Ben

I liked Deano, and his relationship with Shirley was left underdeveloped, so this will be good to explore. However, I'm not sure the character needs a permanent return, as I don't know where they can take him long term. A 6 month guest stint would be long enough, IMO - just enough time to explore his relationship with Shirley and his grandfather, Stan, and have a few scenes with Stacey.

On another note: Shabnam is back, and is now a bigoted, unlikeable woman. Her racist comment seems to have caused a stir, and I hope this is something they explore with the character. I hope Shabnam rediscovers some of her old traits at some point, as Original Shabnam was more likeable and a free spirit, if underdeveloped.

Please, no child. Sometimes the story warrants it, and sometimes it's a change of dynamic for the characters. Other times, it's predictable tosh. Donna returning with Marlon's kid would be the latter.

Marlon & Laurel have 3 kids linked to them already. They do not need another child cluttering up their lives. Also, the show already did this plot with Kelly/Jimmy/Nicola, when Kelly returned with Jimmy's offspring a couple of years ago.

Hopefully, they've come up with a better reason for Donna returning.

Yes, the fans were gutted, considering the show still attracted a million viewers every day. However, ZDF wanted to restructure their program and kicked B&B off its schedule, stating that they were too close to the US airings and that they needed to take a break. Since two episodes were shown every day, they were indeed close to the US airings and had to take breaks before. In order to avoid this problem, ZDF tried airing Y&R and B&B back to back (with Y&R episodes split in half as two individual of episodes of 20 minutes each). but almost nobody wanted to see Y&R so they had to revert to showing two episodes of B&B.

That's such a terrible reason for dumping a popular show. Did the restructure work for ZDF? This may be stupid, but why couldn't ZDF just air 1 episode a day, instead of 2? Is it b/c they are only 20 minutes long (without commercials), and ZDF favours 60 minute slots?

Editing a 40 minute show into 2 episodes would never really work, as the structure and pacing would be all wrong.

Thanks for explaining the names thing; it actually makes perfect sense why some shows are translated and other's aren't.

Carl's right about Liz. I always remember the trashy, fun Liz, as it's the most recent, but during the 90s, she was serious and long-suffering, having to deal with Steve and Andy's dramas, and Jim going to jail more times than he changed his socks. This Liz isn't fun, serious or suffering - she's nasty, rude and witch-y. Steve & Michelle used to be together, running the Rovers with Liz, then he cheated, and Michelle dumped him, never to go near him again (this was one of the character's positive points). Then randomly, she took him back, which was very out of character, and suddenly they buy the Rovers (again), and Liz returns to run it (again). Notice a pattern? It's like they've purposefully rewound time to 2004-05, and reset these 3 characters as if the proceeding years didn't exist for them. However, they've failed to capture Liz and Michelle's characters and their relationships with Steve, and thus their "fun" banter of old now translates into "fun" bullying of Steve.

Now, they've made Liz a confidante for Tina, who keeps telling her that what she's doing is wrong and how she should stay away from Peter. Yada, yada, yada.

If Peter had to cheat (like why? He was only just developing!), then it should have been with Eva Price. She never gets any story at all. They made a thing about Eva getting the PA job, and her and Peter genuinely get along. It would have been much more conceivable for these two to have an affair, than randomly chucking Tina into Peter & Carla's orbit. It's all very fake. To make it all the more complicated, Eva is dating Jason, and while I think it would be cruel to have yet another girlfriend cheat on Jason, it could have created a different dynamic story wise.

I do wonder how much of this story was planned in advance, and how much of it was thrown together after they fired Chris Fountain, considering Tommy & Tina were a pretty solid couple. I really can't see what Tommy's role in the story would have been if he was still around. Really bad move firing him, IMO.

Well, I stopped watching it for over a year, and only started again last October, and the show has changed a lot. The day-to-day episodes are much more watchable and enjoyable. Characters motivations are clearer, stories have better aftermaths and reactions, and there is comedy that flows through the show, again, something that was basically annihilated in 2012.

I keep reading how people expect the show to be like the climax to Cameron's story every week, sometimes every episode, under appreciating the slower paced, more character centred episodes. I quite like the episodes that give the impression that more is happening than what actually is. There have been some really great scenes between Cain & Moira, and Cain has really developed a lot in the last few months. I love Moira and Vanessa's friendship, it has a genuine feeling about it. I think they've done a great job with Declan's downfall, and I'm liking Charity's revenge. I loved Leyla the first time round, so it's so awesome having her back, stirring the pot for David & Alicia, who I'm happy are finally married; throw in Priya's pregnancy and her developing eating disorder, and you have a lot of story scope. Jimmy & Nicola, Bernice, Diane, Zak, etc, are still great. Ashley has been saved - major kudos to Kate Oates for that - and new character Harriet is a breath of fresh air - she's very different, kinda off the wall, in some ways.

