Ben

I'll research that (unless someone beats me to it) and get back to you, as I'm a little confused. See, Cameron Welsh is the EP, yet he's always the one who seems to be responsible for storylines, yet when Bevan left in 2008, I'm sure he said he was handing the reins over to someone called Sarah. Basically, I'm confused as to who does what.

He was supposed to write the 5000th episode, but had to cancel due to other commitments - I.e: Packed to the Rafters. Shame, as he's best damn writer they've ever had (or had in recent years).

Ditto. First time I think I've stopped watching the show for such a long time. It's been a really bad year, which hasn't been helped by this year-long bloody mystery. I don't want a soap version of L&O, I want kitchen sink drama!

ETA: Major storyline spoiler for Lucas/Denise/Owen. So much for all that potential... I realize I got confused between the three. It's been a while since I've read that blog (even though I posted it the other day).

Owen's awesome - he has a lot of potential. I think it helps that he's played by a good actor, too. He'll probably need a love interest at some point, and hopefully it won't be Denise, b/c that would wrong, and hopefully Ronnie doesn't bring him down. Lucas Vs. Owen and the aspect of Denise jumping from the frying pan and into the fire, make them one of the more interesting dynamics in the show. Of course it's old, but I've still come across people who don't realize it. It would go against my point, that's what. Which is, that fans and critics are too different kinds of critic; at times, what is critically acclaimed, isn't necessarily fan acclaimed.

You're just learning that it doesn't really take much for soaps to have 'never been better.' And, have you see fans and critics criticise at the same time? I bet you'll say, yes. I've read several that continued to praise Corrie, this year, even though the fans were crucifying it.

That's the way the wheel turns, and the reason why Darren had to be the daddy of Heather's baby. It's a repetitive pattern, which enables one to predict mystery outcomes, like, who's the daddy, and who's the blackmailer, b/c you know it's gonna be the most shocking person, where the story fits or not. For the latter, Lucy works perfectly as Syed's blackmailer, but Heather's baby father was a major missed opportunity, in terms of story. Minty would've provided more conflict and story possibilities, with the number of players involved - Heather/Minty/Manda/Shirly/Adam. Darren doesn't provide that group conflict. Too true. "Chryed" have no layers, or any kind of substance under the whole secret gay Muslim aspect. But fans love them. I can't see them getting rid of Marc Elliot, not with his level of popularity, and not when they've spent all this time building up the Masood's as a solid family unit. LB just inherited the flack and bad press. She wasn't without problems, but after Kathleen Hutchinson, who wouldn't be.

But there's viewer criticism, and critic criticism, and the two, it would appear, are quite different. I think EE has had better viewer support, than Corrie (bar the whole embarrassing Danielle fiasco). Corrie can be as bad as Y&R and B&B combined, and still the ratings will stay steady, but EE can have a bad week, and the ratings will reflect that. Granted, they haven't been perfect, but EE have told a broader range of storylines, featuring practically every character (segregated or not). Corrie can't really say that. And I'm not really sure what my point is.

In short answer: I really have no idea. That entire paragraph doesn't leave much room for movement. Personally, I'd only say that if I was paying out the show, or both shows, seeing as he compares EE to Corrie. It's probably the one major negative, seeing as characters randomly appear and disappear for weeks/months on end. They also recently revealed their new (read: been active for the entire year) budget saving, episode quotas, where they have roughly 16 characters appear per episode, which is why the storyline structure has sucked this year (characters randomly disappearing).

I believe that was in part revenge, for her public comments about the show, and her character. TPTB, at the time, were not very happy with Wendy. Don't you mean who? Carol Jackson is returning permanently, so I assume she'll be taking Peggy's place, but not at the Mitchell family (obviously), but by expanding the Jackson-Brannings. I love Roxy; she's not dead weight, yet. She's got a lot of life left in her, if they would only tap into that. She does have her very, very slow burning romance with Dr. Al, How random. Plus, they've cast Ronnie & Roxy's mum, Glenda, who'll be arriving at Xmas/in the new year. But I will give you Phil and Billy, and in part Ronnie, who is slowly being ruined, but there's still room for redemption, as long as they don't leave it too late. The damage that was done during 2003-06, has been irreparable backstage. The writers were burned pretty badly by the previous regime, so I doubt thinks will ever go back to how they were pre-2003. Check out this blog, which details what really happened during that bad time. Eastenders: From high to low And there were worse things to happen, than killing off Kathy. They can easily bring her back, especially as it was a random off screen death. I favour EE over the other two, probably b/c it's the only London based soap on air. Family Affairs was also a fave (another London set soap).

