#TheNerdyUnhealthyBrit talks Soaps

[thenerdyunhealthybrit]

I’ve introduced Autymn to too many British Soaps lol, like I always talked about them and hyped them a bit, and now she’s watched 3 of the 4 big British soaps.

Good thing she’s enjoying it then I suppose after my hyping. Though I think she only watches Corrie because I use to spam her with Daniel and Sinead.

[dream-beyond-the-fantasy]

Rules: Use 5 GIFs to Show Off Your Ships

tagged by both @thenerdyunhealthybrit and @fictionxlover

Sorry that it took so long for me to do this.  I’m going to try and not repeat any shows or movies with this.

1. Jason Morgan and Sam McCall (JaSam) from General Hospital.  I’m not too happy with the show right now, but I’ll take what I can get of these two.  Their romance was one of my first ships on this soap.

2. Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen (Jonerys) from Game of Thrones.  However happy or tragic their end might be, these two are destined.  I can’t wait until they meet in the books, if GRRM ever gets around to writing and releasing them.

3. Piper Halliwell and Leo Wyatt of Charmed.  The most stable, loving, and long-lasting ship on the show.  They had their ups and downs, but they were always going to work it out because they loved each other and their children enough to try.

4. Josh Lyman and Donnatella “Donna” Moss of The West Wing.  Talk about a slow burn relationship.  Josh and Donna started out as a boss/assistant relationship that spanned most of the show, but she knew him better than anyone and was always there for him.  Josh would always come to her defense if she was in trouble.  He went through Mandy, Joey, and Amy, while she dated or flirted with Cliff, Jack, and an Irish photojournalist, but of course no one lasted.  It took until nearly the end of the show’s run for these two to realize their feelings for each other.  Josh jumped on a plan to be with Donna when he found out she was injured at the Gaza Strip and medevaced to Germany.  There was a bit of conflict when they worked on separate campaigns, but they were back working together before you knew it.  In the final season, we finally got that kiss and then a relationship.  While working in the Santos White House, they can finally be the couple they were meant to be and not be burdened with an unequal working relationship.

5. Tommy Oliver and Kimberly Hart of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.  This was probably my first ship when I was four years old.  They definitely brought romance to a kids show and made it work.  Kimberly was the first person to welcome Tommy to Angel Grove High and never gave up on him when they found out he was Rita’s evil Green Ranger.  Tommy both protected her and knew she could hold her own.  Their reunion when he rejoined the team as the White Ranger was sweet and adorable.  I tend to ignore that letter and the “future” seen in Zeo with Kat.  Even when she makes her last appearance in show canon in the Turbo movie and he is in a relationship with Kat, Tommy didn’t give up on the good in her.  In my head, Tommy and Kimberly will always get back together.

Tagging @missviolethunter @curiousdamage @rynnsama @theempressar @rogermercury

[fictionxlover]

It’s so funny how CA fans are the ONLY ones going off about Gabi. Literally, that SL is OVER.

You say Gabi is irrelevant and not a queen...okay why are you STILL talking about her??????

Why constantly talk about a character you say you loathe?

the only thing I can think of is that they are lashing out because Abby and Chad are leaving.

It’s not Gabi/her fans fault Chad and Abby have to leave the canvas.

it’s not our fault chad is a fake dimera and they never wrote him good and can’t find him and Abby a purpose outside of their rl.

it’s not our fault their last SLs were propped bs.

it’s not our fault gabi is a more self aware, fleshed out character and still has a SL involving the Dimera fam

it’s not our fault Stefan is more of a Dimera Chad never will be.

It’s not our fault it’s over for your favs rn.

How about you just stop being bitter and enjoy your endgame. I mean who could say my soap couple lived happily ever after?? Enjoy it and stop worrying about irrelevant Gabi and her so called 5 fans (which is false by the way lmao)

@thenerdyunhealthybrit 😂

[thenerdyunhealthybrit]

The fact Emmerdale is trending on Tumblr is another example UK soaps are way better than US soaps.

