Light of the Bay Posted February 9, 2014 Report Posted February 9, 2014 Lucy/Louise only reply to positive tweets. Very rarely do they acknowledge constructive criticism. Yes, in her most recent interview (not Digital Spy!!!) she basically said that everyone on the team is "proud of the River Boys" and their stories will continue throughout the 2014 season. Is it really too much to ask to have balanced story lines, good solid character writing and back-stories, and a chance for the older characters to shine? It isn't hard, Coral Drouyn (former Script Producer) will tell you this in her BTTB interview.
Homeandawayfan. Posted February 9, 2014 Report Posted February 9, 2014 I did recently mention John Holmes, who seems to have worked on the show since the start. He is listed as one of the executive producers. He used to work on Neighbours when it first began as a producer so is one of the senior crew members. I wonder what say he has on the content of the show ATM with the River Boys domination?
TelephotoMarigold Posted February 9, 2014 Report Posted February 9, 2014 Come on now. Louise has replied to you on twitter plenty of times. Just yesterday she confirmed that she can actually 'read'. All the people involved with Home and Away have a right to be proud of the work they produce and well, why should they listen to the biased rants of a few disgruntled fans because unfortunately that is all we are. Looking at the product - a five-day soap opera (although technically they show only on four days with the continued double episode). It needs drama, a range of characters and good storytelling to keep an audience invested in it and Home and Away has all that, however its main problems stem from the balance of the show. It has been for some considerable time aimed at a specific demographic with grittier crime-related drama and focus on one set of characters. This has meant that longer term characters have fallen into the background with fewer and fewer scenes, along with this comes less dialogue and fewer interactions with the rest of the cast and it was probably these characters that helped draw in some of the people that are commenting in this thread. Plotlines introduced during the past few years have not matured, for example the construction site is a prime example but there are others such as the race riots/Leah's agoraphobia, Irene's cancer, Bianca's rape, Sid Walker's temporary depression. All of these could have done with more exploring and less panning of the camera over to a shirtless Braxton brother. Although other prime examples of a malfunctioning plotlines include the introduction and demise of Danny Braxton, the introduction of Kyle Bennet (Braxton) and the temporary in and out visits by Cheryl Braxton who seems to change her personality every time she shows up. But it is not just that they only follow up the plotlines to their full conclusion of a few stories they introduce it is also the timelines of the stories themselves. For example Casey's trial. How long did that take to come to the fruition? Long enough for Casey to get himself kidnapped and get a new girlfriend and yet other stories which should have been given similar lengths of time to come out are brushed aside in a couple of episodes, Leah's agoraphobia is a startling example let alone the Jamie stalker storyline. There are so many examples though that I could cite here, how about baby Rocco, who in the space of months had numerous near death experiences that by the time he actually did die few people actually cared anymore. And just how could someone like Bianca who ran out on her first fiancé because of his cheating turn around and forgive Heath for his in just a day let alone forgive that he ruined their wedding day? If Home and Away producers want to keep all fans happy they need to re-evaluate what exactly Home and Away is: a gritty crime drama or a modern soap because it has lost its identity within the past couple of years and until that is resolved more and more threads like this one will appear on the board as more and more fans voice their disquiet and not even shirtless Braxtons or their replacements will be able to maintain the show or keep a fanbase going.
Blaxland 89 Posted February 9, 2014 Report Posted February 9, 2014 I get what you're saying apart from it having good storytelling. How can it have with so many wholes in the plots? Not that its ever been perfect. The current repeats of 1992 show a big continuity fault with Pippa's pregnancy risk not being mentioned. But it is not with pretty much every story. And characters are forgotten as soon as they have gone which is a personal pet hate of mine. I also think it ironic that thy spend so much money on the technical side nowadays which makes the show look great. Then they use all these trashy promos and no opening credits which makes it look down market. Although I guess that is more channel 7's fault rather than home and away
Jacklost Posted February 10, 2014 Report Posted February 10, 2014 I get what you're saying apart from it having good storytelling. How can it have with so many wholes in the plots? Not that its ever been perfect. The current repeats of 1992 show a big continuity fault with Pippa's pregnancy risk not being mentioned. But it is not with pretty much every story. And characters are forgotten as soon as they have gone which is a personal pet hate of mine. I also think it ironic that thy spend so much money on the technical side nowadays which makes the show look great. Then they use all these trashy promos and no opening credits which makes it look down market. Although I guess that is more channel 7's fault rather than home and away Did they ever say why they stopped using opening introes?
