Are the current producers ruining Home and Away?

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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.

[Dan F]

Just a quick reminder that this thread is in the General Discussion area, so please be careful about mentioning storylines that are yet to air in the UK.

The main things we've had to add spoiler tags to recently in a few posts are mentions of

Casey's death and/or the fact he's left, and Oscar's eating disorder

If you're unsure, you can check where the UK are up to on this page - http://www.backtothebay.net/episodes/upcoming_uk.php

[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

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.

I know they came with such potential but now I think they have run out of ideas

[Homeandawayfan.]

I think H&A is going through a Susan Bower phase, hence the current format.

[Gerard]

H&A really is a show of two halves these days, broadly split into the old characters who are enjoyable to watch, and the young characters, who are less so. I think H&A was at its best in the mid-1990s, when although there was an improbable number of disasters, this was balanced by a real family and community feel, and much warmth and humour. Back then you could really believe in the romances, which didn't dominate, really care for the characters, and there was plenty of drama without the need to resort to crime storylines all the time.

If H&A could get back to how it was then, it would be perfect, but it seems these days there is a need to constantly up the ante with more ridiculous high drama and the expense of good continuity and character development. If most of the younger cast left tomorow, I wouldn't care. I guess it could currently be likened to the Susan Bower era of Neighbours, and thankfully that came to an end - not without doing a lot of damage first. But what would be needed to trigger such a change? As it is, H&A still seems be rating well, in Australia, so I would imagine it would be allowed to carry on as normal. In my opinion ratings in the UK are quite poor by comparison. I doubt if it was still on ITV with those ratings that they would be renewing it.

Even if new producers did take over, there is a good chance that they would be told to continue with the current formula as it is still delivering. Unfortunately, for those of us who dislike it, we could be stuck with the current H&A format for years to come.

[cadyctslover]

Even if new producers did take over, there is a good chance that they would be told to continue with the current formula as it is still delivering. Unfortunately, for those of us who dislike it, we could be stuck with the current H&A format for years to come.

Possibly, although I would be surprised if they could find a worse set of producers after Lucy and Louise.

It took over three years, a 50% drop in ratings and a channel change before Network TEN showed Susan Bower and Neil Kingston the door. But that allowed Richard Jasek and Alan Hardy to come in and turn the show around with probably very little interference from TEN. And they turned it around very quickly.

The difference with H&A is that Lucy and Louise are in the twilight of a successful (ratings-wise) period, and they're sticking with it through the departure of the Braxton's. Hopefully they stick around for another year or two until the ratings are really in the toilet, at which point Network 7 might hire some decent talent that understands the soap opera genre.

[Homeandawayfan.]

Reading on some old threads on other forums and on here from 2007-2008 the exact same conversation was being said about Neighbours. I first lurked on BTTB in 2004 when it was a new site but did not join until 2012. People were saying that Neighbours is losing its roots and becoming a teen show and crime show. Now history is repeating itself with H&A.

Some of the ratings may be us long term viewers still tuning in to see an improvement, which helps keep them up as well as the teens who have no idea who people like Damo and Bobby are and who love the Braxtons and nothing else.