Are the current producers ruining Home and Away?

[Light of the Bay]

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.

I agree with every word, strawberry!

It makes me so sad seeing what H&A has become. I am hoping that there will be a turnaround at some point and that new writers will invigorate the show and bring it back to life.

[Jamie!]

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.

I personally think that they want the Barretts to be the new Braxtons. Josh is the new Casey and Andy is very much like what Heath used to be - even down to the sleeveless tops he always wears! They as well as anyone associated with the Braxtons gets the most airtime, so I think it is obvious that this is what they have in mind. So if Brax ever does leave, Andy and Josh will get all the crime related stories and the promos. Tai Hara, (no disrespect to him personally), is even getting promoted over Lynne McGranger over his Dancing with the Stars appearance. They're both going to be in it, yet it's only him that gets promoted about it on the bottom of the screen.

Another point I'd like to make out that isn't Braxton/Barrett related, is that I don't think they have that much of an excuse not to rebuild Summer Bay House and use that as a filming location. When it was being used, it was arguably the most iconic building of the show. After all, in the UK, they recently rebuilt the set of Coronation Street in a different location and made it slightly wider for HD. And apart from looking slightly wider, it looks practically identical to the original location. And this isn't just one building - it's several buildings that they've recreated, as well as the famous cobbles. streetlights and an identical looking tree. So if they can recreate an entire street and make it look practically the same as the old one, they can very easily recreate just one building and make that the same.

[aussiesoapfan]

Yes I agree Coronation Street have put a lot of money and effort into the new set. Neighbours also spent a lot on the backyard sets. There is a replica (apart from grey roof) in the original location for summer bay house. I wondered if in the past they have ever approached the owners about using it for exterior scenes. I enjoy the family scenes between Marilyn, John and Jett. I look forward to scenes with Irene, Alf and Roo. I was pleased Heath got custody of Darcy and that the writers did that type of storyline. I am glad he left happily rather than as a result of crime. I find the recaps and previews at the end of episodes long. I know channel 7 won't give space for opening and closing credits but it's a shame. When I see the crime scenes I have to remind myself I am watching Home and Away and not Underbelly or All Saints. Mind you the British soaps are having quite a few murders especially Emmerdale; they seem to take inspiration from horror movies. I tune in every evening and I enjoy the show. I know people who aren't keen on their young children watching Home and Away. When I was a kid in the 90's everyone used to see that straight after the children's programmes and talk about it the next day at school. Obviously the show has still been gaining awards, fans and features in the press a lot. So they are not ruining the show in that context. It is just very different now. I'll keep watching and anticipating what happens next year.

[cadyctslover]

I personally think that they want the Barretts to be the new Braxtons. Josh is the new Casey and Andy is very much like what Heath used to be - even down to the sleeveless tops he always wears! They as well as anyone associated with the Braxtons gets the most airtime, so I think it is obvious that this is what they have in mind. So if Brax ever does leave, Andy and Josh will get all the crime related stories and the promos.

It has been clear to me from the start that they've tried to recreate the success of the Braxton's with the introduction of the Barrett's.

Clearly Josh is Casey2 and Andy is Heath2, brothers from a hard background yet again. Casey began on the show with learning difficulties, and so has Josh. Heath began a relationship with a woman who initially thought she was too good for him and wouldn't publicly share their relationship. We've seen exactly the same thing with Andy and Hannah.

Andy is also very fatherly towards Josh in the same way Brax has been to Casey (i.e. unsuccessfully) including pushing him to do well in school, and trying to financially support him despite his own lack of qualifications, by resorting to drug dealing.

Not only that but they even gave them a similar surname, and made one related to a Braxton!

[jodlebirger]

Yes, but is this something new?

The Sutherlands were a big success, and then the Hunters came. At first I thought they were just pale copies of the Sutherlands. They even made Beth marry Rhys. But I liked them after a while, because they were meant to be substitutes they also became more defined as characters on their own through the storylines as the time passed by which made them differ from the Sutherlands and made the characters worth watching.

And here comes my point: it feels to me that the Barretts is a half hearted attempt to to give people substitute for the Braxtons. If it should have worked, the Braxtons should have been gone from the show by now, and we should have seen more focus on the Barretts as individual characters and made them more unique with qualities that would have differed them from the Braxton's and made them interesting for the viewers to watch. I don't think people are interested to see the same thing twice (with different characters), no matter if they have liked the Braxtons and not.

New characters need to have something new about them to make them interesting, but at the same time they can remind about others.

And the Mc Guieres haven't been good substitutes for the Walkers either, since their introduction were messy and the characters aren't defined at all, their personalities and storylines are all over the place. They are also very half hearted attempt to give the show new characters they can relate too.

I think it is wrong that they promoted the Braxtons the way they did, instead of building their popularity over time with good storylines. You cannot succeed with hype twice. The Braxtons got hyped into their popularity long before they arrived and are still heavily promoted. No other characters have got the same treatment. Because this method of making a show/charachter popular is coming to bite back sooner or later. I don't think they would have been less popular if the popularity was build over time as the storylines moved on, like popularity of other characters like the Sutherlands, characters from the early years, The Hunters, Martha and Jack, Aden, Charlie and many more.

They were not hyped before they even entered the show.

I think that the writers have realized by now that the Barretts aren't that popular and probably never will be.

