All Soaps:- If English Producers and Writers would write for....

[Andrew]

If English Producers and Writers would write for American soaps, but keep the american cast, it would be so much better soaps, what would be the biggest differences?

I think:-

Less with the LoveScenes

More Older CastMembers having storylines.

More Realistic Stories.

More Strong women Characters on the soaps.

More normal looking people on soaps.

What do you all think here about this!?.....

[YRBB]

Oh, everything would change immensely. The stories would be extemely more realistic, the dialogue probably better and the pace faster. But I'm not sure it would be a good match. How do you go writing for a street full of houses to corporate takeovers, mansions and stuff? Especially in a one-hour format. Brits are very anal about the stories being "every day", and nothing like secret twins, glitz and glamor like US soaps do.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I generally prefer UK soap storytelling to that of its US counterpart. However, it just wouldn't work on American soaps IMO. UK soaps tend to be more gritty in the aspect of realism, whereas US soaps tend to be embedded in the world of fantasy. The closest an American soap ever came to being comparable with a UK soap was Claire Labine and Paul Avila Mayer's Ryan's Hope, which although has some standard American soap qualities, focused a lot on realism, a middle-class family, and everyday situations.

UK soaps are written a lot differently than US soaps as well. Unlike US soaps, UK soaps don't have a standard Head Writer. They have collaborative writing teams where any writer can pitch a story, that way there's more balance. UK soaps also have what they term as "story producers" who help chart the overall progression of storylines. In many ways, I would hope a US soap picks up on this format. UK soaps just have more coherence, better dialogue, and a tighter execution than US soaps.

UK soaps also do a MUCH BETTER job of using their overall cast, almost no one is ever fully backburned.

[dannigold]

These are the Eastenders end credits from the BBC. Our soaps should follow their production style and have series consultants, story producers and story editors

Cating - Julia Crampsie and Steven Moore

Production Manager - Richard Moat

Series story scheduler - Kayla Miller

Programme scheduler - Natalie Wragg

Company manager - Carolyn Weinstein

Series story producer - Dominic Treadwell Collins

Series story editor - Michael Dawson

Senior story editor - Alexander Lamb

Script Superivsor - Hilary Charles

Script producer - Sharon Batten

Script editor - Megan Herbert

Scriptwriters - Sarah Phelps,

Simon Ashdown,

Rob Gittins,

Christopher Reason,

Chris Parker,

Colin Wyatt,

Julia Gilbert,

Jeff Povey,

Deborah Cook,

Nicholas Hicks-Beach,

James Payne,

Richard Davidson

Mark Hiser and Bridget Colgan

Series Consultant - Simon Ashdown

Series Producer - Lorrainne Newman

Executive producer - Diederick Santer

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Someone mentioned this on another board, but UK soaps are more of a "writer's medium" than US soaps. That's partly why I think UK soaps are so much more emotionally compelling and coherent than US soaps. I too would really love to see US soaps adopt a similar storytelling model as their UK counterparts, but it'll never happen.

[UKBoi]

UK soaps are just as inconsistent quality wise as their US counterparts, but are seen by foreign viewers as classier due to the acting and production values. Emmerdale, for example, is a shadow of its former self and a terrible show to watch right now...too many dull plots that dont interlink and dont seem to be going anywhere.

EastEnders is on a creative roll right now but it isnt always as compelling, and Coronation Street seems to be decreasing in quality, while Hollyoaks has improved beyond belief. It's a case of the grass always being greener on the other side, but we're pretty much on a level playing field to be honest.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Emmerdale has always been a bit out there for me, and out of all the UK soaps, I find it to be the most trashiest and sensationalistic.

Glad to hear EastEnders is improving. I gave the show up a while ago, it was just getting too bad and contrived. EastEnders hasn't truly been EastEnders to me since late 2003.

Coronation Street has always been my favorite, though things appear to be getting a bit BLAH lately.

I used to loathe Hollyoaks, but when I gave the show much more notice in 2006, it became one of my favourites. Bryan Kirkwood totally whipped that show into shape. There's a number of rumours going around that his old stomping grounds, Corrie, is trying to lure him away from Hollyoaks, btw...

