bhowells

Do forum members think that Uk soaps were better in the days when they were just transmitted twice a week?

When I stopped watching Coronation Street in 1986 it was only going out twice a week and that was enough, I hate this business of two episodes going out on Mondays and Fridays.

iIt must be a great strain on the writers to have to produce so many episodes a week.

I know times have changed but I loved the earlier days when life in Wetherfield was a lot gentler , it was character driven rather than plot driven.

Another thing I hate about it today is when they have those big storylines like the Tracey Barlow one last year, they have those awful specially made trailers where the production values look like a film.

I cant see me ever watching it on a regular basis again ever. I would watch it if they killed Gail Platt off, she is such a misery.

Steve Crook

Different sponsors pay different amounts. It's like advertising.
They say that only 50% of any advertising works. The trouble is that nobody knows which 50% works

The filler ads will annoy some people, but they'll just be ignored by most people and will lodge in the brains of a few people.

Steve

pitchfork

I do not mind "sponsors" if it means we get a quality production. Some of the ads can be quite witty though.
What does irritate me is the biased comments in some progs ie Heartbeat,Midsommer Murders etc about farming,hunting and other topics. They may be throw away lines but they come across as cheap.
I remember " Play for Today" or similar as a kid on BBC I think.
Would that sort of Drama fit in a modern schedule?

donna

I dont watch TV nearly as much as I used to , tend to watch DVD s more , only making exceptions for documentaries, animal programmes, history and such, Im not by any means boring or smart, but the telly is quite dire, nothing to look forward to like some of the good series that used to be on, or are our heads getting too sophisticated now , I doubt it. as can still laugh at Dads Army, a truly wonderful comedy with the best timing ever.

samkydd

There were many fine one off plays in the 70s on Play For Today, Second City Firsts and similar series. Unfortunately nowadays programme makers either go for nostalgia; Life on Mars, Heartbeat etc or rely on copying what has gone before. David Copperfield, Pride and Prejudice etc have been remade so many times you begin to question the sanity of TV companies for wasting all that money which could be better spent on something new, but the accountants rule the roost and familiarity sells better than originality!

With all the schedules full of trash TV like reality programmes, stage-managed and cliche-riddled docusoaps, property development and celebrity chefs there hardly seems room any more for a peak time series of original drama. It was tried recently with the dramas about famous comedy stars, but it wasn't exactly ground breaking it was more like a tabloid expose.

I think the BBC is full of people who should be working for ITV, and it is as if they'd rather compete at the same gutter level than take a chance on bringing something new to the screens. But they get the licence money regardless so I cannot understand why they feel the need to lower their standards and let everybody down.

I can't see things improving and my tolerance level is at an all time low so I'll just stick to DVDs and video tapes, and of course that old fallback, a good book!

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

Fellwanderer

Way back at the beginning of this thread I was in agreement with Sam and I still am!

The schedules are cluttered up with complete rubbish - a plethora of reality shows, makeovers, carboot sales and nonentities.

The last new drama I watched was [obviously] The Invisibles - the next [again, obviously] will be Monday, Monday.

Will there be anything else new to tempt me? I doubt it.

Like Sam, I'll stick to my dvds and a good book.

Thank god for the occasional nugget of an old film that turns up.

All the best
FELL

A signature is no substitute for a life

scholes

I'm with Fell and Samkydd and so's my wife.

batman

Me too .... we rarely watch TV programmes (Mrs Bat more so than me) and stick to DVDs etc.

Don't miss out on a chance to win a rare film in Bat-Quiz 13 closing date - 31/8/8.

Steve Crook

Whether it's biased or not depends on your point of view.
It's very difficult for anyone to make any comment about farming or hunting without one side or the other claiming they are biased.

They usually hope to get an approximately equal number of complaints from both sides

Steve

earlb

We, sophisticated? - I DON'T THINK SO!! We get the TV we deserve. Just look in the TV magazines letters to see such rubbish - like " Well done ITV for the sparkling programme 'Knotted string and its thousand uses', we should have more entertaining programmes like this". Signed Mrs Elsie Cretin, British West Hartlepool.
With people like that, do we really deserve good programmes?
By the way , the letter is fictitious - just in case anyone's wondering.

I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous.

EHV_Emmetts

It's the same with me. Sometimes I go for months without watching any television.

I refuse to subscribe to 'Pork Pie' (Sky) on principle - however I have noticed ,whilst looking through the TV listings, that there is an awful lot of utter rubbish being transmitted. What really does surprise me is that people are perfectly willing to pay in excess of £50 per month for this diet of drivel.

Marky B

I thought that was just a local expression!
Ta Ta
Marky B

I once shot an elephant in my pyjamas - how he got in my pyjamas,I'll never know

earlb

I first heard that expression from Benny Hill doing his Victor Sylvester impression reading out a request and for some reason I love it. I guess it goes back to the days of '2 way family favourites' when they read out 'British Honduras' and the like.

I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous.

samkydd

I used to think Two Way Family Favourites was a radio show until I discovered Smirnoff!

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

Jackdaw

IIRC it's on the single 'Transistor Radio'.
There's a line which goes something like,"your love - is it still for me?", when the Sylvester- type announcer, who is doing a request show, interrupts," it's also for Mrs Doris Cretin of British West Hartlepool".
That was immediately adopted by all my mates!

There's also a part of that song which refers to the last-surviving human in the world, who in despair throws himself from a skyscraper, only to hear the telephone ring as he passes the seventh floor.