That does not surprise me. Out of all the British soaps, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks probably have the best online presence. Hollyoaks because it’s a teen soap opera - targeted at the younger demographic.

But Emmerdale, the majority of that online presence is Robron fans. They have a huge international appeal in recent years and when I’m on Twitter and I’m in other fandoms tag, one’s that are from US shows with a huge export, I notice that a lot of people from other countries watch Emmerdale because of Robron. They are like the gateway to the world of Emmerdale.

It’s nice to see Emmerdale as a soap get the recognition it deserves because for so long the battle for Top Dog was between EastEnders and Coronation Street - Emmerdale has always been underrated.

Emmerdale would trail behind and was kind of dismissed as for older audiences and didn’t have that broad appeal because from the outside, it just seemed to be a soap set up north about farming.

Especially for the younger lot, but I started watching when the Bartons joined in 2009 and was hooked onto Holly’s drug addiction storyline and a fell in love with the other storylines and the location. Aaron and Jackson - my babies.

The best thing they probably did was around 2012-2013 where they gave the theme and credits a MAJOR update, they modernised it and it gave a more broad appeal. The old credits of lots of birds eye views and panning of farming and the Northern landscape - while beautiful did not sell the show as well.

Although now I miss it for nostalgia reasons.

So it’s nice to see that Emmerdale that is so underappreciated is getting the attention it deserves. And even though most of the fan base online likely got into it because of Robron, they probably stayed for the other storylines. Like Ashley’s dementia which I will forever praise. Lachlan White. Joe Tate (Come back you handsome devil!) or Kim Tate’s soon permanent return.

The way I see it, soaps are great for escapism. But while US Soaps are about getting lost in the (melo)drama and getting lost in the romance of the ships - their storylines are driven by relationships - British Soaps are embedded in realism (maybe not so much with Hollyoaks), but EastEnders for example are plot driven, while I’d say Corrie and Emmerdale (especially Corrie) are character driven. Also with British Soaps there is a serious dedication to the stories they are telling and the social issues they are trying to tackle. If they are doing a story about dementia, then they will try and work closely with a charity to make sure they are doing the story justice and are giving an accurate portrayal. For example, I’ve been raving about Sinead/Daniel’s storyline on Corrie - at first I just thought they have been acting their asses off that they have gotten me hooked and it’s compelling - but because they have been closely working with a charity, which is the only charity in the UK that deals with cancer during pregnancy, I never realised how common cancer during pregnancy is. I thought it was rare and in Sinead’s case was being done for dramatic purposes but it’s actually common and it’s important that awareness is raised. Another recent example is Corrie tackling male suicide when Aiden Connor killed himself last year - It’s an important issue to be tackled and they worked closely with charities to make sure it was done right.

US Soaps, I just don’t see that kind of dedication. Like when I think of Mike’s Alzheimer’s storyline, at first I was enjoying it and I loved it because General Hospital is in an endless slump at the moment and Max and Maurice were putting on killer performances, emotional performances and it stood out because it was dealing with a realistic issue, it was a bit of realism that juxtaposed all the melodrama and theatrics of General Hospital’s usual drama. Max and Maurice were able to create this believable relationship considering Max was a recast - Max and him were able to recreate the history for long term fans.

But then they ruined it, by dragging the mob into it and this story, instead of being about a father-son relationship, instead of being about Mike, it became about Sonny and the mob. We see Mike go in a care home not because he needs it (he does) but just so he doesn’t rat out Sonny. They added the standard US soap theatrics. And it damaged the storyline.

Maybe the melodrama is tiring people. Like I do love getting lost in the drama of US Soaps at times, but with GH it’s just tedious. With US Soaps, for every 2 storylines that are about the drama and theatrics, I want at least ONE storyline that is issue based, that is about realism, raising awareness.

