Are the current producers ruining Home and Away?

[pembie]

5 hours ago, emmasi said:

Why is no-one cashing in on the rabid Chris Hemsworth fans who would pay any price for that?? All these Marvel movies can't keep being popular forever. The window of opportunity is closing!!

There are too many comic book movies and shows to keep up with now isn't there?

Have you seen the movie Cash with Sean Bean and Chris Hemsworth? It was low budget was pretty good I thought.  It was made in 2010 and here I was thinking his first movie role was Thor

[CaptainHulk]

Everybody's gotta start somewhere!

[emmasi]

6 hours ago, pembie said:

There are too many comic book movies and shows to keep up with now isn't there?

Have you seen the movie Cash with Sean Bean and Chris Hemsworth? It was low budget was pretty good I thought.  It was made in 2010 and here I was thinking his first movie role was Thor

Yes and yes  I have it on DVD but have only watched it once. I've been meaning to watch it again because I did enjoy it  I do want my Kimmy on DVD though. 

[Luke39]

2015 was not perfect, but I liked it better then this year tbh. The balance was better. You had a Women like Charlotte, one of the best villans in years. She was just a Mother who kinda became psycho due to her son screwing up. So you kinda had some sympathy for her. I like that in villan characters. You had the sense of danger in the show. Without feeling like it was just around the corner. Then climaxed with Ed Sherran, felt like the Summerbay kids all over again. 

Spoiler

But this year Psycho Teenagers. Hunter and Tabitha, they would be perfect together . Then you got unplanned Preganacys, Criminals. The Morgans have basically brought in more crime and danger into the show. Just as things were settling down. 

, 

[Gerard]

On 09/08/2016 at 9:07 PM, cadyctslover said:

I have to say I agree with you for the most part. I hate to see show's that I once really enjoyed be mucked around with and ruined to such a degree that I stop caring about the characters. Sometimes I would much rather see them axe it now and end the torture already.

I think the "Home and Away" brand is much more valuable to the TV station and the producers than the content. Sure they could rename it "CSI: Summer Bay" which would be more aligned to what it has been the past few years, but that would damage the brand. All soaps are basically tried to a location, whether it is a street or town. In H&A's case it is very flexible in that there is a whole town in scope. The Caravan Park is the only constant since day one, but they could easily axe that location and Summer Bay House completely if they wanted.Even the "fostering element" has all but disappeared. I'm glad it's still there in the background, but it used to be much more prominent.

Very little of the original H&A exists, apart from Alf and the Caravan Park, and the beach location. It is effectively a completely different show than it was in the 80's. They could get rid of all three elements and keep going under the "Home and Away" banner if they wanted. They could probably even relocate to Yabbie Creek. Sometimes it feels like we get more Yabbie Creek than Summer Bay as a good part of the action seems to take place in the Police Station or the Hospital (is the hospital actually in Yabbie Creek or where is it? "The City"?).

Anyway, my point is that no matter how far removed from "classic H&A" it gets, the name of the programme is their most valuable asset. They can completely change everything else about the series, and the only comeback the viewers really have is whether to switch off or keep watching.

[Homeandawayfan.]

Neighbours has more originality than H&A. Ramsay Street has remained constant throughout, since 1985. I know Emmerdale started off focusing around a farm but the village always featured, and (even though they built a set in 1997, in the show it is the same village) the current pub and street has featured since 1976. The original pub was written out in 1976 as they relocated to a village nearer the studios. H&A and EastEnders have become the most depressing soaps on TV, and that is no lie. Seems they think that is what the viewers want.

[Jacklost]

2 hours ago, Homeandawayfan. said:

Neighbours has more originality than H&A. Ramsay Street has remained constant throughout, since 1985. I know Emmerdale started off focusing around a farm but the village always featured, and (even though they built a set in 1997, in the show it is the same village) the current pub and street has featured since 1976. The original pub was written out in 1976 as they relocated to a village nearer the studios. H&A and EastEnders have become the most depressing soaps on TV, and that is no lie. Seems they think that is what the viewers want.

That's your opinion. Some people like the show the way it is now. I've never watched these other shows you mentioned so can't say anything about them 

[Homeandawayfan.]

The show has become some kind of psychological thriller show, everyone with their life in danger from natural causes, poisoning or scorned enemies/stalkers. So unlike the original Home And Away.

Jacklost can you offer an opinion on how you think the show is enjoyable to you?

[Gerard]

Exactly. Modern H&A is rather depressing, and becomes a bit exhausting to watch. It's a shame because it used to be such a bright and optimistic series which was a bit of escapism.

With lives on the line more or less every week, does anyone really get shocked by the next danger lurking around the corner? It's coming, whether we like it or not. Plus every newcomer to town is going to have some kind of "dark secret" which will probably involve either police or medical intervention (or both). It gets a bit repetative and tiresome. Of course there must be a fair portion of the audience who love all the high tension and drama, but how many bombs, explosions, stalkers and sieges can a small town really have? The audience is bound to get bored eventually. Then what?

ETA: Over the past few weeks at UK pace, I've lost track, but off the top of my head, we've had people confessing to murder, a stabbing, a kidnap, a rape, a heart attack, a stroke, blackmail, fraud... and probably a lot more I've forgotten...

[Homeandawayfan.]

36 minutes ago, Gerard said:

Exactly. Modern H&A is rather depressing, and becomes a bit exhausting to watch. It's a shame because it used to be such a bright and optimistic series which was a bit of escapism.

With lives on the line more or less every week, does anyone really get shocked by the next danger lurking around the corner? It's coming, whether we like it or not. Plus every newcomer to town is going to have some kind of "dark secret" which will probably involve either police or medical intervention (or both). It gets a bit repetative and tiresome. Of course there must be a fair portion of the audience who love all the high tension and drama, but how many bombs, explosions, stalkers and sieges can a small town really have? The audience is bound to get bored eventually. Then what?

ETA: Over the past few weeks at UK pace, I've lost track, but off the top of my head, we've had people confessing to murder, a stabbing, a kidnap, a rape, a heart attack, a stroke, blackmail, fraud... and probably a lot more I've forgotten...

It feels like a new show set in Summer Bay that just ties in with the old show. Corrie, EastEnders and Neighbours still are set in the street, square and cul de sac they always have been and follow the lives of those families. Barlow's, Beale's and Robinson's etc, plus many other families over time. They still feel like the same programmes they always were and that is a good thing. Updated versions of what they were.

H&A has very little of its originality left. Just as you say, Alf and SBH. It went from a show about foster teens being mentored by Tom and Pippa/Alf and Ailsa to a show about guns, kidnaps, explosions and bed hoping. How further from your roots can you get?

I wonder if you could really say the same about Emmerdale.