Carlton Comedy Cock-up

Good old ITV, what do you do when you have a hit series? Axe it!

Carlton won't be making any more Barbara even though it was one of ITV's very rare hits.

More

That's another slot made available for yet another episode of either Emmerdale or Coronation Street then.. These are going to run themselves into the ground if they're not careful.

As for "have ITV lost the plot" - they lost it ages ago

That's just it Neil, we wouldn't mind if they filled their schedule with new or, dare I say it, entertaining programmes but all we get is extra episodes of soap, god evil reality shows and You've Been ******* Framed!

Ooh I know, we show James Bond films again, that's a good idea... something needs to be done . Are they running the channel down so that when/if they become one ITV they will suddenly turn into an all singing all dancing entertainment channel... probably not!

As someone else send in a previous post, just switch off ITV1 now, there ain't nothing on!

Oh yes, how *dare* they show what the majority of viewers want to see. Like it or lump it, programmes like You've Been ******* Framed - despite being awful - get viewers. Why should they drop such programmes when they prove to be so popular? I'm sorry but ITV1 is still the most popular commercial channel on British TV, so they must be doing something right.

So do you think ITV is providing a quality service?

Why are TV producers, actors and actress and the press saying that enough is enough.

ITV was always the alternative channel to the BBC, if there was nothing on the Beeb, you'd automatically switch to ITV.

Now people don't bother. ITV has turned into any other two a penny p*ss-poor digital/sat channel, mainly due to the sad programming schedule it pumps out time and again.

I mean who the hell wants to see Z list celebs being pushed out of planes at prime time on a Saturday. Now if they never had parachutes that would be a whole different programme, LOL!!!

I said nothing about ITV1 being a quality service, I said it was a popular service. It's certainly the channel I watch the most.

I was asking you not saying that you said it was a quality service.

And at the end of the day each to his/her own. But there is a lot of people out there who are disillusioned about ITV yet watch it because there isn't anything else to watch.

I've always found ITV Drama tedious, again my own view. Corrie is great then I stubble to think of anything else that is... and there is my point.

Just because its the most popular commercial channel does not automatically mean that it's any good.

And that doesn't make any sense either, I'm afraid that what is "good" could be classed as many things to different people, it's entirely subjective. The yardstick to measure TV by at the moment is in terms of ratings, and ITV to be quite honest is holding it's own in that sense, still the most popular commercial channel and able to deliver the biggest audiences to the advertisers. Channel 4 is in greater decline at the moment.

Neil you seem very bitter towards ITV - probabaly because it axed your precious Crossroads - well you cant blame ITV for that one.

Whether you like it or not Emmerdale and in particular Coro St are popular with viewers which Crossroads was not.

I hate to drag this down the Crossroads alleyway but ITV can be blamed because they dropped the axe. And anyway they've lost me as a viewer for pretty much all their output now.

Emmie may be popular but my original point was that it won't do the show any good if it becomes a permanent fixture six days a week. Removal of other stuff previously in ITV1 peaktime has since been replaced by soaps that lack anything decent storywise - I really don't think the format of the soap genre was "designed" for three hours of the stuff a week. EastEnders isn't as good as it used to be say the sites and it's only on four times a week now. Emmerdale looks set to go to a sixth, Corrie will follow suit eventually and it'll be welcome to the ITV Soap channel at peaktime.

Crossroads-wise, it was five a week originally and then fell back to four. But the quality went up (as did the surplus to ITV - ended up 75eps ahead of themselves did Carlton) which suggests to me that some of the peaktime soaps could learn a lesson and improve their quality by cutting quantity. Emmerdale and Corrie expanding all over the peaktime schedule is, to me, short term fix. A cop-out.