The U.S. watched the soap opera drama unfold, and in the process the sport saw television ratings soar and maintain a consistent level of viewership.

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Politics is a continuing soap opera where the drama never ends and the same story lines play out time after time, just in different ways.

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But there is a difference between unrehearsed soap acting and longer-form drama like this.

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Coronation Street was named best serial drama for a second year - beating EastEnders, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks - while Alan Halsall, who plays Tyrone in the soap, picked up best serial drama performance.

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"It's the most consistent soap with a good balance of humour and drama, and they're always sowing the seeds of new characters, " he says.

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But with a diverging and aging audience and the financial burden of running a daily drama on the scale of a soap, he says, something has to give.

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Ms Davis plays Hayley in BBC Radio 4's long-running soap The Archers, and has also appeared on television in the hospital drama Casualty.

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Tell Congress to pass this tax cut without drama, without delay. (Applause.) No soap operas.

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Aaah, this is cricket at its soap-operatic best: two great teams act out the latest installment in a drama that spans generations.

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After three years on the soap opera "The Young and the Restless, " Ms. Longoria was drafted by ABC for a new drama, "Desperate Housewives, " which first aired in 2004.

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