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Oh God, I like Eastenders too! I actually want to step up and defend it for a second. Amidst the shrieking and melodrama, Eastenders can and does make points which I think are important. It's racially and culturally diverse. This might seem like no big deal, but minorities are often marginalized on TV and are rarely cast as main characters, and having a mainstream show where major storylines are not dominated by white people is a good thing. There is some degree of stereotyping and it's not perfect, but it's a start. It tries to represent a diversity of experience. There are poor people and rich people, old and young. More importantly, there are representitives of groups which often receive a lot of flack in the wider society. Single mothers, prostitutes, mentally ill people, gay couples. Generally they are presented as complete people, and while there is certainly a soapy tendency towards caricature, they are still seen as having their own hopes and dreams, troubles and joys. Of course it's the least we should expect, but when otherisation of unpopular groups is a major force in society, having a TV show that presents them as complete people helps foster at least a basic sympathy. Further to this, it can and does tackle extremely unpleasant issues. Again the way it approaches this is not always prefect, but it raises awareness in a very real way. When a major issue becomes a plot point, the show is frequently praised by connected charities. Domestic violence, cancer, mental illness, child abuse. These are not abstract ideas, there are genuine real life impacts: after connected storylines, people in those bad situations are more likely to seek help. Of course there are misses along with the hits, some issues are handled very badly (like the baby-snatch story) and the actual quality of the writing is extremely variable (I've found some of the harder hitting storylines to be genuinely affecting, while a good chunk of what happens is boring at best and laughable at worst). Even so, I think dismissing the show completely does it a disservice.
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Oct 23, 2011 16:11
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Oben posted:TV Burp used to be really good, but the last year or so have been awful. I don't think I laughed once yesterday. I always got the feeling his heart isn't really in it any more, but he's stuck doing the show because it's so successful.
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Oct 23, 2011 16:16
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What gave you that idea?
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Oct 23, 2011 16:18
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While not a fan of soaps I did read a very interesting article in their defence. Soaps, as a genre, do reflect the correct economic standings of a society far more than most others - lower classes are represented more and often in a less negative light. Given this it's a theme in television that should be encouraged as properly reflecting economic situations in the country is a very important step in combating materialism in our society, which has a range of benefits from relief from stress and other assorted gains in happiness. Come to think of it, the middle classes are quite over-represented in a lot of our telly.
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Oct 23, 2011 16:20
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I thought TV Burp was great fun a few years ago, but has become increasingly more tedious - not least because the amount of time focused on Harry messing about between amusing clips has increased exponentially. It definitely needs to air when the Apprentice is on though - that gave Harry some of his best material.
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Oct 23, 2011 16:20
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I will give Eastenders a few points for the subjects raised by Fatkraken but the BBC should at least scale back with it a bit and hire people who can write without going overboard with the depressing shlock. It is unfair a twenty year old Soap should get so much spent on it.
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Oct 23, 2011 16:27
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Rejected Fate posted:Come to think of it, the middle classes are quite over-represented in a lot of our telly. Really the soaps are much less rage inducing than the endless property shows aimed at middle class people. If I see another rich dickhead spending millions on some eyesore barn conversion or something I think I might get the revolution started early.
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Oct 23, 2011 17:21
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Ah, property porn.
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Oct 23, 2011 17:26
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Soaps are a necessary evil because if the millions of people who watch them couldn't live vicariously through the characters, they would all start going slowly mad and before you know it they'll all come to your local at 8pm and start acting out their own fantasy soap scenes.
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Oct 23, 2011 18:01
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marktheando posted:Really the soaps are much less rage inducing than the endless property shows aimed at middle class people. If I see another rich dickhead spending millions on some eyesore barn conversion or something I think I might get the revolution started early. I'd be slightly less nastily disposed towards them if the vast majority of the folks you see on that kind of thing weren't tosspots who whine their little hearts out about the smallest thing in homes I'm only going to ever own by sacrificing You know who we need back on TV? Tim Hunkin. The Secret Life of Modern Life. Show us how OLED works by building stuff in your shed from old washing machines, Tim. Please?
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Oct 23, 2011 18:16
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Paperhouse posted:Hollyoaks is so bad that it's actually amazing though back in the day hollyoaks was genuinely bonkers and apparently it still is, my favourite character was "bombhead" who was a bit of an actual nutter who could see his best mate's dead dad (rip mr.c  )Later on his mom died and he jsut left her in his house to rot and held a birthday party for here and his friends came around with presents and discoverd her disgusting rotted corpse. good times 
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Oct 23, 2011 18:27
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where were you when luke got raped by a gang of footballers?
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Oct 23, 2011 18:29
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marktheando posted:Really the soaps are much less rage inducing than the endless property shows aimed at middle class people. If I see another rich dickhead spending millions on some eyesore barn conversion or something I think I might get the revolution started early. Property shows all suck, apart from Grand Designs. That is genuinely and unironically good television with artistic merit.
