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.
