Storylines

[--HAA]

I posted this for a general talk to hear what you's think. Like, what storyline's would you like to see happen on home and away if you were the writer?!

[Light of the Bay]

That's a tough one! I'll need to give it some thought... I'd definitely focus on friendships and make characters interact naturally with eachother. I'd also write some great stories for Irene. I'd bring one of her children back and start reintegrating her into the Summer Bay community.

[John]

Thanks HAA for starting this thread. It seems an excellent place for all those discussions about River Boys and relationships and "darker"stories and lighter" stories etc. which are proliferating over multiple threads. It is a very worthwhile discussion in my view.

I would hope that we would hear many positive suggestions as to what storylines could be pursued by the writers as well as the negative commentary on current storylines. After all it's a whole lot easier to tear down something than it is to be constructive.

For my part I like the introduction of new "edgier" characters like the River Boys and the exploration of the lifestyles adopted by people from disadvantaged backgrounds. I think they add a dimension to the show which has attracted a new group of viewers. At times the "timing and organisation" has annoyed me and been quite clumsy. The best example of that was the over use of violence surrounding the Braxtons before Danny was introduced. An understanding of Danny and his character was fundamental to an understanding of the other characters. If he had been introduced much earlier much of the other violent behaviour would have been superfluous.

Obviously some people think that it's the job of the show to present a good moral and ethical example. I don't believe that. For me it is the job of the show to be a window on society as it is in an entertaining way. It should not major on either the squeaky clean, moral side of society or the seamier side.

For me as both a lover of the current show and a longer term viewer and devotee, the next challenge for the writers is to integrate the longer term values of the show with this new darker and edgier component to retain both older, more established viewers and the newer audience who will carry the show on into the future.

The show's emphasis on families, fostering and bad boy or girl makes good by interraction with the established long term characters such as Alf, Irene, Marilyn, Leah etc. needs to be matched with the incoming group of newer characters. This would require much more interraction between the newer cast and the older cast.

The Surf Club is an obvious place for this to happen as is the diner and to a certain extent Angelos where older cast members and younger cast members meet and can influence one another. They need to regain their former prominence. Casey, for instance, could have benefiited from Alf's wisdom or Irene's straight talking.

We need another Fisher. He made the school a place where the older and younger cast interracted. Gina just doesn't cut it for me and it seem that sometimes her Principal's job is just a sideline alongside all her other home issues.

I guess that's enough of a rant from me. What do other people think?

[b2sb09]

I really don't like the way the River Boys came in, took over and still continue to dominate the show, especially the promos which always have them as if they're the main (and only) characters in the show. I've just never been a fan of anything that is continually overpromoted and shoved in my face, whether it's a song or ad played to death or characters taking up so much time, I just grow bored and sick of them, as has happened with the River Boys. It's completely put me off them and after more than a year of violence and criminal behaviour that they've been given a free pass on, especially where Brax is concerned, by the time Danny came into it, I just didn't care, just like I didn't care when we finally got Harvey's backstory. Besides, it's Summer Bay, so having a tough childhood is nothing new and while it makes you understand why, it in no way excuses their behaviour, which I'm constantly feeling is excused and nor does it make them anymore appealing. I've seen actors and producers make statements about how they like to send messages and educate their viewers, so if that is the case, then I'd like a more honest and even portrayal, especially in regards to violence and criminal behaviour - we've seen Brax abuse his brother both physically and verbally, bully and intimidate people, including women, yet he's not called out on it while others who do the same are often portrayed as nasty men and when they commit their crimes, it's wrong, but we get the 'it's for family' or 'I don't have a choice' excuses from Brax which I think we're actually supposed to believe makes it all right, when all they are, are excuses that all the other criminals could also use, like Jake killing Charlie for family. To me, it feels like we're supposed to believe Brax is better than them, even when he's committed the same acts and the double standards in so much of what he does compared to what others do just makes me not believe in his character or the storylines he's involved in.

I do like bad boys in shows, but not when their criminal behaviour is continually excused and overlooked and quickly forgotten. I like Paul in Neighbours, he gets away with some things but gets caught out in others and because of all his past behaviour, the people never fully trust him and don't act like he's some stand up guy who's never been mixed up in trouble - I find that more believable than Leah, Charlie and Bianca forgetting or overlooking just what the Braxtons have done since they arrived. I've been completely put off the bad boy meets good girl and changes for love, because it seems more like the girl is the one changing and forgetting things (Leah's mistrust just disappeared and she put Brax's wellbeing ahead of Ruby's which was so unbelievable and Charlie's character was completely assassinated) while the bad boys still do bad things, including drug dealing. As for the drugs, it feels like it's wrong to take drugs as we see the effects it has on Liam and the fallout that has, especially when he was with Bianca, yet both older Braxtons have gotten away with so much drug crime without consequence.

