Old H&A Fan Posted February 8, 2012 Report Posted February 8, 2012 Looks like that Steven and Francesco thing has resolved itself now (and not in the most ideal way). That boyfriend of hers, well, let's say he deserved every bit of that karate Steven gave him! If he wants to cause trouble by picking fights with a karate expert, he's gotta expect to get bitten HARD! I was rather disappointed when Francesco called Steven a creep and blamed him for the fight when that thug fell to the ground and she kissed the thug better. Good to see she is moving away from him (Antonio) in the longer term, serves him right I reckon! And now, for the big "OFF" switch. 2 entire episodes will most likely be unwatchable, and normality won't be resuming until the end of the last episode in the big ****fest period, when Grant is barely awake in his caravan hearing about a police drama on the radio and he worries about Jane his cute little police lady girlfriend.
Ryan Posted February 8, 2012 Report Posted February 8, 2012 matty, I wasn't sure whether to give your post on the previous page a response because I wasn't quite sure whether it warranted one or not, but in the Frank Morgan Story book, depending on whether you take that to be canon or not, Frank's maternal family are Greek.
Dibble Investments Inc Posted February 8, 2012 Report Posted February 8, 2012 Opinions please - does anybody here watch H&A 2012 as well as H&A TEY or do you just watch TEY exclusively??? I'm interested to know what everybody watches.....I watch both but have a strong preference toward TEY, to the point where I consider 2012 to be inferior to 1990......
beau_t Posted February 8, 2012 Report Posted February 8, 2012 Opinions please - does anybody here watch H&A 2012 as well as H&A TEY or do you just watch TEY exclusively??? I'm interested to know what everybody watches.....I watch both but have a strong preference toward TEY, to the point where I consider 2012 to be inferior to 1990...... I dip in and out of the current show, usually I read a couple of opinions/posts in the Aus discussion thread and if it sounds like a good episode with characters that interest me, then I'll watch it. Generally from what I've seen the current show is far inferior to TEY. Last year was the first year in the show's history that I stopped watching daily, it just got so bad and so far removed from the show it used to be, I found myself hating it. I watch every episode of the Early Years but I watch it on YouTube as I'm not always at home through the day.
Old H&A Fan Posted February 8, 2012 Report Posted February 8, 2012 (today is an obvious exception to the rule but) I watch almost all parts of every early-years episode, but skim through most of the episodes in the 7pm slot, and for the past 10 years now have forgotten most of what's happened in the 7pm episodes. If I miss a bit (say, due to a digital dropout or glitch), even if is an exciting moment, I'd have forgotten what that was about and not try to rewatch a glitch-free version.
alexx Posted February 9, 2012 Report Posted February 9, 2012 At the moment there is no contest for me - The Early Years wins hands down for better character writing, better direction, better 'feel/atmosphere', more entertaining storylines that have depth, better continuity...etc I could go on. The current show bores me on a continuous basis and I'm with beu, I actually hate what it has become some times. I used to think it had changed beyond recognition during 2009 but 2011 is in a league of its own. The writers/producers frustrate me because they just don't seem to understand what H&A is or what it can be. They seem to think the only 'drama' that is of interest to anyone is crime based and I think Cam thought that his boring 'Bay of Love' was going back to basics so to speak, but it wasn't anything like H&A used to be, it was just what it is now (romance, love), without the crime. I sort of blame Cameron Welsh (07-11) and Dan Bennet (05-07). Despite him (Dan) being really passionate and a huge fan of the earlier years, he changed the style of the show so dramatically that every producer since, seem to look at that as a reference point and so other than the odd period here and there, such as 2008 (Bevan Lee), it hasn't truly felt like Home and Away for years and years.
Dibble Investments Inc Posted February 9, 2012 Report Posted February 9, 2012 At the moment there is no contest for me - The Early Years wins hands down for better character writing, better direction, better 'feel/atmosphere', more entertaining storylines that have depth, better continuity...etc I could go on. The current show bores me on a continuous basis and I'm with beu, I actually hate what it has become some times. I used to think it had changed beyond recognition during 2009 but 2011 is in a league of its own. The writers/producers frustrate me because they just don't seem to understand what H&A is or what it can be. They seem to think the only 'drama' that is of interest to anyone is crime based and I think Cam thought that his boring 'Bay of Love' was going back to basics so to speak, but it wasn't anything like H&A used to be, it was just what it is now (romance, love), without the crime. I sort of blame Cameron Welsh (07-11) and Dan Bennet (05-07). Despite him (Dan) being really passionate and a huge fan of the earlier years, he changed the style of the show so dramatically that every producer since, seem to look at that as a reference point and so other than the odd period here and there, such as 2008 (Bevan Lee), it hasn't truly felt like Home and Away for years and years. Well said Alex....comparing 2012 with 1990, you'd be mistaken for thinking they are completely different shows - the only commonality being a handful of the same characters and the same setting.... I know that shows evolve and change direction, that is something we must be conscious of. However, as you rightly pointed out, the producers have meddled too much with it's format, probably putting too much of their own spin on it....obviously, they have pre-conceived ideas about what people (particularly young people) want to watch. All great, in theory and hopefully it is still enjoyed in 2012 by some... Sadly, the original concept of H&A has been sacrificed due to the attempt to attract young viewers with short attention spans by focussing on appalling storylines involving the River Boys and such. And I never knew H&A to be an action show but watching it lately, one could be forgiven for thinking it is.... Coronation Street's format has not changed in 50 years, yet it still rates very high....they make slight variations by adding in new characters and focussing on modern issues but it's an example of a show that remains loyal to it's roots... Some recent producers have claimed that they are returning the show to it's roots but I have yet to see any evidence of that. And if Alf, Colleen, Irene and Marilyn all left, I wouldn't even bother with 2012....
