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‘NO HUGS and no learning’. That was the famous mantra, coined by Larry David, from the sitcom Seinfeld, the self-proclaimed “show about nothing” that he co-created.
the gain has never been particularly relevant to soap operas.
Telenovela characters never learn from their mistakes; They just repeat them over and over again, which is why so many women on Coronation Street continue to marry bigamos, con artists, adulterers, psychopaths, serial killers, and in the case of the latest villainous spouse Geoff, thugs and control freaks.
Hug, however? Well that’s harder to avoid.
The spread of Covid-19 means that soaps are now subject to stringent production regulations regarding social distancing and physical interactions.
No hugs. Do not hug. No kisses. They cannot cuddle up on couches or share beds, not even between spouses.
And it’s not just intimate physical contact. It means no physical contact at all, even of a confrontational kind.
This discards that old basic soap, the punch-up.
Fistfights, brawls, and squabbles have always been intermittent occurrences in soap operas.
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Behind the scenes in Fair City (Photos: RTÉ Press Office)
Remember that time Ken Barlow attacked Mike Baldwin with the least convincing right jab in the world? Or the countless times the Mitchell brothers participated in GBH?
No more of that. From now on, the arguments will only be verbal. A joker would say this will have little to no effect on EastEnders, which already largely consists of characters growling and yelling at each other anyway.
Seriously though: soap operas are going to look very different from now on (at least until Covid-19 is under control and / or eliminated).
In the case of Coronation Street and Emmerdale, which had enough episodes in the can to avoid going off the air and recently began airing new episodes filmed in lockdown conditions and reflecting the real world situation, you can already see the difference.
The actors remain two meters (six feet) apart at all times, casting the slightly surreal vision of characters who are brothers, spouses, and partners who go out of their way to avoid closeness at all costs, like strangers sharing an elevator.
There cannot be more than four people in a scene at the same time. There are fewer actors involved in fewer stories.
Cast members aged 70 and over, who would be at higher risk of serious illness if they hired Covid, have been excluded from production.
That’s why Coronation Street veterans like 88-year-old Bill Roache (Ken), 86-year-old Barbara Knox (Rita), and 80-year-old Malcolm Hebden (Norris) have been absent from our screens for weeks.
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Fans shared their joy after EastEnders returned to screens after nearly three months away (BBC / Kieron McCarron / PA)
Still, at least Corrie and Emmerdale stayed on the air throughout the year, meaning the transition process from non-Covid episodes to Covid episodes was comparatively smooth. Fair City and EastEnders, on the other hand, face a more difficult situation.
They have to pick up things after being away for three months.
Fair City returned Sunday night. Frankly, the episode, which began deliberately with someone disinfecting their hands, was often a painfully awkward affair. The social distancing was obvious (a little more creative camera work might have helped).
The main problem, however, was that the need to update viewers on what has been “happening” in Carrigstown resulted in lots and lots of expository dialogue.
The characters stood for long periods, fondly remembering the things that had put them through the confinement: outdoor bingo, group singing, dance classes in the park. We learned, again through very forced exposure, that a couple of characters, Will and Renee, had tested positive, but were unharmed.
There were glowing references to front-line healthcare workers (commendable, of course, but heavy handed nonetheless) and numerous leaden references to the virus.
You can mention one thing too much, even when that thing is Covid-19.
EastEnders, who returned last night, having been off the air since June 16, also had their share of Covid referrals, but handled them with a little more finesse.
“I hope you washed your hands before coming in here,” Ian Beale’s son barked at him.
“Do you have to do that all the time?” Ian said.
To be fair, we are not comparing like here.
The BBC soap opera has a much larger budget than RTÉ, not to mention a vast set at Elstree Studios, to play with. But this was still a model of how to get it right.
EastEnders referenced the elephant in the room, but didn’t let it trample everything else.
The main focus was still on the narrative, in particular the ongoing domestic abuse plot involving Chantelle Atkins, which, as widely publicized, has been reworked to reflect the rise in real-world domestic violence during the lockdown. .
The smart positioning of the actors and some nifty camera angles meant that most of the time we weren’t really aware of anything different.
Or maybe we were getting used to this strange new world of soap operas where people no longer hug each other and there is no one over 70 years old.
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