Shortland Street

[august1229]

I thought NZ had national health care, so what's with no coverage for minors, even if older minors, that is, the Pixie story?

Caleb is a disaster.

Bella liking Jimmy is strange. Though I guess she has a taste for older or less attractive men, remembering Luke. She had Dallas but didn't manage to keep that going!

Victoria is another walking disaster, but making progress. She goes from being unable to handle bowel tumors to being so realistic about them that she over negatively advises patients! You have to think doctors can handle conditions, no matter who they personally know who has them and might even look on it as a chance to defeat that condition, so it seems like Victoria just can't be a doctor. Not able to put personal issues aside.

[Dion]

New Zealand does have national healthcare but it is not entirely free. There are charges for going to see a GP- (for under sixes this is free and this will be extended to under 13s in a few months time) though I would have thought Pixie's family would qualify for a community services card which would reduce the costs somewhat (though would require her parent to go to the doctor with her).

A visit to an ED is free though, hence why there was no problems with payment the week before. I think Pixie could have just gone back to ED for free treatment but she would have had to wait hours before seeing an ED doctor. Harry was trying to impress her by paying for the GPs appointment so she could be seen by a GP right away, but she didn't appreciate his charity.

I wonder how long Caleb will be around. Pania seems to have sub-consciously set her sights on TK and I suspect she up his relationship with Kylie to keep him occupied until such time that she's ready to be with him herself, perhaps thinking Kylie (who said she was just after some fun) would be less of a threat to her than Harper (too strong for Pania) or Lucy (too vulnerable, thus Pania may have thought TK would have stuck by her).

Bella and Jimmy - I think I have a fair idea where this is going. (I can't remember how to do spoiler tags! lol)

To be fair on 'Tor' she is still basically a student, so I'll cut her some slack for that. Though somebody needs to offer her some cheese to go with all that whine .

[Dion]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11431309

The above article got me a little concerned so I did a little more digging and found this article from two months ago in throng, who post a lot of NZTV ratings info:

http://www.throng.co.nz/2015/02/shortland-street-rating-days/

So ratings have definitely fallen after reaching a peak in 2012 - early 2013 with the show having some of its worst ratings in years (Even the episode screened on the day that Christchurch had its main earthquake in Feb 2011 rated higher than a lot of the episodes screened in the first few weeks of this year).

Part of this drop is probably to do with things such as time-shifting and on demand services (on these platforms Shortland Street is doing quite well) and of course the Cricket World Cup which went on and on for weeks (and of course we had some matches held here since we were joint hosts with Australia and our team was on a bit of a dream run until being beaten in the final by Australia). TV1's current affairs show Seven Sharp has also gotten its act together, though I suspect it probably eats into rival current affairs show Campbell live's audience rather than Shortland Street's. Storylines this year have also been somewhat low key.

Will be interesting to see how the show performs over the winter (specifically whether any of the big 'event' episodes can get to the.levels seen in previous years). Daylight Savings ended a week ago and with Shortland Street airing at 7pm it does tend to have a dramatic effect on the number of casual viewers.

[august1229]

Thanks for the health care explanation.

Clementine sure is a pain in the neck.

Ratings are a problem now, as you pointed out, there are other platforms. I've been watching online and I'm not even "entitled" to see it as I am in the U.S.

[Bright Eyes]

Clementine is awful, I agree.

It's kind of weird that they introduced Pixie as Jack's sister, but they have yet to even be in a scene together.

[Dion]

Lol, it didn't even occur to me that they were brother and sister until you pointed it out!

[Bright Eyes]

Do you guys think it's possible that they brought in Jack's family because the Coopers are leaving/being written out?

[Dion]

Knowing Shortland Street it's certainly possible, but at this time I think it is just as likely that they took advantage of gaps opening up in the cast to introduce a new family unit (one that's easily expandable by introducing the ex-wife and eldest sister if necessary). The size of the cast is currently at the top end of its normal range though, so if any more new characters are added, I think that will be a sign that there will be some departures (not necessarily the Coopers).

[Bright Eyes]

The Whitleys are seriously one of the best creations to come along in any soap in some time. I really love them, a lot.

[Dion]

Could've sworn I read somewhere that the Hannah's had an older daughter but seems it's a son instead.

[Bright Eyes]

The son is a welcome addition. He's very pretty.

[Bright Eyes]

http://tvnz.co.nz/shortland-street/garrett-s-growing-up-6306752

I will miss him terribly. One of my absolute favourites since I've been watching. I admit, I love so many of the characters on this show so don't ask me to do any sort of rankings. That would be impossible, but still, goodbye Dr. Garrett Whitley.

It'll be interesting to see where they go with 'Tor' now.

[Dion]

So Chris and Rachel get rid of the P (Meth) dealers only to be stuck with a porn director...lol.

Still, the house wouldn't have been sold that fast!

[Bright Eyes]

Do you think they'd have a character get into the industry? Maybe Curtis can secretly, to help his family. I'd watch.

[Dion]

I'm sure Curtis will be doing something dodgy sometime soon - he's already (almost) had his hand in the cash register at the IV, so it's a possibility.

A long long time ago - end of 2001 they did have a character start manufacturing P in his house. The plot culminated when his mum threw him a surprise 18th birthday party in the end of year cliffhanger and the chemicals ended up blowing up the house with half the hospital staff in it (no one died though, but Toni Thompson was briefly seriously injured and her pregnancy was revealed to the world, an absolutely catastrophic event that continues to have repercussions to this very day! lol).