Not worth staying in on a Saturday to watch (Casualty)

Member Name: BigBottomedGirl

Product:	Casualty
Date:	25/07/09 (9 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Light Entertainment.

Disadvantages: Unrealistic; insincere

I've been a dedicated Casualty-watcher for years, and have always really enjoyed it, but recently have realised its not as good as i originally thought...
It is enjoyable, with exciting plot lines combining serious dramatic scenes with light humour, but it always follows a pretty typical order. Soon enough a character will come in and you can guess the storyline. Of course there is variation, especially with the main characters, but the events tends to be pretty standard scandalous things, eg. so-and-so slept with so-and-so and oh my gosh she's pregnant. I guess this is often the case with dramas/soaps- maybe I'm just wanting something a little unexpected to happen every now and again.
The relationships between the staff characters is unrealistic and often inappropriate. Of course medical dramas are not usually realistic, but I feel Casualty pushes it too far. Comparing it to other such dramas, such as ER, it does not seem great. It never moves me as much as other programs; its never quite serious or genuine enough.
Occasionally there are dramatic episodes spread across 2 days that tend to end in a death or serious injury of a main character, which draws an emotional response. But again, it seems to be implausible as it involves several of the main characters.
The plots can often make it seem 'trashy', which is a shame given how good it used to be when it started off. This review may be of solely the episodes airing more recently, as the plot has taken a dip in originally and sincerity.
It seems the producers have a great love for fake blood. The scenes are often spread with excessive use of it, like they try to make it as dramatic and gory as possible.
It also seems everytime a like-able character comes along they're killed off, eg. Selena, or stay in it too long they become tedious and lose their acting credibilty, eg. Charlie.
The show usually airs on a Saturday night between 8 and 9 pm. This can be quite inconvenient if you want to go out, so as a result it becomes the program to waste your Saturday nights away with when you're not going out.
To summarise, it is enjoyable, but given that now ER is on at the same time, I would much rather go for the more sincere and realistic medical drama, where the staff's personal lives and relationships do not interfere with the drama of the patients.

Summary: Not as good as it used to be or as other medical dramas