Are the current producers ruining Home and Away?

[jodlebirger]

I think while Lucy is at the helm she will keep up the Braxton/Barrett presence and all the other characters are surplus to requirements.

Unfortunately it is not about Lucy Addario. The show was on downward spiral long before she became the boss/head producer.

Cameron Welch was still the boss back then.

If we are going to see some changes, there need to be a change higher up in the Channel 7 system. I think the producers and writers freedom to write is limited by extremely hard instructions by the channel's bosses to use ingredients which leads to a lot of attention and hype in the media, and secure good ratings. And I guess those ingredients are more action, big blows and triangles.

Why risk anything when you can reach your goals in a "cheaper way"?

I also think that if the writers and producers aren't following those instructions, they will get sacked.

As have said several times, I feel that H&A is extremely steered by medias attentions about the big blows, and it feels steered and manufactured by the channel.

It is very easy to come to that conclusion because of the massive attention the show gets in Australia, and how the articles are written. It is very strange to me (and interesting) to read how the actors and press seem to be directed in a specific directions.

For example when Ray Meagher was loudly critical of the show in 2010 and said the show was going to change, the show had got some bad press, and it seem to me that he was instructed to say what he said. Because the next violent storyline was with him in the main role.

There seem to be no constructive reflections of the storylines in the media, and if the actors are saying something they are sacked or/and painted as the bad guy, without any further reflections or investigations on the matter by media to find out if the actors are right or not. When there are some critics, the media is blaming the actors.. (for example in 2009) and really who is behind that?

So my conclusion is that it is the bigger system which is destroying H&A, or at least make the show very stiff and controlled.

[Homeandawayfan.]

It may be easy to blame Lucy and Louise but as you said, we blame the producers a lot when it is their bosses above them and that I what I feared, Channel 7 want the show to attract media attention and at any cost, from big stunts and explosions, that will secure ratings and pocket them profit. I think it is a good job Neighbours is out of the ratings war and can do what it wants. Neighbours is going uphill again and is going through another golden era.

[alexx]

I agree with you Jodie. But I still think the producers and writers have their own style and put their own stamp on it though. The Channel 7 bosses could be putting pressure on them to add certain types of characters and storylines, but the producers could still make the show very character driven and emotional at the same time and make it feel as much like H&A as possible.

There are still loads of scenes and storylines each week that are poorly written and lack any depth or emotional integrity – changing that could actually make the show far more enjoyable to a wider audience as well as keeping in line with what the bigger bosses at Channel 7 want.

The producer of the show could also be including bits and pieces here and there to change the current format and then once it proves to be successful, build on it and show those higher up that a fresh format and approach can bring in an audience too. Surely Channel 7 wouldn’t have all of a sudden just started asking for the show to be shaped into what it is today.

[Homeandawayfan.]

I agree with Jodie but Alexx makes a very good point as well and I think Lucy has some input into the storylines.

[alexx]

I find it kind of shocking when I only dip in and out to see how bad the show really is these days - and pretty much on a consistent basis. I know that this is the all new Home and Away but it really is poor and I find so many of the scenes to be cringe worthy, but more than anything just so bland and boring.

The dynamics between the characters are so flat, the love triangles are lame and boring, the dialogue is predictable, the build up to storylines is pretty much nonexistent. I just don't get how it continues to rate so highly.

[Homeandawayfan.]

As said I think Channel 7 want the show to do well and rate well with big plots and such but I think much of the current format is down to the producers. I am with Alexx's opinion on this as well. Lucy and Louise have their own style and when we get a new producer we see it all the time, it is no coincidence that when a new producer comes in the show has changes. EastEnders had a bad producer until she left last year now the show has improved since she left, so it backs up my theory that the producers have their own stamp on the show, and the top bosses have a say but are not responsible for the entire format. As I said I dont think Lucy and Louise know what H&A is supposed to be about and that shows in the episodes.

Neighbours is probably the best and most consistent of any soap now. H&A carries on its Sons And Daughters melodrama.

[cadyctslover]

As said I think Channel 7 want the show to do well and rate well with big plots and such but I think much of the current format is down to the producers. I am with Alexx's opinion on this as well. Lucy and Louise have their own style and when we get a new producer we see it all the time, it is no coincidence that when a new producer comes in the show has changes. EastEnders had a bad producer until she left last year now the show has improved since she left, so it backs up my theory that the producers have their own stamp on the show, and the top bosses have a say but are not responsible for the entire format. As I said I dont think Lucy and Louise know what H&A is supposed to be about and that shows in the episodes.

I agree that the quality of the show is highly dependent on the producer at the time. Plenty of people seemed to loathe Cameron Welsh when he was SP, but I would say the quality of the drama during his tenure was well above what we're seeing today.

The current show is really bland and boring, and that could change with different management.

[James Martin]

I wonder if the recent decision to

kill off Casey

rather than have him leave the show another way will usher in a new direction. I was very surprised that it's been made impossible for that character to return.

[strawberry]

Hopefully when the "Braxton Era" comes to an end there will be a serious gravitational shift towards returning Home and Away back to its original roots. This repetitive cycle of endless and unpunished criminal based storylines that we have become subjected to, is not only beyond antagonistic,and frustratingly tiresome but it has no shock impact too . Sadly its current format is certainly not representative of the true ethos of Home and Away, and its current offerings is certainly a poor relation in comparison to previous years. We don't need endless violence to keep us tuned in, well written, emotive storylines with characters we truly care about, and can empathise with, coping with the daily struggles of everyday life will yield far greater resonance. Where have the strong, powerful character driven storylines gone? Where have the dynamic character relationships gone? Summer Bay needs to feel like a community,we need to see all characters integrating with each other, rebuilding and developing those great friendship relationships that it used to do so well in the past.

In Ray and Lynne, Home and Away certainly has two exceptional and outstanding powerful acting talents, but sadly and annoyingly they are so underused. In Alf and Irene we have two amazingly wonderful characters whose life experiences and words of wisdom could easily be used to develop, guide, nurture and transform a new generation of vulnerable, unruly, disadvantaged, and troublesome kids, and thus return and restore Home and Away to its glorious natural roots of previous eras.

[Homeandawayfan.]

As I said, the late Alan Bateman surely would not approve of the Braxtonisation of his creation. I tell you if I was producer I would deffo bring back the show the way Bateman had it, just an updated version. H&A is almost 27 years old and I think if it is to survive another 10 years or so then I think it does need to go back to basics and copy its Melbourne sibling. H&A is in danger of going down the route the late UK soap Brookside did in later years with endless crime stories and stale characters.