Your New Year's resolutions for the soaps

[All My Shadows]

Carl, I would suggest Prisoner if you're looking for an Aussie soap to get into. Of course it has a very, very different feel from other soaps because of the setting, but it is extremely addicting! I'd always read about it for years, but last year, I discovered the episodes on YT and watched maybe the first five or six in one sitting. It's fantastic, especially the first 20 episodes.

My wishes/goals for the year in regards to non-US soaps:

~ Get around to watching more of the 80s EE as well as more early Corrie.

~ Give non-mainstream UK soaps such as Doctors, River City, and The Archers a fair chance. I actually have last week's Archers omnibus waiting to be listened to, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

~ Learn more about Neighbours and H&A, historically and currently speaking. I saw Scott and Charlene's wedding and loved it, so I'd like to see more from the beginning as well as where things are now on both shows.

~ Corrie gets itself in shape. I can't stand to watch it anymore. I download episodes and they sit here until I get tired of them holding up space, so I delete them without even watching.

~ Emmerdale gets some life. I know I haven't watched a whole lot of it recently, but when I do, it seems so dull and lifeless (one of my favorite words when describing a soap, it seems). It seems directionless. There's nothing for them to fall back on.

~ Same for Hollyoaks, sort of. It seems to be dying a slow and painful death.

~ EE gets more consistent and improves upon what were very entertaining months at the end of 2010. I'm looking forward to what they've got.

[Dion]

My resolution for the soaps this year would be to pay off the arrears on my landline phone, Internet and Ditigal satellite TV (Sky TV New Zealand) providers (I'm a month behind on all of them and always pay enough to ensure that they are not disconnected)

Once that's done I'll combine my home phone and internet under the same company, get a better broadband plan (my internet downloads of GH are taking up about a quarter of my monthly bandwidth so if I want to add another soap i'll need more bandwidth, plus I'll save $10NZ a month), then I can pay my Digital TV on the same bill as my Internet/landline (Different companies but you can pay for both using one bill) and get a "My Sky" digital recording device for $99 installation and the monthly subscription fee waived (Tivo has no subscription fees but you can only use Tivo for Free to air and Freeview here in NZ and EastEnders is on Sky so I'd rather have My Sky).

Anywho the point of all this is that I'll be able to watch Coronation Street, Eastenders, Neighbours and Shortland Street (and Shortland Street episodes from 1994) on a more regular basis (I'm only watching EastEnders and the 1994 episodes of Shortland Street regularly at the moment!)

[Skylover]

AMS - If you want to learn more about Neighbours, the best site is www.PerfectBlend.net

It is possibly the best site dedicated to a soap that I've ever seen, you can find information about the show for every year, every character, the key moments. It's just brilliant.

[Dion]

Yes Perfect Blend is definitely the place to go for Neighbours information...I can only describe it as being like Walford Web, only on steroids! And that's definitely a good thing.

At the risk of hijacking this thread I think one of the reasons why Madge Bishop never fulfilled the matriarch role on Neighbours was because she was always remembered as being much more feistier than the gentle and sympathetic Helen Daniels (Madge was like Pauline Fowler before Pauline became too bitter whereas Helen was like Alice Horton before Alice became too sentimental). As such, Madge being the show's matriarch was never going to be the same as her warmth wasn't always immediately obvious like Helen's was, it was sometimes disguised by her often gruff exterior.

But the main reason I think is because the show (and it's cast) had changed so much during Madge's four year absence. Even though she was the longest running character when Helen died, Madge didn't have any long-standing ties to most of the cast aside from Harold and Lou (the Martins joined a few months before she left the first time so even though they knew her they didn't know her well), whereas Helen had ties with almost everyone. Harold had the same problem when he returned but had an extra eight years to cement his place at the heart of the show.

[Skylover]

Your evaluation of the situation is spot on Dion, I couldn't have said it better myself. I think it's such a shame that Neighbours has never managed to fill the matriarchal role in the last 9 or 10 years. Even though she wasn't as warm as Helen, I would still describe Madge as a matriarch, Susan I suppose is a matriarch but probably not quite as much as the former two characters. The writers came close to filling the role when they brought back Valda Sheergold as a regular in 2007, so it was such a shame when the actress left after less han 6 months due to health problems.

I love your description of PB as being like Walford Web on steroids. PerfectBlend even goes as far as listing character profiles for characters who have never been seen, only talked about: http://www.perfectblend.net/neighbourhood/bio/unseen.htm

[Ben]

Hopefully this post will make sense, as I'm sick, and correlating my thoughts into coherent sentences is a chore.

- Don't give up on Home & Away, and continue to watch sporadically until it improves, by keeping up with spoilers and recaps and not letting it slide.

- Learn to love the current incarnation of B&B, and try to watch more than 5 eps a year. Possibly impossible, as I watch OLTL regularly, and I've liked the last week of Days (again), so may pick that show up again - it's finally got stuff happening, and I do like most of the characters.

- Avoid Hollyoaks at all costs, as just reading about its suckage is enough.

I'd like to do that, too, more-so for Neighbours. You are right, all they need is people with passion and knowledge to bring the shows back to their best. I guess, once you've finished that PCGE thing-y (I forget what it was called) you could move out there, and get an agent. You'd also be able to apply for that annual scriptwriting internship with show, which always looks so cool. Sadly, my finances would support such a move at this time, so I can only dream - for now.

I think the show you were referring to wast E-Street. That show had a big serial killer story, called Mr. Bad, who wore a black & white mask (there are clips/promos on YT). Number 96 did have a bomb story, where they blew up the sets, and I'm pretty sure they had a creepy stalker story, where the guy was stealing women's underwear.

