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The last 3 gifs, it's triggering that Kate Walsh similarity I sometimes see with her

JOAN CRAWFORD as Joan 'Montana' Prescott in MONTANA MOON (1930) dir. Malcolm St. Clair

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I've dislocated my shoulder and can't cook anything let alone my favourite comfort food in the world, and the way Lisa made it for their breakfast 🙃

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@cake-emu Yeah, I think it's definitely from the very top of ITV/ITN because both Corrie and Emmerdale are suffering from the same ennui and every time I watch either on ITVX, the advert break has either Vera or, recently, the new season of Unforgotten. Every single time. There's too many indicators to say it isn't mandated from above and it's 100% the creative choices of Iain MacLeod/the EPs. Generally speaking as well, I can't remember the last properly popular ITV comedy show. TV Burp possibly? The top execs can't/won't head in the comedy direction because they use the numbers to justify the direction of its programming, and there simply isn't an ITV audience for comedy currently. It's a classic self-fulfilling prophecy.

I do think Classic Corrie is making people nostalgic rather than objectively watching it and coming to the conclusion that it's better. They're demanding every character be as iconic as Hilda/Annie Walker/(prime) Rita/(prime) Bet Lynch/Jack and Vera etc but forgetting that there was a sea of other characters that have been forgotten, and not every storyline *has* to be a hit for every viewer (demanding perfection from a soap every single episode is so unbelievably unrealistic). I might be biased here but Carla is as iconic as those mentioned, but recency bias means she doesn't get treated to the nostalgic affection the others do.

And I've seen people saying that Corrie/Emmerdale have looked at Eastenders' resurgence and have tried to copy the notorious doom and gloom from there, but the viewership numbers isn't really backing that up: EE isn't completely blowing the other two out of the water. No soaps are getting anywhere near the 20 million mark that would be routine for Corrie/EE in the 80s and in fact, even their lowest episode viewership numbers in the 90s are more than double of the best performing episodes of the last few years (using BARB. Side note: interestingly since BARB changed to the "Four screen viewing" system in 2018 - supposedly more accurate - the viewership numbers have fallen off big time but even so, the worst performing episodes in 2018/19 still drew in more viewers than the best performing episodes of the last couple of years). Also, Eastenders has always been pretty miserable so it's not like in recent years it suddenly took a hard turn and became super popular. This direction isn't fuelled by trying to keep up with other soaps - it's at the behest of the network.

I know loads of people are finding Corrie really hard to enjoy given the constant crime/stunts/medical doom and gloom and there seems to be a non-stop cry for more human stories/day-to-day life/kitchen sink stuff, but unfortunately the reality is that ITV look at their statistics and see that their most popular shows are crime related. The constant flow of police dramas they put out and the popularity of them has turned the execs' heads and they think that's all people want (outside of the omnipresent reality shows they put out too).

It's deeply affected the writing of Corrie because their writers are now writing with those aspects being a driving force for storylines.

All the execs care about is statistics, chiefly viewership numbers. Their most popular shows are now routinely police dramas. It was inevitable that their golden goose (Corrie) was going to turn that way with viewership numbers declining. They've put 2 + 2 together, but I don't think they realised that they haven't resulted in 4.

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I know loads of people are finding Corrie really hard to enjoy given the constant crime/stunts/medical doom and gloom and there seems to be a non-stop cry for more human stories/day-to-day life/kitchen sink stuff, but unfortunately the reality is that ITV look at their statistics and see that their most popular shows are crime related. The constant flow of police dramas they put out and the popularity of them has turned the execs' heads and they think that's all people want (outside of the omnipresent reality shows they put out too).

It's deeply affected the writing of Corrie because their writers are now writing with those aspects being a driving force for storylines.

All the execs care about is statistics, chiefly viewership numbers. Their most popular shows are now routinely police dramas. It was inevitable that their golden goose (Corrie) was going to turn that way with viewership numbers declining. They've put 2 + 2 together, but I don't think they realised that they haven't resulted in 4.

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Ryan Connor, the man that you are

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So my theory wasn't 100% accurate BUT why did I hear foreshadowing in the conversation between Betsy and Bobby?

So Rob orchestrated the hostage situation, able to manipulate Matty and the screws.

I fear Betsy will not be too difficult for him :/

(EDIT: tags - by escape i dont necessarily mean a prison break but a more general "getting out of prison before he's supposed to")

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GIF 3, Ryan looking between them, is the happy version of this:

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Ah shit, and here's how he's gonna get Betsy.

So Rob orchestrated the hostage situation, able to manipulate Matty and the screws.

I fear Betsy will not be too difficult for him :/

(EDIT: tags - by escape i dont necessarily mean a prison break but a more general "getting out of prison before he's supposed to")

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Well, he's manipulated Bobby entirely and Carla enough to reconsider. Already. Buckle up

So Rob orchestrated the hostage situation, able to manipulate Matty and the screws.

I fear Betsy will not be too difficult for him :/

(EDIT: tags - by escape i dont necessarily mean a prison break but a more general "getting out of prison before he's supposed to")

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So Rob orchestrated the hostage situation, able to manipulate Matty and the screws.

I fear Betsy will not be too difficult for him :/

(EDIT: tags - by escape i dont necessarily mean a prison break but a more general "getting out of prison before he's supposed to")

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"Betsy must be devastated, I really need to get out of here and see her"

Carla really making a claim for that "I'm not the step mother, I'm the mother that stepped up" hoodie.

(Lowkey sad that that means Betsy hasn't gone to see Carla since, but I suppose that means returning to the hospital.

Also lowkey side eye at "she told me not to say anything" you're grieving little miss manipulation, but we heard that)

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They are more overt, but I am fully accepting forehead nuzzles in lieu of fingertip holding

One thing I really hope they do (long term/continued) is little fingertip touches/holds.

Stood at the bar at the Rovers?

At Roy's?

Lisa by Carla's desk, waiting for Carla to finish the phone call she's on so they can go home?

Imo one of the intimacies of a wlw relationship that we never see that always makes my heart go mad IRL

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Hottest album of the year about to drop and it's only a few days into 2025

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Trans lesbian feminist Beth Elliot’s response to TERFs who attacked her at the West Coast Lesbian Conference, 1973 (x)

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Part of me thinks the look from Betsy was also like a "fair play, you talked her round, impressive". Then that part of me thinks about how Betsy is and how she could see that as a challenge (like Carla is going to be a bigger influence on her mum then she realised), which makes the angsty part of my brain revel at the prospect of a power struggle between Betsy and Carla except Carla doesn't actively partake/see it as a power struggle AT ALL (because it actually isn't) and Betsy provides many of the 2025 hurdles Swarla face as she reconciles with the fact that her mum no longer only belongs to her 🧐

And then the bigger part of my brain is like "meh, I'm gonna make some more kettle corn and try not to figure out Coronation Street. It is what it is."

these looks kill me, Betsy's like 'what did you say?' and Carla just playing it cool like 'whatever do you mean'

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THIS is the look of a woman who knows she has just earnt some serious brownie points