Are the current producers ruining Home and Away?

[pembie]

I have mostly enjoyed this year up to the point of Casey's death Denny and Casey getting together was also super bad I think. Having Andy murder Jake was pretty bad also It should have been Brax who killed him. Jake's murder has now just been dropped, and we are suppose to see Andy as some kind of hero because of Jake being such a bad guy. The casting of VJ has been awful too. Oh and Brax's new story with Ash I haven't really liked that either. But other than that It's been pretty good

[Gerard]

I don't have much of an idea what's coming up, but I assume neither Andy nor Brax will go down for Jake's murder. I wouldn't be surprised if the whole issue is dropped within a week or two. I do think it's apalling that we are expected to side with Andy who murdered Jake, and Brax who didn't, (only because Andy got there first). And now Brax and Andy are best mates. "Home and Away" used to send out such a positive moral message about families caring for disadvantaged young people, and now it just seems to say that evil deeds are OK, especially if they are in revenge for an equally evil deed. No doubt Brax and/or Andy will do something heroic in weeks to come to redeem themselves, and Alf will pat them on the back and say "Summer Bay will be all the poorer if you were not in it"...

[pembie]

I have mostly enjoyed this year up to the point of Casey's death Denny and Casey getting together was also super bad I think. Having Andy murder Jake was pretty bad also It should have been Brax who killed him. Jake's murder has now just been dropped, and we are suppose to see Andy as some kind of hero because of Jake being such a bad guy. The casting of VJ has been awful too. Oh and Brax's new story with Ash I haven't really liked that either. But other than that It's been pretty good

Oh yeah I also don't like what a goodie two shoes Sasha has become but other than that the shows been good

[Red Ranger 1]

Aside from the fact that I’m disappointed the show would even suggest that murdering someone is okay, the main dramatic problem with Andy killing Jake isn’t that Brax should have done it but that it doesn’t actually mean anything. If Andy had killed Jake to stop Brax doing it and gone to jail in Brax’s place, that would have meant something, it might even qualify as a redemptive act in a way. But if Andy kills Jake so Brax doesn’t (even though Brax probably wouldn’t have done it anyway at that point) and nothing happens to him or Brax as a result and neither of them’s at all bothered by it…so what? It’s such a meaningless, empty act that Jake might as well have been killed by a faulty light fitting falling on his bed.

[Sup]

I have watched H&A on and off for a long time and I don't remember it ever being this boring and predictable.

I think the problem is that almost all the characters are extremely poor and predictable. No one has any depth or any real issues. And if someone has a real problem, it goes away in a few weeks to never be spoken of again. It would be much better if these problems got developed over a longer time, so people got to care about the characters a little bit. Same with the love stories. How do they expect anyone to care when characters fall in love and become a couple within a few weeks worth of episodes?

I'm also really sick of the "bad boy turned good" theme. Bring in a truly evil character instead. Or maybe try a "good guy turned bad" storyline.

[Blaxland 89]

Does anyone know how Sally's liilte girl is getting on with the treatment?

There never seems to be any proper follow up from stories anymore.

I know its all about opinions, but surely no one can argue the writing is so poor in comparison to the early years.

[Homeandawayfan.]

I guess the nature of soap is that it is always evolving. Characters, locations and storylines come and go, but it's a good question - at what point does the series evolve into something completely different? When does it reach "the point of no return"?

Summer Bay and Alf are still there. but Ray Meagher isn't going to be there forever. When he leaves, is that the point H&A ends as we know it? Or are we already at the point where the series can never return to its core values? I'm sure a lot of long term viewers feel like this isn't what we signed up for, and in the same way, we could give up watching, but equally we resent that someone has morphed our show into something we don't want. We can choose to stick with the show and hope it improves, or move on and lfe continues. How much of a say in the direction of the series should the fans have? We don't own the show, we just enjoy watching it.

That's an interesting one. I believe Home and Away in 2014 is in roughly the same place as Neighbours was in 2010.

There are a group of individuals in charge of the show who don't understand it. They had some initial success with a certain group of characters and storyline structure, and have chosen to rehash the same formula ever since. Fans are certainly divided but a growing cohort recognise the damage being inflicted on the show. Decisions that are made in the interests of attracting new viewers take their toll on long-term viewers. Inevitably these methods fail and when popular characters leave the 'conquest' viewers go too.

However I must say, even compared to Susan Bower I don't believe I've seen producers so actively display such contempt for their viewers.

This.

The current H&A producers have certainly overtook Susan Bower as the producers to show most contempt for fans and Susan was a master at it. As people know I am an old school N and H&A fan and 20 years ago H&A was ten steps ahead of Neighbours, now it is the other way round.

[CaptainHulk]

It’s such a meaningless, empty act that Jake might as well have been killed by a faulty light fitting falling on his bed.

Am I sadistic/twisted for finding an image of that funny?

Home and Away needs to do a back-to-basics, community feel with actual relatable stories. You can have drama, just not send people to prison/hospital every five minutes. I don't expect late 90s-early 2000s Neighbours tameness but there's got to be something in the middle!

[greg098]

As the 2014 season comes to an end, i have to say that this year was one of the worst years for the show.

Most of the characters lack any real personalities. To be honest, I don't care about the bus crash at all. I know that no one will die so why should I (a viewer) even care? This storyline is a boring cliffhanger that will not be spoken about a week after the season opener in 2015.

I quite like the relationship Ricky and Brax has. I also like the character Maddy but they should use her more.

In 2015, I hope the following happens:

I hope Nate leaves. He offers nothing to the show. His character is plain boring and way too good looking. He seems to be a super doctor at everything.

Spencer should struggle with his bi-polar. Have his character be centred around that which will offer awareness to viewers on this medical condition.

Andy should go to jail and Josh should leave.

Hannah and Zac should get together and leave.

[cadyctslover]

2014 has easily been the poorest season of Home and Away I've ever experienced, with the possible exception of 2012.

The majority of characters I have absolutely no interest or investment in, as a direct result of hopeless writing and poor character development. They are all miserable and hate each other.

Then for some reason we are supposed to care that their lives are in constant danger.