Are the current producers ruining Home and Away?

[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 Now that has been replaced by a darkness that is completely alien to the majority of Australians and it's purely fictitious whereas in the past I could believe in Summer Bay and it's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. 

[Homeandawayfan.]

Well when Alan Bateman died in 2012, Lucy never left a tribute message to him, that shows how much she thought of him.

As I said, I worry now that Dan Bennett has jumped ship that it will start to revert back to default 2009-early 2015 garbage. This may continue until Lucy moves on. She would be great producing Underbelly. Jason Herbison worked on H&A before and he would be great as producer, or Richard Jasek.

[masterjai30]

I think a change to the incidental music would help the feel of the show.I remember between 1988-2000 whenever there was a dramatic moment or action scene it really sounded exciting.Like when Michael died trying to save Sam or Robert Perez torching the Nash house.Likewise the music used for emotional or sad scenes.For example the scenes following Dale's cot death with Pippa and Michael grieving or when Greg decided to turn off Bobby's life support.Now the music is very generic and souless,in the old days it was almost like a character itself.

[TickTock]

On 1/5/2016 at 1:38 PM, masterjai30 said:

I think a change to the incidental music would help the feel of the show.I remember between 1988-2000 whenever there was a dramatic moment or action scene it really sounded exciting.Like when Michael died trying to save Sam or Robert Perez torching the Nash house.Likewise the music used for emotional or sad scenes.For example the scenes following Dale's cot death with Pippa and Michael grieving or when Greg decided to turn off Bobby's life support.Now the music is very generic and souless,in the old days it was almost like a character itself.

YES. This. They rarely if ever use incidental/score music now - they always rely on the latest and greatest pop songs. Sometimes this works, but more often than not, it's mindless dribble in the background. This is one thing that can be easily fixed.

Also totally agree about the Braxton era needing to come to an end once and for all. I did warm up to Heath and Brax a bit in the end, but their time is well and truly gone. The Presto special was ridiculous - they should have used that opportunity to focus on newer characters or explore stories of existing characters that the regular half hour show doesn't have time for. I think the show needs to realise that the target audience/viewers who first made the Braxtons so popular back in 2011 are now five years older and have moved on, as have the actual actors themselves (pretty sure Stephen Peacocke only really returned as a favour to the show - he certainly doesn't need to do it anymore); they can't try and appeal to this same audience anymore. 

[Homeandawayfan.]

I think the background music is one of the "turn off" things for me in H&A. It is just soulless and faceless and highly generic. It is overrused and adds to the stone cold doom and gloom. I am still yet to become a regular viewer again, it was starting to improve before the UK Xmas break but since it came back, the wheels have come off again.