And I also feel that casting Steve Peacokes fiancé as the new headmaster of the school, and especially casting Dan Ewings brother in law as the new VJ, are desperate attempt to milk more out of the success of the Braxtons and make "new" characters popular by hype.

Wouldn't it have been wise to give more effort in making the new characters interesting by the storylines, than try to make them popular by hype?

[cadyctslover]

Wouldn't it have been wise to give more effort in making the new characters interesting by the storylines, than try to make them popular by hype?

Absolutely, but it's more difficult that way. And the writers and script producers are too lazy.

IMO other than Ricky, Matt and Zac every character that has been introduced over the past 2 years has been hopelessly bland.

Chris, Denny, Evie, Oscar, Hannah, Maddy, Spencer, Nate, Phoebe, Sophie. BLAH! What is unique about any of these characters?

[jodlebirger]

Wouldn't it have been wise to give more effort in making the new characters interesting by the storylines, than try to make them popular by hype?

Absolutely, but it's more difficult that way. And the writers and script producers are too lazy.

IMO other than Ricky, Matt and Zac every character that has been introduced over the past 2 years has been hopelessly bland.

Chris, Denny, Evie, Oscar, Hannah, Maddy, Spencer, Nate, Phoebe, Sophie. BLAH! What is unique about any of these characters?

I have found every character introduced since 2009 less interesting than the characters before, but the characters introduced in 2012-2014 are more bland than the characters introduced in 2010 and 11. In those years they were more one sided and caricatured and probably too extreme in one direction, especially in the beginning (Bianca, April, The Walkers and to a degree the Braxtons).

All today's characters feel bland to me. But some of them have some potential if they were written differently.

I think that Matt is bland too, and Zack has become bland even he had some potential in the beginning.

Kyle Prior is a good actor I think, but he isn't used to his potential.

Chris had some potential I think, but they ruined that when they decided that his only purpose is to bring some humor into the show.

Spencer and Maddy's introduction was very inconsistent. And it is not only the writing of these characters which make them uninteresting, but also the writing of the characters around them. Roo's reactions to Maddy's spoilt brat behaviour, her and Alf's non interest in Spencer when it was revealed that he is bi-polar, if the adult characters around were written better, with a real adult attitude then it would have been more interesting to see them interact and change over time.

In my opinion it seems like the show has characters for only one purpose, The Braxtons for drama, Chris, Marilyn, John and Jett for humor, Alf and Roo for the more quirky scenes and the rest are just there as fillers. Alf is also the one who is suppose to "glue" the town together.

They all need to be written like people with humoristic, dramatic and deeper personalities and storylines.

[greg098]

I completely agree with all the posters about it being a show about the Braxtons. I am glad Casey and Health left but we still have the Barretts brothers who I find boring and unoriginal. This is a small coastal town yet its now full of crime, drugs and killings. The Producers and writers need to realise that the Braxton era had its time but the show needs a new direction. The Braxton's were successful but its over.

Home and Away is originally about fostering and troubled kids. I feel the show has strayed off that. The show right know doesn't feel like the show I was watching 10 years ago. It use to be a soap but now its a drama.

Right now I am addicted to watching the uk soap Emmerdale. It has AMAZING characters and I want to tune in to watch these characters and their journeys. The characters have personalities and are very unique. Home and Away does not have characters like this. Too many good looking people with no personalities.

I hope the direction of the show changes and makes me excited about watching Home and Away because right now I simply don't care about the show.

[jodlebirger]

I completely agree with all the posters about it being a show about the Braxtons. I am glad Casey and Health left but we still have the Barretts brothers who I find boring and unoriginal. This is a small coastal town yet its now full of crime, drugs and killings. The Producers and writers need to realise that the Braxton era had its time but the show needs a new direction. The Braxton's were successful but its over.

Home and Away is originally about fostering and troubled kids. I feel the show has strayed off that. The show right know doesn't feel like the show I was watching 10 years ago. It use to be a soap but now its a drama.

Right now I am addicted to watching the uk soap Emmerdale. It has AMAZING characters and I want to tune in to watch these characters and their journeys. The characters have personalities and are very unique. Home and Away does not have characters like this. Too many good looking people with no personalities.

I hope the direction of the show changes and makes me excited about watching Home and Away because right now I simply don't care about the show.

I think it is exactly the opposite; it used to be a drama/everyday life drama and now it is a soap.

The storylines and characters had better development, and the storylines were far more down to earth, more drama series like.

When they started to use "soapy" ingredients as more triangles and more over-the-top storylines it became a soap. After a while it became a "trash-soap" as we say up here, which means in the same category as "Days of our lives", "Glamour" and Sunset Beach where everything revolves around over-the-top storylines with stalkers and never ending triangles and with bad development of storylines and characters.

They use more violence and crime in H&A than in most other soaps, but the inconsistent writing, bad follow ups of storylines and bad build ups to climax make it a very violent soap at times. Because it is not a crime series, the way the story is told shows us that it is still a soap.

[Homeandawayfan.]

Neighbours is now streets ahead of H&A and knocks spots off H&A now. N is so addictive and is a family drama which has some drama like the tornado but it is more about the after effects. Neighbours and Emmerdale really go to town on H&A right now. I hope H&A can turn itself around but I do worry that the current format of crimes and love triangles will be the H&A going forward. If so I shall switch off for good.