Could Neville and Floss have stayed as long term guest instead of getting rid of them completely?.

[Homeandawayfan.]

I think it was Des Monaghan who axed Floss and Neville once he became executive producer.

[j.laur5]

Why didn't Neville and Floss work out as regulars?

Do you think them being retired, and not having any family because of their lack of interrelation, ended up leaving both of them with no direction?

Neville and Floss remind me of John and Marilyn, but at least both John and Marilyn are still working and keep their interrelation with other characters going.

[adam436]

On 4/17/2018 at 23:57, j.laur5 said:

Why didn't Neville and Floss work out as regulars?

Do you think them being retired, and not having any family because of their lack of interrelation, ended up leaving both of them with no direction?

Neville and Floss remind me of John and Marilyn, but at least both John and Marilyn are still working and keep their interrelation with other characters going.

 

I think that sums it up - I think they were supposed to be the unofficial "second parents" (or perhaps "grandparents") to the Fletcher children, but by 1989, I feel like Ailsa and Alf had filled that role. 

 

I also felt like they were somewhat caricature-ish at times, which wasn't helped by them living in a caravan. They were also the only regulars with no connections to other characters at that point (except for semi-regulars Stacey and Andrew), and the writers really had no idea what to do with them - they only had one major storyline in their time on the show, the reunion with the grandson, and otherwise they did nothing. I don't think living in a caravan helped their cause either. 

 

On 3/1/2017 at 23:39, Homeandawayfan. said:

I think it was Des Monaghan who axed Floss and Neville once he became executive producer.

 

I've read rumours Frank Lloyd or Sheila Kennelly (or both?) read about their axings in a magazine before they were told about it, but I don't know how much truth there is in that.

The show definietely wanted to move in a younger direction, with the comedy relief provided by Neville and Floss was essentially filled with Marilyn. 

[Homeandawayfan.]

3 hours ago, adam436 said:

 

I think that sums it up - I think they were supposed to be the unofficial "second parents" (or perhaps "grandparents") to the Fletcher children, but by 1989, I feel like Ailsa and Alf had filled that role. 

 

I also felt like they were somewhat caricature-ish at times, which wasn't helped by them living in a caravan. They were also the only regulars with no connections to other characters at that point (except for semi-regulars Stacey and Andrew), and the writers really had no idea what to do with them - they only had one major storyline in their time on the show, the reunion with the grandson, and otherwise they did nothing. I don't think living in a caravan helped their cause either. 

 

 

I've read rumours Frank Lloyd or Sheila Kennelly (or both?) read about their axings in a magazine before they were told about it, but I don't know how much truth there is in that.

The show definietely wanted to move in a younger direction, with the comedy relief provided by Neville and Floss was essentially filled with Marilyn. 

I think that while the show did have a good deal of younger characters in its first year, such as the foster children, I do feel the show did cater for all ages at the same time. When it begun, Tom, Don and Alf were all over 40, and Ailsa and Pippa acted older than they were. We had Floss and Neville and then Celia and (a couple/few months in we had Colleen and Morag) as well as youngsters like Carly, Lyn, Roo, Sally, Stevo, Frank, Bobby, Matt and Lance and Martin.

Many of the recurring characters such as Walter Bertram, Mervin Baldivis, Doris Peters and Bob Barnett were older. The only younger recurring character was Alison Patterson I think, who had stories with the regular youngsters.

And the older characters acted as surrogates to the younger ones and mentored them. They got as much screentime as the youngsters. In 1989 Des Monaghan must have wanted to make it purely a younger persons show.

In early 1989 TPTB felt that Floss and Neville were dead wood so were surplus to requirements.

Edited April 20, 2018 by Homeandawayfan.

[EmmaPanda]

Sorry if I sound really stupid but I keep seeing TPTB everywhere and I don't know what it means. What does it mean? 

[Dan F]

9 minutes ago, EmmaPanda said:

Sorry if I sound really stupid but I keep seeing TPTB everywhere and I don't know what it means. What does it mean? 

The Powers That Be - i.e. the producers/writers etc.

[Matt]

Just now, Dan F said:

The Powers That Be - i.e. the producers/writers etc.

But bear in mind that the often ignorantly used statement encompasses a whole range of higher ups, but as Dan says, in the context it’s used here is in reference to the producers/writers

[Sally Keating]

22 hours ago, Matt said:

But bear in mind that the often ignorantly used statement encompasses a whole range of higher ups, but as Dan says, in the context it’s used here is in reference to the producers/writers

I just take "the powers that be" to mean "whoever is in charge of whatever I'm currently talking about" so those it doesn't apply to, are automatically excluded.

Eg:  " TPTB are idiots for bringing Martha back" : "the people who thought of it/greenlighted it are idiots, those not involved in the decision are not." And same for any other usage.

What I mean is, rather than it encompassing everyone, it's just a quick way of referring to whoever is responsible for the matter at hand,  whether it's a writing thing, a production thing, a network level  thing... without having to go to the bother of finding out and naming names.

If I said "I hate how TPTB have remixed the theme song", I obviously wouldn't be encompassing the writers in that because it's nothing to do with them. And likewise if I said "I hate TPTB have made Marilyn wear boring clothes", I obviously wouldn't be encompassing network executives in that because it's hardly something they would care about.

I'd like to think people have the common sense to realise that rather than assume they're being ignorant and encompassing everyone/anyone.

Edited April 22, 2018 by Sally Keating

[CaptainHulk]

TBH. I definitely feel like my intelligence was insulted with this storyline. There were post-funeral flashbacks seen in on 1989 of Alf and Roo  grieving...

Edited May 20, 2018 by CaptainHulk

[Dan F]

1 hour ago, CaptainHulk said:

TBH. I definitely feel like my intelligence was insulted with this storyline. There were post-funeral flashbacks seen in on 1989 of Alf and Martha grieving...

Well technically Alf and Roo were grieving at that time, but that's a discussion for a whole other thread (not one about Nev & Floss )