EastEnders has become the unlikely subject of a 500-strong viewers' petition in the US after it was axed from BBC America's Sunday lunchtime slot.
In a land where soap operas are more associated with shoulder pads and private jets than dirty overalls and Phil Mitchell's beaten-up Jag, EastEnders has become a surprise hit.
But the BBC has dropped the soap from its weekend slot and shifted it to Friday afternoons, when many viewers are still at work.
Furious fans bombarded the BBC America website, calling for a boycott of the channel and a reinstatement of the Sunday slot.
The soap was axed to make way for more lifestyle programmes such as Changing Rooms and Ground Force.
EastEnders fan Chuck Anziulewicz, from Spring Hill, West Virginia, said viewers were "extremely angry".
"We are absolutely horrified and heartbroken that we are being treated so shoddily by BBC America," he said.
"One need only look at the EastEnders discussion board on BBC America's website to realise that American fans are extremely angry at this schedule change yet, by all accounts, BBC America is ignoring us. This is tremendously demoralising."
US fans - many of them expatriates - claim channel bosses have failed to explain the reason for the move, or why the soap is only shown once a week.
One fan said: "Are you crazy? Sunday has always been the only day possible for loyal viewers to enjoy this weekly escape for Brits living in the USA. Are you not intelligent enough to realise that people still work on a Friday?"
"Typical bloody America," said another viewer. "GIve the viewers what they don't want."
Another said: "I'm devastated. This was my time to sit back, relax and immerse myself in the pure pleasure of this well-done series. The worst part is you can't tape digital cable."
Mr Anziulewicz said the BBC1 soap was a class apart from its US equivalents.
"Soap operas in the States are claustrophobic productions that focus mainly on the young, wealthy and beautiful," he said.
"EastEnders is much more real, depicting the lives of average people often struggling to make ends meet."
A BBC spokeswoman said the changes had been made to make way for more lifestyle programming, which had proved a ratings hit.
"Moving EastEnders is part of the overall changes to the autumn schedule. The soap had not performed as strongly in the Sunday slot as had been expected," she said.
"The Living strand has been extended into Sunday. Viewers are being encouraged to tune into the EastEnders omnibus edition on Fridays."
EastEnders has been screened on BBC America - which is wholly owned by BBC Worldwide but is marketed and distributed by Discovery - since the channel's launch in 1998.