NationStates Jolt Archive

Recently, I've been watching some American TV serials. It struck me that the biggest difference between American and Asian serials is that American serials tend to DRAAAAAAAG on into eternity. For example, the Bold and the Beautiful is 18 years old.... Asian serials have actual stories that start, continue, and end. After that either there are sequels, or the entire story just stops there.

Why the difference???

I noticed that too. Like it takes a whole weekend for Ridge to get Brooke's bra off. A whole friggin WEEKEND! Gawd, it's just a bra, how hard can it be?

Australian soaps seem a little more fast-paced. Usually there will be a bunch of long storylines that go for months, with a few weekly storylines running concurrently, and a cliffhanger that more often than not has a rather disappointing ending come Monday. I don't know why they are different, but from what I've gathered, heaps of Aussie soap stars use Neighbours and Home&Away as springboards to bigger and better careers. They're youth-oriented soaps, so the star turnover is pretty quick. Seems the producers think adolescents have attention spans not dissimilar to goldfish.

We have other, adult-directed soaps, but even then, they're only on maybe 2 nights a week, so the episodal storyline has to begin and end within two episodes. Maybe US soaps with their adult market and their bigger budgets can spend a little more time padding out the story with tortuous pauses and freeze-frame glances. I'm only talking free to air tv, 'cause I'm too skint for Pay, so I'm unsure as to what soaps are available to make similar comparisons.

Coronation Street runs on ITV in the UK. It Has been running for 46 years. There is only one character left who was in the first ever show. It's a story of northern folk, living in Manchester....and it's still brilliant after all those years. In the UK it's an institution.....Na, Na, Na Naaaan, naaan, aaaaa......that's the start of the theme tune.
:D

For example, the Bold and the Beautiful is 18 years old....

A blink of an eye compared to Radio 4's The Archers* in the UK which has been running for over 55 years now, or ITV's Coronation Street now at 45 years old (still with one original cast member)...





* Dum-ti-dum Dee-dum-dee-dum.

Wow i thought this was Soups and Cereals first im slightly disapointed. :(

Fourr.....Fourty five years???? *gasps*

But doesn't the storyline just gets completely ridiculous? I mean, there must be excitement all the time to keep the audience. Taking The Bold and The Beautiful, the excitement is obviously incestuous relationships......

For a minute there, I was thinking this thread was going to be about bar soaps and breakfast cereals...

Fourr.....Fourty five years???? *gasps*

But doesn't the storyline just gets completely ridiculous? I mean, there must be excitement all the time to keep the audience. Taking The Bold and The Beautiful, the excitement is obviously incestuous relationships......

Its actually surprisingly well grounded, at least compared to some other soaps. However, when one takes the long view and looks at what all has happened to each character, then it starts to look somewhat ludicrous: frex,

Deirdre Barlow (formerly Deirdre Hunt/Langton/Rachid, played by Anne Kirkbride) third and current wife of Ken Barlow. Her first husband Ray Langton left her. Ken Barlow was her second. Her third husband, Samir Rachid, died in mysterious circumstances while on his way to donate a kidney to Deirdre's daughter Tracy (he died, so she got both kidneys). Deirdre and Ken reconciled after being divorced for over a decade, and remarried in 2005.

or

Kevin and Sally Webster (Michael Le Vell and Sally Whittaker), a hard- working garage mechanic and his pushy, ambitious wife. The couple has had many marital troubles, including Kevin's affair with Alison Wakefield (who he married after filing for divorce; Alison died less than a year after they tied the knot). Currently, Kevin and Sally are remarried. Sally has just ended an affair with her boss, which indirectly led to the murder of Tommy Harris, and will lead to further repercussions later.

Both summarys from Wikipedia. the secret is, i guess, to keep multiple storylines on the boil and to string out the resolution of each almost endlessly, so as to always have something of interest happening, without plunging one character from one life-changing situation to another week after week.