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Oct 23, 2011 18:31
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Also EastEnders was genuinely entertaining and bizarrely less depressing when phil was on crack, he kept having parties and dancing around and it was nice, except he was on crack. also ye-olde ben mitchell was a source of comedy gold. reminder this was a guy who went to prison. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXPF8aZY5_c
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Oct 23, 2011 18:33
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LE0N posted:back in the day hollyoaks was genuinely bonkers and apparently it still is, my favourite character was "bombhead" who was a bit of an actual nutter who could see his best mate's dead dad (rip mr.c I thought "back in the day" referred to the time when hollyoaks was fairly grounded with troubled characters and down to earth directing. Sort of like brookside for teens. Then after a few years it got T4'd, and suddenly things were bright and colourful and bold and wacky and stupid and angsty and all of the cast were slowly replaced with makeup caked cretins filmed by fad ridden directors squeezing in whatever popular and lovely filming technique was popular at the time. For further examples of something being T4'd, see Shameless edit: and skins.
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Oct 23, 2011 18:40
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Kin posted:I thought "back in the day" referred to the time when hollyoaks was fairly grounded with troubled characters and down to earth directing. Sort of like brookside for teens. Cool yeah just have everything boring as gently caress and "real" literally the only memorable thing anyone remembers form brookside was the lesbian kiss and it was more to do with the media fury that surrounded it.
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Oct 23, 2011 18:44
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Hollyoaks has been the way it is for as long as I can remember, I don't remember it ever being even slightly realistic or grounded.
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Oct 23, 2011 18:45
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LE0N posted:Also EastEnders was genuinely entertaining and bizarrely less depressing when phil was on crack, he kept having parties and dancing around and it was nice, except he was on crack. phil_assembling_psx_pissed.mpg
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Oct 23, 2011 18:49
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marktheando posted:Hollyoaks has been the way it is for as long as I can remember, I don't remember it ever being even slightly realistic or grounded. I have never ever seen even a quarter of an episode of Hollyoaks, but I am genuinely appreciative of that amazingly melodramatic advert they've been showing for it over the past couple of weeks, the one with the pregnant bride in black and Billy Idols' "White Wedding" playing over the top of it. I have no idea what the actual storyline is, but the advert itself is glorious.
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Oct 23, 2011 19:04
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Trin Tragula posted:I got horribly turned off by Stewart Lee when I saw that ridiculous bit where he talks about Del Boy falling through the bar. Anything can be unfunny and banal if you talk about it in a stupid voice and only use words from Dick & Jane. It's a funny bit in the episode but it's just a piece of, well done, simple slapstick. It's just a man falling over.
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Oct 23, 2011 19:07
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goatface posted:Ah, property porn.
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Oct 23, 2011 19:14
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Irisi posted:I have never ever seen even a quarter of an episode of Hollyoaks, but I am genuinely appreciative of that amazingly melodramatic advert they've been showing for it over the past couple of weeks, the one with the pregnant bride in black and Billy Idols' "White Wedding" playing over the top of it. Then the groom's creepy killer granddad (best casting ever) kidnapped her and has her chained up in some dungeon somewhere until she has the baby, then he's gonna off her. Hoops posted:They ask people their budget at the start and it's like "450 thousand, maybe 500 for the right place" and I just think "HOLY gently caress I cannot comprehend how much money that is". No-one bats an eyelid on TV at people spending half a million pounds on one house. Outside of London. Edit: Remember that people usually don't pay for those things outright; they get mortgages just like you do when you're buying an existing house. Akuma fucked around with this message at 19:26 on Oct 23, 2011 |
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Oct 23, 2011 19:22
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Irisi posted:I have never ever seen even a quarter of an episode of Hollyoaks, but I am genuinely appreciative of that amazingly melodramatic advert they've been showing for it over the past couple of weeks, the one with the pregnant bride in black and Billy Idols' "White Wedding" playing over the top of it. Hollyoaks aaaaalways have the best overly theatrical adverts. Whenever a new one comes out my little ears prick up and I get excited and curious about whatever show this is and then at the end it turns out it's for loving hollyoaks and I am embarrassed. Related fact, I went to school with a girl named Holly Oaks. People used to sing that guitar riff at her down the halls, poor thing. Wormophile fucked around with this message at 20:43 on Oct 23, 2011 |
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Oct 23, 2011 19:25
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Wormophile posted:Hollyoaks aaaaalways have the best overly theatrical adverts. Whenever a new one comes out my little ears prick up and I get excited and curious about whatever show this is and then at the end it turns out it's for loving hollyoaks and I am embarrassed. Have you seen that wedding one, with the black dress an stuff, I'm p. sure it's for hollyoaks. I'm also pretty sure it's loving mental. e. This one!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DK8bt7M74lA&feature=related wtf is that? I don't watch hollyoaks and I know that it isn't that. Is it? Also on the subject of Middle class telly, I loving hate the one show, it has actually started making me feel ill when it's on. ScipioAfro fucked around with this message at 19:58 on Oct 23, 2011 |
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Oct 23, 2011 19:52
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They should do an episode of Hollyoaks which is actually like the adverts. Hugely metaphorical and absolutely nonsensical. I would definitely watch at least one episode of that.
