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Are the current producers ruining Home and Away?


JamesC10

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Posted

I didn't realise the Braxtons saved Home and Away, or that Home and Away was actually in need of saving a few years ago. I'd say it needs saving moreso now than then!

But I can see why the producers would have brought the Braxtons in, to try to inject something new and take things in a new direction. No doubt this won the series a lot of new fans, but equally many people will have given up as what was once a family drama turned into some sort of crime thriller. People watch for all sorts of different reasons, clearly the Braxtons appealed to some viewers, but I would hazard a guess that they didn't appeal so much to long-term viewers.

Back in the day, as Homeandawayfan says, something like a kidnapping was a major exciting storyline. I remember myself being gripped by the Robert Perez plot at the time. But every time they do another kidnapping or stalker it seems weaker than before - less shocking. So to counteract this they have to up the ante, to the point where nowadays someone is almost always either at the hospital or police station due to some catastrophe or other. I'd be more shocked if, in the space of any fortnight, someone wasn't kidnapped, stalked or murdered, or (at the very least) lives were not in the balance!

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Posted

I don´t get what people see in Neighbours, it looks so boring

Looks so boring? I'm such a fan of your in-depth analysis.

I think (and I can only speak for myself here) that I enjoy Neighbours because of the interesting storylines, unique characters, inherent humour and warmth. They also pay respect to the history of the show, and there is a visible effort from the producers to appeal to the fans.

Kind of the opposite of Home and Away today.

Heh?

It´s opinions, you think Neighbours is much better but i just think it´s a lame show, i think Home and Away is the best than it has been for years. I don´t get why everyone is hating on the Braxtons when they saved the show, would you rather want the show to be cancelled back then? Home and Away in 2010 was a disaster so it was perfect when the Braxtons arrived and made the show good again

Did you actually watch Home and away before 2010? You keep talking about the 2010 season and how bad it was, but you have never mentioned how H&A was before that season.

2010 season had a dip, but 2009 and earlier had as much viewers as it has today. And even more in 2008 and earlier.

And the show had existed for 22 years before 2010.

Posted

Home and Away these days is very obviously biased towards a handful of characters as the central household, namely the Braxton/Barretts. The other characters, even the likes of Alf, Irene and Marilyn feel like supporting cast by comparison. A bit like when H&A started, it could be argued that Tom and Pippa, and the Fletcher household were the main characters. (I'm not suggesting the series revolved around them as much as it does around the Braxtons now, obviously back in the day, all characters got a look in).

Anyway, if several more of the current Braxton household were to leave at some point, the producers have two options (as with any character leaving):

1. Replace like for like - so introduce very similar characters to those who are departing. This minimises altering the look and feel of the series, so it carries on with as little disruption as possible.

2. Introduce fresh characters who are very different and will take the storylines in a new direction.

It depends what TPTB want to do. A cast turnover is a good opportunity to refresh the series, but if they feel the current formula is successful, it would be less of a risk to go for the safe option (option 1).

So if/when the Braxton/Barretts leave, there is no guarantee that the same crime drama storylines will not continue with a new set of "gangsters". I guess time will tell, but given the nature of soaps, they are bound to alter the formula eventually.

Agreed. The problem was not so much the fact that the Braxtons were brought in at all, but the fact that they have been allowed to dominate the show to the extent that all other characters are marginalised in comparison. I think the thing is that when they first came in, they added a bit of excitement, by adding in some tension with pre-existing characters. But the problem was that the longer that the Braxtons stayed, and the more regularly criminality occurred to the point where it became normal, the worst things have gotten. People are committing murder in Summer Bay with no repercussions, crime is being perpetrated regularly with no repercussions. It means that any crime storyline just feels redundant, and loses any potential shock factor.

Posted

this is a copy of something I wrote back in 2013. I am copying and pasting it, because this information is no longer available on Tvtonight.com:

"I have done a quick research of ratings in week 36 in three different years: 2009, 2010 and 2013. Source is the tvtonight.com.au site.

2009

Monday 1 241 000 (rank 5)

Tuesday 1 263 000 ( rank 7)

Wednesday 1 203 000 (rank 7)

Thursday 1 125 000 (rank 6)

2010

Monday 1 013 000 (rank 10)

Tuesday 1 106 000 (rank 10)

Wednesday 1 035 000 (rank 13)

Thursday 998 000 (rank 9)

2013

Monday 992 000 ( rank 7)

Tuesday 952 000 (rank 9)

Wednesday 943 000 (rank 6)

Thursday 901 000 (rank 7)"

And then I add the rating numbers for Wednesday 11th March, the last day with information on TVtonight.com:

HOME AND AWAY Network 7 .........878,000

I know that the viewers numbers aren't that high as it was some years ago, but H&A was ranked as number 8 on March 11th... in Australia. And that is about the same as in 2009 and in 2013...

So I don't understand that the Braxtons have saved the show...

Posted

I don´t get what people see in Neighbours, it looks so boring

Looks so boring? I'm such a fan of your in-depth analysis.

I think (and I can only speak for myself here) that I enjoy Neighbours because of the interesting storylines, unique characters, inherent humour and warmth. They also pay respect to the history of the show, and there is a visible effort from the producers to appeal to the fans.

Kind of the opposite of Home and Away today.

Heh?

