Why do Canadians love Coronation Street so much?

Those of you reading from outside of Canada may not be aware that millions of us are obsessed with Coronation Street. It is a nightly viewing ritual that is paramount in our homes, an invaluable source of things to talk about with relatives. It has been imported from ITV and aired on the CBC for over 40 years, its' run only interrupted by the obtrusive and needlessly lengthy hockey playoffs season every spring. The "Ceeb" estimates that one in five Canadians watch an episode of Corrie every year, and 775, 000 of us watch nightly.

**Pardon the interruption, but @SloaneScholar will be invading this post via green italics.

The obvious question I have been batting around is WHY IS THIS SHOW SO POPULAR HERE?! It isn't just ex-pats longing for any measly bit of home they can get (i.e. my family) or proud anglophiles obsessed with British pop culture (i.e. @SloaneScholar) who are tuning in, the show also sits well with regular Canadian folks who think Britain is quite nice but don't really think about it too much because HOLY SHIT WHAT JUST HAPPENED TO LEANNE AND PETER! 

So these are the reasons I think Coronation Street is so popular on this side of the Atlantic, north of the 49th parallel. 

1. The storylines are as addictive as crack and move quickly. 

Remember when Tracy killed Charlie Stubbs? Yes! Or when Frankie started an illicit relationship with her stepson Jamie? Oh my, yes! Or when Todd loved Sarah but also loved penises? Heartbreaking. But, the writing was on the wall for that relationship. Sarah was a cow. Or when Mike Baldwin died? Or when Cilla and Les put a hot tub in their living room? Was that before or after they adopted "Schmichael"? Or when the Tram collapsed? Or, when Leanne worked as an escort! The writers have mastered the slow burn in their story telling (The recent Tracy/Becky/ Steve fiasco was especially drawn out. All the more glorious for Becky in the end!) -- they set out a long chain of events that develop inch by inch until reaching a cataclysm you absolutely cannot tear your tear filled eyes away from.

The pace of the show is how @SloaneScholar1 became hooked onto Corrie St (and Emmerdale Farm for a brief period of time). I was home sick one week during highschool (this was when Corrie was on in the afternoons) and learned everyone's names and back-story in 3 days! There was no looking back.

2. The characters are extremely relatable and identifiable

Unlike American soaps, Coronation street is firmly rooted in the mundane. There are no aristocrats, secret identities, amnesiacs or trust funds. The street is populated by mechanics, hair dressers, shop workers, and machinists. The way the characters are written and performed is so dynamic and three-dimensional that you begin to feel like you are just eavesdropping on an actual community, full of busy bodies and high functioning alcoholics. This is, I suppose, because American housewives enjoy aspirational television, while Canadians like peering into their neighbours windows. It's easy to read people we know and love into the characters on the street. 

The nightlife in Weatherfield

3. The setting is a real place humans live. 

No American style soft lighting here! Just small homes with drab wall paper.  

4. Community is community is community.

Even though the cobblestones and Mancunian accents aren't familiar to Canadians, the dynamics of a small community are universally relatable.

5. The men are handsome in an everyday way.

Or, as someone recently put it to us, the men are regular handsome. They all have a "touch of ugly." And some more than others. Can someone explain the appeal of Peter Barlow or ex-Boyzone member Ciaran McCarthy. They aren't moving greek sculptures with mouths that flap open and closed. Except Liam *drool* There is nary a six pack in sight! Except for Tina's new flame: Tommy Duckworth.

6. It mixes the sensational with the mundane 

Some of the storylines are outlandish (Q: how many people have died in the factory? A: *SPOILER* Frank just bit the dust tonight at Underworld HQ), but they are interspersed with the most amazingly mundane plots. There's a satellite dish on the pub and people don't like it! Betteh-luv isn't in to fix the hot pot today! Anything involving Norris!!!!

Speaking of outlandish: how many times has Gail been married? Didn't her fourth hubby, Richard Hillman, try to kill the family? And, poor girl was on trial for her life when her fifth husband died of mysterious circumstances! Of course, her cellmate during this period was the evil incarnate Tracy Barlow.

Inside 'Underworld'

7. It's tradition. 

It's a show you grow up with, your parents or friends telling you the back story of characters they remember watching years ago. It's no surprise that a fictional program unfolding at the pace of our own lives then finds a way to become intertwined in our own memories and experiences.  It's a shared collective cultural experience. We feel we can look back and remember those joys and tragedies as palpably as if they happened to our actual friends and neighbours.

I was once in line at the British Isles Show to meet Kevin Webster and struck up convos with every 40+ housewife near me. Corrie St. fans are super friendly!

8. The soundtrack is Adele on repeat. 

Has anyone else noticed this lately? I loves me some Adele, but maybe we can branch into the rest of the Top-40, Corrie producers. I think it's the only think that plays on the Rovers jukebox. 

Any others to add? I hope it has at least been made clear that anyone not watching Corrie should be immediately. It's adopted Canadian tradition.