The reasoning actually might be deeper than you think.
So the other week I put out a poll. See below:
And the results were highly disappointing. Now, I've been watching Coronation Street and Eastenders for as long as I can remember. Literally there are some storylines in the early 2000s that I remember vividly. So I don't know how or why I started... well I guess it's actually just a family thing. My mum watches it so now I do. I guess that makes sense.
And people like to treat soaps as the lowest form of television. It's all melodrama, with poor acting and low budgets. And although this can be the case there is also a reason why Coronation Street has been on the air for over 60 years. Now I'm about to speak quite deeply and passionately about soaps, which may be funny to some (to be honest I didn't know I felt so strongly about them until now).
Soaps are just more than television. They're a staple of British culture and often times cover some pretty deep and real stories. You know who gave me a real insight into the effects of alcoholism? - Phil Mitchell. Do you know who taught me what a "slag" was? - Kat Slater. And that's just it, these characters become part of your life. You watch soaps to see what Roy Cropper is up to or who Tracy Barlow is currently pissing off. Because they're in your home most week days and because characters stay in these soaps for years and decades you really do start to form real connections with them. Ever felt emotionally distraught when your favourite character in a TV series dies? Imagine how much more emotionally torturing the Red Wedding would've been if you had been following Robb Stark's story since he was a kid. That's basically what soaps do to you. I feel like I know some of these characters better than people I know in the real world.
And more on this and I think probably the biggest reason why I've watched soaps for so long is because there is some form of comfort knowing that you can go home and either Eastenders of Corrie will be on - no matter what week day it is. And they are easy watches. Not every day you want to watch some hard hitting drama. Some days you just want to see a comedic brawl in the Queen Vic or watch Sally Webster pee herself in the street.
I don't know about you but I find it incredibly hard to watch new series or films... I feel like I just dont have the attention span or mental capacity. But if you give me 30 episodes of Eastenders, best believe I'll binge them with no issue. and not to mention the amount of times (mainly around Christmas) people claim to have not watched them in years but will still watch them on Christmas day. What does that tell you? Probably that Christmas TV is dead these days or maybe, just maybe, soaps have a place in all of our homes.