Are the current producers ruining Home and Away?

[Light of the Bay]

Home and Away and EastEnders so share some similarities. Both pander to those with short attention spans.

James, you're right, Home and Away desperately needs a group of characters in their 50s at least. Irene and Alf isn't enough. I'd like to see the show portray real-life struggles as well as positive things that face older adults. Just write some story lines that bring the characters to life and make us care about them, young and old.

j.laur5 said in the Bayside Diner forum that were too few older characters in 1990. Well, what about now? Alf and Irene are the only ones that remain. I'd like to see Fisher return for a good few months, along with Morag. Let's finally see her retired and explore the vulnerabilities of her character. Maybe find companionship after losing Ross in 2011.

[John]

Not sure about the "put down" in the short attention span comment. Probably better left unsaid.

However I pretty much agree with the rest of the post.

It could be done without using it as an excuse to sideline characters like the Braxtons and it should be.

[TelephotoMarigold]

A lot of this isn't about the Producers and what they are or aren't doing but more about "what you would do".

[j.laur5]

But years between 2010-1012.

We had 10 40+ onwards characters on the show. Irene/Alf/John/Colleen/Marilyn/Gina/Roo/Harvey/Sid and Elijah.

[Homeandawayfan.]

Positives of H&A in 2014.

Hilarous characters like Alf, John and Jett.

One minute you can be laughing, the next you are growling at another gangster story.

Alf having been around since January 1988 when the show began.

The interweaving of beach scenes, hot totty and sunset and sunrise scenes.

Negatives

Too many Braxtons.

Too many crime stories.

Too many lust stories.

Underuse of the older characters.

Too much harsh music which is better for NCIS and CSI not Home And Away.

Unlikeable characters.

I think at the minute the negatives outwigh the positives but this can be addressed. I dont think this is truning into a What would you do" thread but pointing out what the producers are doing wrong.

[Jezz]

Home and Away and EastEnders so share some similarities. Both pander to those with short attention spans.

Here we go again ! You haven't learnt a thing about stereotyping and undermining current viewers of the show. Frankly I'm sick of your nonsense that the show is pandering to the 'lowest common denominator' or those with 'short attention spans' as you quoted just now.

You're entitled to your views on the show and the way it is at the moment but leave the judgments of fans out of it. It's not necessary and it only comes across as insulting to those who watch the show currently.

In regards to your current issue, you do raise some good points but j.laur5 has just emphasised that many characters over 40 years of age or older have been featured in the show recent times especially in 2010-2012 as he rightly pointed out. The key to a successful soap opera like Home and Away and Neighbours is 'balance' in terms of storylines, characters and etc. Whether the show has done this successfully is questionable in recent times but I don't think the show is in a bad state at the moment despite how some depict it either.

[jodlebirger]

We have never had as many older characters on the show as in 2010-2013. But the problem is not about having enough older characters on the show, or teens or in the mid twenties... The point is how the writers are using the characters that they have created. And the problem is the character development.

Just look at how the show is now (late 2013, I suppose it hasn't changed to much into 2014...) there are two groups on the show... and it has been like this since 2011. But I think the problem getting more and more visible for each week.

They are using the Braxtons and their ladies and supporting characters for pure drama... they have been through triangles after triangles, one tragedy after another and so on.

And they are using the rest for lighter storylines and comedy. The dramas that they might have are never fully developed and you always have to guess what they feel in the certain situations, and there are quirky lines all over the place and it is really tiring. The adults conversations are far too silly or endless arguing without any point and it feels meaningless.

For example the character of Chris has so much potential, but I feel that they are only going to use him for pure comedy, making him the new Dex after Dex leaves. I want to feel these characters pain too, sometimes,.. and dig into their personal dramas, smaller or bigger ones. We have had a lot of newer characters in the past four years and we don't really get to know them properly.

At the same time, I want Biancas dramas to stop.. I am tired of see her crying and screaming for several reasons and her doing the same mistakes over and over again, ..Or Brax being angry for something, or Casey, or Heath. Because I have seen it so often, that I can't feel their pain anymore. And their characters are not moving along with the storylines or having real character development. There are just receptive dramas. I want a break in their dramas, so I can start to invest in their characters again.

I really miss the days of Aden/Belle, Rick/Mattie, Morag/Alf, Roman, Sutherlands, Hunters and so on.. because the dramas were digged more into and the character were developed through their storylines, and the storylines were more spread out to different sets of characters, so it was easier to feel with the characters.

[Homeandawayfan.]

Fisher needs to return for a month or so. Don and the Braxtons together is something I have always showed interest in even if just a few scenes. Or Don and John meeting for the first time. Lucy Addario has very little interest in pre 2010 H&A though and I think Norman Coburn is virtually retired now. As discussed recently, I wonder if a month of filming would be enough for him.

January 2013 was when we had Celia, Morag and Coleen back, they all left that month. Then Gina went which is another older one gone. I hope we see Morag again as well. But as I watch the current episodes I also know the show has several good points. I think H&A has always been good at moving with the times and IMHO it has always stuck to its original format I think, just a different style, troublesome teens, fostered children, just more wayward than early years when it was prankster teens and some more troubled, todays troubled teens are just more violent. Some may disagree but from watching since day 1 I am making a judgement based on watching the show.

[JamesC10]

I just don't understand why the Home and Away producers are so reluctant to bring back permanent returnees? Last time a character returned to Home and Away as a regular was Marilyn in 2010. I really hope that when Lucy Addario and Louise Bowes leave the show, hopefully the new producers can sort out the mess and give ALL characters EQUAL screentime. Hopefully they won't continue to overuse the Braxtons (I bet all the Braxtons will leave in early 2015). I honestly can't wait for Home and Away after the Braxtons leave.. It is NOT an American soap show.

[Homeandawayfan.]

Well I know Heath Braxton is leaving so this is probably going to be the writing on the wall for the Braxxies and their days in the show will soon be numbered. Maybe the show can then shed some of its crime related stories and bring in a new family who are into fostering and solving problems together plus mingling in with John, Alf, Roo, Jett, Zak etc.