The show isn't perfect. The Bartons are OK, but not overly great (I'm disappointed Finn is gay, as it means Victoria gets overlooked again, at the chance of a story. Plus, the gangster stuff they brought to the farm was terrible, and Papa Barton is dull); Val is still vile and Maurel still suck. Dom & Gemma are spare parts - they seriously lack direction and purpose). Amy's exit was terrible - in fact that whole story with Amy trying to get custody of Kyle from Joanie, got old real fast, especially with how badly Amy, Kerry and Val treated and vilified that poor woman.

There's a lot to like and appreciate, especially considering the mess the show was in during 2012.

I'm hoping Belle doesn't get pregnant. That would be too predictable. Surely there must be other story options that doesn't result in a teen pregnancy? I really don't want any Maurel drama - I'd be happy to see them quietly slip away.

Quite a lot of foreign soaps were shown in Germany, however many of them ran only for a rather short time and none of the soaps are still on the air.

I tried to make a list... I'm not sure if it's 100 % accurate.

As the World Turns – Jung und leidenschaftlich (1992-1993 on RTL; 1993-1994 on VOX, 194 dubbed episodes from the 80s?)

The Bold and the Beautiful – Reich und Schön (1988-2011 on Tele5 > RTL > ZDF, from first episode on, last new US episode was from February 2011)

Days of our Lives – Zeit der Sehnsucht (1993-1995 on RTL; later on Premiere; 919 dubbed episodes from the late 80s)

General Hospital – General Hospital (1988-1991 on Sat.1, 884 dubbed episodes from the early 80s)

Guiding Light – Springfield Story (1986-1999 on RTL, 3278 dubbed episodes from 1979 to 1992)

One Life to Live – Liebe, Lüge, Leidenschaft (1989-1990 on Pro7, 357 dubbed episodes from 1980/1981)

Santa Barbara – California Clan (1988-1997 on RTL, full run, 2175 dubbed episodes)

Sunset Beach – Sunset Beach (1998-1999 on RTL, only the first year of the show was dubbed)

The Young and the Restless – Schatten der Leidenschaft (1993-1994 on Sat.1; later episodes from the mid 90s on Premiere; re-start on ZDF with US episodes from 2005/2006 from March to December 2008; in total 1718 dubbed episodes)

Of course we had all the primetime soaps of the last decades (and most American shows in general).

The only Aussie soap that was shown here was Neighbours (844 episodes from the late 80s). I don't think any British soap has ever aired in Germany.

We also had several South American and Mexican telenovelas, for example Rubí or Salomé.

Thanks for the breakdown of the Inception story. Doesn't sound as interesting as the Marc/Viktor/Sandra story, but Sandra sure had a lot of drama packed onto her. Cult stories can be quite boring, IMO; there isn't much scope to reinvent it, so once you've seen one cult story, you've generally seen them all. I think cult stories work best when they are super creepy.

Judging from that list, it appears that foreign soaps don't do all that well in Germany, bar B&B, which appears to be the exception running for nearly it's entirety. Shame it got dropped in 2011, after such an impressive run. Long time fans must have been gutted.

I notice that Germans translate some of the titles, but keep the original English titles for others, while changing the names completely for some. Like, B&B gets translated, but Sunset Beach is left with its original English title, but Santa Barbara and GL are given new names: California Clan and Springfield Story, respectfully. Why were they given new names instead of a German translation or just keeping their English name?

I always imagined Germany would have aired Home & Away at some point. Do you think the British soaps wouldn't appeal to a German audience? Is there much British TV broadcast in Germany?

Emmerdale 2014 Preview by Kate Oates.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s12/emmerdale/news/a541002/emmerdale-producer-hints-2014-drama-for-bartons-pollards-dingles.html

Returning characters!

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s12/emmerdale/news/a541004/emmerdale-producer-old-faces-will-return-in-2014.html

I've just Googled that Marc/Viktor/Sandra story and it sounds so OTT, campy fun. Let's see if I have this right: Viktor was Marc's evil schizophrenic identitical twin who assumed Marc's identity and hooked up with Sandra. He forced her marry him, held her hostage, only to die when the cops stormed the bunker. Sounds crazy fun, but if the writing wasn't good then it's a fail.

What was the Inception cult story about?

Does Germany air any of the UK and Oz soaps? Which US soaps are popular?