It´s opinions, you think Neighbours is much better but i just think it´s a lame show, i think Home and Away is the best than it has been for years. I don´t get why everyone is hating on the Braxtons when they saved the show, would you rather want the show to be cancelled back then? Home and Away in 2010 was a disaster so it was perfect when the Braxtons arrived and made the show good again

Did you actually watch Home and away before 2010? You keep talking about the 2010 season and how bad it was, but you have never mentioned how H&A was before that season.

2010 season had a dip, but 2009 and earlier had as much viewers as it has today. And even more in 2008 and earlier.

And the show had existed for 22 years before 2010.

I have watched the show from late 2001 to now, 2009 was great with the Hugo plotline but in 2010 it just went down when many of the cast started leaving and we got new ones pushed on us and not to mention the gruesome boring Penn Graham storyline and even Roo´s return wasn´t interesting...

this is a copy of something I wrote back in 2013. I am copying and pasting it, because this information is no longer available on Tvtonight.com:

"I have done a quick research of ratings in week 36 in three different years: 2009, 2010 and 2013. Source is the tvtonight.com.au site.

2009

Monday 1 241 000 (rank 5)

Tuesday 1 263 000 ( rank 7)

Wednesday 1 203 000 (rank 7)

Thursday 1 125 000 (rank 6)

2010

Monday 1 013 000 (rank 10)

Tuesday 1 106 000 (rank 10)

Wednesday 1 035 000 (rank 13)

Thursday 998 000 (rank 9)

2013

Monday 992 000 ( rank 7)

Tuesday 952 000 (rank 9)

Wednesday 943 000 (rank 6)

Thursday 901 000 (rank 7)"

And then I add the rating numbers for Wednesday 11th March, the last day with information on TVtonight.com:

I have done a quick research of ratings in week 36 in three different years: 2009, 2010 and 2013. Source is the tvtonight.com.au site.

HOME AND AWAY Network 7 .........878,000

I know that the viewers numbers aren't that high as it was some years ago, but H&A was ranked as number 8 on March 11th... in Australia. And that is about the same as in 2009 and in 2013...

So I don't understand that the Braxtons have saved the show...

I don´t care about ranks...

I don´t like something based off ranks, i started liking the show way more when the Braxtons came

Posted

The first 20 or so years of H&A was waaaay better than Neighbours. At the minute Neighbours has nicked the "better show" title off H&A. As I said, in 1988 H&A was much more fun and vibrant than Neighbours, grittier but not in a depressing way. Neighbours was lighter with topical things but was more spartan and dull, teens in Neighbours were less developed. H&A had this exotic look and this get up and go, rewatching 1988 H&A just reiterates that.

I am confident H&A can improve, but to me the Braxtons have not saved the show, it was nice initially to see a darker side to H&A when they first arrived but that was built on and took over.

Posted

Heh?

It´s opinions, you think Neighbours is much better but i just think it´s a lame show, i think Home and Away is the best than it has been for years. I don´t get why everyone is hating on the Braxtons when they saved the show, would you rather want the show to be cancelled back then? Home and Away in 2010 was a disaster so it was perfect when the Braxtons arrived and made the show good again

I don´t care about ranks...

I don´t like something based off ranks, i started liking the show way more when the Braxtons came

It had a dip in 2010, but not enough to cancel the show it was still doing quite ok, and the show doesn't rate much better now. And you think that 2010 was bad (and so do I) but a show doesn't survive without ratings, or doesn't get cancelled with good ratings either.

Because you, I and the rest of the viewers and readers of this page can mean what we want about the show...But the ratings is all that are important to the channel bosses and producers, in the addition of the show's reputation. The show did change some direction in 2010, and then again in 2011 but it wasn't about ratings alone, it was more a reaction to the bad (and undeserved) press the show got down under in 2009.

Posted

The first 20 or so years of H&A was waaaay better than Neighbours. At the minute Neighbours has nicked the "better show" title off H&A. As I said, in 1988 H&A was much more fun and vibrant than Neighbours, grittier but not in a depressing way. Neighbours was lighter with topical things but was more spartan and dull, teens in Neighbours were less developed. H&A had this exotic look and this get up and go, rewatching 1988 H&A just reiterates that.

I am confident H&A can improve, but to me the Braxtons have not saved the show, it was nice initially to see a darker side to H&A when they first arrived but that was built on and took over.

I'd certainly say that H&A was much better than Neighbours for most of the 1990s, especially around the middle of that decade. From a production standards point of view, H&A has always been ahead. Overall, the mid-90s were especially good for H&A and really bad for Neighbours. While H&A had several disasters around that time, the bush fire, the flood and the earthquake, which were all amazingly well done, it felt genuinely dramatic and exciting, but still maintained the family atmosphere. I must admit to going off H&A a little in 2000 when there were major cast changes, but it got good again once Sally and Flynn came to the foreground.

I would agree that the Braxtons were something different from tradional H&A to start with, but I think they would have worked better as guest characters for 6 months.

Do you think the show could have survived if the Braxtons never came to the show?

Without a doubt H&A would still be very much alive and well today, had they kept to the traditional H&A formula. What might have damaged ratings would have been an over-reliance on teen romance storylines and sidelining the adult cast, like Ms Bower did with Neighbours. Certainly I think the current adult cast of Alf, Roo, Irene, Marilyn, John, Leah and Zac could carry the show.

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