houses on every bit of land available? They lost realism by having everyone live and work so close together. Now it's got worse with the factory. Since when did they dig underground to expand it? It happened overnight. Corrie has lost it.

Patsy

[CG Wendy]

They lost realism by having everyone live and work so close together.

Agreed. When I compare my street growing up to the Coronation Street of today, it`s as different as day and night. In my street there are the Thomas`s (my family) who have always been there since the estate was built in the 50`s. Then there are the Hopes and the Cousins family and the Greys and the Parkers and the Drummonds whose children and Grandchildren now live in the street.
The only family that slightly resembles our street are the Barlows. No more Tanners or Ogdens or even Walkers. And it`s just not realistic. I would dearly love to see Dennis Tanner come back to Coronation Street.
What we need, (when I say we I mean the fans) is a producer like Bill Podmore again. One who understands the Northern pride and the comradery that has been so prominently featured over the years. Its practically disappeared now to make way for the bed hopping and public slanging matches that are getting so stale and predictable.

[RitaLittlewood]

We also need a producer who wants the job. Tony Wood didn't really and admitted he hates soaps. Steve Frost didn't (maybe he wanted nothing to do with Kieran). But of course they're under orders to do this, that and the other and have issues. Issues are boring. Years ago Crossroads did them as did Corrie long before Brookie came along and had them in-your-face. They were subtly done and memorable. These days it's depressing and they miss the humour which used to be blended in so well. Been a long time since it was done properly. It doesn't fit in and is often slapstick or unfunny. The opposite of the way Emmerdale was under Steve Frost.

I don't think they realise about the northern pride. Okay so it had to adapt to compete with EE. But it always moved with the times but still kept realism and was topical as well. No reason to let it lose it's soul. I think too these extra eps are to blame for a lot of things. All the storylines they can think of now to fill the 5 eps is bed hopping and public slanging matches.

Patsy

[CG Wendy]

Its been overkill with the humour in Emmerdale lately as it`s shoved in our faces too much. Corrie always had the perfect balance. When Corrie got it right, they got it spot on.

We also need a producer who wants the job. Tony Wood didn't really and admitted he hates soaps. Steve Frost didn't (maybe he wanted nothing to do with Kieran). But of course they're under orders to do this, that and the other and have issues. Issues are boring.

Correct as always. And you know what Pats? It shows too. You can tell the producers can`t be arsed and just want ratings ratings ratings and bollocks to anything else.

[RitaLittlewood]

Emmerdale is just daft right now. It goes from one extreme to the other. Shame really as it really does write for the older characters better than Corrie and never really pigeonholed or neglected characters with certain flavours of the month. But even that's gone the same way to some extent.

Kieran Roberts yet again springs to mind! Can't think why. If ITV want to boost ratings there's two things they need to do:

1) Reduce the eps

2) Stop spoilers longer than 2 lines for the mags

All those shocking storylines of the past would be splashed across the papers and mags these days in all their glory. It makes things meaningless. The same applies to BBC. Look at the cliffhanger involving Steven and the gun. They went to all that trouble of having the viewers wonder who got shot but it was in the following week's mags.

Patsy

[CG Wendy]

Exactly Pats. And it loses all of the impact when the mags ruin it like that. Even if you tried to avoid spoilers as much as possible, you can`t avoid them altogether with the screaming headlines on front of the tv mags in the shops.
It all comes down to money.

[RitaLittlewood]

Couldn't agree more. It's everywhere. I know someone in Liverpool who says he never reads spoilers. He buys no papers or mags. He can't avoid it when you get the likes of the news plugging things like Vera's death unless he watched BBC. It's a shame we knew Alan Bradley would get splatted by a tram and die, despite them trying to make out he could live. It was a shame we knew Derek was going to die. Or Richard kidnapped the Pratts and drove into the canal ending up dead. Mike was going to die in a cliched script. Fred died at Audrey's. Vera was going to die. Liam fell down the cliff and lived. The list is endless. Surely they would get more viewers by NOT knowing as it's entering the unknown, thus raising advetising revenue. If you know, what's the point in watching?

Patsy

[CG Wendy]

Surely they would get more viewers by NOT knowing

Perfectly put and wholeheartedly agreed. They would win more fans than way, but they can`t see nothing other than pound signs in front of their eyes where their theme tune is the ker-ching of a cash register.

[RitaLittlewood]

LOL! It would get people talking, as we know from the good old days. We may have known certain cast were going but not how. Then it was, "Did you see......last night?" Now it's, "I see.......is going to........in........"

Patsy

[CG Wendy]

Corrie would improve dramatically by just forgetting about the stupid 'whose kid is who' storyline. And Ryan isn`t exactly a charqacter who the fans care about anyway so why keep it going??

[RitaLittlewood]

Because they love it and think it makes for interesting viewing. Perhaps they got more enjoyment writing it than viewers get watching.

Patsy

[CG Wendy]

Or maybe they decided to reward Kym Ryder for winning 'best newcomer' with a storyline of her own.

[RitaLittlewood]

LOL! You never know. Mind you that never stopped them with KF when she won nowt.

Patsy

[CG Wendy]

KF who?
;D
The sooner that stupid storyline has ended the better. But going by some spoilers it won`t be anytime soon

[RitaLittlewood]

No. They do like dragging. Another reason no more than 3 eps is better. You can skip days.

Patsy

[CG Wendy]

I think they`d gain a whole new generation of fans if they opened back up the Corrie tours.
And yes go back to 3 episodes a week...purleaze!!!!!

[sallywebster]

Totally agree. And we'd all love to visit the set!