alexx Posted February 10, 2014 Report Posted February 10, 2014 I have said I still watch the show even if I can miss an episode. If I disliked the show I would switch off altogether. I think the show has some good characters in it and some good stories, it is just the over emphasis on the Braxtons and too much violence and cruelty which they need to cut down on. People are entitled to their views but IMHO the show is not as bad as some make out. I have already stated how I think the show has come on as a whole since 1988. Some may disagree some may agree. How would a soap be without all the violence and cruelty? I know how that is, i know shows that has none of that anymore and are boring. By IMHO do you mean in my honestly opinion? Again its just a matter of opinion, but I find relentless violence and cruelty boring. What I find interesting is a good script and originality. Some times I think long term fans get tarred with the image that they don't like it simply because it has changed. That's not the case. The show has always had a very natural development over the years. If anything, it's hasn't developed in recent years, instead it just goes round and around in circles. . Yes, what I meant when I said I was happy to see violent and gritty storylines - is I think H&A could really make use of the PG rating and write some epic and gritty storylines, that could contain violence. But not every week, or every month. These sort of storylines should be shocking and they're not because they happen on a consistent basis. If Home and Away was written the way it used to be - I.e a balanced show about a wide range of characters and then they through in the odd gritty storyline it would have a lot of impact because it's so out of the blue and then watch how the characters realistically cope with it. All the 'drama' and kidnaps and car chases are just ridiculous and repetitive these days and don't mean a thing.
Jacklost Posted February 10, 2014 Report Posted February 10, 2014 I have said I still watch the show even if I can miss an episode. If I disliked the show I would switch off altogether. I think the show has some good characters in it and some good stories, it is just the over emphasis on the Braxtons and too much violence and cruelty which they need to cut down on. People are entitled to their views but IMHO the show is not as bad as some make out. I have already stated how I think the show has come on as a whole since 1988. Some may disagree some may agree. How would a soap be without all the violence and cruelty? I know how that is, i know shows that has none of that anymore and are boring. By IMHO do you mean in my honestly opinion? Again its just a matter of opinion, but I find relentless violence and cruelty boring. What I find interesting is a good script and originality. Some times I think long term fans get tarred with the image that they don't like it simply because it has changed. That's not the case. The show has always had a very natural development over the years. If anything, it's hasn't developed in recent years, instead it just goes round and around in circles. . Yes, what I meant when I said I was happy to see violent and gritty storylines - is I think H&A could really make use of the PG rating and write some epic and gritty storylines, that could contain violence. But not every week, or every month. These sort of storylines should be shocking and they're not because they happen on a consistent basis. If Home and Away was written the way it used to be - I.e a balanced show about a wide range of characters and then they through in the odd gritty storyline it would have a lot of impact because it's so out of the blue and then watch how the characters realistically cope with it. All the 'drama' and kidnaps and car chases are just ridiculous and repetitive these days and don't mean a thing. Everything in a soap is repetive, the fact that people arrive in the bay and leave is repetive. Imo i have started to like the show much more now with all these drama and accidents. The show hasn´t had much of that the last years
cadyctslover Posted February 10, 2014 Report Posted February 10, 2014 Come on now. Louise has replied to you on twitter plenty of times. Just yesterday she confirmed that she can actually 'read'. Haha! I saw that one! I notice that Louise doesn't reply except in cases like the one you mention above with Steven. She knew she could get one over on him by acknowledging the fact that he no longer regularly watches the show, whilst completely ignoring the reasoning behind that decision: her writing! Another example was a few months ago when she replied to one of Steven's tweets correcting his spelling (or something) again ignoring the point he was making about the quality of the show. I still regularly tweet Louise myself, as I still have strong opinions on where she is making the biggest mistakes with the show at present. But she never replies, because what would she say? "Good point Cady." And forget getting a reply from Lucy, you'll find her on Palm Beach with her head in the sand .
Homeandawayfan. Posted February 10, 2014 Report Posted February 10, 2014 The producers do need to address what the longer serving fans feel about the quality of the show. A new family needs to come in rather than a new couple or a new character alone. I dont know how old Lucy is but I feel she is still wet behind the ears and is too inexperienced to be a producer. If Richard Jasek became producer then it would be good as it is an older person in charge.
summerbay18o Posted February 11, 2014 Report Posted February 11, 2014 I wish that home and away would introduce a family of a former character like what has been done on Neighbours with the Turners and Willis's (although it would be nice to have the original actors back!) Or even just pop up family visits like Lucy has been doing. Also more mentions of family members in conversation. Neighbors has had so many returnees recently (lauren, brad, steph, Brennan, Lucy, Lolly and like a million more to come), why can't home and away do the same? It would provide more continuity for long term and short-term viewers and just make the show more realistic.
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