Are the current producers ruining Home and Away?

[Red Ranger 1]

I will admit that I'm actually liking Neighbours more than Home and Away at the moment, which may change when Paul Robinson's next crime storyline kicks in (I did genuinely nearly give up on Neighbours about four years ago when the amount of crimes characters could get away with without any punishment threatened to get too much) and I do think it's got the community feel and family-based drama that Home and Away just doesn't know how to handle anymore.Emmerdale, frankly, I'm on the verge of giving up on now, although I'm probably past the crisis point:Last week's episodes where a once likable character turns into a psychotic killer and his intended victim is so unpleasant half the audience want him to succeed was far more dire than anything Home and Away's turned up recently and an example of what Home and Away could become if they're not very careful.

I do find the current case reasonably engaging, there's some poor writing for the young adults at times but the teens have a decent mix of personalities.To be honest, I think Alf and Irene worked fine until the show started listening to people's views on what they should be like, and now instead of being reassuring figures they're pretty much written the same as everyone else, flying off the handle at the slightest excuse to create drama.The show couldn't cope up with a decent relationship if their lives depended on it, instead having characters abruptly cheat on someone they were madly in love with a week earlier and expecting us to be on their side.And the crime/drug storylines, while not as prominent as they were two or three years ago, do seem to have become what the stalker or natural disaster stories were I earlier years, a way of spicing things up when they run out of ideas, with the inevitable diminished returns.I think in some respects things are getting better, in others perhaps not so much, and I also think some audience members don't really know what they want the show to be and complain about anything.I'm still enjoying it anyway.

[Homeandawayfan.]

One thing I have noticed is how the interiors of the Braxton house and the diner and Angelo's all have sort of darkened rooms even in daylight, whereas the sets used to be very bright and inviting. I suppose it could be to reflect the current format of the show.

[Lila_Q]

As I said before this is my 11th year watching the show. I started when I came to Australia to improve my English. I chose to watch the show because I thought that comparing to US soaps this portrayed real life (or something close to it). There were always natural disasters, accidents, murders, stalkers and a lot of drama, but recently and to be precise in the last 4 years IMO it is worse than ever. I think that the show started to become 'darker' when Cameron Welsh was producer, but it is worse now with Lucy and Louise. Even if producers of the show are not completely 'in charge' of the show, they must have some input in it. If Channel 7 bosses want a lot of drama, crime and stunts on the show, the writers can at least write decent script - I find it that since Louise took over the scripts are very often poorly written. IMO at the moment the show is popular but there is no quality in it. Loyal fans, like most of us on this board just 'hang in there' hoping that it will get better and that's probably the reason why the ratings are still relatively high and why the show survives.

These are my issues with the show (in last 4 years):

In last four years there were 13 deaths on the show: 5 by natural cause (Ross, Romeo, Gina, Jess and Rocco), 2 accident (Teagan, Ethan) and

6 murders (Charlie, Hammer, Danny, Stu, Jake, Casey). For small coastal town 6 murders in 3 years is a lot. IMO Ross, Romeo, Ethan, Stu and even Jake's deaths were unnecessary.

What I also don't like is how quickly characters get cured. One day they are in intensive care and the next they are having a coffee at the Diner. I know that time in TV show is supposed to go quicker, but Leah (liver problems), Roo (allergy on vaccine), Bianca (brain damage), Brax (broken leg, being shot, stabbed), Josh (being shot), Andy (being stabbed), Casey (being stabbed in jail, left to die in the desert, paralysed after car accident), and

Oscar (eating disorder)

were happy and healthy in no time. Only real healing process was Dex's after his car accident. I took months for him to recover after brain damage.

Romeo's cancer storyline - I know that cancer can spread quickly, but at the end of the day he lived with experienced doctor as well as with nurse and doctor in training, and I don't know how it is possible that no one noticed his mole when most of the time he was walking around shirtless. I know that Luke and Rob didn't like the storyline either - just too naïve. IMO they didn't know how to write him off the show so they just killed him off. There were so many other ways to write him out.

Life long illnesses - for example Irene and Marilyn's cancer (no one mentions that anymore), April's OCD, Ruby's Type I diabetes, Spencers bi polar disorder.
If they wanted to introduce mental disorder on the show they need to follow up. People with OCD and bi polar disorder struggle even if they are on medication. Monica from TV show Friends is perfect example, for 10 years we could see signs of OCD in her behaviour. I'm not saying that they needed to talk about that all the time, but April could have certain things that she did that would remind the viewers that she's got OCD. Same with Spencer, this year I can't remember any interesting storyline he was involved in so they could explore depression and mood swings.