Mercy pushed Clare, and she just happened to fall into the path of Browning's on coming car. This is why Grace blames her. What I don't get is why she doesn't kill Mercy herself instead of getting other people to (try to) do it?

It started with Collinson for sure, who did a lot of damage. I think he was able to cover it all up better, if that makes sense. With SB, it's very obvious; the shift in tone and style suddenly becomes miserable and grey. Even without Collinson's damage, SB would still ruin the show.

It's true about Michelle, but she's even more nasty now, if you can believe it. ETA: And she's taking Liz down with her!

I forgot Dennis is leaving. I always thought he would be around for several years, or even for ever. I think it's a shame, even if his stories have sucked. I don't watch much of the show now, but when I last watched, Rita was acting nasty - seems like she's had the SB personality transplant treatment that he prescribe to the majority of Emmerdale characters. Liz and Michelle were also behaving nasty, too.

Carl, it did seem like JER was happy to write for black characters, considering he had several black characters front burner on Passions. But, I guess it may have been his writing style that saw the Carvers go nowhere, although it's possible he may have been stopped, like you suggest.

In 1993, Jonah Carver was being Batman, working under the cover of night and tying up criminals and shoving a pacifier in their mouths.

Later, Lexie went to medical school and I think referenced it as being Jonah's dream.

BIB: That sounds hilarious. Such a WTF?! sentence. It reads like it can't possibly be serious, but I know this is Days, so...

Thanks for explaining the story, but with that last sentence, does it mean the vigilantly-ism turned out to be a dream?

That wasn't Janine's exit. She has her trial to come.

The Janine/David dynamic was the highlight of the Christmas episode. This is one of the reasons why I love Janine, she's so rich in history, so fallible, so dysfunctional, so layered as a character; she will be a loss to the show, that's for sure.

Sindacco, you are so right about the poor treatment that Renee faced story wise. It baffles me that so few HW's couldn't see her potential. Some of those B-, C-stories should have made her front burner, like Theo's autism, and even Abe running for Mayor, but as a family, the Carvers were never viewed as anything more than supporting players; they never knew how to write for characters that weren't villains or the classic hero/heroine, unless it was crime/medical stories, then they knew how to utilize Abe and Lexie. Don't forget about Abe's blindness, another story that could have gone somewhere decent, but never did. I remember that time they seemed to flirt with the idea of Abe/Kate and Abe/Celeste, which was quite odd.

What was the Pacifier story? This must have been before my time.

I thought how Renee was treated under Sheffer was appalling. Didn't Lexie get locked in a tunnel or some such nonsense, only to come back being all agoraphobic or something? As time went on the Carvers became more isolated. Even now, they don't use Abe in any meaningful way. It made sense for Renee to no longer be interested in staying with Days, considering how mistreated she had been by management.

They wasted Paul on the teens and that damn tropical temptation story. I'm glad Nicole had some meaningful scenes with him, but really more could and should have been done with Paul/Brandon/Abe/Faye, especially after all that had been built up, and the deep history that they apparently shared. I guess by this time the momentum was gone and they lost interest.

Does anyone know what his least favorite story was?

He seemed happy with the show at this point but he was gone by the end of the year, wasn't he? I wonder what happened.

I wish they'd given Renee more to do on the show.

I've just read both the Lauren chat, and the one with Joe and Renee. Both were awesome reads, and all three really came across as down-to-earth, nice people. I quite like the way Joe answers some of those questions, like he holds some information back, even if that is a little annoying. Like, what was his least favourite storyline? I also liked what they said about Tanya Boyd/Celeste, as at the time, I felt she should and could have been used a lot more affectively; I certainly liked the appearances she made during that time.

Yeah, Renee deserved to have more to do, especially during the latter 2000s. I do think 2000-02 had a lot of plates spinning in the air, and not every story was fully realised. The whole Abe/Faye/Brandon/Larry thing could have been better developed, and I think Brandon being Abe's son should have been explored when it was fresh, before it lost momentum. Interesting comment about Stefano and Kate, which did eventually happen. Good memories for me as a viewer, considering the quality of the show would later sharply deteriorate.

BTW: Thanks Paul for posting those chats. Much appreciated.

This show is such a mess.

The Carmel story is terrible. It's the typical trash of female character discovers she can't (possibly) have kids, so randomly becomes obsessed with having one. I will give them credit for linking it to an STD, which beats the usual car crash/fall/accident that so often leaves soap women baron. I will also give them credit for finally writing Theresa to match her horrible personality.

The OTT, OMG! moments are eating the show up; the writing is so hollow, that all the stories have no aftermath, reaction or any decent motivation for happening. Everything is for shock factor.

