Are the current producers ruining Home and Away?

[Homeandawayfan.]

11 minutes ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

Having watched today’s UK episode with the escape of the Barretts, I am forced to conclude: Yes. For me, the show has been entirely ruined. I should be used to criminals getting away with everything by now: It was obvious when Hunter was made a regular that his crimes were going to be swept under the carpet. It angered and frustrated me but it was par for the course. But this time, there’s a “cat and mouse” aspect to it that I find very unsettling. Andy’s casual murder of Jake was, for me, a high water mark for the show, a real sense of a moral line that had been intact for over 25 years being suddenly crossed. But I felt that as long as he remained on the show, there was a chance it could catch up with him. I wasn’t expecting it, I wouldn’t have been at all surprised if he’d married Hannah and sailed off into the sunset and if he had I’d have grumbled under my breath and carried on watching, but I was hoping for it. But then it started to happen. I actually took comfort in Kyle’s exit: I liked him, I didn’t want him to go to jail, but I accepted the philosophy that he’d got away with things in the past and now it had caught up with him, and with Andy’s departure announced I hoped the same rule would apply to him. Brax got let off the hook…I could accept that as an aberration, different rules for someone’s favourite. Then Andy killed Oscar and Hannah. He confessed, he was charged with manslaughter, there was no attempt by the show to pretend it wasn’t his fault. Surely he’d go to jail now? Surely the show wouldn’t pretend that their lives didn’t matter? Then he actually confessed to killing Jake, and Josh confessed to killing Charlotte…This was it. They were both going to jail. I was going to get my Home and Away back, a show that I could be proud of. A show that knew that no matter how sympathetically you’re written, how popular you are, if you cross the line you have to suffer the consequences. It seemed so certain, I didn’t even doubt it.

And then…the bad guys won. And I’ve got a sinking feeling that those making the show don’t realise they’re the bad guys and don’t expect any of the audience to realise either. But they are. Four unlawful killings go unpunished, those left behind (from Hunter to Evelyn to Zac to Chris) have to live with the fact that the people who took their loved ones away from them were never brought to justice, and two unrepentant killers are free to reoffend. And they will reoffend: I don’t even have to make it up, we saw it. When doing the right thing became too hard, Andy went right back to being a criminal. They’re not going to spend the next 60-70 years fruit picking for cash in hand, or setting up a homestead in the bush and growing organic vegetables, or finding a deserted island and living off fish. They’re going to be dealing drugs, doing robberies and acting as errand boys for criminals. Best case, they find someone who’ll only want them to do a few jobs in return for new identities or passage out of the country, and even then they’ll likely be starting from the bottom and it won’t be long before Andy decides on a short cut to make some easy money. Most likely, Andy, bereft of civilising influences, turns back into the evil thug we first met and this time Maddy isn’t around to stop Josh turning into him. Or Andy will do his usual job of upsetting the wrong people, won’t have the Braxtons to save his behind, and they’ll end up in a shallow grave. And I’m left with the distinct feeling of being trolled, of those who make the show saying “People still think Andy should be punished for Jake? Okay, we’ll show them: We’ll make them think it’s going to happen and then snatch it away.” Maybe I’m giving them too much credit but the message is the same: “If you want a show with a sense of right and wrong, go elsewhere.” Instead it’s aimed at the Hollyoaks market: No credibility, no morality, but hey the cast are good looking and we’ve got a great stunt lined up. The producers scour Twitter for all the “Yay, the hot brothers got away!” comments and say “Job done.” (Sadly, Kate Oates killed Emmerdale the same way: The brutal and meaningless murder/manslaughter of Katie Sugden, followed by her killer becoming part of a Golden Couple because they have the strongest following on social media, was the last straw. No point having conversations in farm kitchens if they’re about drug deals, car thefts and murders. I’m hoping Corrie’s too strong for her to ruin that too but early signs aren’t good…)

It’s not including these elements that ruins the show. In the first year, you had an armed siege ending in a fatal shooting, a rape, an arson, a stalker-like whodunnit, a car crash as the culmination of a “Who will die? Well, no-one actually” storyline, a main character confessing to a fatal stabbing, a teacher supplying a student with performance-enhancing drugs, and numerous punch-ups. The problem is including those elements without a moral framework. If the current producers had been making the show in 1989, Dodge wouldn’t have been a sociopathic manchild with a twisted sense of fun. Instead he’d have been instantly forgiven for the manslaughter of Philip (because accidentally killing a sympathetic character in an act of violence revenge is no big deal now apparently), gone on being friends with Steven and when Emma turned up they’d have got together and been the new golden couple. If they’d been making it in 2006, Rocco wouldn’t have been a good kid trying to escape an abusive brother. Instead, he’d have been portrayed as in the wrong and told to go back to his brother who still loved him despite being a violent criminal. He’d have still died, and it would still have been Johnny’s fault, and Johnny would still have blamed Sally and stabbed her, but she’d have spoken out in his defence and convinced the town to forget about it, and when he finally left they’d have all said what a great bloke he was. (Let’s be honest, Andy Barrett is just Johnny Cooper with more sympathetic writing, except he succeeded where Johnny failed: Robbed his brother of everything one and everyone that’s good in his life and completely corrupted him until he’s nothing but a criminal.)

