Dan Ewing: I never understood Neighbours

[alexx]

I think that if Neighbours was still on TEN it would be currently rating around 700K. So around 200-300K less than H&A. But it hasn't got a chance on a digital only channel. Many people don't even know that it's still on.

[Jezz]

I think that is Neighbours was still on TEN it would be currently rating around 700K. So around 200-300K less than H&A. But it hasn't got a chance on a digital only channel. Many people don't even know that it's still on.

You're right in that regard. I think Neighbours would have a higher figure if it was on TEN as you say. When Neighbours was peaking between 2003-2005, it was almost getting close to a million viewers a night, but it dropped off ever since Susan Bower had taken over, but it's now starting to rediscover itself again after Richard Jasek took over even though the ratings don't reflect that because it's on ELEVEN.

For example, some don't have access to the digital channels as they're still on analogue TV and secondly people are unaware that the show is still on as you highlighted already. I know a few people who fit into these two categories. My grandmother had been watching Neighbours from 1985-2010, until it went digital and she hasn't watched it since.

[samdanfan]

1st He has a right to his opinion.

second Australia big enough for both N and H&A, I understand the rivialy between them. Yet I agree Sydney a better location.

third, both shows have created alot of talent Summer bay gave us Kate, Ray, and others. Ramsey Street Kylie, Kym and many others.

I will be neutral 3rd party being outside Australia and say both shows have good and bad issues.

I think H&A one of the best shows ever yet Im not into as I was in the past and going to the Fan card thread Im sad to hear the show not as quick as in the past to be helpful to the fans as I remember and appricate.

To Neighbours. I use to know people (sources) in Melbounre and sadly its not the show it use to be. Im pleased they are making some good changes such as adding a cop family and trying to please the fans and next to H&A they were good in Fan cards department. Yet like H&A I lost interest due to the moving on of fav actors and characters and some awful stories I heard from the set which ruined my love of that show and I sadly dont trust them anymore yet Im happy to support other fans! All the PR they put out about actors wanting to move on? Oh my! I know the real reason some left!

Im sure like any other show Dan maybe didnt enjoy his time on the set or had a bad experiance and I feel sorry for him and the fans.

Totally agreed with what you said. I respect alot of opinion on this topic and yes you look back at what Melissa George said and she was forced to apologize for that!

"For any actor to state that they do not like a show they are in, they will be remembered for it!" One American Soap star once said any actor that does that is not to be forgiven!

Yes I heard bad stories such as one actor who was happy to leave a series because they "loathed" having to deal with fans. I expected that kind of attitude here in America NOT Australia! Whats so sad is that actor was treated kindly by the series and to call Melissa ungrateful!

Neighbours did have alot of Bad luck yet you dont know the stories I do. I think anytime a series moves channels that affects ity and it lost viewers. Its worse issue to me is I can understand why alot of former cast dont feel any fondness after being forced out or badly written.

Again actors have a right to voice thier opinion yet they need to take responiblity for the reaction.

Wow. The Braxton haters are really looking for anything to criticize. (Maybe i shouldn't have said that but oh well) Who cares if Dan doesn't like Neighbours? It's not a big deal and a really petty thing to boil up about.

As far as Neighbours vs Home and Away. Here in Australia Neighbours is on Eleven, a secondary digital channel receiving less than 400 000 viewers an episode while Home and Away is still on Seven the most watch network in Australia, in a prime time slot receiving a million viewers a night. I've watched both my whole life and at times I used to enjoy Neighbours way more then Home and Away but the last 3 years have really shown which show will survive.

Actually, it is a big deal.

As I stated earlier,,. what to Dan was a throwaway comment will go on to haunt him further down his career. For example look at the furore over the comments that Melissa George has said in the past and again when Paul O'brien mentioned that he didn't like H&A. For any actor to slate that they do not like a show they are in, or in this case a rival show, they will be remembered for it.

Do not label people 'haters' as that is rude and condescending and does not add to the debate and increases the divide amongst fans. Further I do not see from any of the comments posted that 'people are boiling up' over it. They are stating their opinion as you do.

I further suggest that you read the original source of the quote from Digital Spy. Repeated below for your convenience.

