7TWO Transmission Discussion

[Old H&A Fan]

We have been waiting far too long to see the episodes of Home And Away that were originally shown long before we became fans, or missed for various reasons in years (now decades) gone by. It was 11 years ago today the first repeat run began on the Seven Network here in Australia. It is imperative that we see all episodes of Home And Away without any more cancellations.

When the series was pulled last time (in 2002), there was no reason given as to why they decided to stop showing the episodes. Then there were rumours (strong but unsubstantiated rumours) that some actors objected because they weren't getting their precious residuals.

Later on, a Q&A section of the official website said the Seven Network were unable to show episodes older than 5 or 10 years old, due to contractual issues with the actors/crew, "complicated copyright problems", etc. etc. but as we can see now (with the current 7TWO screening) this can't possibly be the case. It just seems to be one of those mysteries.

Further, as mentioned on the forums here, Michael Ross is suspected to have had a hand in why the series was pulled in 2002 at about the same time the UK station 'Living' jumped to after Michael's death.

Now, I have word one of the actors have complained about the current 7TWO run. I am still trying to determine the credibility of this information.

It is important that these episodes not get cancelled, otherwise we may never see these episodes AT ALL!!

[Skylover]

I would be devastated if the repeat run were cancelled and I think it would be absolutely ridiculous. Why on earth would an actors complain about the episodes being repeated?

Old H&A Fan - where did you hear that an actor was complaining about the repeat run or can you not say - was it a member of the production or have there been hints in newspapers etc.?

If they do stop the repeatwe'll have to protest.

[Old H&A Fan]

A friend of a friend (it's second-hand information, currently trying to get to the bottom of this, he said he was told in confidence :frustrated: ) told me on MSN tonight.

The threat according to that source concerns Matt Stevenson, who played Adam Cameron, and the word is, he has complained and wants the series stopped before he appears. His first episode is 338. My calculations put the airdate for Episode 338 (Adam's first episode) on 7TWO on Friday, February 18, 2011.

I really hope this is just a hoax but these sources (which includes other members of this forum) seem to think that this Seven insider is genuine, or maybe it's a bad joke on his part.

UPDATE: My contacts on MSN believe that (based on the non reply to their messages they've sent the person who has the insider at Seven Network) it's just a bloody hoax (and he's treating us like idiots), and I may ask this this "news" be quashed and people here not to panic. But this is only because it has been a couple of hours since he emailed him and there has been no reply.....

[Ryan]

I would be devastated if the repeat run were cancelled and I think it would be absolutely ridiculous. Why on earth would an actors complain about the episodes being repeated?

I don't know the numbers, but a few tihngs.

Remember this was 20 years ago on a new TV programme and with inflation, these people were probably paid amounts that weren't great in todays money. You certainly wouldn't be rich from a stint on Early Years Home and Away.

Also some of them haven't exactly moved onto the Hollywood dreams they once had. Whilst we know what some are doing and are quite successful at it, some have might now be stacking shelves in supermarkets, electrician. Bizarrely when you think of his character, Peter Vroom teaches at a Uni, I think.

I don't know how much a residual per performance would cost, but I guess some might feel in position where they have to claim everything they are owed.

Regarding the Michael Ross/Dennis Coard situation, it's all conjecture, I think, that it might be him holding things up with the early nineties, but it may also be pure coincidence, for instance, if he really was the reason, Seven had five more weeks of episodes they could have shown in 2002 for instance.

And I also found it bizarre that in the same household there was two varying views on the repeats. Maybe Dennis was still bitter about his character being killed off!

[codyw1]

How bizarre. Stevenson didn't have a problem with it less than 10 years ago!

On a purely selfish level, as long as we get the rest of 88 I'm happy, though.

[alexx]

To be honest, I didn't really believe whoever started this 'rumor' becuase it seemed too far fetched that they would find out and then pass the info on to members of the public. It wouldn't be as though any actor would contact Home and Away productions directly, it would be dealt with by 7. Still, could they really cancel a show if an actor simply complains? It would depend on the contract I suppose and none of us know speficially what they say...although we were told a few years ago, as you mentioned, that only episodes 5 or 10 years old could be broadcast.

I was thinking the other day that maybe the reason it was taken off air was that music became much more prominently featured on the show during the 90's and maybe they had a specific contract with mushroom records during that time? Who knows...

Actually 7 did give a response when they took the repeats off air, it was in early 2003 wasnt it, not 2002? Anyway at the time, if I remember correctly, they did say they were taking them off air due to the Common Wealth Games coverage and they would be back on 'later in the year'...as we know this didn't happen.

[Old H&A Fan]

I really wish the official sources at Seven would give us genuine information instead of having us left to rely on these Internet rumours and sick hoaxes which are far too common where the sources can't be authenticated. There are too many dishonest people on the net who think it is funny to play hoaxes and think we're all as dumb as Lance & Martin. I think there is a lesson to be learnt out of this sort of thing, and it's like virus hoaxes that get spread around in things like chain emails. When researching the subject when a friend got these hoax threats, I found one golden rule that stood out above all else when dealing with cases like this:

Corporate users can get rid of the hoax problem by simply setting a strict company guideline: End users must not forward virus alarms. Ever. It's not the job of an end user anyway. If such message is received, end users could forward it to the IT department but not to anyone else.

It's the same when relying on important information allegedly coming from reliable Seven insiders:

We can get rid of the hoax problem by setting an equivalent guideline: Fans must never forward alarming pieces of information about Home And Away via email/Internet forums/chat — but instead forward it to someone with genuine contact with the Seven Network for verification.

Some people may see it as a joke, but it's no joke when it comes to this. It is not fun to be given false alarms about things that are important, under any circumstances. People need to be protected against that kind of thing. So help me, the person who tried to originate this rumour last night about Adam will be punished, least of all his credibility will be seriously put into question in future.

Anyway, we have the right to be assured this repeat run will be allowed to continue without threat, and God forbid if the plug is ever pulled, we will seek GENUINE information as to why it happened. Let this be a warning to be prepared for anything that really threatens this repeat run, and try to prevent or deal with such a threat while it is in our hands.

Last time the repeats were pulled, it was in fact May 2002. I have seen promises of episodes being returned before, like "later in the year" or "next year". They aren't always fulfilled.

I just thank God for digital television as it has more channels and less chance of the repeats being pulled due to things like the Commonwealth Games. There wasn't much room for scheduling with only one main channel (analog) to choose from. Now it is hoped we will have more success with this repeat run.

[codyw1]

I have seen promises of episodes being returned before, like "later in the year" or "next year". They aren't always fulfilled.

I just thank God for digital television as it has more channels and less chance of the repeats being pulled due to things like the Commonwealth Games. There wasn't much room for scheduling with only one main channel (analog) to choose from. Now it is hoped we will have more success with this repeat run.

That's very true. It became ridiculous trying to follow some shows round the schedules. It took Ten 11 years to get through 1986-mid1991 Neighbours!

[Old H&A Fan]

There is another threat that has been added to the list, as pointed out in Ter06's post in the Quick Questions thread today. There is the risk that family groups or some other wowser group could get the later episodes canned or restricted, because the word "bitch" is occasionally used.

I hope this is all worrying about nothing, and mentioning this doesn't increase the threat by drawing attention to this and other excuses to pull The Early Years episodes we already have been waiting 20 years for.

[codyw1]

Somehow I can't see that.