Coronation Street: Discussion Thread

[JamesF]

My problem with Corrie these days is that it's taken a leaf out of the book of American soaps when it comes to certain characters.

People like Michelle, Graeme, Tina, Nick, Izzy, Becky...they all may have some potential but the producers are obsessed with ramming them down our throats at the expense of genuine ensemble stories.

Perhaps it's a problem of the cast bloating and the budget shrinking but a good comparison is the Tony Gordon explosion and Maya's rampage. In the latter, everyone on the street was out to see it. With the former, it was only a select group of buzz characters and even most of them were kept indoors. Why did Eileen's house have the lights on when everywhere else was cordoned off for example? And of course it HAD to be Becky who led the lynch mob. I get it. She's got a heart of gold.

[DRW50]

I don't think they've rammed Izzy down our throats yet -- her entrance has been fairly low-key, although that may change with her so far dull father arriving. I 100% agree with you on the others. Corrie has had a problem with overusing some characters for ages now. I guess it must have become much more serious when Steve Frost was producer. He gave David WAY too much exposure (I think Kim Crowther's handling of David has been one of her few strong points as producer), and way too much for Sean and for the Connors. He and then early Crowther both made Michelle just about unbearable. Then Crowther did the same to Becky.

It's amazing to me that Michelle is still talked up as a big star of the show because the woman hasn't had a storyline in almost a year and a half! I know she has had some personal tragedies but when you have no storyline, beyond some random appearances from a weird roofer who then disappears almost as soon as he arrives, then the show clearly has no idea what to do with you.

Edited June 14, 2010 by CarlD2

[DRW50]

I just love Mary, I could watch an entire episode about her and her nutty sincerity. Now they're branching her out, which is even better. The Leia hairdo and the bizarre conversation with Ciaran (who finally has a purpose when he's acting as a straight man), just brilliant. Mary represents Corrie's spirit -- you can easily see Ena Sharples and Martha Longhurst sitting in the snug and clucking their tongues about her latest antics.

[All My Shadows]

Total agreement. She had me rolling all through Monday's episode. My favorite part was when she got bitchy with Tina at the Kabin. Too funny. I'd love it if they very, very briefly "went there" with her and Ciaran just for the hell of it. Norris would be so f'n jealous (of Mary).

Gail and Tina's reconciliation has been beautifully acted by Helen and Michelle. I just keep waiting for a hug, and I don't think we've gotten it yet.

I wish Peter would have just clocked Nick. I do think he's overreacting with the Leanne stuff (probably because TPTB need a reason for him to start drinking again), but come on, it's Nick. Do everyone a favor and knock his block off. I also just have to say that I love the kid who plays Simon.

Chesney's secret was such a let-down. It would have been much more interesting if he was selling drugs or himself. Fiz shrieking and screeching about doing the right thing makes me deaf because as long as her and John have this "furniture" thing going on, I think she needs to STFU.

I didn't post much about last week, but I did watch it all the way through. Alison King definitely got a fan out of me, that's for sure. Carla was the most interesting thing about the whole storyline, followed closely by Tony and then Maria, who I still think is an utter pimp for just walking out of the factory at gunpoint like it was nothing. The aftermath was kind of a snooze, which made Rita's line on Monday about how she "slept through the whole thing" even more hilarious. A f'n factory exploded in her backyard and she "slept through the whole thing." Sure. She was probably up watching Mavis on "dinnerladies" reruns.

[DRW50]

I agree that Chensey's secret wasn't worth the buildup. I actually like the idea of Chesney going all Eastenders and selling in a market square, as his family is full of grifters and hustlers and at least he is using that for good. It's just that making it seem very serious, then having Fiz shriek at him for what seemed to be an entire episode, makes the whole thing more ridiculous. I guess this is a way of getting out of having Chesney actually go away to university, which is something most soaps try to avoid. A lot of fans tend to say that Chesney is dead weight and was only interesting when he was a child but compared to most of the actors in his age range on Hollyoaks and Eastenders I think he's OK. He's not that great at soppy emotional stuff but the rest, like sarcasm and anger, he does well. For a show which is often derided as being for "old people", I think Corrie tends to get their teenagers right more often than Eastenders does. Perhaps that's why Corrie's young demos aren't really that different from EE's.