First of all, when you talk about serials in American entertainment it refers to 'chapter play' matinees for the thirties to the late fifties-fifteen minute movies that would play on Saturdays at movie theaters that would have 13 to 26 chapters in them. They would have beginings and endings. Things like Flash Gordon or Buck Rodgers (both starring Buster Crabbe) or Radar Men of the Moon.

Soaps are continious narratives, mostly to sell soap (well, not that specific anymore). It's habitual viewing that is being fostered, checking in on your dramatic friends lives. From a (completely blanked on a term right now) programer perspective you want to foster the habit of watching by providing a story that doesn't end. There is no way to step off the merry go round if it doesn't stop. In a sense, this is more honest story telling-peoples lives don't simply stop at an arbitrary resolution. As long as you don't examine it too closely that works...

But yes, the story lines do get nuts-but that (as I understand it) is the appeal.

It happens in a lot of things. Superman has been going since the 30s. To keep that up they've had to kill him a few times, marry him off, end 'the world as we know it' etc. But the character is still there at the center and thats who you are visiting, not his specific circumstance.

A blink of an eye compared to Radio 4's The Archers* in the UK which has been running for over 55 years now, or ITV's Coronation Street now at 45 years old (still with one original cast member)...





* Dum-ti-dum Dee-dum-dee-dum.No, your wrong, it's: Na, Na, Na Naaaan, naaan, aaaaa......
:gundge:

No, your wrong, it's: Na, Na, Na Naaaan, naaan, aaaaa......
:gundge:

Ah, now you see, I belong to the Irish tradition which remembers tunes using varieties of 'diddle' 'dee' and 'dum', which allow for faster rendition than if you pronounce all the notes as separate entities. Thus traditional Irish music is sometimes refered to as 'diddly-dee music' (or, in some parts of the south 'diddly-dah music').

Fourr.....Fourty five years???? *gasps*

But doesn't the storyline just gets completely ridiculous? I mean, there must be excitement all the time to keep the audience. Taking The Bold and The Beautiful, the excitement is obviously incestuous relationships......
There hasn't been an issue that Corrie hasn't touched on. It has also changed with the times. 20 years ago, it was a very "safe" family type soap. Now it deals with Trans sexuals, Homosexuals, paedophilism, autism, serial murder, witness protection, Ian mckellern (playing a shifty author "Hard Grinding" indeed. Currently, the manageress of the Rovers return pub, Shelley, is being slowly mentally abused by her partner. Ohh, and of course ther'es the understated Norris (Doris) who is the local busybody..."I had to deal with a sniper hiding on the rooftop", that's why I'm late!

Ah, now you see, I belong to the Irish tradition which remembers tunes using varieties of 'diddle' 'dee' and 'dum', which allow for fast rendition than if you pronounce all the notes as separate entities. Thus traditional Irish music is sometimes refered to as 'diddly-dee music' (or, in some parts ofRight enough, ther's also that Irish geezer from Boyzone?? in it. So I'll bend to your greater knowledge.

american soaps are on in the daytime when people have other things to do.
they are set up so that you can watch a couple days a week and still not miss much.

there are soaps that i havent watched in years that i see a few minutes of now and then and feel i havent missed a thing.

i wish the spanish telenovellas would be dubbed into english and shown on some cable station here. those are much faster and more dramatic than american soaps.

the foreign soaps channel....anyone want to invest?

american soaps are on in the daytime when people have other things to do.
they are set up so that you can watch a couple days a week and still not miss much.

there are soaps that i havent watched in years that i see a few minutes of now and then and feel i havent missed a thing.



Ah...that clears it. But some American programmes such as 'Monk' do have episodal plots and a thread-subplot...

Ah...that clears it. But some American programmes such as 'Monk' do have episodal plots and a thread-subplot...
that is a night-time show.
even night time serials like..... the oc? ...move fast. at night you are expected to watch every singe episode and not have the patience to wait weeks for ridge to get brooke's bra off.

the daytime soaps come from a long time tradition of slow moving plotlines.

im guessing that they are shown at various times in hongkong so its hard to tell whats what?