I like some realism and consistancy in storylines, so while we see Liam and the fall out, even losing his career because he took drugs and he's called out on dating a friend's wife, we get Heath getting away with everything and being rewarded for interfering in a marriage. And where are the parents worried about a school teacher who was married to a drug user who suffers an annual set back (gotten very boring and unimaginative on the writer's part) and is now in a relationship with a known member of a violent gang and drug dealer with a criminal record who was caught dealing drugs to their kids, which was another thing that was also quickly forgotten? I just find that realism is lacking whenever the writers find it more convenient to ignore it and it makes it hard to relate to the characters or care about them. It doesn't help that the storylines often make them so unappealing or likeable at times either.

If the writers insist on so much violence and crime (IMO, it's become a rather lazy and repetative way to create drama), then they should at least even out the injustice of it all - a guest or departing character pays while just about every other crime goes unpunished and is forgotten and I'm not just talking about the River Boys. Half the characters seem to commit a crime of some sort and get away with it and I just don't see the appeal of such storylines when they happen with such regularity - it seems they like the drama of bad things being done, but are happy to ignore showing the consequences to such actions nearly all the time.

I'd like more storylines that focus on friendship instead of the endless relationship dramas and it would be nice to have the teens being teens at least some of the time instead of having them deal with one adult drama after another. Used to love the teen groups of the past, but these days, they're just like the adults, all about drama and love lives. The school scenes used to be enjoyable and watching the Early Years, I was surprised by just how much time was spent there, but these days, the students just seem to drop out or never have the time to actually go to school - I guess it doesn't help that only Sasha and Jett are the only two regular characters under 18.

There's too much focus for my liking on relationships that go in the same cycle for just about every couple - get together, break up, make up and it's the same old problems, which a lot of the time are never fully resolved before they're trying again and having the same problems. Relationships also seem to come before everything else, even ahead of more important storylines in which a lot of characters have been effected yet we're forced to wade through endless Roo/Harvey and whoever everyone else is sleeping with for that particular week. I don't even know why they bother to introduce professional, independent women, when their storylines become more about their love lives, to the point where they can't seem to exist without a man and their careers are either compromised or never really given much importance. I don't expect to see them in their job all the time, but the professionalism is almost non existant - a cop who slept with a criminal, blabbed police details to him and turned a blind eye to violent, drug related crime, teachers that never seem to teach and hook up with men involved in drugs and violence, a school counsellor who blabs patient details and is more upset over her love life than all these young people in trouble (where was she for Ruby?). No one ever seems to do their job much these days. And what exactly does Roo do these days, aside from trying to make Harvey more appealing? She sucks at that particular job, by the way.

And I've really grown tired of the way this show portrays, not just love and relationships in the same way over and over, but marriage. Weddings have been reduced to a day where they get to play dress up and a ring is a piece of nice jewellery to be discarded as they move quickly onto the next relationship and I seriously dislike love triangles and that's all we seem to be getting. I just find the portrayal makes it impossible to ship couples and also to actually believe in the relationships when they get together again, especially when it's shown to be so easy to jump from one bed to another and for siblings to share the same partners. Heath not only slept with both Scott sisters, but also both his brothers girlfriend and the whole thing is feeling rather tacky and incentuous. It seems like two people of the opposite sex can't be friends without falling into bed with each other and it's gotten to the stage, where quite frankly, I really don't give a stuff about who is sleeping with who or who wants to sleep with who, because it's all so boring, not to mention unhealthy.

I would suggest that it's well past time for a same-sex storyline but only if it was treated equally, ie. no darkened shots and they show them being as loving and as affectionate as any other couple and don't use the word 'controversial' just to stir up trouble and publicity which they then use to excuse them dropping future storylines, in other words, the complete opposite of the darkened, chaste but supposedly controversial (only because they made it so) Charlie and Joey storyline. I'd rather they introduce a new character rather than turn an existing regular and perhaps pair them off with a semi-recurring character. Don't know why, but I've always seen Watson as gay and if she was the other half, they could have her in the show without her being a cop all the time. Plus, I really like her character and would like any excuse to see her on screen more. The time for the excuse that it's inappropriate for young viewers is well and truly over, especially as TPTB are not only happy to ignore the many complaints about all the violence and sleeping around being inappropriate, but continue to push it in our faces, so I think it really is time the show joined the 21st Century and showed an honest and positive portrayal without the usual stereotypes or as publicity stunt, which was how I saw the Charlie/Joey one with the way it was so quickly forgotten.

I think introducing more diversity could also be a way to have fresher characters and storylines without the standard lets use violence and crime and sex to spice things up. Not just a same-sex couple, but some multiculturalism or even Indigenous characters.

I'd actually like to see a family, as in, mum, dad and the kids. They just don't exist on this show, with the exception of John, Gina and Jett. It seems new arrivals these days are either siblings or individual characters without a real connection to anyone, but they land on someone's doorstep and just move in. Having a family with kids of varying ages opens up all new directions for storylines and they do need a few younger characters.

