The show that shall not be named

The main rival for the hearts of the Coronation Street audience is a soap that airs 4 nights a week on BBC and has been since 1985. It's edgier and darker, maybe more hip if you listen to some people. It's got a smaller cast and a different accent. I watch it on BBC Canada where the plot line is a couple of years behind the UK. (Den Watts is still alive (again) but not for much longer!)

It's very different from Corrie. I do like it but not as much as i love Corrie. Maybe it's because i've been watching Corrie a lot longer or maybe it's just that it's not quite as ...hmmm... i want to say "flexible" but that's not the word i'm looking for. Corrie does drama, social issues, and best of all, comedy. It might not be a comic storyline, it might just be a throwaway line or a little scene between a couple of characters that doesn't move the plot along but is very real in an everyday sort of way. It's got it's "sensational" plots too but even then, they are even sometimes played with a side order of camp, though not always of course. You could almost see Richard Hillman twirling a long moustache when he uttered the fateful words "You should have stayed at the party, Maxine!" just before he bludgeoned her to death.

The Show that shall not be named is very rarely funny, rarely do you find a smile cross your face or a chuckle escape. Even when they try to be funny, it usually falls flat for me. You always hear about the cheerful Cockneys yet that London based soap doesn't seem to have very many. Alfie Moon was probably the first really cheeky fellow we had since i've watched.

All their plots are about bad things happening, sadness, violence, depressing subjects. There are fewer likeable characters than there are on Corrie. Someone always seems to be griping or hollering or crying. So why do i watch? I don't know lol! There have been some very good stories that drew me in and some great characters in the few years i've been watching. I never got tired of watching Jeanine Butcher. I like Dot Cotton Branning (but i dislike that waster of a husband she's got). Den Watts is scum but he's an interesting character, too.

Anyway, Corrie still comes out on top. It's friendlier, more neighbourly, the characters are more real i think. The acting is mostly top notch with a few exceptions and the writing is riveting. I think the other show has fewer actors that really shine. Both have storylines that clunk hard sometimes but you can't win 'em all. Corries seems to do better on average in that department. I wonder sometimes if i'm watching more out of habit but there are usually one or two storylines going that will keep me watching to see how it all comes out. Right now it's the lead up to Den's death and the aftermath that i'm waiting for.

We don't get any other U.K. based "soaps" here. We had Emmerdale for awhile on various tv stations but that seems to have disappeared too. I never did get into that one, though. I've watched the occasional episode and it just didn't grab me. People that watched that other show in the beginning have said it's not nearly as good as it was back then. I couldn't really say because CBC only carried it back near the beginning for a short time. I remember watching and being shocked to the core when Sue and Ali's baby died of cot death and shortly after that, CBC pulled the series. I wonder if it was because of complaints?

Well, it is what it is. They have to all be different from each other and that's a good thing. Each will appeal to different people for different reasons. I like Corrie because it shows every day life with every day people. I like the humourous side of it, the writing and dialogue and the acting. I like the variety of types of storylines from social issues to high drama to silly little 2 or 3 episode-long short stories. I don't enjoy every single storyline but so what? It's still "my" show.