2004 Season Finale

[Light of the Bay]

Last night I was watching one of my all-time favourite episodes, the 2004 season finale (3870) and I realised how it signalled the end of H&A as it was known back then. It struck me as I was watching the scene where Alf was saying a prayer in SBH and talking to God about how the town of Summer Bay had endured a lot in that year. He also said that he was hopeful that good things were to come but it seems he was wrong in thinking that. Since 2004, there has been so much death to the point that it's no longer dramatic or effective and there has been far too much doom and gloom. The comments on the video were interesting as they said that H&A should have ended with that episode and I agree knowing how the show has gone since then. It's a damn shame. I feel that H&A could get back to that warm feeling it used to give off if they get a decent Script Producer who doesn't rely on year long themes and short-term fads.

[HomeandAwayFS]

I don't know what you are talking about. Why should Home and Away go back to the past? Why are you still living in the past. You know I have been a regular on this forum for a couple of months and I've noticed that a lot of people are coming onto it and complaining about how Home and Away is **** now, it needs a new script producer and just complaing about anything because they miss a few characters and how the show used to be. Home and Away needed to change to survive. A lot of long time fans have said that it used to be better and that people don't watch it anymore because its too crime dominated and there are to many themed based years well I think these people should just be quite and stop complaining. If you don't like the show, then don't watch it and stop complaining about it. They are still getting a million viewers a night. They are the only none news program to be in the top ten shows every night of the week.

Take a look at Neighbours. They were unable to change and adapt. They stayed as they were on the 80s. They were creating a show for a completely different audience. The audience today is so different to the 80s and 90s and if Home and Away go back to that then what happened to Neighbours will happen to Home and Away.

You say that Home and Away should have ended in 2004, well I say that if you not happy with Home and Away today then just image that it did finished in 2004.

[alexx]

^I think you've completely missed the point. No one wants the show to go back to the 80's and 90's. They want a 2013 version of Home and Away. I'd like it to be cinematic, pacey, exciting, dramatic, emotional and character driven and feel like Home and Away.

And Imo Neighbours didn't stick to the 80's format - it stopped being Neighbours whatever era, it just became dull and monotonous - something unrecognisable and no one liked it because of that, which is why it was axed from TEN.

[cadyctslover]

Home and Away needed to change to survive. A lot of long time fans have said that it used to be better and that people don't watch it anymore because its too crime dominated and there are to many themed based years well I think these people should just be quite and stop complaining. If you don't like the show, then don't watch it and stop complaining about it. They are still getting a million viewers a night. They are the only none news program to be in the top ten shows every night of the week.

Wow, your spelling and grammar are as accurate as the point you are trying to make. Grow up and stop telling other members to stop watching the show, it's not your place to. If LaMurray123 used to enjoy the show more in previous years, and can explain his point of view as he has done above, then what's wrong with that? This is a discussion forum about Home and Away, it's not all going to be glowing praise, especially currently.

And Imo Neighbours didn't stick to the 80's format - it stopped being Neighbours whatever era, it just became dull and monotonous - something unrecognisable and no one liked it because of that, which is why it was axed from TEN.

Exactly. Home and Away today is where Neighbours was in 2006. Way too over-dramatic, a long way from its original values, and produced by people who don't understand it.

[Jezz]

That was an excellent episode. It wasn't your typical season finale, but it was still fantastic nevertheless. Man I miss those days. Flynn and Sally, the Hunters, Jesse, Hayley, Ric, Kane and Kirsty. All superb characters.

I think for a show like Home and Away and Neighbours to continue into the future, it needs to evolve and not stay the same or else the show would become dull and boring

Admittedly, both Home and Away and Neighbours were peaking during the 2004 season, but that's a matter of opinion. Between 2005-2007, both Home and Away and Neighbours were still very strong shows and the stories during that time were interesting and intriguing. I felt the decline of Home and Away began after Bevan Lee left the show in 2008, but I saw a dramatic decline after Aden left in 2010. I know that a lot of people dislike the River Boys on this forum, but there one of the reasons why I still tune into the show. I feel that they still make the show somewhat exciting, but the current standard of Home and Away is nowhere near what it was during the 2004 period.

As for Neighbours, I felt it peaked around 2003-2004 and it was still strong from 2005 to mid 2007. 2005 marked the 20th anniversary of the show and as a result many past characters returned to the show. Yes, 2006 was over the top but something about it still made it extremely watchable. For example, the Robert Robinson storyline which lasted for a total of 9 months if you include the plane crash he was responsible for back in late 2005 made the show exciting. I felt Neighbours began it's dramatic decline after the Timmins family left the show and then when Susan Bower became executive producer, the show was almost unwatchable, but I kept watching it in the hope it would salvage itself. Ever since Richard Jasek took over Susan Bower as executive power, the show has once again improved remarkably and I'm hoping that 2013 could be the year where Neighbours is back to its best.

The point of this post is to show that while Soaps can go through their average periods, they can also easily become great shows with the right people behind the scenes.

[HomeandAwayFS]

Home and Away needed to change to survive. A lot of long time fans have said that it used to be better and that people don't watch it anymore because its too crime dominated and there are to many themed based years well I think these people should just be quite and stop complaining. If you don't like the show, then don't watch it and stop complaining about it. They are still getting a million viewers a night. They are the only none news program to be in the top ten shows every night of the week.

