After 50 years, Coronation Street still strangely popular

Coronation Street has been captivating Canadian viewers with its seemingly endless tales of Weatherfield, Manchester, for the past 40 years. It’s just two days until the show’s 50th anniversary—it didn’t make it across the pond for the first decade—and Corrie lovers Canada-wide are getting ready to celebrate.

As both the Globe and the Star point out, our love of Coronation Street is a strictly Canadian phenomenon in North America. The afternoon soap never caught on in the United States, but its popularity endures here. Over the past 50 seasons, the characters on the show have endured a few things, too. A look at the numbers puts the show’s incredible longevity in perspective.

According to various tallies, the show has witnessed 86 weddings, 37 births and 118 deaths. The Canadian viewership is also impressive. The CBC estimates that some 6.55 million Canadians have watched at least one episode of Coronation Street this year, and the show pulls in around 775,000 viewers for its early-evening broadcast alone. (To compare, Being Erica gets around 450,000 viewers.) To commemorate our obsession, the CBC will air Corrie Crazy: Canada Loves Coronation Street, a one-hour special hosted by Debbie Travis, this Thursday at 8 p.m. Elsie, Ena and Annie fans, rejoice!

• Canadians love their Corrie [Toronto Star]
• Coronation Street at 50: 86 weddings, 37 births, 118 deaths and 775,000 Canadian fans [Globe and Mail]