I feel like I’ve spent this year watching likable characters get tortured, given stupid and/or cruel exits or both (Zac, Maddy, Chris, Billie, Irene, Oscar, Skye, Kyle) while characters who are annoying, unlikable, obnoxious and in some cases completely reprehensible get happy endings they don’t deserve (Brax, Ricky, Josh, Andy) or stick around to continue to blight the show (Evelyn, Nate, Phoebe, Hunter, Olivia… and sadly Ash and Kat, who I used to really like, are going the same way). Frankly just about the only thing left that I care about is VJ and Billie, and I’m expecting that to end with the rape victim portrayed as the villain and the nice guy getting kicked in the teeth, because that’s what this show does to nice guys, it’s thugs and criminals who come out on top. That is not a programme I want to watch.

I’ve been watching Home and Away since I was 13, well over half my life. I’ve been a member of BTTB for 8 years, a staff member for 7. If it wasn’t for this site, I’d stop watching. I’m proud of this site and I’m proud of the work I do on it. Maybe if I disappeared someone would do everything just as well, but I’d still feel like I’d left a job half done. So that’s my reason for continuing to watch: Pride and obligation. I’m going to try and restrict my presence on the forum, because being this invested in the show is making me angry and depressed as it continually lets me down. I need to learn to stop caring as much. I used to be proud of this show for not letting characters get away with murder because they’re deemed popular: Now I’m ashamed of it for doing exactly that.

Have to agree to all of this. Whether intentional or not, Josh and Andy have killed 4 people. They know full well they have killed 4 people and are going to spend their lives on the run. And Robert Sugden in Emmerdale has killed 1 person and almost killed another, and Kirin Kotecha was in a hit and run which ended in Tess dying and neither of them have atoned for taking the lives of another person, instead one is swanning around and the other is on the run. And the utterly foul, vile and totally obnoxious Ross Barton has committed all the crimes under the sun and gets away with it due to being a hit with the ladies. Miss Marple and Midsomer have nothing on these rates of killings or crime sprees.

You did hit the nail on the head about farmhouse kitchen scenes in Emmerdale today compared to 30 years ago. Today's farmhouse kitchen scenes feature discussions about rapes, drug deals, violent beatings, car jackings, affairs and murders. 30 years ago it was about lambing and milking the sheep, nothing bad at all. And in H&A 25 years ago, beach scenes were about everyday teens chasing girls and having a laugh. Now beach scenes are a meeting place for drug deals, a planned murder or huge robbery.

Sorry to keep comparing it to Emmerdale but people will get my meaning.

 

 

[Gerard]

1 hour ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

Having watched today’s UK episode with the escape of the Barretts, I am forced to conclude: Yes. For me, the show has been entirely ruined.

Great post! I don't have time to write the reply I'd like to right now, but I agree with pretty much everything you said there. I have watched H&A since it began, and heavily invested a lot of time in it over the years, including spending most of my free time maintaining a H&A website in the late 1990's. I guess we have to just take the show with a pinch of salt as it's now a joke, and a shadow of what it once was,

[emmasi]

Everyone is losing their s*** with this show and it's kind of spectacular

Red Ranger 1, I'm never gonna agree with you on a couple of those points, and that's okay, but overall you've nailed it. Your rage is palpable and I understand it completely. 

I don't have a lot going on in my life (shocker!) so TV is very important to me. I actually get clinically obsessed over certain shows. Home and Away has been one of them, in the distant past. Memories of that intense obsession still linger, and it's so hard to let it go completely, but when you recognise more anger and resentment than love and joy, I guess it's time to let go, at least, of the overwhelming urge to unleash your fury on message boards. Soon, soon...

Since I'm not ready to stop watching completely (just ready to stop publicly snarking about it, because that's not the kind of person I want to be), for me, that'll mean a lot of staring at the wall just above the TV during commercials until I can find something better to do with my hands than typing. Maybe I should take up smoking. I hear that's relaxing 

 

[CaptainHulk]

1 hour ago, Homeandawayfan. said:

Have to agree to all of this. Whether intentional or not, Josh and Andy have killed 4 people. They know full well they have killed 4 people and are going to spend their lives on the run. And Robert Sugden in Emmerdale has killed 1 person and almost killed another, and Kirin Kotecha was in a hit and run which ended in Tess dying and neither of them have atoned for taking the lives of another person, instead one is swanning around and the other is on the run. And the utterly foul, vile and totally obnoxious Ross Barton has committed all the crimes under the sun and gets away with it due to being a hit with the ladies. Miss Marple and Midsomer have nothing on these rates of killings or crime sprees.

