Are the current producers ruining Home and Away?

[greg098]

I was very happy with the direction the show was going towards the end of the year but I feel it was rubbished with the season final involving the braxtons yet again. I feel the show needs to move on as they had their time and the show must move forward. They keep bringing back Braxton characters to bring in the ratings or the hype but I think in the long run, its not helping the show because it leaves the rest of the show stale. They just announced books about the Braxtons and more spin off Presto shows about them... I feel its getting out of control. This show is meant to be about fostering children and the struggles of life, yet the show is becoming The braxtons, crime, murder, kidnapping, drugs etc. This is a soap, not a crime drama. They need new writers on the show. seriously

[jodlebirger]

32 minutes ago, greg098 said:

I was very happy with the direction the show was going towards the end of the year but I feel it was rubbished with the season final involving the braxtons yet again. I feel the show needs to move on as they had their time and the show must move forward. They keep bringing back Braxton characters to bring in the ratings or the hype but I think in the long run, its not helping the show because it leaves the rest of the show stale. They just announced books about the Braxtons and more spin off Presto shows about them... I feel its getting out of control. This show is meant to be about fostering children and the struggles of life, yet the show is becoming The braxtons, crime, murder, kidnapping, drugs etc. This is a soap, not a crime drama. They need new writers on the show. seriously

It shouldn't be a crime show, it is a soap. But there was too much crime in it, even before the Braxton arrived. It just became worse. And that is not good of course. 

But I think it is also  worry with the constant focus on the Braxtons, from not only channel 7, but also media down under and now also book publishers and other television companies which will lead to neglection of the current show. They refuse to move forward, because the Braxtons are good business to them. And they are feeding the fans who screams for the Braxtons and the denial of liking newer characters (and older ones). If this doesn't stop, the show will die a slow death. It needs to move on. 

There have been popular characters earlier too, and the show and media were able to move on rather quickly. But we haven't seen that this time.

But why?

Channel 7 needs to understand that hyping characters (with feeding people and media with promotion of these characters as the saviours of the bay) before they even arrive will only lead to unhealthy focus on these characters, and make only one part of the show commercial. Media and others want to earn money on such characters, and then it will be very hard to move the show forward. They should never have created the vibe around the Braxtons (by promoting them for months). And the channel feed the media, and the media has fed the channel and the fans. It has become a cycle. They have digging them selves into a hole which isn't easy to get out of.

I know they were popular characters, but they aren't the first popular characters to leave the show. It is time to look forward. For the show's sake. 

[Homeandawayfan.]

Lucy Addario is Braxton obsessed. And totally ignorant to viewers who hate the direction of the show. Since Brax's initial departure she has managed to coax him back and involve him in another revenge plot. I have seen the announcement of a novel being published and guess what, it is about Eye For An Eye and the Braxtons.

The show has improved but only by a moderate bit. It is more watchable, but is still a crime show. It can only improve once Lucy moves on to pastures new. Than again who could her successor be? Susan Bower, making us think, better the devil you know.

[~Lynd~]

I was happy  with the direction the show was taking until news of the books and other Braxton related things come out.Enough already.They aren't doing the show any favours in the long run.They can't drag it out forever.

[alexx]

On 12/21/2015 at 10:11 AM, greg098 said:

I was very happy with the direction the show was going towards the end of the year but I feel it was rubbished with the season final involving the braxtons yet again. I feel the show needs to move on as they had their time and the show must move forward. They keep bringing back Braxton characters to bring in the ratings or the hype but I think in the long run, its not helping the show because it leaves the rest of the show stale. They just announced books about the Braxtons and more spin off Presto shows about them... I feel its getting out of control. This show is meant to be about fostering children and the struggles of life, yet the show is becoming The braxtons, crime, murder, kidnapping, drugs etc. This is a soap, not a crime drama. They need new writers on the show. seriously

After my post about the positive changes, I watched the final week (hadn't seen it at that point) and other than Irene I really disliked it, the finale was horrible - particularly if it's a sign of things to come next year. I agree with your post completely. It's pretty frustrating to watch.