And I would really, really, really, like them to shelve murder storylines or even death. Aside from all their crime storylines becoming so repetative and predictable, murder has been done to death and just lacks the emotional impact because it's become too frequent and is often used just to create over the top drama.

There are some things I'd like TPTB to learn, starting with the meaning of overkill and overhype and also how to write for all characters . The show has many characters, so it would be nice if they all got their share of screen time and exciting storylines, instead of just giving it to the same ones so they can have them front and centre all the time - seen far too much of Roo/Harvey, the Braxtons, the Scotts and Indi/Romeo for my liking this year, especially as it comes at the expense of the other characters and by using the same characters all the time, they seem to burn through their storylines and it's not long before they're already on repeat. They also need to get their priorities right - storylines like the current one with Dex should be front and centre, not these ridiculous love triangles/couples in which all involved seem to act like they're still in High School.

And where is this balance of light and dark that Lucy and co talk about? Did I blink and miss the lighter moments? Perhaps I have, because they seem to happen so infrequently and most of the time, it feels more like the balance is more 80% dark with 20% lighter and closer to 90% dark for event week and similar weeks. We don't see much family fun these days, it's always more heavy drama, so I'd definitely like more family fun storylines in the future to break up all the other drama.

[alreetlike]

I really enjoyed reading your post, b2sb09. Not sure I can add much more to that.

[Ryan]

I remember a similiar thread in 2004 descended into chaos amongst cabbage storylines and talk of gay sex romps. Things weren't always better in the past.

I'd have Lily, Jett and VJ signed up to contracts that would take them through to at least 2018 and then start introducing friends as the current characters leave the show. They'd be slightly secondary characters, but would have their own purposes. I don't know whether I'm just writing a teen soap or not, but I feel that's where I'd focus, on those 3 kids growing up.

[cadyctslover]

b2sb09 said it all. Although John is right that it's far easier to be negative about the show, clearly there are some serious issues.

Obviously some people think that it's the job of the show to present a good moral and ethical example. I don't believe that. For me it is the job of the show to be a window on society as it is in an entertaining way. It should not major on either the squeaky clean, moral side of society or the seamier side.

I agree that the show shouldn't become Neighbours ('squeaky clean'), and that it should portray the darker side of life, where not every story will necessarily have a happy ending. However, now it's got to the stage where no one is happy, and nothing nice ever happens. We also have horrible characters, who do not play by the rules of society (or law) and get away with it.

I don't watch Home and Away for lessons on morality, but for entertainment. Currently they are failing to provide that for me.

[alexx]

^Exactly. And I think viewers have to feel empathy and warmth towards characters, but I only get that from a very small handful of the current lot - and they don't get screen time.

When things are constantly going wrong, what seems like the 'happy moments' are overshadowed by the doom and gloom that will inevitably follow a week or two down the track because that is what the current format is all about. There are so few 'warm' moments that are genuine and there solely for being warm (without setting characters up for a fall).

We don't see the every day life chats between characters and friends anymore, in between storylines, which were often the times we would get the lighthearted, funny and community based moments... So without those moments the show is just churning out sad and bad every day. And it isn't realistic sad and bad because a lot of characters are 'over it' within a couple of weeks, or the producers choose not to focus on what should be very emotional character development.

[James Martin]

I'd say just become more character-driven. Stop with the event-driven stuff, Event Week and all that ********.

Axe the River Boys or at least push them into the background for a bit. We've got Irene, but why isn't SBH a foster home at the moment? (Who actually owns SBH at the moment anyway? Is it still jointly Sally and Miles?) Why aren't we seeing more emotional storylines from the teens like we used to? We used to knock the Sutherlands for being on too much but we had great storylines like Kane & Kirsty. Then look at Dani. The rape. Running over Kane and going to prison. The breakdown of her relationship with Scott. It feels that nowadays we don't get to see how characters are affected by stuff. I hate that.

I don't want squeaky clean, but I want to see real people. Real people with real emotions and feelings.

[John]

I thought I'd drag this thread back for a re-examination of storylines currently running.

In an ealier post, which I've just reread, I said that I would like there to be much more interraction between the younger and older casts.

I'm delighted that this seems to be happening. I've enjoyed the involvement of Harvey and Roo with Spencer and Maddie and Alf and Colleen became involved too. I'm hoping that this continues.

The involvment of Sid, Alf and John ( not sure he was much help ) with Indi and Romeo's Gym restoration project has been really good.

Irene has been excellent in her "life mentoring" of Bianca, April and even Heath.

Sid has been really good in his involvement with April and Dex as well.

I'm really hoping this trend continues. I feel that the writing of the show has become more coherent in recent times with a more greater attention to continuity and back stories.