[thenerdyunhealthybrit]

I’ve been spamming @fictionxlover into becoming a Corrie fan even though she’s never watched it.

I’m pretty sure it’s borderline bullying.

Whose next? Which one of my GH mutuals want to be educated in British Soaps and Corrie/Emmerdale/EastEnders etc. I mean, Corrie has really been killing it in a way GH could never.

I mean...the thought of that 4-hander episode from October where Daniel finds out that his pregnant wife has cancer...Phew! The performances from the actors in that episode - especially Rob and Katie - I just hope for their sake they don’t kill Sinead off or split them up.

There was fire in that episode and raw emotion in that episode that GH couldn’t replicate in recent years. The most GH did was with Ava finding Kiki. If Maura West wants to - she should could leave and just a British Soap. She could be a future owner of Home Farm in Emmerdale since rich families live there. 

[thenerdyunhealthybrit]

@fictionxlover

Turns out I still have this Soap gif on my phone!

[thenerdyunhealthybrit]

I hate myself. I need to start my dissertation but instead I’m watching old Corrie, then I will watch the latest GH and Days.

[thenerdyunhealthybrit]

Why is Ciara talking to Abby about Ben? 🤨

The Hortons were never bright.

[thenerdyunhealthybrit]

Never thought I’d touch Emmerdale with a ten foot pole to be honest, but Aaron’s abuse story back in 2016 was so masterfully done (Danny Miller is such a star!) I couldn’t help but become addicted! The US soaps I’m familiar with are Days, GH; haven’t watched either TB&B or TY&R yet! Would you recommend them? I’m also a thirsty shipper in need for some new couples rn 😄 Oh, I’ve watched a few telenovelas, mainly just to have a good wee giggle at the cheesiness!

Same here with Emmerdale. Growing up, I always views Hollyoaks aimed at teens and young adults (even though my parents love it), EastEnders aimed at everyone from young to old. Corrie for the older middle aged lot (Parents love that) and then Emmerdale for the older older lot. 

But then I watched the British Soap Awards and saw Holly’s storyline nominated and was gripped so I went and watched it all, and I just fell in love with the location of the soap, the rural setting and farm life. Although I didn’t know many people my age that watched Emmerdale.

I do think in recent years though - and especially because of Robron that Emmerdale has gained a strong youth audience that I think it might have been lacking previously. I think it’s because British soaps are kind of getting a better grasp on ships. They still don’t dominate, which is good when you look at how messy it can get with US soaps, but there definitely seems to be a dedication to building up pairings. Especially when you think how in the 00s betrayal and plotting seemed to be a strong theme in UK soaps.

But recently I’ve finally gotten hooked onto Corrie because of Daniel and Sinead. Before that I only watched it if my parents were watching while I was downstairs.

As for US soaps, I say stick to GH and Days. I watched B&B and it got tediuous because of the repeatiability and going back and forth with couples. Plus half the time they claim to love one person, gets them then want someone else. And I only watched a few episodes of Y&R - but I felt a similarity to that in the same way.

Old GH was good, it’s been in such a bad rut for the past few years. Days is the better of the US soaps IMO. Though I miss old Days with Sami and EJ - I loved EJami, my problematic supercouple.

With Telenovelas, I have an online Canadian friend on Twitter, he’s part Colombian and he tells me about the telenovelas he’s into, so I went on Netflix and started giving it a go. They can be tedious as well depending on plot and characters. But he likes that I watch it because the one he told me about is now on Netflix so I’ve been watching that and occasionally live tweet him. Which is funny because I got him into a Turkish dizi and he live tweets me with those first. I remember when he first did it because the drama had such plots and twists in the first episode (first two actually) that you are just waiting for the penny to drop.

