Home and Away Living Re Run

[alexx]

I still consider 1997 as the final chapter in the 'Golden Era'.

As do I, I've often found that it seems to get eclipsed by 1995/1996 and as a result is extremely underrated. Obviously it wasn't perfect but Pippa's coma/recovery, Isobel's appearance (both of which became intertwined somewhat with Bert and Isobel's romance) and Irene/Saul/Paul are the standouts to me.

Yeah I agree. I'd also include Sally's 'coming of age' plot which seemed to crop up here and there througout the year (following on from the rafting accident at the end of 1996) - the stuff in the omnibus being the turning point for her. Kelly and Travis's split, Stephanie's death, Marilyn's first real 'serious' storyline...etc.But the 'tone' of the show and how the characters were written is also what makes it great. It's a very character driven period.

[Blaxland 89]

I still consider 1997 as the final chapter in the 'Golden Era'.

As do I, I've often found that it seems to get eclipsed by 1995/1996 and as a result is extremely underrated. Obviously it wasn't perfect but Pippa's coma/recovery, Isobel's appearance (both of which became intertwined somewhat with Bert and Isobel's romance) and Irene/Saul/Paul are the standouts to me.

Yeah I agree. I'd also include Sally's 'coming of age' plot which seemed to crop up here and there througout the year (following on from the rafting accident at the end of 1996) - the stuff in the omnibus being the turning point for her. Kelly and Travis's split, Stephanie's death, Marilyn's first real 'serious' storyline...etc.But the 'tone' of the show and how the characters were written is also what makes it great. It's a very character driven period.

Do you mean Marilyn's miscarriage?

[Ryan]

I thought though it was forever decreasing. During 1995 and 1996, from what I've seen, you tended to be "Oh, good, Pippa and Michael, oh, yeah, next scene is Angel and Shannon, brilliant some Alf, Fisher and Marilyn. But throughout 1997, in between these you started to get the less than brilliant replacements and even if Fisher was still in the scene, rather than being Shannon, it was with Shannon's not as good replacement.

[Blaxland 89]

I feel there was a huge dip in quality in 1996 about half way through the year. I prefer 1995 and 1997.

[rachel1990]

I agree 1997 was a fantastic year. Pity about 1998 though. Apart from Rebecca of course

[Homeandawayfan.]

I used to love 1993-1996 but by the end of 1996 I began to see a dip in quality where classics like Sarah, Tug, Damo, Shane, Angel and Finlay had left and were replaced with very forgettable characters (to me anyway) like Joey, Steph and Casey Mitchell. Jack Wilson became boring in the last few months of his time there.

[beau_t]

I do agree that the "new generation" of 1996 weren't great and didn't last long, didn't think much of their replacements (Aaron, Tiegan etc) either. But I'd except Joey from that list, I think he's one of the best characters of the 90s. I also think Casey had a lot of potential and was written out prematurely. But I wasn't sad to see the back of Liam or Stephanie, although her death was very sad, and I didn't warm to Tiegan, Aaron, Justine, Tom, Will or Hayley. Gypsy was tolerable but I really only started to like her during the Sally/Kieran storyline of 2000. Looking at the above list (and I haven't even added Mitch or Peta and Edward yet as they were mid 1999), I think the problem was that there wasn't a "core" group of 4 or 5 teenagers whose stories we followed for a good few years.

In the past for example there was Shane, Angel, Sarah, Damien and Tug for a few years. After that there was Shannon, Selina, Jack and Curtis (with Sally and Chloe thrown in later) who we also followed for a few years. After this group it was very fluid with teenage characters coming and going (and there were too many of them IMO) and there was never that feeling of there being a core group.

[Ryan]

I think that's been the problem for a long time now. For a long time there's been this loose feeling of these random youngsters hovering around the bay in some of jelly, which invariably tastes nice, but has no structure.

I often hear people complain that they don't like stories involving teenagers, but the problem is not the fact they are teenagers, it's because they

Would BH 90210 have worked if it was 10 random kids that went to the same school? No. Because to put it brutally, you don't care for 90% of the people at your school. If you come in one Monday and hear that someone's wrapped themselves around a tree or that they have witnessed their father get blown up in a car park near a marina, you'll probably go "Oh, that's bad. What's my mum put on my sandwiches today? Good, I like coleslaw." One can point to

This kind of goes against my earlier point, because a lot of the characters in BH 90210 fit a specific role (nerd, cool girl, dumb blonde, hipster, loner), but I think occasionally that they can sometimes be too hooked up on trying to make each character interesting and different. Dex, the weird geeky one; April, the enviromentalist one; Romeo, the surf dude; Sasha, the whatever that style is called, and actually think less about whether or not they make a plausible group. I don't even know whether or not I could pin down if there is a teen group in the current show. Or just a group of teenagers, very loosely linked, but very much separate buoys floating in a sea of what is increasingly sewage.

[Blaxland 89]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. 1998 IMO was a good year. In late 1997 the show got out of its dip getting rid of Liam and Stephanie, but also a huge improvement in writing. Storylines became less sensational and it became more characeter based. Aaron, Tiegan, Justine were far better as replacements. I loved Tiegans relationship with Pippa. 1998 was fantastic as a lot of humour was re injected. Vinnie made it for me, but there was also good Marilyn stuff. Actually Irene was particularly in 98 and so was Joey. loved the way Pippa was written out and how it affected everyone. And liked how it eventually lead to Fisher taking Sam so the could rebuild their closeness. Especially as we are seeing it in 1991. Diana added great drama but could also be funny. I wasn't keen on the Nash family or Will and I took a long time to warm to. Most teenagers had more levels to them than the ones after, and even some before. Dare I say it Shannon, Angel, Curtis, Sarah, Shane. All good looking with big soapy storys though which is what maybe what people felt was lacking. I like Lachie and Chloe and his departure episode was one of the best I had seen in the history of the show. If and when it gets repeated I hope people will appreciated this era a bit more.

To me, the V man is one of the best the show has seen, hugely due to writing and Ryan's performance and 1998 was his strongest year imo. When he got with ally he became less interesting and even more so when he got with all mushy with Leah.

I could go on an on about dynamic Jesse and Vinnie and Sally and Rachel had in the house that I liked. Kylie's story arc. Special one off episode such as debates or carnivals, iron man contest or leaving parties but I really should shut up now. Its just that as I am the only one that seems to feel this way I feel very defensive towards late 1997- mid 2000. Then I feel we entered the second dip (and a much longer one)

[beau_t]

I do think the late 90s were a good period and very underrated. I agree with all the points above by Blaxland. Different in some ways from the shw that came before but still very good. But I do think the teen group was problematic.

I'm actually looking forward to seeing 1997-1999 again more than I am the "golden era".