Was it mistake giving Michael the axe in 1996?.

[j.laur5]

I reckon it was as two years later we lost Pippa and I can''t help but think that if they had not axed  Michael Debra might have been more willing to stay. It must have made their life harder once they could no longer work together.

Also too if Pippa had stayed and married Ian and Ian had become a regular I worry that Pippa's storylines would become recycled as I reckon their would have been a baby storyline with Ian and later he would be kill Ian off in couple more years.

I cant help wondering what played a part in Debra quitting. Was she thinking Pippa's character had run her course and did not want storylines to be recycled by marrying another husband and for him to be killed of in another couple of years.

Same can be  said with Sally and Leah. Their storylines were recycled after awhile with husbands being killed off!.

Whereas  if they had kept Dennis Coard around then Debra might have stayed longer and we could have had Michael and Pippa on the show for many years to come.

 

 

 

[c120701]

I reckon it was as two years later we lost Pippa and I can''t help but think that if they had not axed  Michael Debra might have been more willing to stay. It must have made their life harder once they could no longer work together.

Also too if Pippa had stayed and married Ian and Ian had become a regular I worry that Pippa's storylines would become recycled as I reckon their would have been a baby storyline with Ian and later he would be kill Ian off in couple more years.

I cant help wondering what played a part in Debra quitting. Was she thinking Pippa's character had run her course and did not want storylines to be recycled by marrying another husband and for him to be killed of in another couple of years.

Same can be  said with Sally and Leah. Their storylines were recycled after awhile with husbands being killed off!.

Whereas  if they had kept Dennis Coard around then Debra might have stayed longer and we could have had Michael and Pippa on the show for many years to come.

 

 

 

If Debra truly left because she needed to be closer to her Mum as she was getting older, then I think she'd have left anyway, but she'd have had to have thought about it even more if Dennis was still on the show as they'd have had to both look for work, whereas Dennis had already re-established himself as a jobbing/stage actor by that point.

[j.laur5]

I reckon it was as two years later we lost Pippa and I can''t help but think that if they had not axed  Michael Debra might have been more willing to stay. It must have made their life harder once they could no longer work together.

Also too if Pippa had stayed and married Ian and Ian had become a regular I worry that Pippa's storylines would become recycled as I reckon their would have been a baby storyline with Ian and later he would be kill Ian off in couple more years.

I cant help wondering what played a part in Debra quitting. Was she thinking Pippa's character had run her course and did not want storylines to be recycled by marrying another husband and for him to be killed of in another couple of years.

Same can be  said with Sally and Leah. Their storylines were recycled after awhile with husbands being killed off!.

Whereas  if they had kept Dennis Coard around then Debra might have stayed longer and we could have had Michael and Pippa on the show for many years to come.

 

 

 

If Debra truly left because she needed to be closer to her Mum as she was getting older, then I think she'd have left anyway, but she'd have had to have thought about it even more if Dennis was still on the show as they'd have had to both look for work, whereas Dennis had already re-established himself as a jobbing/stage actor by that point.

​Oh yes you are right. I remember now so Dennis would have quit anyway.

But in that case Michael could easily have made a return then!.

So If both Michael and Pippa left in 1998 and they both decided to  move to the city, then I reckon a good exit storyline would be Michael going out of business and then gets a job offer in the city. Pippa's storyline then goes full circle. She arrives in the Bay because of him losing his job and she leaves the bay because her husband lost his business.

 

[Summer_Bay_Sunshine]

I would say yes it was a mistake, but then as Michael is my all time favourite character, I am probably biased. 

The producers decided to write Michael out of the show in 1996 to financially make way for 3 new younger cast members. I am sure TV companies do this sort of thing all the time, I suppose it's all about value for money, pretty harsh but that's business I guess. This was the only reason Michael was axed though. However according to several interviews at the time it was Dennis' decision to have Michael killed off, the producers were willing to leave the door open for him, but to quote Dennis he didn't want a "Bobby coming out of the fridge" scenario. It's a real shame as it would have been interesting to see what sort of alternative exit storyline the script writers would have given him, as well as perhaps explaining any possible return appearances.  

