Corrie is, first and foremost, entertainment. Nobody with any sense believes it's "real life" but it has drama, comedy and pathos and the acting is superb.
Storylines can be funny or silly and, occasionally, very true to life like the Shelly/Charlie situation. OK it's all exagerrated, to fit into the half hour slots, but they do it well. I don't suppose you'd get many streets with as many vivid dramas going on at once but I once said that to a young Scouser friend about "Brookside" (plagues, murders, incest, explosions, bodies under patios, etc.).
His face didn't crack as he said, "Just like where I live".