It's odd because, Sam's currently doing nothing of much interest. It doesn't help that the Ricky/Sam love has come out of left field, since Kim Metcalf's tenure, which during that time, the Ricky/Sam love was kaput, finished, over. Their "reunion" doesn't make sense. The triangle started off OK, but it has fizzled since - nothing is happening at all. Then there's Daniella's tragic car crash, and the re-constructive surgery she needed on her face, which means she has a terrible expression whenever she tries to "act" out any emotional scenes. Everything thing about her return has yet to serve any great purpose, and is kind of a mess. BTW: I'd take Ronnie & Roxy over Sam, any day.

I see what you mean, Cat, but for me, it's been tainted by the route they took to get there. It's a credibility issue on Maria's side, more than anything else. Maria was convinced that Tony killed Liam (even going so far as to mow him down), he even threatened to hurt her and her baby, if she didn't back off! Yet she randomly puts it all down to hormones - WTF! Hormones might make her act irrational, but they do not make you believe your husband was murdered by his love rival. And for Maria to have Tony move in, without any kind of doubt (even though Natasha told her about Tony's threats), just make her look beyond stupid. And Tony's feelings for Maria, have come out of nowhere. Him feeling obligated, and wanting to make amens makes sense, but to actually fall for her...?! It just feels random. And in other news: I see Craig Kelly (Luke) and Reese Dinsdale (Joe) are both leaving. They've missed a trick with developing Luke's character, but I'll be glad to see the back of Joe. Although, I can't believe his prescription drug addiction will drag out until he leaves!

One would hope. But this is Neighbours, and it could easily be a major miss. On the plus side, Susan Bower has talked about the golden couple, being not-so golden, so it seems like they've found away to factor the surrogacy into his exit.

But... what's even more surprising, is his contract was only for two years anyway, and he only ever intended to stay for that length of time, which means TPTB knew along that the character wouldn't be around when they penned the surrogacy story. Hopefully they have a really great reason for splitting up the golden couple.

I liked the Ken & Martha story; I was rooting for them to be together, and for Stephanie Beacham to be a permanent player... but alas, that was never meant to be. However, I didn't like the underlining message that, chasing ones dream is a fantasy. I couldn't see any problem with Ken wanting to be with a woman who he connected with, and got along with better than his wife. He's never been completely content with Deirdre, so why should he have to stay with her? The resolution was good - Ken wanted the relationship on his terms; he didn't want to fit into her life. Overall, this story didn't really paint Ken in a flattering light - he really is a cruel coward. Breaking up with Deirdre in a letter was bad, but leaving Martha, planning their future, thinking she's talking to him, as she sets sail, only for Ken to be standing on the bridge, suitcase in hand, was low. He didn't even have the guts to tell her in a letter - he just ran. Since then, the show has been all shades of mediocre. Nothing works for me. Kevin/Molly are out of character; John is a waste of space - they ruined his character the moment he kidnapped Rosie (another terrible story); Fiz is pathetic, and Rosie is annoying (she's lost her depth) - it's really stupid how John gave her "compensation;" David never develops; Joe is a bore, and his addiction to prescription pills was predictable; The Windasses don't work (Anna should've been a single mother); They wasted Poppy, and dropped Amber to recurring (the only one who works well with Dev); Tony/Maria was badly executed, and it makes her look like such a tool; there are heaps of characters just drifting... I liked the idea of Janice - an uneducated, older woman - wanting to become a nurse. It was quite inspiring. But they dropped it. And why has Becky become so obnoxious lately? Basically, I'm not enthralled with anything... Wait. Actually, Auntie Pam is awesome, but she doesn't get used that much.

I love how Neighbours, attracts so much celebrity attention, yet still they struggle with the ratings Down Under. I take it she won't be performing, seeing as it's just one scene, and with Zeke only...?

And you care, because? It's really just another David plot, where they fail to explore his real motivations, leaving him on his little merry-go-round of mediocrity. There's only so much that you can blame your mum's serial killer boyfriend, for. IMO, this show is one big bore. The majority of the storylines are either mediocre, bad, or out-of-character. Half the cast never really get used, while the other half are over used. It's in a rut.

Damn Google! No, wait... damn me for skim reading! I thought it didn't sound very telenovela-esque.

