The seventy-third TV show: #58 Coronation Street
So here we go. The second soap opera, and the first that feels traditional, a near daily show that runs continously without real breaks. There's a big cast, some of whom seem to show up in a scene or two each week while they don't have an ongoing storyline, I guess also to divide the work. I've not been bothered to get deep into the backstory - after all, we're looking at over 50 years of TV here - but it's set on the titular Coronation street in England's north west (with the show being filmed in Manchester - I've seen a corner of the set before). The Barlow familiy has a bit of a focus that - as these shows go - everything emanates from.
It seems to follow the standard soap stories - I'm sure that there are some specific bits, but a lot of the character beats will be familiar. Love stories, betrayals, break ups, everything that's needed to keep things going. What makes it stand out a bit from other soaps I've watched is the sense of place. Sure, you always get specific sets that return, but here it feels like it's connected and people appear in the background or pop up in a scene because they're meant to be there as part of their character, not because they have a bigger role in the scene. Sure, a lot of it is still because of the story, but more than most other things you feel you're coming into this world, and it being familiar to regular viewers would be a big draw that I can see people getting into. I just can't believe it quite as much.