Are the current producers ruining Home and Away?

[Bobby Forever Missed]

1 hour ago, Luke39 said:

 15 years from now, prob be saying how amazing Home and Away was in 2016 haha. 

Don't ever say that again......

[alexx]

8 hours ago, Luke39 said:

Times change, so format has. The innocent, sweet home and away of past years, is gone. They have gone to far. I actually think Home and Away is pretty good right now, best it has been in a while. But that is just me. I Think Nostalgia can paint a certain picture, probably the case 15 years from now, prob be saying how amazing Home and Away was in 2016 haha. 

I won't. Ten years ago I was unhappy with the way the show was going from character driven to plot focused and I still feel like that when I watch episodes back.

[Homeandawayfan.]

Neighbours has become darker than it was but has kept the right balance. Like Emmerdale has. Both shows are watchable.

Home And Away, at least some of the time, has become some psychological, dark, sinister thriller full of regular disasters, killings, explosions and drug wars. I hate thriller movies and it shows how I hate that in many ways, H&A has become such.

[Gerard]

9 hours ago, Luke39 said:

Times change, so format has. The innocent, sweet home and away of past years, is gone. They have gone to far. I actually think Home and Away is pretty good right now, best it has been in a while. But that is just me. I Think Nostalgia can paint a certain picture, probably the case 15 years from now, prob be saying how amazing Home and Away was in 2016 haha. 

Home and Away featured a stalker of sorts, rape, alcoholism, domestic violence, shooting, child abuse, a "whodunnit" death and probably more, just in its first year, so I don't think I would call the early series innocent and sweet.

The difference I think between now and then was firstly that there seemed to be a better balance between drama, romance and humour, and secondly there was a better distinction of moral values, where bad deeds were almost always punished.

H&A at the moment isn't bad (it's far from brilliant), but it does feel a bit like Justin Morgan is Brax Mk II. I don't dislike any of the Morgans in particular, but they need to turn it down a notch or two. But there are glimmers of classic H&A to be seen.

But I dread to think what state H&A would be in in 15 years time if we're fondly reminiscing about how great the current output is

[Luke39]

Okay fair enough your nostalgics, I am too. I am just saying I Think H and A is heading in the right direction. The music in tone is still way too harsh in tone. I guess if that type of dark drama does not meet your sensibilites. Your bound to hate current home and away. I am a big Breaking Bad fan, so love that thriller type shows. And of course I agree the format H and A is in, it has been too much the past few years. All I am saying is their is a better balance in the show atm then it was say back in 2014. I don't think it is as unwatchable as ppl make it out to be. Neighbors is darker. Story wise it is better. But I dunno I Still prefer Home and Away. Home and Away has seemed to move forward in terms of set designs, it feels like I am watching a show in 2016. Neighbors is still stuck in the nineties. I well say Neighbors is in the past too much, and Home and Away does not respect its past enough. Just my two cents. 

[cadyctslover]

On 7/30/2016 at 1:43 AM, Luke39 said:

I guess with Home and Away I See a show making subtle changes to its history. But I feel like I am watching a show in 2016. With Neighbors, they have seemed to assasinate its history. And I Feel like the Set Designs are stuck in the 90's. I enjoy Neighbors, but it is true. I have always prefered Home and Away as it is. I just think H and A needs a balance, a balance they have yet to find. 

 

On 8/30/2016 at 6:42 AM, Luke39 said:

At least Home and Away feels like a show in 2016. With the modern sets. Neighbors set designs, still feel like the 90's to me. To me I think Home and Away has progressed so much in the present, it has forgot its past. While Neighbors, is too much in its past. 

 

34 minutes ago, Luke39 said:

I don't think it is as unwatchable as ppl make it out to be. Neighbors is darker. Story wise it is better. But I dunno I Still prefer Home and Away. Home and Away has seemed to move forward in terms of set designs, it feels like I am watching a show in 2016. Neighbors is still stuck in the nineties. I well say Neighbors is in the past too much, and Home and Away does not respect its past enough. Just my two cents. 

The record is broken, I think we need IT support.

Although the production team do seem to be treading water and playing it safe at the moment, I agree the show is in far better shape now than it was earlier this year. It is also somewhat better than it was during the Louise Bowes era.

However they still rely on plot and shock tactics rather than genuine character development. They write characters into a corner (e.g. Hunter) and make them so unlikeable, that the only option they have (other than to write them out) is to introduce a guest character with even lower morals. This is why they're having to go to extreme lengths to make Tabitha a truly horrible, deranged human being, just so that she is legitimately worse than Hunter.

[Gerard]

H&A obviously has a bigger budget and I don't think many would dispute that the scenery in Summer Bay is much more attractive than the Neighbours backlot, which makes Erimsborough look more like an industrial estate. Whlle H&A does look visually stunning and Neighbours looks truly awful by comparison (it looked better back in the 1990's), I guess if budgets are tight, it's better to spend the money on the actors and the production team.

But if you look past the visuals, does H&A really have that much to offer? Perhaps if H&A had a tighter budget, they would have to compensate by having better character-oriented storylines, as the great location does tend to paper over a lot of cracks.

Neighbours is largely confined to the people living in six houses in one street, so is never going to stray too far away from its original formula. H&A on the other hand, has an entire town, or group of towns as its universe, and can basically change and adapt a lot more. Unfortunately much of that change has been in the wrong direction over the past 5 years or so.

If H&A's budget was slashed, it would be interesting to see if this would actually drive the show to improve.

[Bobby Forever Missed]

2 hours ago, Luke39 said:

 I am just saying I Think H and A is heading in the right direction. The music in tone is still way too harsh in tone. 

Fine but don't just assume that in 10 years time everyone else will remember this tripe as fondly as you obviously will i resent that implication myself

[CaptainHulk]

H&A wasn't totally twee then. There were Rapists, Wife-beaters, Arsonists and whatnot running around. Difference is writers knew how to exercise restraint!

[c120701]

1 hour ago, CaptainHulk said:

H&A wasn't totally twee then. There were Rapists, Wife-beaters, Arsonists and whatnot running around. Difference is writers knew how to exercise restraint!

The difference was they were a catalyst for a story rather than the entire story itself. 

Take Irene for example, discovering after having been held captive that Mick was actually her son was the conclusion of her story, that should have been a catalyst for a continuation of the story. Guest characters stories should never end with them, the end of their story should have an effect on the regular character(s) which is the overall conclusion.