Wow, your spelling and grammar are as accurate as the point you are trying to make. Grow up and stop telling other members to stop watching the show, it's not your place to. If LaMurray123 used to enjoy the show more in previous years, and can explain his point of view as he has done above, then what's wrong with that? This is a discussion forum about Home and Away, it's not all going to be glowing praise, especially currently.

And Imo Neighbours didn't stick to the 80's format - it stopped being Neighbours whatever era, it just became dull and monotonous - something unrecognisable and no one liked it because of that, which is why it was axed from TEN.

Exactly. Home and Away today is where Neighbours was in 2006. Way too over-dramatic, a long way from its original values, and produced by people who don't understand it.

Last time I check I was in school thank you very much.

And back to what I was saying. I didn't mean to say that if you don't like what today's episodes are like then just stop watching. I was saying that if you don't like it then instead of constantly complaining and ruining it for those who do like it you should just get over it. Ok. Move on from the past and join the rest of us in the present.

Don't you dear try and be little me tellin me to grow up. The nerve of some people disgusts me.

[Light of the Bay]

With this topic I wasn't suggesting that I was living in the past by any means. My point was that H&A has changed so much. I totally agree with other members saying that it needs to evolve but it should retain its roots and what made it a good show between 1988-2004. Since then it has just become completely different and I believe that is entirely down to poor writing and characterisation. I will tune into the show every now and then but it's no longer what it was always intended to be.

[beau_t]

With this topic I wasn't suggesting that I was living in the past by any means. My point was that H&A has changed so much. I totally agree with other members saying that it needs to evolve but it should retain its roots and what made it a good show between 1988-2004. Since then it has just become completely different and I believe that is entirely down to poor writing and characterisation. I will tune into the show every now and then but it's no longer what it was always intended to be.

It's just a brand name now under which anybody can come along and write anything. What makes it "Home and Away?"

And if I hear that s*** about it's all about the balance between "light and shade" once more, I will throw up! That is not a "theme" of a show. Every show has to have this balance, it's really nothing special to H&A, it's just something the writers/producers come out with to fob off any viewers with gripes instead of actually listening to the feedback.

"So, Lucy, you've just murdered every character who arrived on the show pre-2011 in a horrific plane crash, burned Summer Bay House to the ground, converted the High School into a casino and shifted focus to the Sands Hotel (in which the teens regularly meet up to have orgies) which is now being secretly run by the mafia and is overrun with murders, drugs dealers and prostitues. Some people think the show has moved too far away from its roots, what do you think?"

"Well, it's all about getting the right balance of light and shade. Home and Away will always be about community and family at its heart."

[Homeandawayfan.]

I think they should wind in the amount of deaths and stalkers in H&A. I suppose the show has had to change a bit to survive but I think the disasters is overdone quite a bit.

As for Neighbours, that is a great show and has its highs and lows like H&A. Neighbours is heading on for its 30th anniversary in just over 2 years and has always been a bit OTT and melodramatic just now it is a bit more of that. However I dont agree with Homeandaway5's reply to the OP in the aggressive way. The swear words were censored but that is still showing the aggressiveness of the post.

[TelephotoMarigold]

Last time I check I was in school thank you very much.

And back to what I was saying. I didn't mean to say that if you don't like what today's episodes are like then just stop watching. I was saying that if you don't like it then instead of constantly complaining and ruining it for those who do like it you should just get over it. Ok. Move on from the past and join the rest of us in the present.

Don't you dear try and be little me tellin me to grow up. The nerve of some people disgusts me.

I take exception at you telling me to stop watching. How is pointing out what we don't like ruining it for you? Surely if you love it so much then you won't take any notice of us complaining.

The whole point of various threads like this is to point out that some of us are unhappy with Home and Away and especially the writing. And if we get the point across to the producers and the script writers then it will be a good thing because then you will have a drama with more quality writing emerging next year.

As someone who did watch the show from the beginning there was a period of time I stopped watching. Just after they wrote Roman out in the manner they did actually because nothing about that storyline was factual.

I didn't see the whole Bay of Love era and missed most of Charlie and Brax. Luckily. The few scenes I did see were IMO horrid. Lots of back and forth between them and someone like Charlie who had entered the Police Force because she wanted to live up to her father's estimation suddenly turns blind eyes to her boyfriend's drug dealing and criminal behaviour. And they have followed that up with this year's character assignation of Ruby.

Then they have Marilyn come back to the Bay and do precious little with her except have her as a foil for other people's storylines. They get rid of Miles after having giving him the horrendous storyline of hooking up with Leah, and then when there is the promise of a baby and happy ending for the man they rip it away. How much more did they want him to go through?

I won't go into detail about many storylines of the Braxton's, and there have been a lot. The Heath, Bianca, and Rocco could have been an amazing story, it could have had such dramatic impact and it didn't.

I can understand how someone can look at these storylines and think they are great, but they aren't. Even taking into account the limitations of filming and the fact that it is a soap, there is something missing from the writing and it's time that H&A address the balance and do something about it before even more people turn off and stop watching. It's easier to stop watching something than it is to get back into it and start re-watching and that I know from experience.