I personally would have liked Michael to stay for a few more years leaving with Pippa in 1998 (Ian can get lost !! ). The producers/script writers had given the Rosses some tough storylines over the years, losing a new born baby to SIDS, marriage difficulties, financial prroblems, not to mention the endless stories involving their foster children. Michael and Pippa were such a strong couple in the show they seem to get through everything, I certainly don't think the characters had run their course, and I am sure the producers could have lined up a few more juicy storylines to see them through another few years.

As c120701 has said one of the reasons Debra left the show in 1998 was to move to Melbourne to be nearer to her sick mother, but there was also another reason which was more personal to her and Dennis, and had the producers decided not to "pull the plug" on Michael in 1996, maybe Dennis would have left with Debra anyway, who knows?

As a side to the original forum question, I have to say I do think Michael had one of the best exits in the entire history of the show, what a hero!! It still brings a tear to my eye whenever I watch it.... Flaming Sam though....!!! 

So am I still feeling peeved that Michael was written out of the show in 1996......... HELL YES !!! 

[dee123]

I reckon it was as two years later we lost Pippa and I can''t help but think that if they had not axed  Michael Debra might have been more willing to stay. It must have made their life harder once they could no longer work together.

Also too if Pippa had stayed and married Ian and Ian had become a regular I worry that Pippa's storylines would become recycled as I reckon their would have been a baby storyline with Ian and later he would be kill Ian off in couple more years.

I cant help wondering what played a part in Debra quitting. Was she thinking Pippa's character had run her course and did not want storylines to be recycled by marrying another husband and for him to be killed of in another couple of years.

Same can be  said with Sally and Leah. Their storylines were recycled after awhile with husbands being killed off!.

Whereas  if they had kept Dennis Coard around then Debra might have stayed longer and we could have had Michael and Pippa on the show for many years to come.

 

 

 

​Oh yeah. If Leah marries Zac and he dies a few years down the track she's totally entering like, Days of Our Lives territory.

[lucky_pip]

I would say yes it was a mistake, but then as Michael is my all time favourite character, I am probably biased. 

The producers decided to write Michael out of the show in 1996 to financially make way for 3 new younger cast members. I am sure TV companies do this sort of thing all the time, I suppose it's all about value for money, pretty harsh but that's business I guess. This was the only reason Michael was axed though. However according to several interviews at the time it was Dennis' decision to have Michael killed off, the producers were willing to leave the door open for him, but to quote Dennis he didn't want a "Bobby coming out of the fridge" scenario. It's a real shame as it would have been interesting to see what sort of alternative exit storyline the script writers would have given him, as well as perhaps explaining any possible return appearances.  

I personally would have liked Michael to stay for a few more years leaving with Pippa in 1998 (Ian can get lost !! ). The producers/script writers had given the Rosses some tough storylines over the years, losing a new born baby to SIDS, marriage difficulties, financial prroblems, not to mention the endless stories involving their foster children. Michael and Pippa were such a strong couple in the show they seem to get through everything, I certainly don't think the characters had run their course, and I am sure the producers could have lined up a few more juicy storylines to see them through another few years.

As c120701 has said one of the reasons Debra left the show in 1998 was to move to Melbourne to be nearer to her sick mother, but there was also another reason which was more personal to her and Dennis, and had the producers decided not to "pull the plug" on Michael in 1996, maybe Dennis would have left with Debra anyway, who knows?

As a side to the original forum question, I have to say I do think Michael had one of the best exits in the entire history of the show, what a hero!! It still brings a tear to my eye whenever I watch it.... Flaming Sam though....!!! 

So am I still feeling peeved that Michael was written out of the show in 1996......... HELL YES !!! 

