Does H&A need an overhaul at the moment?

[Homeandawayfan.]

Yes, the drug storylines and regular characters getting away with serious crimes in Coronation Street is just how it is happening in H&A.

[adam436]

I don't think the producers have ever publicly commented on the change in the direction (it's just felt like a gradual transition over time!), but I do wonder what the reasoning behind the shift is? If the current audience is reflected in the cast make-up (i.e. predominately 20somethings), then where do the producers see H&A in 10 years time? Will it become a show about people in their thirties? 

I understand that audiences change and that the demographic of 20-30 years are generally no longer watching Free-to-air TV, but the show does need a shake up. I've accepted that H&A will never be a predominantly teenage soap again, but the stories are becoming quite repetitive now. It's all about Lyrik or the relationship dramas of the characters who are coupled off. I imagine there would be a share of the audience who would probably have teenage children, and might be able to relate to those storylines/characters through their own children. 

There are so many characters in their twenties and early thirties now that the show could easily lose 3-4 of them (I wouldn't even care who, since I don't really like any of them except for Mali and Mackenzie!), and replace them with teenagers without losing too much focus on the older group. The producers wouldn't even have to introduce parents for those teenagers, when you have Leah and Justin, Roo, Irene, John and Marilyn who could take them in, or the writers could invent a teenage sibling for an existing character. 

I can only speak for Neighbours and Hollyoaks, but other soaps manage to have a wider spread of ages. 

[Lila_Q]

In my opinion, the reasoning behind the change is that high school kids are not the main audience anymore. When I was in high school everybody in my class was watching H&A, nowadays I don't know anyone younger than 25-ish who is watching. If the main audience is older, their characters and storylines have to mirror that. I'm constantly winging on this forum about how bad the writing is. It is not that storylines are repetitive, but the actual writing is so bad, that I feel like the writers are insulting our intelligence. 

The fact is that H&A still gets high enough ratings and gets companies to advertise to stay at the 7 pm slot, not to mention that in the last few years they won Logie for best drama, so I don't think that anything will change any time soon - if it's not broken don't fix it. 

[j.laur5]

14 hours ago, Lila_Q said:

In my opinion, the reasoning behind the change is that high school kids are not the main audience anymore. When I was in high school everybody in my class was watching H&A, nowadays I don't know anyone younger than 25-ish who is watching. If the main audience is older, their characters and storylines have to mirror that. I'm constantly winging on this forum about how bad the writing is. It is not that storylines are repetitive, but the actual writing is so bad, that I feel like the writers are insulting our intelligence. 

The fact is that H&A still gets high enough ratings and gets companies to advertise to stay at the 7 pm slot, not to mention that in the last few years they won Logie for best drama, so I don't think that anything will change any time soon - if it's not broken don't fix it. 

I agree I haven’t very happy with storyline’s in last five years as so many characters have be ruined expressing one’s regarding there character exit or history rewriting like Alf wife being alive after all and Marilyn having long lost daughter  and also there way they write justice system is terrible. 

[adam436]

18 hours ago, Lila_Q said:

In my opinion, the reasoning behind the change is that high school kids are not the main audience anymore. When I was in high school everybody in my class was watching H&A, nowadays I don't know anyone younger than 25-ish who is watching. If the main audience is older, their characters and storylines have to mirror that. 

I guess I feel it's gone too far in the other direction now. When it was a soap for teenagers, there was still a good mix of teenagers, twenty something and older characters, even though the balance was skewed toward teenagers. 

There are still good number of older characters, but they are all well established. If one of the six stalwarts decided to quit, I can't see the producers rushing in a new character to replace them.

 

18 hours ago, Lila_Q said:

The fact is that H&A still gets high enough ratings and gets companies to advertise to stay at the 7 pm slot, not to mention that in the last few years they won Logie for best drama, so I don't think that anything will change any time soon - if it's not broken don't fix it. 

I think that's a good point. If ratings and awards is informing the decisions, nothing will change any time soon. 

[Homeandawayfan.]

Neighbours has never strayed too far from its original premise. Out of the 2 shows, H&A has changed much more than Neighbours. While I sound like a broken record here but the decade or so old adage of "Neighbours is closer to H&A than H&A itself" holds weight.

[ebrett84]

On 12/11/2023 at 17:07, Lila_Q said:

In my opinion, the reasoning behind the change is that high school kids are not the main audience anymore. When I was in high school everybody in my class was watching H&A, nowadays I don't know anyone younger than 25-ish who is watching. If the main audience is older, their characters and storylines have to mirror that. I'm constantly winging on this forum about how bad the writing is. It is not that storylines are repetitive, but the actual writing is so bad, that I feel like the writers are insulting our intelligence. 

The fact is that H&A still gets high enough ratings and gets companies to advertise to stay at the 7 pm slot, not to mention that in the last few years they won Logie for best drama, so I don't think that anything will change any time soon - if it's not broken don't fix it. 

This seems like a chicken or the egg question. Are there no teenage characters because teenagers don't watch, or are teenagers not watching because there are no teenage characters.

[Homeandawayfan.]

Current H&A just feels like a new show using an old show, Home And Away's, name. Technically it is the same TV programme but not the same show. Although I'd rather have H&A more of a Top of The Pops with Lyrik than CIS Summer Bay with River Boys.

[Lila_Q]

6 hours ago, ebrett84 said:

This seems like a chicken or the egg question. Are there no teenage characters because teenagers don't watch, or are teenagers not watching because there are no teenage characters.

I think that the show has changed because teenagers stopped watching. All the kids that I know don't watch TV at all, just streaming services. Also in one interview, Shane (John) said that they constantly needed to have high drama/ action storylines because they had to compete with other channels. If you look at TV programs it's either reality shows (high drama) or TV shows (a lot of drama, crime and action).

Edited December 20, 2023 by Lila_Q

[pembie]

I have lost quite a lot of interest in it to be honest There are characters like Theo Tane and Felcity that I just don’t care about 

Alf I think needs to work towards maybe his exit story now really got boring with him picking on John and damaged Alfs characters to the point where I thought he really doesn’t have much to him really so I think a big meanful long haul exit could be the way to go I see what they are doing with a story of a struggles of trying to make it big in a band I just don’t care enough I just want to know how Remi Eden and Kirby Theo leave 

So yeah a lot of boring characters I think now