The only story that has had any kind of depth and pathos has been Cindy and Dirk, and her pregnancy. I really hate how they've ended that relationship, b/c it was actually developing Cindy into a more humane character.

The show has too much Fraser, Grace, Trevor, violence and crime, kidnappings, Roscoes, and random hook-ups that go nowhere.

Carl, people seem to think the ratings will just increase overnight simply b/c EE has had a change of producer, forgetting that the majority of (offline) fans won't be aware of this change (and not really care) and will form an opinion based on the episodes that air. I think the quality has increased, but not a great deal. The day-to-day episodes can still be a little boring. I know it will take time for things to improve, and for stories to get going. People just want things instantly, and get bent out of shape when the ratings don't reflect the quality they (blindly) believe the show to have.

As for Danny Dyer, well, I don't think he's going to be a massive draw, considering his acting is mediocre and he seems a bit nervous - he's yet to relax into the role. Their first episodes were OK. There was the odd plot hole, like Mick (who has just left one pub to by another) apparently having zero contacts within the industry, so had to beg for favours from Kat & Alfie to get them some beer. All contrived just so K&A could come off looking like decent folk.

It is very rare. However, Neighbours has a bit of a history with lawsuits and disgruntled actors...

Shane Connor, who played the patriarch of the Scully family for 4 years, was fired from show effective immediately in 2003, with claims of bad behaviour on set. There was this thing about Janet Andrewartha (on screen wife Lyn Scully) complaining about him being aggressive; it was also alleged at the time that he would turn up late . Shane Connor then sued the show for unlawful dismissal. It transpired that he had a drug habit brought on by the death of a relative, to which he apologised to the cast and crew and sought help for his addiction. But, the hostility between him and Janet remained, with her continuing to complain about him, which was when he was fired, despite being clean. He won his case and was awarded over AU$200,000!

Then you have that interview with Alan Dale in 2007, who slammed the show for not allegedly paying the actors enough money from international sales during the years he was with the show (80s-early 90s). He felt ripped off, and hates the show to this very day, which is why he never partook in the 20th anniversary. But, he never sued the show, even though he felt so strongly about the situation.

I don't know of any lawsuits between UK actors/soaps either. Has there ever been similar cases with US soaps/actors?

Interesting article from Producer Jason Herbison on diversity, returnees and more Lucy.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s14/neighbours/news/a534674/neighbours-producer-jason-herbison-ethnic-diversity-is-important-to-us.html

FYI: In case anyone missed it, Kym Valentine settled her lawsuit. No word on whether that was a monetary settlement or simply a guarantee of a return. She has also left her management, too, at about the same time. It did feel like a very out of character thing for Kym to pursue, so maybe she was under pressure from her management to file the lawsuit, and she was still attending the Neighbours Nights, and who would do that if they hated the show. Either way, I hope Libby does return, as it would be a shame for this to end so messy after so may loyal years to the show.

I think Corrie will go the same way as Emmerdale did under SB, but maybe not quite as far.

I thought Hayley's story was great when it first began, but now it's been twisted into irrationality. The turning point was when they brought in Hayley's plot device friend, who just had to die under terrible circumstances that would instil fear and irrationality in Hayley. This story should have always been about death and the ending of a love story in Roy and Hayley, not be about assisted suicide and transgender fear. Hayley has always been her identity, not Harold, and for someone who is confident with who they are, who would have drawn a line under their childhood a long time ago, would not, IMO, feel so threatened by it that they would fear regressing back into Harold during the final stages of death. I think this sends out a negative message for other trans-people who may find themselves in this terrible situation.

I also think it's out of character for Hayley to place Roy in this situation. It's not helped by the fact they haven't made it clear if Hayley will end her own life while she still can, or if she expects Roy to do that for her before she regresses back into Harold; they've not even talked about the legal consequences, and that's such a big part of any euthanasia story. Besides all that, SB already told this story on Emmerdale with Aaron & Jackson, and we all know how "well" that went down.

Elsewhere, Tina is being shoved into every story under the sun, and her and Peter are growing awfully close... Terrible plot that is. Throw in Grace the Devil Child and manipulative Faye's bullying, unlikeable Owen and Anna, the dull David/Kylie/Nick/Leanne plot that has lost all momentum, and whatever else is going on, you have one very boring show being propped by Hayley's story.

ETA: Jfung, are you still enjoying the show?

WTF? That's kinda weird....I don't even know if I could buy that story. Person B is so much bigger and older than Person A.....

But rape is not about what size a person is. It's about power, control, dominance, aggression, and sometimes sexual (not in this case though). It's perfectly plausible that Person A could do this to Person B.