Oscar's eating disorder, I was happy when I found out they are going to address that, just for them to move on in two weeks. The only reason for that storyline was for Nate and Hannah to get closer. They didn't need to get closer because of that - they work together.

Nate - DR that knows all - completely unrealistic. According to his bio he's supposed to be general surgeon. In last year or so on the show, he preformed brain surgery on Bianca, surgery on Josh after he got shot, surgery on Darcy's hand, surgery on Andy after being stabbed, but also treated Roo (yellow fewer), Leah (liver damage), Brax (deep vain thrombosis), Ricky (pregnancy), Danny (dehydration),

Oscar (eating disorder)

. They could've made him an ER doctor who admits patients and then consults a specialist. By looking at hospital building it looks like big hospital - but then again Sid was miracle doctor as well.

The Braxtons going to London - out of 5, 4 of them have criminal record and 2 are on still probation - I rest my case!

Main characters getting away with major crimes - all the Braxtons, Ricky and Andy

The way characters act out of character or are naïve:
Charlie - police woman who believed that leader of the gang had nothing to do with the crimes they were committing
Hannah - caring auntie who came to the Bay to save her family, falls in love with the criminal and puts her family in danger
Zac - strong character who started drinking because of the girl
Bianca - educated woman (previously engaged to a price) falls in love with a drug dealer
Brax - family man (the guy you don't want to mess with) who forgives/ understands everyone who tries to hurt his family, Brax admitting that he killed Johnny for me was out of character (that guilt could've been triggered off many times before) as well as his behaviour after

Casey's death

Natalie - school councillor focuses only on one student (mainly because of his brother). For getting involved with Brax in Italy (where I'm from) she would've lost her job

Also after being kidnapped Oscar, Evelyn, Josh and Kyle didn't show any trauma. I believe that fearing for your life must be very traumatizing experience and for them just to carry on the next day is completely absurd. Same goes for Casey, as soon as he came come from the desert he was ok. Once he told Kyle that he's still dreaming about that but we couldn't see it.

How quickly Evelyn and Oscar moved on from the death of their father - he turned out to be a bad guy (or misunderstood as H&A likes to portray them), but most of their life he was ok - they must've had some feeling for him.

Is it possible for anyone to finish high school without repeating? I know that it can be hard, but it's not rocket science. Even April who was excellent student had to repeat.

Loose ends- why was Roo so secretive about her trip to Peru, what happened to Harvey when he disappeared, where is Sargent Watson?

And what really gets on my nerves is that all bad things done by the regular characters are because they were manipulated by someone else i.e. Casey, Ricky, Andy - they are portrayed as victims and no one takes responsibilities for their actions. And they get away with it.

So to answer the question, I don't know if the producers are ruining the show (people still watch it), but they are definitely not making it better.

[cadyctslover]

^ An excellent summary of some of the problems with the show over the past 3 years or so.

[LondonF4]

H&A has lost its heart, soul and basic ability to tell interesting storylines. It's now a show about bland characters trapped in an endless cycle of rinse and repeat stories. Crime and cheating, with occasional humour from John and Marilyn. It really needs to take a leaf from Neighbours which was in terrible shape but has turned itself around and now the superior soap. If Neighbours can do it so can H&A.

[Homeandawayfan.]

I think that is why they are called the producer, they are in charge of much of the input if not all, the buck stops with the producer, hence why they are called that. Lucy and Louise want the show to be an Underbelly clone instead of Home And Away. As I said, they dont understand what Home And Away is all about, I tell you if I was producer I would cut down on the crime stories and endless love triangles, and the harsh underscore "music" and axe some of the deadwood and bring back the fostering element and character driven stories. TPTB need to listen to us who are not happy with the current format.

The current producer of Neighbours understand what Neighbours is supposed to be, whereas Susan Bower didn't she was into endless teens and crimes which people were getting away with. Lucy and Louise are the same as Susan.

[Pacer]

Lila you said it so well, I didn't get around to it the other day when I came across this thread but you pinpointed most of my gripes. I realise for storysakes they cannot ruminate on storylines nor take up weeks and weeks of angsting, soaps move quickly. But I think they move on too quickly lately and it ends up being unrealistic, leaving a lot of loose ends and sometimes becomes borderline offensive, being such a disservice to the issue at hand.

The current storyline on Australian screens is a good example of this. They did executed the actual 'event' so, so well but the aftermath in comparison was weak and the speed from which they moved on from it was unsettling and IMO damaging to the characters involved.

They way the portray mental illness is ridiculous. I don't expect it to be done as some special episode or public service announcement but you don't go through an OCD, biopolar storyline or PTSD storyline and treat it sensitively for two weeks but then just drop it like a potato, why bother in the first place.