I'm not a Hollyoaks fan, so I don't know what I'm doing here, but to answer one of your questions, I did read on DS a couple of weeks ago that the new producer's eps start in June. This is still BK's work. Oh, I know, I had heard that the show has become crap, and wondered if you guys felt the same (hence me being here). And on the subject of that telenovela, I was very surprised to read about it being in development, especially seeing as that kind of OTT drama is kind of a niche thing. I believe it was supposed to be called Beautiful Thing. Clearly it's been scraped. Googling it, there doesn't seem to be any reason why... unless I've missed it.

IA about Zeke - he has come into his own. For a long time he flip-flopped between different character types, but now he feels a lot more defined. I really liked his scenes with Kyle and Justin; it felt as if he was on equal footing, compared to his presence within the RS teen group. I wouldn't mind seeing Kyle, stick around, and interact with the other teens. It would be interesting seeing Zeke juggle two sets of mates. I think Zeke's disappearance has been played quite well. All the reactions and reality of a missing relative have been hit. I'm just a little worried that the outcome won't live up to the former beats in the story. I think Rebecca's awesome. Her split from Paul, was exactly what the character needed, in order to develop. I really hope she sticks around for a long time to come. Gotta love how they've sexed up the character with all those revealing dresses! I'm not sure I really believed much of those rumours (about JH & KV). I'm loving Lucas & Elle! I think they're my favourite couple - so stubborn, yet so alike. Oh, and James, I'm the same. I watch no matter how bad it gets, and there have been some pretty rough patches.

Man, it's really hard getting some kind of following going for this show. Whoever is watching, what are you thoughts on the missing Zeke story? Toups: Recent Neighbours icon. I realize it's plain, but at least it's recent, and not representing the '98.

SJ was the saving grace. I truly don't understand the mass hysteria, surrounding the character of Danielle. I really didn't connect with her at all; her acting was terribly screechy and lacked any real emotional connection to the characters plight. Granted, there were a lot of tears and shouting and pleading, but this just masked her lack of depth. The girl was a plot device from the get go, yet some people don't seem to have realised this. I think you can say the same for US soaps - they'll constantly drag thinks out for weeks, without anything really happening. I don't have time to watch Y&R, religiously, so I end up skipping episodes. The last ep I saw, was when the bomb exploded. I then tuned in again last week, and really, things were pretty much still the same. I skipped all the in-between and watched the wedding, which was awesome, but I really didn't need to see every moment of Billy and Chloe faking it, or Jill banging on that Kay's an imposter, when I got all that before, and after. I think all soaps, no matter the country, go through highs and low; it just seems to happen a lot more often than it used to. Are you still following the Oz soaps? That doesn't fill me with any confidence in his ability. Last year was a bad time for the show, IMO. A lot of plot driven mess, with unrealistic climaxes. Like, Lauren mowing down Max (when did she learn how to drive?). Or the terrible structure and plotting of storylines. Like, the Danielle saga, which was badly paced, with no real explanations into why Archie is the way that he is. Or how most stories stop and start, with such implausible breaks - Nick randomly disappearing (I realize the actor had time out, but they actually had the character leave, return, reveal (rehash) plot, then leave for 3 months without any explanation!), characters going on vacation every two months, just so their story can be put on the backburner, even though it doesn't seem authentic. I'm also really tired of seeing the same characters mixing with the same lot, day-in-day-out for months. All the characters have been segregated to their respective families, and all those without a family, have been shoved together under one roof. Ironically, with the discussion over Y&R's blatant isolation of it's AA characters, EE have also grouped all their black characters together. There is no ripple effect with storylines - i.e, Danielle's death only affects her family and Stacey; Patrick's secret only involves his little group, etc. No-one has friends any more, which sometimes makes it feel like they're all in their own little spin-off.

This is really gonna disappoint you: The storyline is only going to last 6 weeks. I think the most important thing is Charlie, and where they'll take her character. If she reverts back to dating solely men, then this will all have been for nothing. BTW: Toups, I really disliked that Today Tonight clip you posted. Why did TT have to give the most face time to those bigots, when they could have produced a more rounded segment?

An update on the Charlie/Joey "controversy" But... Back to the Bay, are now reporting that the kiss won't be cut... Roll on Tuesday!

Just thought I'd dredge this thread up. Anyone here still watching? Personally, I'm loving the show right now. Nicola is awesome. Her needle stick injury has been really great, and well acted by Imogen Bailey. The fallout for Karl and Susan has enabled them to revisit the past, and thanks to Pete Ferguson, wanting to sell his story, they've managed to turn it into an umbrella story, by involving Paul and Elle. Genius.