I would like to see Peter punch Nick in every episode. The endless smugness is just unbearable. I get especially annoyed when I read descriptions for the episodes which talk about how Natasha (who is rapidly losing any interesting character traits) is threatened by the closeness or chemistry between Nick and Leanne. Leanne acts like she can barely tolerate him and Nick just gives her that weird grimace and squint he gives everyone.

I do like Simon but I am tired of people talking about their serious personal problems RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM. It doesn't make me laugh or whatever it's supposed to do, it just disturbs me.

I don't mind Tina and Jason breaking up but why can't they break up because of their own problems, not because she wants Graeme? The scene where she was supposed to be relaxed around Graeme, frankly, it came across as a person spending time with her slightly slow friend.

Ciaran is great as the straight man or the guy who pokes fun at other people. The stuff with Mary was brilliant and the moments where he kept teasing Michelle over her school photos and her mother was the first time I've enjoyed Michelle since the time Ryan called her a slut.

What did you think of the scenes with John and his teacher friend finding out about his Colin ruse? This story doesn't interest me but the friend, who seems very desperate, is interesting.

Edited June 17, 2010 by CarlD2

[All My Shadows]

I did like the whole EE vibe of the street market, so if they can make that work long term, that'll be cool. He could even meet a girl there or what-not. Lord knows the pickings are slim for poor Ches on the Street.

Yes, that's one thing I do not get. On all soaps, no matter what country, the characters always go apeshit when it comes to "protecting" the kids, but they have problem discussing all of their drama around the little ones. It reminds me of how Clare and Max argue in front of Tom on the Hollyoaks episodes I'm currently watching.

I'm guessing there was a Wednesday episode this week? I've only seen through Monday. I actually thought they'd go light on the eps this week because of the World Cup stuff. Hopefully I can get to yesterday's show tonight. Though, after reading what's gonna go on with Tina, Jason, and Graeme, I may try to put it off. Dumping Jason for Graeme?

He looks and acts like an embarrassing father, which I guess makes sense for Tina. But damn, Gazey's five years older than Michelle. He's even older than Jen McAlpine. And he wears every single year on the front of his shirt.

[DRW50]

Chesney and a girl -

The thing that annoys me most with Simon and the talking is that over and over with Amy, the people around her usually try not to talk in front of her or at least say "We shouldn't talk in front of her." They never do that with Simon. He's written like an adult most of the time.

That's brilliant

I overstated the stuff with those 3. It didn't take up much of the episode.

I think what annoys me most is the implication that Graeme just somehow deserves her as a love interest because he was nice to her. Honestly, that should be about friendship, not rewarded with a hookup. Sometimes friends make hellish lovers.

[All My Shadows]

Exactly! We still live in a world where people debate whether or not two straight people of the opposite sex can be friends without there being a hanging cloud of pressure to couple up. Of course, Graeme wants Tina. He's sex-obsessed. Graeme's done nothing to make Tina want him in return. Much worse, when she was in full anti-Gail mode, Graeme rode the fence better than anyone I know. He hung banners for David, discussed legal strategies with David, fixed breakfast for Nick and David on court days, etc. I don't remember him ever really taking the time to talk to Tina about why she felt so much hostility towards Gail. All of their scenes revolved around him making her eat.

Speaking of food, and I am SO GLAD I just remembered this. If I wasn't already hating Nick, I would have started when he said that Betty's hotpot was like "rotting fox." I so wish she could have been there to offer a rebuttal.

[DRW50]

I forgot there was an episode last night.

I'm glad that they haven't had (so far) Jason as an ass to try to make us root more for Tina/Graeme, and I'm glad they had those nice scenes between Tina and Rita (I thought their relationship had been forgotten), but does anyone else think Tina's reaction has been way beyond a relationship ending? She claims that this isn't about her father but the sudden weeping and the sitting in dark rooms is not something she has done in the past because of a breakup. I think she is too traumatized to be with anyone.

