nenehcherry2

Agree (although I think that Laura took the "badboyification" of Curtis to another level).

Soaps always tend to give stronger storylines to female characters. At least, especially in those days. Jack was a true breath of fresh air in 1994 and (to a slightly lesser extent) earlier 1995 but he lost his spark as that year went on (and the show shifted back to high drama from comedy). In that first 12 months or so, he literally lights up the screen whenever he appears. I love watching his scenes from that time and it fits so well with the comedy tip H&A was on at that point. This is the Jack that people remember the most (pretending to wear Ailsa's dresses, three timing Selina, getting into bed with Don, the mice in the Diner etc) but, as with evil era Roo #1 or bad girl Karen, that only lasts for like 50% of his actual tenure. I actually think he (unlike Selina) started to suffer when Shannon and Curtis arrived. He was much more purposeful when he was being the younger, unwanted pest to Shane, Tug and Damo or crushing on Angel. As the rest of the teen gang arrive, then really 1995 progresses into the darker side and Curtis is given the bigger storylines with Laura, the alcoholism, etc, Jack initially becomes pretty conventional really for a while (with a slight "bad boy" edge maybe), like during the racist storyline with Chloe & Max (and a spare part otherwise). But the bushfire arc, as great a story as it was, destroyed him for good and he becomes sullen and difficult right up until Michael dies. Daniel Amalm's acting range seems to have also declined in parallel with the above. He just doesn't have the same energy as he did in his first 12 months. He's said in interviews that his gained weight during his time on the show which severely affected his self-confidence.

Many of the teens and 20something characters provided more in the sense of eye candy than big storylines or strong characterisation. 2 - 3 years of topless male torsos carrying surfboards or (for some of the girls / ladies) wearing a bikini was considered a significant contribution alone (and, from the little I've seen of the modern show, that's hardly changed for the better!). Whilst Nick was as dull as dishwater in the final half of his tenure, Bruce was still seen by many older teen, 20something and even older viewers as easy on the eye. We're talking Home and Away here, after all and not Coro!

I have a soft spot for 1994. There's very little high drama, especially mid-way into the season, but the comedy's great and the writing, however light-hearted, is true to the characters' natures and to the actors' ranges. The contrast with the how the show evolved 12-18 months later is like night & day!

I agree with all of this (although, I think in Ailsa's case, it was also to do with how her lines were written and how Judy delivered her performance). Even though they have less storylines in the non-dramatic 1990-94 period, they still have that "every couple" feel as supporting characters and their marriage seems very warm and happy for the most part.

I also feel that Alf lost his sense of humour in the 1995 revamp and smiled a lot less for circa 6 years. They overplayed his long-standing hot temper and disciplinarian stances from then on until Duncan first left, meaning that the poor likes of Aaron, (especially) Curtis, Mitch and Duncan copped it a lot. They also ruined his friendship with Michael too and had him thumping Don one, two of his best mates (no doubt, Tom would have copped it if he'd still been alive!). Pre-95 Alf had the hot temper for sure but that was balanced with liking a dirty joke and a good laugh over the store counter with the right character (well, as far as Home and Away could go with that) and making "Dad jokes" (like when he started singing Christmas carols in 94 just before the tree burned down). And loyalty to mates was one of his most obvious values. Alf becoming moodier from 95 also coincided with Ailsa becoming more judgemental and unbalanced herself (which took the previous warmth away from their rapport as a couple). These changes, in turn, made them more isolated within the community. They seemed like detached, much older, embittered, cold, conservative Grandparent figures towards the late 90s teens, as opposed to the Uncle / Aunt figures they were to the earlier kids. And their marriage seemed less happy. He also lost his store in 96 (and it barely appeared in late 95). This didn't do him any favours either as we stopped seeing Alf as the centre of the community store server and employer (the bait shop was too specific in its purpose to compensate) and he seemed to spend a lot of time hanging around the Diner counter with Ailsa without actually working there! All these changes meant that, by the time Pippa left, much of her role was given over to the conveniently much softer by then Irene (I am sure one of the Ross kids even mentions that they wouldn't want to live with the Stewarts in a million years). Whereas I think pre-95 A&A would have been natural successors as the central foster family. Alf definitely softened once Duncan went to live with Morag and, to the earlier point, he morphed into the Grandfather of the community figure (losing much of his hot temper but never really getting back his earlier qualities either). Now he's just a brand to represent the show.