But overall, I still find the scripting and execution of UK soaps (OK, not Emmerdale) more superior to what US soaps have been getting this decade.

[JamesF]

Setting aside the production issue and keeping it purely on writing, I do see what UKBoi is saying. But I think the major difference is that even when they do crappy stories, the UK soaps still grant viewers with more intelligence. The pace is better, there's less exposition and a whole lot more subtext.

Touching on Emmerdale I usually loathe everything about the show but I caught the episode where Laurel's baby died and it was one of the most heart rending things I've ever seen on TV. Excellent writing and acting. No US soap would touch that kind of raw story these days and it's a shame.

[DaytimeFan]

I do think UK soaps are generally superior to American soaps. But they are very different animals. I do not think a UK soap writer would have a chance in hell of succeeding in the US with British writing.

UK soaps give their audiences a lot more credit, look better, have better acting etc. However, the genre itself has a lot more respect than it does in the US. Soap actors in the UK are on par with primetime TV stars in the US. It's just different.

I've never been partial to one soap, I find them all really enjoyable. I like Emmerdale, it's trashier yes, but that's sort of why I like it! Anything with the Kings (especially Rosemary and Sadie) was fine by me. The Tom King murder, bring it on!

[Sylph]

What about Corrie's credits? I know that some of the scriptwriters are:

Damon Rochefort

Chris Fewtrell

Martin Allen

David Lane

Simon Crowther

Catherine Hayes

Peter Whalley

Stephen Bennett

Julie Jones

Jayne Hollinson

Debbie Oates

Jan McVerry

Carmel Morgan

Mark Wadlow

Michael Kerrigan

Jonathan Harvey

Joe Turner

Lucy Gannon

Who are the story editors & producers? Script editors?

[dannigold]

Corrie credits

Created by Tony Warren

Head of production - Claire Winnick

Script supervisor - Helen Moran

Script Editors - Kathryn Pugsley and Sarah Mann

Story editor - Stuart Blackburn

Story Associates - Martin Sterling, John Kerr, Kate Rogerson, Louise Sutton, Iain MacLeod

Executive Producer - Kieran Roberts

Producer - Steve Frost

[Sylph]

Thank you, danni!!!

[All My Shadows]

Eh, I still prefer my US soaps. They're what I grew up with, they're what I know and love. Sometimes the sentimental attachment to soaps is almost equal in importance to the personal enjoyment factor. Even when it absolutely sucks (which is usually all the time now), I still get a kick out of turning on ATWT and watching "the stories." Granted, it's really not the ATWT me and my grandmother watched in the 1990s (and definitely not the ATWT of its golden age), but to know that it's still somewhat kinda sorta putting itself out there as the same show...kinda makes me feel good.

And plus, I'd rather not have the UK producer and writers come to American soaps. We already complain about people who don't know the histories of the shows, and I'm sure that the best writer from "EastEnders" or "Coronation Street" wouldn't know the first thing about anything at any of the US soaps. They'd have to do at least a year's worth of intense research and "schooling" before they could get behind the reigns, I think, but I think that's necessary for *any* writer who doesn't have prior experience at the show.

[JackPeyton]

I think that no doubt non-US soaps are ten (or more) time better than US soaps for various reasons. overseas they are not a dirty little secret, they dont use one HW, the production is better, and a lot of othe things.

that said, uk or producers from other places could mnever do a us soap. well at leats not any current ones. maybe a new one would work.

and yues soaps other places do suck from time to time and fail here and there, but when they do, from what i have seen, it isnt the entire show. it is just a storyline or two for the most part.

[Andrew]

We think not alike, i cant stand the character of Sadie King, the BIGGEST BITCH OF all Bitches, ever, she is to much.

How long have you watched Emmerdale, i preferred if we take the bitches, as you mentioned Sadie, i preffered Viv, Steph, or Betty.

When Steph pushed her old pal, Fat Shelly down the stairs and tied her up in the basement while drugging her father upstairs was really scary, and when Darren " Daz " tried to help Alan, her father, she chased him, when he hied in the shower curtain, and crazy Steph, with her lovely voice, looked after him, was very much like Psycho.

Did you watch Crazy Steph Stokes, played by actress Lorraine Chase?.....