Si-Co Posted June 10, 2007 Report Posted June 10, 2007 The producers of Ten’s veteran soap opera Neighbours have defended the show’s upcoming transformation, saying the changes are not a ‘last ditch effort’ to save the 22-year-old series. From next month, Neighbours will be transformed with new opening titles, new actors and storylines, revamped sets and new locations to try and bring the show back to the dominance it enjoyed in the 1980s. Recent attempts to rework the series with major storylines featuring veteran actress Rowena Wallace have failed to attract new viewers. Currently, Neighbours is watched by around 800,000 viewers in the major capital cities while rival Home And Away regularly tops the one million mark. Part of the decline in Neighbours‘ ratings have also been attributed to the high-profile ongoing slanging match between A Current Affair and Today Tonight in the same timeslot. Neighbours‘ executive producer Ric Pellizzeri says the show is far from death throes: “I certainly don’t think the original template for Neighbours has worn itself out. Every show has ups and downs but we’re trying to get it back on track,” “We’re calling it ‘Heartland Neighbours’. We want to get back to telling the stories we think we’re good at, which is strong emotional stories, involving multi-generational families living on a street. “We had shifted away from that. I agree our stories were becoming a little too extraordinary.” The revamp of the long running series comes just after Neighbours made headlines in the United Kingdom by switching networks from BBC to commercial network Five in a deal worth around $A720 million over the next ten years. Source: News.com.au
alexx Posted June 10, 2007 Report Posted June 10, 2007 I stopped watching regularly for the first time from around 05-06 but been getting back into it this year, looking forward to how it all goes! Is this what Channel 10 keep on advertising as 'a change is coming...JULY 23rd'? I hope they try and make the sets a bit more realistic, like they used to be before they transformed them all into clones of each other. I also hope they go back to the melodic underscore too, when they took it off it took away the warmth the show had imo. I like the sound of the show going back to its 80's roots, with emotional character driven storylines and families...
Drew Posted June 11, 2007 Report Posted June 11, 2007 “We’re calling it ‘Heartland Neighbours’. I saw that quote in the Sunday Telegraph... Are they changing the name of the show to Heartland Neighbours?
Nathan Posted June 11, 2007 Report Posted June 11, 2007 ^I doubt it. I'm looking forward to this revamp though! Can't wait
Ryan Posted June 11, 2007 Report Posted June 11, 2007 For me, part of the problem was the revamp they gave all the sets, at the same time in 2005. In some cases the renovations didn't match the people living in them and as Alex said, look similar. Each Home and Away set has been renovated over time and whilst we might need to suspend disbelief that Irene's house would change over night, changing them at the same time, as well as the removal as the Lassiters complex for reasons people already know, it damaged the show. I'll probably catch it now and again after the changes, but I actually fear more for the show if this change is an on-off switch move.
WillowsTara Posted June 12, 2007 Report Posted June 12, 2007 I stopped watching regularly for the first time from around 05-06 but been getting back into it this year, looking forward to how it all goes! Is this what Channel 10 keep on advertising as 'a change is coming...JULY 23rd'? I hope they try and make the sets a bit more realistic, like they used to be before they transformed them all into clones of each other. I also hope they go back to the melodic underscore too, when they took it off it took away the warmth the show had imo. I like the sound of the show going back to its 80's roots, with emotional character driven storylines and families... I don't think so or it would just be advertise in the Neighbours timeslot, here my thoughts, Supernatural is ending real soon 9Season 2 finale), I don't think there are seven episodes left (Seven weeks before 23rd July, or 6), but maybe whatever it is goes into Supernatural timeslot...
Drew Posted June 12, 2007 Report Posted June 12, 2007 I stopped watching regularly for the first time from around 05-06 but been getting back into it this year, looking forward to how it all goes! Is this what Channel 10 keep on advertising as 'a change is coming...JULY 23rd'? I hope they try and make the sets a bit more realistic, like they used to be before they transformed them all into clones of each other. I also hope they go back to the melodic underscore too, when they took it off it took away the warmth the show had imo. I like the sound of the show going back to its 80's roots, with emotional character driven storylines and families... I don't think so or it would just be advertise in the Neighbours timeslot, here my thoughts, Supernatural is ending real soon 9Season 2 finale), I don't think there are seven episodes left (Seven weeks before 23rd July, or 6), but maybe whatever it is goes into Supernatural timeslot... Neighbours isn't going into the 8:30 timeslot. They wouldn't advertise the change just in the Neighbours timeslot because only Neighbours viewers would see it. Advertising it all day/night they get people interested to tune in for when the changes occur to build their audience.
-Andrew- Posted June 12, 2007 Report Posted June 12, 2007 What I don't understand is they've said all this character driven stuff and less explosions, yet I've already heard about 2 car crashes and a bus explosion coming up!?
alexx Posted June 12, 2007 Report Posted June 12, 2007 But to be honest, to me, it still seems like it affects the characters. The difference with Neighbours doing the ‘big budget’ stuff, and when H&A did it, is that H&A did it every week and the storylines and direction seemed really fast paced, whereas Neighbours has retained its slower character driven pace throughout…even if it has been totally boring. It kinda feels like it did back in 1995 (memorable as being the worst ever season). I think if the show does do an 'on/off' thing, and do it well, it could be so successful and rejuvenate fans interest and the show over-all...especially if they really do go back to basics…nostalgia! But they have to get it all right, including music, lighting, direction...etc If they get any of it wrong, it could all go down hill pretty fast, and even make more people switch off!! So they have to be careful... either way, I'm looking forward to how they go with it all! About the 'big change' advertisements, I'm now sure they are referring to Neighbours as it features '6.30' in bold letters.
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