I missed Michael when he left as well, thought he was a very likeable character, had a bit of a crush on him in the 90's. I never thought Pippa was the same without him, and I don't think you can compare losing Michael with Tom, as different actresses were portraying Pippa during different era's of the show, must have been very hard on Debra having the man she is still "crazy in love with" leave the show in 1996.

[adam436]

I think if Debra Lawrence had stayed, then I don't think Irene would have. With the show's direction slowly changing after 2000, I don't think there would have been the need for both characters. Alternatively, if she did stay the show may have maintained the foster focus, and the the Sutherlands and Nashes wouldn't have happened and Gypsy, Tom, Max, Dani, Kirsty and Jade would have become unrelated foster children for Pippa.

 

I was never a fan of Pippa #2 or Michael (give me Vanessa Downing and Roger Oakley any day!), but I was shocked to learn that Dennis Coard was in fact axed, especially as a main character had been killed off just a few weeks before. It was good to have the foster children come and go with them remaining the constant. If Debra left to move to Melbourne and be closer to her mum, then it was more than likely both Dennis and Debra would have quit in 1998. At least they would have got a happy ending I guess.

[j.laur5]

I think if Debra Lawrence had stayed, then I don't think Irene would have. With the show's direction slowly changing after 2000, I don't think there would have been the need for both characters. Alternatively, if she did stay the show may have maintained the foster focus, and the the Sutherlands and Nashes wouldn't have happened and Gypsy, Tom, Max, Dani, Kirsty and Jade would have become unrelated foster children for Pippa.

 

I was never a fan of Pippa #2 or Michael (give me Vanessa Downing and Roger Oakley any day!), but I was shocked to learn that Dennis Coard was in fact axed, especially as a main character had been killed off just a few weeks before. It was good to have the foster children come and go with them remaining the constant. If Debra left to move to Melbourne and be closer to her mum, then it was more than likely both Dennis and Debra would have quit in 1998. At least they would have got a happy ending I guess.

​I don't see why because Irene is a character in her own right, and they did not get rid of Irene when Shelley and Beth arrived.

[Gerard]

The producers decided to write Michael out of the show in 1996 to financially make way for 3 new younger cast members. I am sure TV companies do this sort of thing all the time, I suppose it's all about value for money, pretty harsh but that's business I guess. This was the only reason Michael was axed though. However according to several interviews at the time it was Dennis' decision to have Michael killed off, the producers were willing to leave the door open for him, but to quote Dennis he didn't want a "Bobby coming out of the fridge" scenario.

​I think the era in the 90's when Pippa and Michael were at the helm were the best years of Home and Away. Sure, Michael is unlikely to feature in a Top 10 popular characters vote, but you could really believe in his relationship with Pippa (no doubt helped by events off-screen). Michael started out as a being quite reluctant to take on foster children, but soon came around. I remember the Pippa & MIchael marriage split was a really big deal at the time, and of course they got back together before he was killed off.

I was also quite shocked to open Inside Soap one day and see a photo of Dennis and a caption "Axed!" underneath. I'm surprised to read here he was axed to free up the budget for 3 new teens though. That sort of thing I could believe of Neighbours, but in H&A given how quickly they re-married Pippa, I was amazed they would break up that central relationship.

If Dennis hadn't been axed - I thought when it happened he had originally asked for some time off, but I might be totally wrong about that - would he and Debra have stayed in the show for another 5 or 10 years?  In hindsight if Debra was going to leave in 1998 anyway, it would have been much better to have let them leave together.

Michael's departure was rather a watershed moment in H&A's history which I think ultimately led to the demise of the main foster family, and the end of "classic" H&A. The series in some ways was never quite the same after that.

 

[joany208121]

I liked Michaels exit portraying him as a fatherly figured who cared for kids even if they weren't his own. His death stayed true to his character, and for that I am thankful. I also feel that pippas exit was fitting as to me she seemed  "lost" in the bay without Michael and her old foster kids. I'd like to hear of her having foster kids offscreen, and is she still with Ian?