Sam Womack has heavily hinted that she will return permanently. She said she initially signed on for 6 months as she didn't know if the character would be well received (after the baby switch debacle), or if she would like the writing. She does like the writing and the stripping Ronnie back to who she was originally, so I can see her extending her contract.

Apparently, Pam just wanted some time off (like she used to every now and again), but they told her they'll kill her off instead. She was shocked and very upset by it. I still don't understand what warranted such a decision, or how BK thought killing off Pat would be a great idea. I noticed they spun it in the media as if it was Pam's decision, probably so they could avoid any backlash.

Carol is currently dating Masood, and apparently, they are in love. Now David is back, and a triangle ensues.

I think people (well, onliners) hail DTC has someone who will restore the show to its former glory. Whatever that means. I think poor LN will be remembered for haemorrhaging viewers, instead of partially fixing the show. She's redeemed Kat, brought back a character-driven feel to the storytelling, fixed the horrid sets that BK designed, and injected a community vibe back into the show. Granted, she's made some terrible mistakes a long the way, like not picking up on promising story beats, or certain couple potential, and allowing certain characters, like Sharon, to basically rot. But, she did inherit the show in a very bad way from BK, who unnecessarily dismantled it. When people think of DTC, they think about Syed's sexuality, Stacey's bipolar, Ronnie & Roxy, and other big stories and characters of that time. They forget about Tanya burying Max alive, Lauren mowing Max down, Archie raping Stacey, Archie's murder mystery, the cartoon-ish Janine, Sam Mitchell's return and her silly 'who's the daddy?' story...

Good you should mention Cora, as she's been MIA for months. The last time she was mentioned was during a throwaway line about her "being away". Not even something specific like, she's visiting Tanya.

It's not very good that she's missed a lot of important stuff that she should have been used for. They've not developed the Cora/Ava relationship at all, and really, they should have progressed in some direction at the same time Ava/Sam/Dexter have bonded and become a proper family. She's not been around to comfort/support Lauren and Abi and battle Kirsty while Max has been wrongly imprisoned.

Now, Sam & Ava are leaving, and apparently that was always planned (I don't buy that for a second; more like DTC is reacting to negative fan feedback), but they aren't taking Dexter with them. Why the hell not? I guess he'll be used to give Cora some extra purpose. I think it's a shame they've axed Ava, as she could have been rebooted. But then, without Tanya and Sam, she doesn't have much purpose being in the show. Obviously, there is still Cora, but that link doesn't feel enough

I do wonder why Fatboy still exists now that Poppy is going. I think they should leave together, as he really doesn't have any purpose these days.

I think there are certain characters DTC won't get rid off b/c he created them: Ronnie & Roxy, Masood & Tamwar, Shirley, The Brannings. And obviously Dot, Ian and the Mitchells.

Carl, did you read about what Barbara Windsor said about Pat's exit, and how it wasn't Pam St. Clement's decision to leave? What did you think about that?

I liked AJ, too, when he first arrived, but he's done nada since. He's been with the show for 2 years and has never had a story, and he's barely been a supporting player in other people's stories. He's been criminally wasted. It feels like they didn't have anything mapped out for him at all.

Kirsty and Carl have been terrible additions... well, maybe not totally terrible, but they never should have been created in the first place.

Poppy had potential, but again, yet another character they didn't know what to do with.

Refining the show can only be a positive thing.

ETA:

Breaking News: Ava and Sam are leaving, too.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s2/eastenders/news/a518114/eastenders-exits-for-sam-james-ava-hartman.html

But WTF?! Dexter is staying!

So glad you posted that link, Bright Eyes. If there's one interview you read today, then make it that one.

I never bought the theories that Menik (Priya) left the show due to her pregnancy (which as it turns out was just a coincidence), so it's nice to finally see it confirmed that she was indeed fired, just like Sachin (Ajay), Coco (Rani), Alin Sumawarta (Vanessa) and Scott Major (Lucas). I think they've all been treated appallingly, and Ajay and Rani's exits were offensive. Going back to India, when the characters are Australian born and bread was insulting, made worse by writing that sweeps them under the carpet. Poor Scott Major even had to fund his own leaving party - a guy who has been with them for 5 years! Disgraceful.

Citing reasons like budget constraints and lack of storylines is again offensive to the actors and the viewers. Everyone knows they had a $1 million budget increase, hired two new families (which suck for the most part), and if they can't write for 4 characters who have been with the show for a year, then they have no business calling themselves writers.

And then there is Hudson, Chris' new boyfriend, who he actually has chemistry with and is a likeable character, is also not being made permanent, and is getting a negative exit.

Institutionalised racism. And it all leaves a very bad taste in the mouth.