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Oct 23, 2011 20:02
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LE0N posted:Also EastEnders was genuinely entertaining and bizarrely less depressing when phil was on crack, he kept having parties and dancing around and it was nice, except he was on crack. these plot developments produced an absolutely priceless reaction from the guardian: A Guardian Article posted:Phil Mitchell has seen things you people wouldn't believe. Homeless men on fire inside Frank Butcher's car lot. He watched his own son dress up like Lady Gaga and sing a song about taking a ride on someone's disco stick. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. This is because Phil Mitchell is a crack addict now.
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Oct 23, 2011 20:09
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LE0N posted:back in the day hollyoaks was genuinely bonkers and apparently it still is, my favourite character was "bombhead" who was a bit of an actual nutter who could see his best mate's dead dad (rip mr.c
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Oct 23, 2011 20:22
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Paperhouse posted:he left the show after being reunited with his estranged father, who was a clown in a travelling circus. Bombhead joined the circus to be with his dad and they all lived happily ever after Why have I never watched this show? It sounds even better than BBC3s' Don't Tell The Bride! (which is the current trashy programme of choice in my household, don't judge me, okay?)
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Oct 23, 2011 20:27
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OB tried to hit my mate in a club once.
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Oct 23, 2011 20:27
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Akuma posted:That's not a huge amount of money for a house. Someone I know is in the process of selling their house for 400k+, outside London. They're not rich (although they're obviously not poor) and it's not some mansion. £400k would get you a bloody big house verging on the mansion-ish with a whacking great gob of land that'd be a drat sight bigger than my lawn, too around my neck of the woods and I suspect they'd only get bigger the further past the Midlands you go.
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Oct 23, 2011 20:55
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ScipioAfro posted:Have you seen that wedding one, with the black dress an stuff, I'm p. sure it's for hollyoaks. I'm also pretty sure it's loving mental. Is that George from Drop The Dead Donkey?
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Oct 23, 2011 20:59
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Wwh2_rX3yE Another great hollyoaks promo from last year. I remember when it was on I was all like WOAH HEY WHAT IS THIS COOL SHOW ABOUT FIRE AND STUFF?? oh 
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Oct 23, 2011 21:42
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Hollyoaks was at its best when Mad Rob dumped five of them in a wave pool with crazy lighting for five episodes. I have no idea who thought that was a good idea, but it was glorious in a mad sort of way
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Oct 23, 2011 21:53
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I was there at the beginning. Hollyoaks has ALWAYS been pretty batshit. Like when Lucy's evil boyfriend Rob deliberately got her addicted to heroin, then later claimed to have killed her brother with a jetski and also one time kidnapped her (I think he locked her in a water tank which then started filling up). There's always been some seriously nasty stuff too, like the aforementioned male gang-rape, or a bloke beating his girlfriend to within an inch of her life, then attempting suicide by pills in his shame, regretting it, ending up in hospital and dying of liver failure. It's that mix of genuinely harrowing and totally loving loco that makes hollyoaks such a bizarre show
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Oct 23, 2011 22:04
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ShaneMacGowansTeeth posted:Hollyoaks was at its best when Mad Rob dumped five of them in a wave pool with crazy lighting for five episodes. I have no idea who thought that was a good idea, but it was glorious in a mad sort of way yeah, that bit
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Oct 23, 2011 22:04
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Holy crap Spooks. That was....actually not that great. But it had enough emotional currency saved up that I started feeling a bit misty eyed.
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Oct 23, 2011 22:19
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Trin Tragula posted:I got horribly turned off by Stewart Lee when I saw that ridiculous bit where he talks about Del Boy falling through the bar. Anything can be unfunny and banal if you talk about it in a stupid voice and only use words from Dick & Jane. I interpreted that bit as less of a literal criticism of the sequence in which Del Boy performs and more the way in which endless repetition can rob a comedic sequence of the humour it once had. This angle seems fitting to the material it was attached to, which was tediously repetitive. If you wanna say you hated that bit because it was tedious and repetitive then I can't deny that it was, I just don't think it was intended to be taken at face value.
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Oct 23, 2011 22:28
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Hollyoaks has always been ace. How about when Creepy Will filmed his girlfriend 24/7 and tricked Kris into believing he had AIDS? Or Toby turning into a serial killer? Or Fletch and Sasha getting addicted to heroin? Or Sam and Andy the date-rapists? Or JP and Craig's eternal gay love affair? Epic stuff.
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Oct 23, 2011 22:28
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Rarity posted:Hollyoaks has always been ace. How about when Creepy Will filmed his girlfriend 24/7 and tricked Kris into believing he had AIDS? Or Toby turning into a serial killer? Or Fletch and Sasha getting addicted to heroin? Or Sam and Andy the date-rapists? Or JP and Craig's eternal gay love affair? Epic stuff. Apparently you watched Hollyoaks for the same three year period as I did.
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Oct 23, 2011 22:31
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sebzilla posted:Apparently you watched Hollyoaks for the same three year period as I did. That would be when I was at university. Students are legally required to watch the Hollyoaks omnibus while hungover on Sunday mornings.
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Oct 23, 2011 22:34
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