It’s great to see someone of this side of the pond into American soaps. And at least it’s the good ones as well. I highly recommend getting involved with the GH tag on Tumblr, it’s a small fandom and we mostly liveblog and complain but it’s drama free, it’s so tiny that everyone sorta knows each other lol. Like one of my fave mutuals - I met because of GH and then we found out we have watched a lot of the same thing. While another mutual - we bonded from something else then I started posting and reblogging about GH and found out she watched it or use to and we both started watching/rewatching when Jason (Steve) returned.

Also I know me and one other person in the GH fandom on Tumblr that also watch Days so if you ever want a discussion. I highly recommend Tumblr, it’s small but not messy like Twitter is.

[thenerdyunhealthybrit]

Just popping in to say I love your blog! I’ve started watching US soaps recently, and my god, they really are different from UK soaps! 😄 I’m actually strangely fascinated by them lol

Awwww! Thank you! I presume that you are British as well? I never actually intended for my blog to become soap heavy, but it just kind of naturally happened recently, because my favourite mutual - we bonded over US soaps, plus a lot of my OTPS are either too niche to share or were not endgame and the show ended and I haven’t had a new OTP to overtake them.

This is going to turn into a long post - I’m sorry. Not my intention.

They are intriguing to watch from a soap aspect. Before I started watching US soaps, all I knew of them was what I saw from Friends when Joey joins Days of our Lives. Or when you watch sitcoms and they are shouting at the TV about a US Soap.

Then a few years back, The Bold and the Beautiful added new episodes for UK audiences on YouTube, they were a year or two behind, so I gave it a go - especially because I knew an actress from Neighbours would be joining the show. But after a year they just stopped uploading them. I think it was because there was a lack of audience.

Then I took a break and then I got into General Hospital and Days of our Lives - I’ve so far consistently stuck with them even though General Hospital is quite the task these days. I did try and give The Young and the Restless a go - but I just found it too similar to The Bold and the Beautiful.

As for British soaps, I’m on and off them for years. Just because real life happens that it becomes hard to consistently watch a bunch, so I tend to get hooked at one point because of a character or storyline then if life takes over I stop, but I still read up on what is happening.

So currently, the British soap I’m hooked on is Corrie - particularly Daniel and Sinead’s storyline so when I get the chance I’m hoping to go back to some 2016 episodes to catch up (there are other aspects that I’m invested in so I watch to go that far back to catch up).

I also like my Aussie soaps. When I was young I loved Home and Away, as I got older I’m more into Neighbours. But both aren’t as good as it use to be, especially Home and Away. 

Also if you can it is fun to watch old soap episodes, I remember last year or the year before I went and watched old Home and Away episodes from the 90s and 00s and from a historical POV it’s fascinating to watch because of how technology has advanced, it’s refreshing to see how storylines are done without computers or mobiles.

Anyway, what soaps have you watched? British or US? Which ones are you currently into? Also a friend of mine has recently gotten me into Telenovelas which is a fun contrast to US soaps and British soaps. I’ve also watched a Scottish soap.

Also if you need people to talk about soaps, feel free to pop in, join the discourse. I don’t know if you watch General Hospital, but if you do the General Hospital tag is a good little fandom to be part of. I met a lot of my soap mutual there and its way less toxic than twitter or other fandoms. Relatively drama free.

[thenerdyunhealthybrit]

My soap hoe mutual @fictionxlover needs to get into some UK Soaps so I have someone to talk about it like I do with Days of our Lives and General Hospital.

[thenerdyunhealthybrit]

Oh...and I reached this part in my catch up of River City

[thenerdyunhealthybrit]

I use to never care about soap couples, especially since soaps are ongoing so there’s always a chance that your favourites could leave, so the idea that you invest your time into a ship, only for them no to end up together/endgame. It hurts.

