The Simpsons might have something of a penchant for predicting the future but I do not share such a gift as, if you’d told me that today I would be writing about the show being pitted against Coronation Street, I simply wouldn’t have believed you.
The long-running animated series, which debuted in 1989 and has been a firm fixture of teatime TV in the UK for decades, celebrated a major milestone this month, surpassing an impressive 800 episodes.
The achievement was marked on X, formerly known as Twitter, with BuzzingPop declaring the Matt Groening sitcom the ‘longest running scripted prime time TV show of all time’.
Such a statement swiftly sparked a debate, particularly among fans of British soaps, who wasted little time in namedropping their favourite shows – one in particular – in response.
‘Incorrect,’ wrote X user Martin. ‘Enter Coronation Street stage left with 11,700+ episodes.’
Bluey added: ‘Surely Coronation Street is miles ahead of that? Been on prime UK TV since 1960 running episodes on average of 4 a week?’
Ayr Brush echoed such sentiments: ‘Coronation street is over 11,000 episodes, and (like most UK soaps) runs during primetime.’
Our own Soaps Editor Duncan Lindsay was also quick to point out Corrie’s impressive episode count, joking that the ITV serial ‘would like a word’.
It’s true. Coronation Street is the clear victor here. The long-running soap, which debuted on ITV in 1960 and has been a staple of primetime telly in the UK ever since, has aired more than 11,700 episodes to date.
And if there was any doubt about the power the soap still wields after 65 years on air then you only need look at its achievements in the past two months.
After finally crossing over with fellow soap Emmerdale – delivering the almighty TV event that was Corriedale – the show kicked off a grim whodunit with a flashforward episode as part of its shiny new schedule pattern.
And if that weren’t impressive enough, the ITV soap is – as of last month – officially cannon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe!
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Such a thing was established when Wonder Man – the latest TV series which takes place in the MCU – made reference to the cobbles-based drama when Ben Kingsley’s character Trevor referred to having done a stint in Coronation Street as Ron Jenkins in the 1960s.
In the real world, Ben Kingsley actually did portray Ron Jenkins on Corrie in the episodes mentioned, meaning that Marvel bosses very much did their homework.
And to top it all off, the beloved serial drama was unexpectedly added to Disney Plus last week as part of a deal the steamer has with ITVX, meaning it now co-exists on the service with all the Marvel properties.
Long live Corrie!
Coronation Street airs Mondays to Fridays at 8:30pm on ITV1 or stream from 7am on ITVX and YouTube. You can also stream episodes a week after broadcast on Disney Plus.
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