I just wish it became about relatable Aussie's again - the kind of people you see on a daily basis and how they live their lives. The show used to be so feel good and uplifting in the past on a consistent basis (representative of the general Australian attitude I guess) and then it was dramatic and emotional when necessary. Now that has been replaced by a darkness that is completely alien to the majority of Australians and it's purely fictitious whereas in the past I could believe in Summer Bay and it's characters.

We live in such a beautiful and pretty awesome country, I wish that was reflected in H&A again. The way of life hasn't changed much (outside of the cities, which have always been evolving) - so why has the show changed? I wonder whether it's because the producers all come from the city and don't understand what it's truly like to live in a small Aussie seaside town. I know that it's a TV show and has to keep refreshing itself but going down the crime route is really not what they should be doing with H&A.

[sindikatas]

They just have this idea that showing everyday life is boring. Though watching the early years is proof that something real can be anything but boring.

[Gerard]

10 hours ago, alexx said:

The show used to be so feel good and uplifting in the past on a consistent basis (representative of the general Australian attitude I guess) and then it was dramatic and emotional when necessary. Now that has been replaced by a darkness that is completely alien to the majority of Australians and it's purely fictitious whereas in the past I could believe in Summer Bay and it's characters.

We live in such a beautiful and pretty awesome country, I wish that was reflected in H&A again.

Things for me did seem to be improving a lot since the departure of Brax. We had Summer Bay House full with people, and some traditional H&A type family storylines along with the manditory dramatic plotline (in this case Charlotte). That's how the show worked at its best. Family dramas mixed with something just on the right side of OTT.

There is no doubt that H&A is visually stunning, with sunshine, outdoors and beautiful people, but that's all quite superficial. There is occasionally some miserable dark storyline going on which is punctuated with beautiful establishing shots of sunset and the sea etc - quite strange.

I'm disappointed to hear that the series seems to be slipping backwards into the depressing over-dramatics which have dominated the past few years. I hope going forward they can maintain the balance between humour, drama and relationships better. H&A survived for many years as a family-based series with the occasional hightened drama. But if every week someone's life is in peril, it could get boring very quickly.

H&A has been off-air for a couple of weeks in the UK, and honestly, I don't really miss it.

[Homeandawayfan.]

I find shows like Neighbours much more consistent and watchable. Same for Emmerdale and Corrie. H&A, Hollyoaks and EastEnders like to thrust this endless gore and misery onto viewers. Lucy does not understand what H&A is, it is not a show about fostering and troubled teens in her book, in her book it is a show about tattooed drug fuelled gangs who kill anyone who gets in their way, corrupt coppers and psycho teachers. That is why so many long term viewers are disgusted at the direction of the show, whatever happened to the comic storylines between Lance and Martin, Shane and Damo and the local baddie was just a school bully like Tug who stole the odd car where no one was harmed, just Alf's bank account. And the most dramatic love triangle ended up with just a bruised eye. Today they end up with someone being maimed or killed. I do worry that the current style will be the style going forward.

[dee123]

On 12/22/2015 at 5:30 AM, ~Lynd~ said:

I was happy  with the direction the show was taking until news of the books and other Braxton related things come out.Enough already.They aren't doing the show any favours in the long run.They can't drag it out forever.

Their chickens will come home to roost if the show gets shunted to 7TWO.

 

2 hours ago, kmp1963 said:

The more i think about it, the more worried I am.

I can't help but wonder why Dan has left so soon. If it has to do with the future direction of the show. I shudder to think.

Makes me scared that even he probably couldn't stop the mountain of crap storylines to come...

[Light of the Bay]

On 17/12/2015 at 0:07 PM, alexx said:

ll don't care enough about the show to bother, but I'm getting back into it slowly and I just hope that they build on the improvements this year and it gets better into 2016. If they give up and it goes back to the cold, boring 2011-2014 years I'll tune out, probably for good.

That's my worry too. Why don't writers/producers realise when they have a good thing? 

Praying we get news of Lucy Addario's 'departure' sooner rather than later. Alan Bateman would be turning in his grave at how his show has been these past few years.