Are the current producers ruining Home and Away?

[JimRRR]

The show has its highs and lows.....Some days its quite good. Then, there are episodes when you say, "My God, what were they thinking?"

My criticism: John and Marilyn....don't get it....Both actors are awesome and they play their parts beautifully, but much of their relationship is played for comic purposes. I'd rather see Marilyn with a much younger bloke. Also, there is no sexual chemistry between this couple

Then, there's Irene....Give her a storyline...please.

[CaptainHulk]

Maz and Younger Blokes have never really worked out... Lance and Adam being prime examples, the latter moreso.

[adam436]

  On 15/01/2015 at 13:58, JimRRR said:

The show has its highs and lows.....Some days its quite good. Then, there are episodes when you say, "My God, what were they thinking?"

My criticism: John and Marilyn....don't get it....Both actors are awesome and they play their parts beautifully, but much of their relationship is played for comic purposes. I'd rather see Marilyn with a much younger bloke. Also, there is no sexual chemistry between this couple

I am a casual viewer these days (regular viewer from 1996-early 2006 and the early years up to the Pippa switch) meaning I will just leave it on in the background after Neighbours if I am doing something else. The episodes which don't feature Kyle, Phoebe, Brax, Ash(?), Andy and Hannah are the best ones. When these characters are on, I just tend to zone out. Full episodes without these characters, I sometimes wonder why I don't tune in full-time again.

John and Marilyn's relationship is often played for comedy storylines, but so was her marriage to Donald Fisher. The stories involving Byron and Marilyn's post-natal depression were serious, but that was more an exit storyline for her than anything else. They should try to find a balance for John and Marilyn - for anyone watching Neighbours, Karl and Susan and Toadie and Sonya are a good models to follow. They can do serious storylines, but they are also brilliant at comedy storylines too.

[CaptainHulk]

^And let's not forget Don and Maz's battle to have a kid in the first place was pretty dramatic too, with the miscarriage of the first child (whom they would have called Oscar)

[Homeandawayfan.]

Happy 27th birthday H&A today. 17 Jan 2015.

Give me scenes with Palmer, Maz, Jett, VJ, Alf and Roo and Leah and Irene any day, and Kyle seeing as he is the most mature Braxton.

[adam436]

Just curious, are the producers ignoring what the fans want or are the ones on here that dislike the Braxtons and crime/violence aspect of the Home and Away the vocal minority?

[Gerard]

Happy Birthday Home And Away. 27 years is a great achievement. I've no doubt you'll make 30. It will be interesting to see how you celebrate that milestone (maybe Zoe the stalker will come back from the dead and kidnap Brax and the town will lament over what a pillar of the community he is - on the other hand, a reunion of the Fletchers would be awesome, but would it be true to the current ethos of the series?).

Anyway, I agree with some posts above that it seems like a show of two halves, we have - to keep it simple - the "Braxtons & Braxton-hangers-on" vs "everyone else". Episodes where "everyone else" are dominant in the storylines, such as the Palmers or Alf are probably as good as your average H&A episode from years gone by. I could quite happily watch all those characters - there are some great long-running characters, although under-utilised. They could improve things by giving Irene a couple of foster kids, instead of random lodgers. Give Roo a couple more foster children and we could have the H&A of old.

Regarding Adam's question - I'm not the Braxtons' biggest fan - they are OK as long as they don't dominate. I also don't mind some crime/violence, as long as it's very sparingly used, rather than the norm. Do we actually know what the current H&A audience wants these days? I'm sure the series has lost some fans of the "fostering era" and gained some new River Boy fans. Do the producers do research to find out what the fans want, or do they just see the viewing figures (for some reason) are holding up OK, so keep delivering the same formula? By sticking to the current formula, they are playing it safe and keeping the current audience interested. Changing direction back to something more like "traditional H&A" would be a risk and require some creative thinking and hard work.

[CaptainHulk]

  On 17/01/2015 at 00:14, Homeandawayfan. said:

Happy 27th birthday H&A today. 17 Jan 2015.

Give me scenes with Palmer, Maz, Jett, VJ, Alf and Roo and Leah and Irene any day, and Kyle seeing as he is the most mature Braxton.

Not so much VJ (This new guy ain't workin'!) but I agree with the rest. As said before, I'm burned out on stalkers, gangs and guns and all that tosh. I just want that country town community-based feeling the show had up until about 2009 back!

I want to see The Palmers Version 2.0 work.

[Homeandawayfan.]

I hope we are not in the vocal minority, but it does seem common opinion that many are sick of the endless crimes in the show so hopefully we are not in the minority.

Anyway H&A is now just over 27 years old, nearly 30 years old now. Just under 3 years to the Big 30.

[Gerard]

While the viewing figures have generally held up in Australia over the years, and fallen dramatically in the UK, it's impossible to tell how much of the current audience was watching 10 or 20 years ago.

Undoubtedly there will be a turnover of fans, mainly in teens and 20's, who "grow out of" or "grow into" the series, and there will be fans, like myself, who began watching over 25 years ago as teens. But I'm sure many people have given up on the series when it shifted away from family values, but at the same time, new viewers who enjoy all the OTT dramatics will have started watching.

So possibly H&A has alienated some of its audience and yet replaced it with a new audience. If that's the case, then chances are the majority of current viewers like the direction of the series.