You did hit the nail on the head about farmhouse kitchen scenes in Emmerdale today compared to 30 years ago. Today's farmhouse kitchen scenes feature discussions about rapes, drug deals, violent beatings, car jackings, affairs and murders. 30 years ago it was about lambing and milking the sheep, nothing bad at all. And in H&A 25 years ago, beach scenes were about everyday teens chasing girls and having a laugh. Now beach scenes are a meeting place for drug deals, a planned murder or huge robbery.

Sorry to keep comparing it to Emmerdale but people will get my meaning.

 

 

 

Well, they were afternoon timeslot companions once upon a time. Emily Symons starred in both and they're pretty much rural areas and townsfolk/vilagers can be quite judgemental so compare away. Plus the amount of killings is probably the same!

 

[Matt]

8 hours ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

If they’d been making it in 2006, Rocco wouldn’t have been a good kid trying to escape an abusive brother. Instead, he’d have been portrayed as in the wrong and told to go back to his brother who still loved him despite being a violent criminal. He’d have still died, and it would still have been Johnny’s fault, and Johnny would still have blamed Sally and stabbed her, but she’d have spoken out in his defence and convinced the town to forget about it, and when he finally left they’d have all said what a great bloke he was. (Let’s be honest, Andy Barrett is just Johnny Cooper with more sympathetic writing, except he succeeded where Johnny failed: Robbed his brother of everything one and everyone that’s good in his life and completely corrupted him until he’s nothing but a criminal.)

And unfortunately, it was the same Script Department head in charge in current episodes as it was 10 years ago...

[Jeremai]

RR1, your post is amazing and I agree with it completely. Like emmasi, I was obsessed with this show in the distant past, to the point that like Gerard I maintained web sites about it in the late 1990s and again in the early 2000s, and it is indeed hard to let it go completely. I gradually gave up on the show between 2007 and 2009 but have always felt compelled to keep up with spoilers just in case something big is going to happen, and have tuned in for certain events like Marilyn's return.

I've recently been writing summaries of some 1989 episodes for the site which has piqued my interest in the show again and I've been paying a bit of attention to current UK episodes again over the last few weeks. There are some parts to like. I will forever love Marilyn and Donald as a couple, but Marilyn and John are actually pretty good together too. I will happily watch any scenes with them, Alf, Roo, Irene and Leah, but I fast forward through most of the rest. Then came yesterday's episode which showed that nothing's changed over the last decade but rather is getting worse.

So what can we do about it? Is there anything we can do about it other than airing our frustrations on here? Should we be tweeting the show and Channel 5, complaining about what message is sent by characters getting away with murder? Would there be any point in RR1 turning that excellent post into a letter to Seven? Or is the current show what the casual viewer wants? I know there are people on this forum who are happy with the show the way it is, and that's amongst the tiny minority of viewers who care enough to come on here and discuss and analyse the show. I'm guessing the regular viewer who doesn't feel the need to anlalyse the show / isn't as obsessed as some of us, simply sees it as good drama. A former Archers editor once famously referred to complaining listeners as "the wrong kind of listener". Perhaps we are just "the wrong kind of viewers" for today's H&A [hours of work spent creating this amazing resource notwithstanding  ]

[Little bean]

22 hours ago, ~Lynd~ said:

Well...  

  Reveal hidden contents

Apparently they're killing off Billie which is another nail in the coffin imo.Why do they insist on getting rid of the few good people they have ASAP and leaving us with bores?I've been loyal to this show my entire live but I think it's hanging by a thread.It's just not worth the terrible characters and constant  crime & violence that never really goes anywhere besides in circles which as you know never end;

Please Excuse the spoiler tags.Peace out.

Spoiler

Now the Barratts have been ruined for me and are finally gone from UK screens.......

(Spoiler tags as I think other countries are still behind?)

.......I was considering coming back to watch. But having seen the latest spoilers coming up, I'm with you Lynd.  I think I'll stick to staying away. 

 

[Skylover]

I haven't seen it yet but I am truly shocked to read that the Barrett brothers get away with their crimes

[CaptainHulk]

It's kind of coincidental that the ep airs on the day Bennett says "F*** it!"

[Homeandawayfan.]

I think Bennet did say he had come back for a bit longer on the show, not permanently. It may take a while before we get notified of his replacement.