Ryan Posted February 9, 2012 Report Posted February 9, 2012 Fundamentally, and I know I'm going to sway out by 21 years for a moment, gang culture could have been an interesting area to cover. However, and this is probably not constrained to the show, but what I perceive as an outsider as to be quite tacky tactics used by all Australian TV networks. From the fact, that they were trailers ran promoting their arrival for about a month before there first episodes (and not particularly classy adverts: What was it? Who are the hot new boys in town?) They must believe the Australian audience as all to be as deep as a puddle in a bush fire. Then lack of any story arc, rather what appears to have been continuous violence. For instance, I said when a certain character died in mid-2011 that someone had died, now was the time to reign it all in and show the consequences of what had happened, but, no, we've just continued with this seedy underworld storylines. Maybe, I'm wrong, but I feel, even as someone who didn't exactly blow the world apart with my ability at Higher English exams could write a more moving TV, or at least feel like I have ideas that would make better viewing. I don't tend to read Fan Fiction, but I kind of feel like I could go in there and find many that are better than what people are getting paid to produce. Some are much worse, but that's not the point. Even beau_t's tongue in cheek remark about getting Nigel from last year back as the head of the River Boys seems better than some of what I've read they've got planned. And that annoys me. When I catch up every so often with the Early Years, I watch a show that has a heart. When I started watching in 2000 and probably even for about 7-8 years after that, I watched a show that had a heart, and it annoys me that it's now a show that doesn't. Though possibly for different reasons to Old H&A Fan, I'm not particularly looking forward to the upcoming wedding episodes, not because of some hatred for Carly and Ben, but because I just frankly find wedding episodes incredibly tedious. I said this on Baycast what must be nearly 6 years ago because I think it was the one that we recorded for Martha and Jack's wedding, though it may have been Rachel and Kim, anyway, every wedding on the show tends to go through a very cliched route of things going wrong on the eve of the wedding (Ben looks to be on his way to Perth, but look at almost every wedding: poor weather, runaway horses, fingers in sinks, ripped wedding dresses, itching powder), and then we have the vows, blah, blah, blah. Every week seems to bring new milestones, and honestly, 2 and a bit years ago I never really imagined we'd be seeing this wedding or getting ready for Pippa#2. Having seens VD's stint almost in it's entirety now, I think I prefer her performance, but one imagines that by June I'll be saying the DL is better.
Natasha Posted February 9, 2012 Report Posted February 9, 2012 Some recent producers have claimed that they are returning the show to it's roots but I have yet to see any evidence of that. And if Alf, Colleen, Irene and Marilyn all left, I wouldn't even bother with 2012... Same. For me, TEY wins hands down.
alexx Posted February 9, 2012 Report Posted February 9, 2012 Fundamentally, and I know I'm going to sway out by 21 years for a moment, gang culture could have been an interesting area to cover. However, and this is probably not constrained to the show, but what I perceive as an outsider as to be quite tacky tactics used by all Australian TV networks. From the fact, that they were trailers ran promoting their arrival for about a month before there first episodes (and not particularly classy adverts: What was it? Who are the hot new boys in town?) They must believe the Australian audience as all to be as deep as a puddle in a bush fire. Then lack of any story arc, rather what appears to have been continuous violence. For instance, I said when a certain character died in mid-2011 that someone had died, now was the time to reign it all in and show the consequences of what had happened, but, no, we've just continued with this seedy underworld storylines. I know the ratings would suggest otherwise, but Home and Away has gained quite a bad reputation over the last few years as being tacky, sex obsessed and superficial. And that's why, if you speak to a lot of people, they roll there eyes at the show and berate it - even if they don't watch. No wonder when the promos revolve around that aspect of the show; they think they know what's going on and really, they do, because these days sex, lust, romance, crime and violence takes up about 95% of screen time. I miss the show having a heart as you say and I think it disappeared entirely over a period of some time between 2008-onwards. The introduction of the PG rating and the departure of characters like Sally have all played their part too. Sadly it seems like these days the produces think the PG rating means characters should be cold and they should scrap the feel good/warm moments that used to be so prominent in the show. I don't feel emotionally connected to any of the newer characters and even Leah, who I actually dislike most of the time these days.
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.