Ännu en kommentar från Colin

Om det är jobbigt med engelskan så använd google-översättning, då brukar man få lite koll på vad som skrivs.
 
As you reach the end of 2010, and the UK reaches the 40th birthday, it seems an ideal time to address people’s concerns about the direction HTG is heading in, but I’ll come to that in a bit.
 
Firstly I shall address Erik’s point asking how the other major British soaps, Coronation Street and EastEnders have changed compared to Emmerdale. The short answer is, nowhere near as much. Afternoon TV was introduced in 1972, and Emmerdale Farm was created as a serial to fill up some of these new timeslots. It focused almost entirely around the Sugden family and the farm they lived and worked on. Most other characters were either related to the Sugdens, or their stories involved the Sugdens in some way. Or they worked at the Woolpack! As the show moved into “primetime” and became more of a soap its focus gradually changed  to being about the village, although the Sugdens were still the main family until 1989 when “Farm” was dropped from the title and the Tate family was introduced. Emmerdale’s long term future was secured when the plane crash in December 1993 made people realise that there was now more to the show than farming! Three years later a third weekly episode was added and plans to build a purpose built village had been made! The basic premise of Emmerdale I would say has stayed the same since the name change. As the other two soaps were never about one single family, the changes from their beginnings until now have not been as big. EastEnders, in particular has always been known for its sensational storylines. The very first scene was of an old man found dying in his house. By the end of the episode it was reported that he had died – murdered. The popularity of EastEnders is partly responsible for the modernisation of the other soaps.
 
Erik made comparisons to Midsomer Murders. It’s worth noting that the first murder happened in 1973, and there was another in 1986. Yes, they happen more frequently now, but that is partly because it is shown six times a week! More people tuned in to find out who would kill Mark Wylde than for any other episode since 2005, so there is obviously an interest for this kind of story. Yes, a lot happens in a small village, but that is equally true of Coronation Street, which covers an even smaller area! In that respect you just have to imagine Emmerdale is just a very unlucky place to live (and wonder why people still move there!)! As for how much Eric Pollard has changed, I think you’ll get a good idea of that by watching the video links I provided…
 
As for the future, I have often read comments complaining that the show is full of depressing storylines, and when is there going to be something more cheerful? I think it only fair that I be honest and warn you that if you feel like that now, it’s probably only going to get worse. All the time the likes of, for example, Bob and Val are in the show (and I can offer no guarantees that they are still there), there will always be humour, but on the whole I believe there is even less humour now in 2012 than there was in 2010. It still has humour of course, but it seems to have got ever more serious. As you will obviously know, Zak has mainly been used in the past for comicial stories, but even Steve Halliwell admitted recentlythat “our current producer Stuart [Blackburn] is very keen on making it serious drama”. It has to be said that Stuart Blackburn’s version of Emmerdale has divided opinion. Many have been very outspoken about their dislike for his storylines and have said they feel characters have undergone “personality transplants”, but it’s possible that those who dislike his work are just more vocal, and that perhaps the “silent majority” are happy with Emmerdale. Ratings have fallen this year, but they are not as bad as they were around 4 years ago.
 
There was good news last week for those of us who don’t like Stuart Blackburn’s story ideas – he is leaving Emmerdale in the new year. Curiously, though many have been waiting expectantly for ITV to sack him, he is actually taking over as Coronation Street’s producer, which is generally thought of as a promotion. His successor will be Kate Oates (who at your pace recently became a storyliner, and then took over from Stuart as Story Editor). You are only just over 560 episodes behind the UK now so in theory you might be able to see the 40th birthday episodes late next year. As I mentioned before there is going to be a live episode which will be shown on Wednesday night, though (if you know how to), I wouldn’t recommend taking a look at it unless you’re not at all bothered by spoilers! We’ve been given hints of what to expect from this weeks’ episodes and even many of those unimpressed with the storylines that have been building to this point are quite excited by what might happen on Wednesday.
 
So in summary, the future brings good and bad news, but it’s obviously up to you to decide whether to call it a day or to judge for yourselves…

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Postat av: Erik

Thanks, Colin. Very interesting.

2012-10-16 @ 13:16:52

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