Soap Operas

1. AS Media Studies Soap Operas

2. Soap Operas • Open-ended, multi-strand serial forms. • First developed on US radio in the 1930s. • Owes its name to the sponsorship of these programmes by major detergent companies. • Commercial television was keen to sell the promise of audiences’ regular attention to advertisers.

3. The hope is that audiences will stay tuned into the same channel all night. • Attractive to producers as cost can be kept down – narrative focused on one or two key locations. • A wide appeal is generated through the several storylines that happen simultaneously.

4. Codes and Conventions • Long running serials concerned with real life. • Serial – storylines are carried over from one episode to the next. • The passage of time seems to reflect real time – characters age as we do. • Broadcast on a regular time slot • Viewers are in an omniscient position – we always know more than the characters and draw pleasure from this. • A wide range of characters and ‘stock’ types • No beginning or end – plots are not linear

5. Soaps often have controversial themes in order to aggregate audiences. • October 2002 – Eastenders – child abuse (Kat and Zoe). • Blanket publicity and coverage of this storyline on the day of this episode stressed the care taken by the programme makers with this topic.

6. Open narrative • There is no sense of ending • Lots of characters and a multi strand plot • Characters not usually in a marked hierarchy (main character, cameo etc) but shift in and out of prominence depending on storyline. • Characters also shift in and out of narrative function – this week’s hero might be next week’s villain.

7. Open narrative • Time usually corresponds to real time within episode although it is compressed. • Episodes may make reference to real-life events going on at the same time such as Christmas. • Audiences are expected to have knowledge of long running soaps – • magazines and the press often speculate about actors’ contracts and the fate of characters.

8. Character typology • Certain character types consistently recur to the point where they become stereotypes. • Eg. Grumpy old people and angst ridden teens are stock characters.

9. Pros and Cons • Soaps have advantages over more prestigious drama forms… • They are long running • Long term consequences of social issues (rape, unemployment, abuse etc) can be dealt with and resurface with the character over many years – just like real life. • However, there are also limitations… • Are they really realistic? • When have you ever heard characters in a soap discussing political campaigns/using bad language?

10. Gender Consumption • Studies by Gray (1992) suggest women prefer open ended narratives like soap operas. • Strong female lead characters • They focus on the private, domestic sphere • They deal with personal relationships • They contain an element of fantasy/escapism

11. Utopian Solution • Entertainment genres are popular because of their fantasy element and the escapism they provide from daily routines and problems. • R. Dyer (1977) • Soaps are frequently derided by critics for being full of clichés and stereotypes. • Soap viewers are often assumed to be only women, and in particular working-class housewives. • Soap viewers are characterized unfairly as naive escapists. • Given the great popularity of the genre, such criticisms can be seen as culturally elitist.

12. Coronation Street • A Granada production. • First shown in 1960, it is the longest-running British TV soap opera. • It is watched by about one-third of the British population • More women than men, by older people, and especially by people from lower socio-economic groups . • It offers a nostalgic perspective on northern industrial working-class life as group-centred, matriarchal, commonsensical and blunt but also warm-hearted.

13. Coronation Street • It includes strong and positive middle-aged females. • It deals with personal events. • Work away from the home is seldom shown. • People meet in shops and the pub to comment on events. • Life seems to revolve around finding a partner. • The introduction of outsiders to the community is usually presented as a threat.

14. Coronation Street • It has been criticized for the minimal role of non-whites. • Viewing ratings dropped when an attempt was made to introduce more contemporary themes. • There was then a move towards a lighter, more humorous style. • Rival soaps have led to some attempts to update the style. • However, it has been criticized as having grown old with its audience. • The camerawork and editing is very conventional. • Cutting is largely motivated by dialogue.

15. Title sequence • With the programme's move into high definition, a new title sequence was commissioned. • Its debut was on the internet on 27th May2010 on the Coronation Street pages of ITV.com. • This sequence incorporated shots of Manchester City Centre, including the Castlefield basin, before dissolving into shots of Coronation Street.

16. Coronation Street's executive producer Kieran Roberts • "In our new titles Coronation Street remains the star but we see it as part of a busy, modern Manchester through our opening shots. The overall feel is livelier, more intimate and more colourful and they look stunning, especially in high definition. We think the new titles have a classy, classic, timeless quality but at the same time feel vibrant, fresh and very contemporary. That combination is exactly what we strive for in the show itself."

17. Official Corrie Twitter • http://www.itv.com/soaps/coronationstreet/