Thursday 10 September 2009

So, what is a soap?

A soap opera is an ongoing, episodic work of fiction usually broadcasted on television. What differentiates a soap from other television drama programs is the open-ended nature of the narrative, with stories spanning several episodes. A soap opera, according to Albert Moran, is "that form of television that works with a continuous open narrative. Each episode ends with a promise that the storyline is to be continued in another episode". Soap opera narrative run concurrently, intersect, and lead into further developments. Soap operas rarely "wrap things up" storywise, and generally avoid bringing all the current storylines to a conclusion at the same time. Soap opera episode typically end on some sort of cliff-hanger.

Soap operas have emphasis on family life, personal relationships, sexual dramas, emotional and moral conflict; some coverage of topical issues set in familiar domestic interiors. Most UK soap operas focus on working-class communities. Eastenders programme makers took the decision that the show was to be about "everyday life" in the inner city "today" and regarded as a "slice of life".

Working-class audience as a target audience for Eastenders has worked well and has become popular of this class. People from this class usually have time to watch television and do not have hectic lifestyles as opposed to, for example, a doctor would with emergency calls to late surgery. Working-class people have jobs from 9pm till 5pm most of the time and the broadcasting time for Soaps are usally around 7 or 8 pm.

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