H&A vs Neighbours?

[samdanfan]

Both shows have watched the recent casts and storylines I have to call out both strength and weaknesses

1. Summer Bay Great location many I knew been there and loved hearing about the tours my favorite place Down Under.

Much like other series they are big shoes to fill like Kate Ritchie and I'm sure many of the new people try yet let face it some shows are NEVER going back to the great era. The new people do not make me feel for them as I did for those in the 90s,

2. Ramsey Street  Much like H&A plays with its location  Neighbours has  has its own charm and More talent as many been there longer than other shows. Sadly they could done a better job keeping others yet one weakness they have is many whom get "Famous" want to get on the 1st plane to USA.

Its weakness is lousy writing and making good characters awful and as one US actress told us at an event here in America talking to another actor after filming a scene on Dynasty "I cant believe they made me say that stupid line" to which a VERY famous US star replied " Well My dear I wasn't going to!" I'm sure that happen on other shows as well.

 

I will say both have tried to be good to the fans in the past and for that I owe them respect and hope other fans enjoy even though they NO fav for me to support. Do I wish people would come back yes will they NO based on stories I heard and I'm not going to ask them.

I only had one serious issue and its cost me sources and access...........I asked of someone would forward fan mail to someone and it was rejected and later I was told by a Cousin of the same person  to find another Hero. Those incident caused me to leave the fandom for awhile I came back in hopes things had changed yet I once wished Aussie TV would go  American it has and I think I might be wrong in that. 

I think one thing hurts Ramsey Street is you have shows like Real Housewife's of Melbounre, Upper Middle Bogan and Please like Me all filmed in Melbourne and has ties to Neighbours with former cast members on the last 2. People found other places to visit,

[Gerard]

On 15/04/2015 at 3:10 PM, Homeandawayfan. said:

I have always found that since H&A began, Neighbours has often copied a lot of its ideas. The sunnier locations, school classroom scenes and the exotic buzz H&A had.

So you think H&A has survived this long because of Neighbours? If Neighbours had ended in 1992 after 7 years then naturally H&A should have ended in 1995 or 1996.

I dont know how ITV treated H&A but they obviously did agree to show it and in 1992-1994 it got up to 15 million viewers an episode, about as level as a single showing of EastEnders or Corrie. It is true both N and H&A did rival CS and EE.

I just saw this thread resurfacing, a year later, and realised I hadn't replied Anyway, as regards who is copying who, I'm sure both shows at times have drawn ideas from each other, or perhaps conversely avoided certain things because they went badly in the other series.

I'm not sure it could be said that Neighbours copied school scenes from H&A (for what it's worth I generally dislike school scenes, although H&A's are more bearable - but strangely H&A hasn't had very many school scenes in recent times compared to the number of hospital and poilce station scenes). Now you could argue that both series feature a lot of hospital scenes, but H&A probably moreso, due to its nature of someone being injured or in medical peril on a regular basis. Anyway, Neighbours featured school scenes and storylines long before H&A started.

I doubt too many people would dispute that H&A's location is the more exotic, and the photography and visual appeal, combined with the variety of locations, the beach etc, is a lot more attractive than Ramsay Street and Lassiters. Neighbours has unfortunately suffered a lot in the past few years due to budget as very little filming has taken place outside the street and the back-lot. H&A is also far ahead in terms of set construction and lighting.

Both series have gone through golden eras and rocky patches, and for some strange reason as one show is doing great, the other is often not performing well. E.g. around 1992-1995, I'd have said without doubt H&A was much more enjoyable. In the early 90's H&A really was fantastic, and meanwhile Neighbours had lost a number of key characters, e.g. Harold, Paul, Madge, Joe etc.and was suffering for it.

A few years ago, Neighbours was on the ascent again, (although the damage had been done, having previously suffered under Susan Bower, and before that, the awful "FunBus era"), and H&A was descending into Braxton overkill, with crime and violence taking centre stage. Neighbours went back to its family-based roots, with the introduction of the Willises and the Turners (although the families have not survived intact, which seems to have been part of the long story arc), Any Braxton fans, and those who H&A have hooked due to its heightened violence, will probably have a different opinion of course!

Ratings wise, Neighbours has suffered a lot due to being moved to 11, but H&A's ratings are also down, but not as much. In the UK, Neighbours and H&A are shown back-to-back, and Neighbours is consistently the more popular series, despite H&A having a slightly better evening timeslot. I think it's safe to say that Neighbours is the more-loved series in the UK, while H&A is more popular in Australia.

Regarding "iconic" status, I'd say Neighbours is more more fondly remembered in the UK. There was quite a lot of publicity this time last year with the 30th Anniversary. It will be interesting to see how the 30th goes down for H&A in the UK in 2018. I'm sure it won't pass unnoticed, but I'd be surprised if much of a fuss is made.

[samdanfan]

Gerard I had inside info for 3 years from many including a mate who lived not far from the set.............

A lot of bashing at been directed at Bower and she did well with McLeods Daughters one of my favs as well..........Yes did she make mistakes yes she did and I know a lot of them..........

In fairness a lot of her plans were ruined due to situation beyond her control Kym getting sick for one and the loss of so many actors wanting to do better things and sadly unable to bring in people she had high hopes for as I did!

 

Spot on with you opinion.