It was mentioned briefly in 1996. Senator Katherine Walker (who turned out to be Shannon's biological mother) visited, booked into the caravan park and Michael commented something along the lines of "wouldn't you be more suited to the Macklin resort?" (yes, that's right, the surname was also mentioned along with the resort itself!).

I agree. Matthew's comic timing was spot on!

Maybe. Although I believe some "nagging" is in response to partners / children who don't take proactive ownership for their actions.

I believe that Pippa, being permanently immensely busy with tea towel folding, cooking, ironing and henpecking, wouldn't have given much thought to Colleen and Gypsy's feud.

Very true. In 1993/4, virtually all of the regular characters had become too "nice" for the most part and lost their edges, which didn't stimulate much in the way of drama. Making the show very dependant on the "guest-itis" disease!

Nick and Roxy did in fact start dating (of sorts) not long after she arrived and several characters commented on the aesthetic and personality-based similarities between Roxy and the Loo . But, they quickly realised that it wasn't going to work and both quickly moved on. From that latter moment on, Nick's only contributions to the show were to play mini Dad to Shane, help Don plant geraniums in the opening credits and to just sit at the Diner counter laughing his head off at nothingness. So many characters had become pointless by about mid-93: Adam (until Bobby's accident), Nick and Fin. Did Roxy and Luke ever bring much value (as fine an actor as John Adam was)? For that matter, was Ailsa bringing in much purpose at that point?

1989 has to be the one "early year" of EE which did NOT "feel" EE. Bunch of strange short-term characters like the old brown owl lady, the northern, the two daft young blokes, hairdresser and Vince. As well as Den, 89 had also seen the loss of Barry, Colin (underrated character played by a great actor), Willmott Brown (evil to the core but what an actor!), Carmel (LOVE Judith Jacobs!), Ali and Sue (what a sad exit she had). And Legg and Ethel started appearing much less. That was on top of losing Ange, Lou and Mary in 88. 1990 cleaned things up again and took EE into a more defined direction which would last for decades.

Haha at the Loxy (or is it Ruke?) credits shots! What benefit did Angel getting custody of Dylan really bring to Shangel's storylines? He wasn't old enough to have a more meaningful role alas Sally and Sam did in their initial years; other than the custody case itself and then his childhood leukaemia (a good a story as that was), did he really add any value?

Completely agree! Mat is a fine actor but was wasted on this 1.5 dimensional character. Adam was initially a very regular boy next door character who transformed into an annoyance just before Marty left (you could count that storyline with them dressing as Maz and Lance in the car as the "passing the baton" moment). As you said, there'd be moments (like when he helped Karen) where we would see those hidden dimensions but they became less explored over time (until the boat accident). I feel like quite a few of the actors who joined as twentysomethings were great, polished, academically trained actors (I'd put John Adam, Bruce Roberts, Ross Newton, Dee Smart and Alistair MacDougall in that camp, all had graduated from Uni with drama degrees) but they were given such shoddy characters to play. Versus the more "raw", fresh out of (or, in some cases, still in) high school talents of the kids who joined the show as teens (Sharyn, Alex, Nicolle, Rebekah, Dieter, etc). There's a difference in the style of delivery between the two types. Emily and Mat (like Isla years later) were somewhere between the two extremes in that they'd acted in soaps before joining the show but had no academic drama training. And then you had the former models with zero previous acting experience (bar commercials) alas Lisa Lackey, Julian MacMahon and Greg Benson. This showed in their performances.