&

gt;>The actor, who plays Summer Bay's Heath Braxton, admitted he never understood the appeal of the fellow Australian soap.

Speaking on NovaFm, Ewing said: "I never got the Neighbours thing. I always preferred girls in bikinis. I would never say anything bad about our Channel 11 reverent but I have always liked the scenery and visuals of Summer Bay."

Ewing also admitted that he is having to cover up on screen, due to spending less time in the gym.

He said: "I only go about twice a week now. It used to be about four or five times, but with our schedule it's bugger all.

"Heath wears a lot more T-shirts these days."

Which as you can see was the basis for the earlier comments and not that much of a jump for people when they commented prior to seeing the video of the whole interview.

As for comparing the two shows and going on ratings where is the source for the figures you quoted? Home and Away has struggled to reach the million viewers mark up until recently and it was a surprise to me when I noticed that the figures had increased. Neighbours on the other hand is always quoted in reference to Home and Away despite the fact that although they are both soaps they are very different. More recently Neighbours has had a turnover with new characters joining and other, favoured characters leaving; or in the case of one character, rejoining the cast, and despite this they are still maintaining the same or similar demographic numbers. In addition, they have added to the sets they use by showing outside the 'Ramsey Street' houses.

Neighbours is going from strength to strength and focusing on the future of the show with dramatic writing (wedding day explosion for example) and not relying on things such as rehashing the 'make up-break up' storylines or the crime filled ones of the Braxton clan. How many people from the Braxton's past can surface and cause trouble? How many times can Heath and Bianca break up? How many brothers can turn up let alone be conned into doing dodgy deals? Whereas many see the Braxton's as good drama some see only the endless poor dialogue, cataloguing bad writing and serious issues with the plots and if we so-called 'haters' are supposed to respect your liking of the show and the characters (if not actors) then you should give us the same respect over our opinions and stop attacking us every time we post something because all we are doing is expressing our views just the same as you.

[jldraw]

I think a lot of the soapies particularly the ex-soapies either demonstrate a distinctive lack of recall (or perhaps conveinent memory) as to their time on H&A or Neighbours for that matter. For example Isla Fisher who has long been my favorite actress ever spun off of H&A recently gave an interview where she praised the soap but admitted she had little memory of her time on the show. She states:

"I feel so sentimental about that time. Although I can barely remember any of it – the storylines were so fast and so ludicrous. One week you had anorexia, the next you were lesbian, the next week you were an incest victim – and you were in a bikini on the beach and in the coffee shop, and in a bikini at a funeral"

Now I love Isla but there seems to be a backhanded compliment in there somewhere although again she does admit that she can barely remember the show. While she got the anoerexia and lesbian storylines right, I don't have much of recall of her being in a bikini compared to say Tempany Deckert who seemed to be in a bikini almost every week back in those days. I'm guessing that given her lack of recall, Isla's memories of H&A probably mesh together with her memories of another Aussie soap she was on for a bit called "Paradise Beach" where she was essentially touted as more eye candy than on H&A where she was given a fully fleshed out character.

I think these types of lack of recollections are common amongst ex-soapies so I don't put too much stock into them except when they are obvious such as the bulk of Melissa George's past comments.

[~Lynd~]

Who would remember every detail after so long?At least she appreciates it though.Melissa took it a step to far, imo.

I'd hate to think what Isla thinks of the show these days if she thought the stories were ridiculous then.I actually thought it was at its best back then.Yeah a little exaggerated, but it's tv.It was still relatable which is a major problem it has these days.

[mokhashin]

I am a very new Neighbors viewer, and IMO at the moment it is heaps better than H&A.

But I don't think Dan's comments were a big deal, he wasn't slagging of Neighbors or anything. He is entitled to have his preferred TV shows and even say them aloud. I think a too big of a deal was made out of a simple opinion, which wasn't bad at all.

[samdanfan]

Well I think when you add alot of New charcaters and bring back old favs you create a ratings increase. Neighbours been lucky yet it will never be the show it was in the past ditto with H&A.

Like many of you said he and other actors have a right to make comments yet bashing one show unless they have a very good reason isnt a good thing as Fan do not take kindly to awful comments. Ask Melissa!

