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Are the current producers ruining Home and Away?


JamesC10

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13 minutes ago, Slade said:

I mentioned diversity because it is very frequently brought into this thread.  I don't think it's relevant here because I'm not sure H & A really has had diversity.  So as mentioned in my last post if you haven't had something to begin with then how can not having it be ruining the show - This is the subject of this thread.  I think it was very wise whoever started the Diversity thread separately.  Personally I'm not against it in H & A but I don't care much for it either.  Why?  Not because of racism/sexism/homophobia but because I experience it in other soaps - Hollyoaks, Emmerdale, Coronation St and even Neighbours.

Interesting points raised.

Personally I think diversity should be mentioned again and again because it is an issue which has plagued the show for a very long time and continues to do so. It will probably cease to be mentioned once the issue has been fixed. Its lack of diversity is one of the issues ruining the show because as you say, every other soap features gay characters and/or racially diverse characters. In 1988 I imagine it was a lot more controversial to feature gay characters.  It isn't 1988 anymore. It's 2017, an era where gay people are universally accepted in the mainstream. The fact Home and Away doesn't feature gay characters implies that it has an homophobic agenda, which has been backed up by an quite a lot of evidence. That's why its absence partly ruins the show but didn't back in the day. The producers obviously want ethnically diverse actors in the show as we have people like Justin and Mason, yet their origin as far as I'm aware has never been explicitly stated on screen.

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What would be interesting to know is if some of the "die-hard" fans had a choice of going back to the golden days of H & A with no diversity or keeping the current format and introducing diversity which would they choose?  I suspect the former but I can't be 100% sure.

IMO either of these would be massively preferable to the current format, I have no preference either way as to these. I've made no secret of the fact I think Ash should have a gay mate from prison turn up.

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If you want the golden era of H and A. Well that's what the Early years is their for. It caters to the more long term nostalgic fans. If you want to see the show more modern and progressive, watching Summer Bay in 2017. Then we'll the current show caters to that. Obviously lack of diversity has been a big issue. But i don't think it's an immediate issue imo. What I want more is the portrayal of Aussie lifestyle and culture. While crime does exist in small local beach towns. It's the balance and pacing. New Family I think is needed to balance out the Morgan's. Generally I think H and A is still watchable. I don't see much difference currently from say 1995.

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On 2/24/2017 at 9:51 PM, Matt said:

What the general public, however, doesn't see is the online ratings. Home & Away is the #1 most watched online series in Australia. I'm currently at university and due to social events and study, I can't watch it at 7pm so I have to watch it online.

But here's a serious question, not being in AUS I can't watch on 7Plus, but are there ads on there? Enough to support it? Because that's the entire point of television and home and away / the soap format is to sell advertising, here in the USA Online viewership doesn't really matter as much because while they make 'some' money off of it it's not enough to sustain everything. 

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2 hours ago, Luke39 said:

If you want the golden era of H and A. Well that's what the Early years is their for. It caters to the more long term nostalgic fans. If you want to see the show more modern and progressive, watching Summer Bay in 2017. Then we'll the current show caters to that. Obviously lack of diversity has been a big issue. But i don't think it's an immediate issue imo. What I want more is the portrayal of Aussie lifestyle and culture. While crime does exist in small local beach towns. It's the balance and pacing. New Family I think is needed to balance out the Morgan's. Generally I think H and A is still watchable. I don't see much difference currently from say 1995.

Sorry but things like this annoy me a little.HAA is not progressive.There would be more diversity if it was.Can we at least be honest about the heart of the matter and say that the reason so many people don't care is because it doesn't concern them.There is no shame in educating yourself but so many people choose ignorance instead.This is not directed specifically at you however I think the issue is real.

 

 

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1 hour ago, ~Lynd~ said:

Sorry but things like this annoy me a little.HAA is not progressive.There would be more diversity if it was.Can we at least be honest about the heart of the matter and say that the reason so many people don't care is because it doesn't concern them.There is no shame in educating yourself but so many people choose ignorance instead.This is not directed specifically at you however I think the issue is real.

 

 

And what's also important about this is that's kinda what Soaps ARE great at, this genera is meant to help teach, educate and help be progressive. Irna Philips (pretty much the creator of soap opera) and her protegees (Bill Bell, Agnes Nixon, Harding Leemay) all continually pushed boundaries with the genera by using characters that people cared about and putting them in progressive stories such as interracial relationships, birth control, abortion, same sex romances, marital abuse, rape, HIV, Aids, etc. It was through SOAP that people were able to have their minds opened and realize the world around them, and I would love to see H&A return to it's progressive roots. 

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9 hours ago, ~Lynd~ said:

Sorry but things like this annoy me a little.HAA is not progressive.There would be more diversity if it was.Can we at least be honest about the heart of the matter and say that the reason so many people don't care is because it doesn't concern them.There is no shame in educating yourself but so many people choose ignorance instead.This is not directed specifically at you however I think the issue is real.

 

 

Honesty seems to be lacking anymore sadly. People could if they want too.

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Just did my monthly check on the show. Managed to sit through a whole episode. The whole thing was about 3 couples. Heath and bianca making up and falling out for the 100000 time. Evie and Matt she realised how much she like him, he kisses her and she freaks out, next scene she's over it. And Olivia and hunter with same old thing again she loves him ,he loves her but they're not saying. 

So yeah, absolutely no variety whatsoever. The whole 20 minutes was all on the same level, had the same tone through out and it was flat. It was a complete bore!

Still, Irene was used to take a photo. Great. 

If this is what a modern audience wants, according to some anyway, then at the ripe old age of 34 I must be thoroughly un modern. 

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37 minutes ago, Light of the Bay said:

595,000 for Australian broadcast last night! :mellow:

It was a triple episode, and finding 90mins for H&A on a Thursday evening is bit of a commitment for a lot of people. That's the fault of the schedulers, not those who work on the show.

That's probably part of the reason why more and more are instead opting to watch it online, where it's top of the charts for on-demand figures.

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18 minutes ago, Dan F said:

It was a triple episode, and finding 90mins for H&A on a Thursday evening is bit of a commitment for a lot of people. That's the fault of the schedulers, not those who work on the show.

That's probably part of the reason why more and more are instead opting to watch it online, where it's top of the charts for on-demand figures.

I didn't realise it was a triple episode, how strange. Why not go back to good old-fashioned 30 min eppy's Monday to Friday? :lol:

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