They seem to be trying to turn Nick into the new Mike Baldwin. First he talked about how he used to run errands for Mike and sat in his chair. Then we have Carla being eased out of the factory and Nick being in charge. Probably the most blatant was when Julie was calling him "Mr. T" (I could swear some of the old factory girls used to call Mike "Mr. B"), and when Nick called them "girls" and Izzy said they were women, and Nick made a sarcastic comment back to her. That was all very Mike Baldwin. I guess it makes sense to write him this way but I don't think Ben Price has Johnny Briggs's charm, and I also think the world has changed so much that a Mike Baldwin character doesn't work as well today. Even Mike himself didn't work that well in his last 5 or 10 years on the show. Most of his stories ended up being about long lost children.

That weird woman who is all over John Stape, it was funny to hear her call him "cock." That's what Bet Lynch and Hilda Ogden used to say all the time. I haven't heard anyone on the show say it in ages.

Edited June 18, 2010 by CarlD2

[All My Shadows]

Finally got to Wednesday's episode. Sort of a boring, filler-ish episode.

Thankfully, the Tina/Graeme stuff really wasn't that important. I still don't get why Tina's head would ever turn from Jason to Graeme though. I don't get it. It was nice to see a Jason/Eileen scene, though. I love the Grimshaw fam and wish they'd just bring Todd back so that it could be more than just two people plus Julie when they remember to include her.

I'm failing to see why Nick has to be in every episode. I was going to try to keep a running episode count for this month just for statistical purposes, but after all of the pre-emptions, I didn't feel up to it. I'm sure Nick's appeared in at least 90% of this month's so far, though, if not a full hundred. It's too much. Any other character wouldn't have been involved in both Gail's trial and the aftermath of the Tony drama and the ongoing stuff with Natasha.

The John stuff is kinda bizarre. Whose mind works that fast? That she can comprehend the scheme he's running, decide to keep it a secret, then use it as blackmail to get him to cheat on his wife? I'm a little interested in it though because she looks like she can be a little fun in a crazy sort of way. John and Fiz are still on my sh!t list, though, for being so stupid. What if that woman didn't want to jump his bones and just flat out told everyone? Stupid people.

I didn't know there was going to be a Thursday episode. Jeez. So next week is only going to have one episode on Thursday and that's it, right?

Edited June 19, 2010 by All My Shadows

[DRW50]

AMS, these are the schedules for upcoming episodes, courtesy of Digital Spy:

Sunday, June 20

7.30pm - Coronation Street (30 mins)

Thursday, June 24

8.30pm - Coronation Street (30 mins)

It's all so bewildering. I was like WTF when I realized there was a Thursday episode, as for some reason I thought there wouldn't be. And then there's another one this Sunday but no others until Thursday.

I hope that when the World Cup is over they might think of not going back to having the gap from Monday to Thursday.

Edited June 19, 2010 by CarlD2

[All My Shadows]

I'm in total agreement with you on the Monday-Thursday gap. Airing the show MWF with the short episode in the middle was perfectly fine and symmetrical. The way it is now, it's like the show has two weekends to deal with in a week and all of the other soaps just have the one.

[DRW50]

By the way, AMS, you've probably already seen this, but while they haven't gotten to Nick yet, Corripedia has a full list of appearances for a lot of the characters.

http://coronationstreet.wikia.com/wiki/Category:List_of_main_character_appearances

[DRW50]

So Jean Alexander isn't returning. I didn't think she would. I hope they won't decide there's no point in bringing anyone back. I think there are still some slightly lesser known but still interesting characters who could return.

[BadBoy93]

Bet Lynch

Shelley Unwin

Sarah Louise Platt

Violet Wilson

Danny Baldwin

Candice Stowe

Martin Platt

Curly Watts

Mad Maya

I`ll think of more later

...oh yeah The Queen.