Oscar recently had body dysmorphia and nothing to be mentioned since.

I don't want them to drag it out for months but at least reference it or bring it up in the multiple future storylines, especially when there is ample opportunity and usually a good segway into another storyline. It's a really poor example for those who have or may experience mental illness , we don't watch H&A for life lessons but basic realism is expected.

And yes same deal with any difficulties, like for example learning difficulties? Casey had some and then was never touched on again. Josh seemed to be exhibiting a similar struggle which I found worse as I figured they realised they dropped the ball last time and was going to go for another round with the poor mans Casey, except that stopped a week later and didn't even refer to his brother having experienced similar issues. Physical disabilities, the best place to be paralysed is Summer Bay and its' a given they'll always walk again (unless they're leaving the show ala Seb). I think they did well with Casey's struggle but then they had him running about 3 weeks later. I'm pretty sure Nick Smith and Kane Phillips had a longer recuperation. If I was lying in a bed coming to terms with such a thing and happened to come across Home and Away.. I'd find that distressing. And Summer Bay seems the best place to commit crime too. Don't worry about murdering someone, if you even end up in jail you won't be there for long at all.

I think the summation with all of the above is they have an issue with ending/tying up storylines and just basic continuity. They initiate them well but then they just move on to the next storyline too fast which makes all that work setting it up rather redundant and disappointing.

Another thing I've noticed is it doesn't have the same community feel. I realised the other day I've watching H&A over 4 different periods - watched late 90s, found my way back and was obsessed circa 2001 to 2005ish, came back to it and occasionally watched 2008ish and then tuned back in August 2013. In the last two periods are different from the former two in terms of relationships and interaction. I found 'earlier' episodes used to be strong friendships and practically living in each others pockets. They still swapped partners but they stayed friends and most of the characters interacted with each other. The Sutherland twins dated both Nick and Seb but they were still close and inseparable afterwards. Casey and Sasha were friends and then dated somewhat, it may not have ended well but they had no interaction whatsoever afterwards. The Dex/April wedding gave ample opportunity for either resolution or rekindling of a friendship but nada. Casey and Maddy hung around each other all the time for about a month, then she ended up with Josh and they never saw each other again. They also would have special events disasters whether a ferrry sinking, massive storm etc and with Alf leading the charge they would all band together and everyone would be impacted. Now so many characters and groups of characters are silo-ed. Tamara was so entrenched with just the Braxtons up until the last few weeks before she left, noone seemed to even care she had left, Pheobe's the same as she's really only connected to Kyle and in result his family. I also think Matt's situation is quite similar with pretty much Sasha and Leah bothered about his existence. I miss the days where everyone actually cared about each other, or rather it was more obvious they they actually cared for each other and actually maintained relationships with more than 3 people.

I don't think they're ruining the show, it does go through it's phases and whilst I'm not a huge fan of the current direction, I don't think it's hopelessly lost for good. We all have different tastes and whilst the fast action-packed story lines appeal to some, it will of course turn off people who prefer where it's roots lie - in the every day character driven stories. I personally would prefer a better balance of the two.

[Homeandawayfan.]

In fairness being a viewer there can be some episodes where nothing much happens, yes it is bland but I'd rather have Mazza being giggly and ditzy and bantering with John than endless Braxton crimes. Compared to Emmerdale and even, yes even EastEnders, H&A is pretty tame.

[chels24]

Yes lately there have been so many loose ends, characters that had so much potential running out of ideas for them and becoming stale or so annoying storylines being rushed and often with no real outcome and THE BARRETTS casey not included, ridiculous storylines that are thrown in for no reason at all and criminally underusing some fantastic characters and ruining others and having MADDY at all dont get me wrong there had been some really brilliant stuff but at the same time some stuff thats just annoying

[Lila_Q]

Yes lately there have been so many loose ends, characters that had so much potential running out of ideas for them and becoming stale or so annoying storylines being rushed and often with no real outcome and THE BARRETTS casey not included, ridiculous storylines that are thrown in for no reason at all and criminally underusing some fantastic characters and ruining others and having MADDY at all dont get me wrong there had been some really brilliant stuff but at the same time some stuff thats just annoying

I agree, there was no point in my opinion to make Casey the Barrett in his last 6 months on the show. Chris who??? Since he came to the Bay the only thing he did was to chase girls and get on Irene's nerves. Same with Sophie, her on-off relationship with Nate is just plain boring. No decent storylines for Oscar, Spencer even Zac lately. I don't even want to comment on Alf and Irene. They ruined Maddy's character more than Ruby and Martha's.