Like any job people put up with bad days and I understand some actors are unhappy and yet I been to many conventions and heard actor air complanits and I have no problem with people expressing that. Yet I like to hear both sides.

At least he didnt say he anything about the fans that would be worse!

[WillowsTara]

I don't think it's a big deal, so what, to be honest I would kinda prefer that as well, he's not acting like Neighbours is bad for that, he's just saying he prefer it. (Although Neighbours is starting to have characters wear bikinis, of course it's mostly the new ones like Amber and Georgia, but even some like Kate are, who you think wouldn't for some reason).

Alkthough Home and Away don't have that many characters in bikini, not to the amount of men on the show who goes shirtless nearly every day, really I would wish they would bring in a female surfer who goes around only wearing beach shorts and a bra, but I guess it's the sexist issue (Not sexist really, and if it is, then so is the men with no shirts, it's a two way street).

[samdanfan]

I don't think it's a big deal, so what, to be honest I would kinda prefer that as well, he's not acting like Neighbours is bad for that, he's just saying he prefer it. (Although Neighbours is starting to have characters wear bikinis, of course it's mostly the new ones like Amber and Georgia, but even some like Kate are, who you think wouldn't for some reason).

Alkthough Home and Away don't have that many characters in bikini, not to the amount of men on the show who goes shirtless nearly every day, really I would wish they would bring in a female surfer who goes around only wearing beach shorts and a bra, but I guess it's the sexist issue (Not sexist really, and if it is, then so is the men with no shirts, it's a two way street).

Like you said its a two way street as both Sydney and Melbounre have different cultures one has the surf the other Suburbs. both reflect that part of Australia they image to viewers overseas!

Both H&A and N have thier share of Hotties depending on your gender. Sadly most of my favs have left so Im hopefully someone will come along and take the most popular babe or mate for you girls out there.

I would rather see a good actor with a well written character than a want to be model or future Idol. Fear of being a Hottie lead to one actor leaving series!

Again he had a right to say it yet many fans dont take kindly to negative remarks.

[jldraw]

I don't think it's a big deal, so what, to be honest I would kinda prefer that as well, he's not acting like Neighbours is bad for that, he's just saying he prefer it. (Although Neighbours is starting to have characters wear bikinis, of course it's mostly the new ones like Amber and Georgia, but even some like Kate are, who you think wouldn't for some reason).

Alkthough Home and Away don't have that many characters in bikini, not to the amount of men on the show who goes shirtless nearly every day, really I would wish they would bring in a female surfer who goes around only wearing beach shorts and a bra, but I guess it's the sexist issue (Not sexist really, and if it is, then so is the men with no shirts, it's a two way street).

Like you said its a two way street as both Sydney and Melbounre have different cultures one has the surf the other Suburbs. both reflect that part of Australia they image to viewers overseas!

Well I don't think either show should serve as an ambassador for Australia to other countries as one of the criticisms of both shows is that they depict Australia as somewhat of an idealistic country full of surf, beautiful people and bound together by a uniquely strong sense of community. I'm not saying that these elements don't exist in the real world but it's important to remember that these soap operas are far from depicting reality. In fact I think at times they do more to disservice Australia than they do to promote it in any way. Not to harp on old arguments but one of the constant gripes about Australian television across the board is that it features predominantly white actors perhaps moreso than any other television industry in the world. In fact in his commentary to the Australian film "Tomorrow When The War Began", director Stuart Beattie mentioned that Asian actor Chris Pang prior to filming his movie had actually left Australia to find work because there wasn't much work for Asian actors in Australia. So whether or not that leads credence to the long held belief that the Australian television industry tends to favor white actors for it's roles, I'm not sure.

In addition another critcism that has been often levied at the Australian television industry and in particular the soap operas is that they tend to romanticize day to day life in Australia to almost obscene levels. In his recent review of "Puberty Blues", Nick Ward commended the show for being the "flipside of the sun kissed fantasy world of Home and Away" and I must concur that the eight episode run of "Puberty Blues" this past summer presented far more compelling and dynamic television than anything "Home And Away" or "Neighbours" has had on screens in years. But again to be fair, I don't think the Australian soaps have ever proported themselves to be anything other than fantasy or entertainment. So from that vantage point it's hard to criticize them for essentially going forth with what their intentions have been since their inception.