Home and Away:

Aden Jeffries and Belle Taylor (Played by Todd Lasance and Jessica Tovey)

Neighbours:

Donna Freedman and Ringo Brown (Played by Margot Robbie and Sam Clark)

Bridget Parker and Declan Napier (Played by Eloise Mignon and James Sorensen)

General Hospital:

Jason Morgan and Sam McCall (Played by Steve Burton and Kelly Monaco)

Robin Scorpio and Patrick Drake (Played by Kimberley McCullough and Jason Thompson)

Days of our Lives:

Sami Brady and EJ Dimera (Played by Alison Sweeney and James Scott)

Holby City:

Zosia March and Oliver Valentine (Played by Camilla Arfwedson and James Anderson)

Bernie Wolfe and Serena Campbell (Played by Jemma Redgrave and Catherine Russell)

Jac Naylor and Jonny Maconie (Played by Rosie Marcel and Michael Thomson)

Jac Naylor and Adrian ‘Fletch’ Fletcher (Played by Rosie Marcel and Alex Walkinshaw)

Casualty:

Ruth Winters and Jay Faldren (Played by Georgia Taylor and Ben Turner)

Sam Nicholls and Dylan Keogh (Played by Charlotte Salt and William Beck)

[thenerdyunhealthybrit]

Me and @fictionxlover are like 90% sure that the EJ Dimera actor quit acting to run a cult after we looked on his website and now we can’t believe that we ever thirsted over him in the first place and has changed how we see him.

Days, please recast EJ or free Sami.

[thenerdyunhealthybrit]

I’m Northern Irish, so yeah, I’m well familiar with British soaps. I used to watch EastEnders & Hollyoaks religiously growing up; dipped in and out of Neighbors/Home & Away as well. But like you said, it’s easy to fall behind when real life takes over, so I stopped watching a good few years back. It was only the past few months I stumbled across Robert & Aaron’s story from Emmerdale on YouTube and fell down a hole again lol The actors have such great chemistry, I’m now hooked lol

Hollyoaks I gave up because…when I watched it, it was around late 00s and early 10s. And in this period was where it went through the major revamp and killing characters left and right. At first it was gripping to watch - like the Silas storyline but after a while they just kept bringing in new characters and many characters kept dying. I missed the older Hollyoaks with O.B and Max etc. Like why would you move to Hollyoaks when you read in the paper and media about all the deaths and murder?

Emmerdale, I first got into it when the Bartons came onscreen around 2009, I particularly got hooked into Holly’s drug addiction, but then by 2011/2012 half the Bartons left and life took over so I stopped. I then dropped in and out of it for a while, then came back when Holly returned. I dropped out then returned for Lachlan’s storyline but dropped out when he first left and then they killed off Joe Tate soon afterwards.

I get the actor wanted to leave, but how can you let go of this handsome piece of art, lol.

As for Robron, I’m a fan but it took me a while because of their beginning. I’m an Aaron stan before a Robron stan so I thought Aaron deserved better, but now that they are settled and it’s a legit thing for Robert, I eventually fell in love with it. But I stay out of fandom stuff because I’m relatively chill about a lot of stuff a lot of fans seem to hate (like Seb and Rebecca. It’s not my favourite thing, but I don’t have the drastic views that others have). But I haven’t watched it recently, I’ve kept up with the articles though. I was going to go back when I read that Lachlan would return, but then I read about how quick his stint was and what happened and I was just so disappointed. His first exit was just anticlimactic after the episodes they just had. And this one? It was pointless. It didn’t need to happen because nothing really changed. If it didn’t happen, nothing would change.

EastEnders was the first soaps I got into. But in recent years it hasn’t been doing much for me. Like even when I don’t watch it, I would always watch it around Christmas episodes because of the big episodes they tend to be - I didn’t do it this year. I think it’s because a lot of my favourites are gone and some newbies don’t do much for me. Also I like Sonia and I remember as a kid liking Sonia and Martin - but they aren’t doing anything with Sonia. Last I remember after she broke up with Tina, her only storyline has been being a mum to Bex. And Stacy…I need a breather from her because she practically gets away with everything while coming off as sanctimonious about it.

[thenerdyunhealthybrit]

Dear @gemleilou,

You’re Welcome.

Or “Rica Ederim”