These shows are a real representation of where the TV restrictions were in those days, and how polarizing the system is now, where everything is taboo, it would seem.

OOTB's main problem was that its sole supporter, who commissioned the show, left the BBC (I think it was Greg Dyke) after the first 2 weeks. No-one else at the network was interested in it, which is why they were simply counting down the days until it finished. I guess, if GD had stayed, the show would never have moved timeslots every other week/switched channels/relegated to the worst daytime slot available. The BBC didn't want it, and Ten didn't know what to do with it either.

Carl, I'd advise you to watch as much OOTB as possible, b/c it was quite good; they loved their cliffhangers, which seemed to happen in every episode, and the storylines weren't bad at all.

They may come of as gimmicks, though. Family Affairs went all interactive when they let the viewers decide on who the father of Yasmin's baby should be, which felt like a direct copy of Days of our Lives own interactive who's the daddy outcome with Hope's baby in 2000. I think it had only short-term success, whereas Days seemed to generate a lot of interest, as it was something new at the time (at least that's what I got from the promos that aired). Did it generate a lot of interest in the show, Carl? Would you say it was a success?

I like the last points, though, as they could be quite interesting for some viewers. But, would any of these generate new viewers? I've always been a fan of providing an encore of the daytime edition of US soaps, in the late afternoon, picking up a whole new audience. But the networks have zero interest in any of that.

B&B was shown in the UK up until Sept. 2010 on DivaTV. It had been airing on that network for a few years, and was its flagship show, constantly bringing in good numbers. They even gave it several airings a day and an omnibus. But, Diva chose not to renew their contract, for some strange reason that has yet to make sense (they even tried to appease aggrieved fans by hinting it had been picked up by another network, which has yet to materialize). Ronn Moss even got on board with campaigning to get it picked up by another network, and Brad Bell did some kind of statement thing about it all.

I've never liked the format/production model that Hollyoaks uses. I think I've only ever watched the show for about 4-5 months during the time of Tony & Mandy's domestic violence/their baby dying/her exit, Toby's serial killing spree, and Lisa's self harm. And even then, lots of things about the show annoyed me. It's always had an immature feel to it. The show tries to be modern and is always trying to gimmicks, but I don't know if any of it works.

B/c you've seen the C&S wedding, try watching Ringo & Donna's wedding from 2010, as the show purposefully made them comparable, b/c, apparently, R&D were the new S&C! I think that would be a good base of seeing where the show was and is now.

This is a weird choice, but I always thought Miska could've filled that matriarchal role. She would've been totally different to Helen, of course, but she was warm and caring, and proved a great support to Sky during the time she was wanting a termination, but was also comedy gold. It's a shame the actress grew tired of the long commute from Perth, I think, to Melbourne.

[JamesF]

My resolutions (and I too am home sick so probably not coming up with the best):

-Keep up with B&B as much as possible. I think I've accepted that it will never again be the show I fell in love with in the mid 90s but it's 18 minutes of camp shlock with characters that infuriate and amuse me in equal measure.

-Be more critical of Coronation Street. I've shown a lack of discernment over it in the past 6 months and the Tracy story is pushing me over the edge.

-Watch Neighbours more objectively. It's gone through such a hard time over the past few years that I struggle to watch for enjoyment, constantly thinking of the mechanics of it. Why certain stories play out the way they do, what demographic it's aiming for etc.

Yep. At the risk of getting all Mary Whitehouse, some of the stuff in E Street, Number 96 and Chances was kind of...sick. Nazi fetishism and that kind of thing at 8.30pm.

The difference was that 'G - general viewing' in those days in Australia seemed to equate to a much more sensible notion of proportionalism. Neighbours could mention the concepts of rape, suicide, drug use etc - just not go to the extreme of watching people shooting up, being molested, making nooses.

I regret that I didn't stick with OOTB consistently because it was a good show that got given lousy treatment. There was a lot of variety in the storytelling and it seemed to merge the best of both Neighbours and Home and Away into something unique. It also didn't have the influence of the draconian censorship rules.

There is swathes of stuff on YouTube that I viewed about 6 months ago because I'd never seen the resolution to the murder storyline. It was twisty, well acted and well paced. Just good honest soap opera.

I agree that the whole 6000th episode week probably demonstrates best what Neighbours currently represents, good and bad.

As for Mishka, I couldn't stand her! Some of the stuff was funny but for me she represented the extremes of that era which essentially had a very talented writing team being allowed to go way out of control.

Valda to me was the only 'matriarch' type although she too started out the same way as something of a cartoon. The scene of her on the beach with Lyn changed my mind about her completely. One of the most touching scenes I remember on the show.

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[Dion]

Speaking of that when Ringo started singing "Suddenly" my mum instantly remembered that was the song at Scott and Charlene's wedding and it usually takes forever anda lot of prompting for her to remember anything from old soap storylines!

[DRW50]

That clip is very moving, although Lyn always seems a bit cold to me. What was Valda upset about? Did Lyn's child live? I only knew her as Steph's mother.

The few clips I've seen of Chances seemed so silly, it was tough to take any of it seriously. I wish I could see more to figure out if they ever moved beyond that cringey camp (with attractive people to help make it slightly less offputting).

What else went on on Number 96 and E Street that bothered you?

Do you think those soaps wouldn't be allowed in Australia today or it just that they don't care about producing more risque soaps? I know shows like Underbelly and City Homicide are considered risque, aren't they?

I don't know if it would generate new viewers but I think it could - it's a way to get buzz, and it's not like soaps can get lower in public opinion in some cases. It's better to be talked about than to just be shrugged off. Developing a fan base who takes an interest in your show, will pay money on items you might shell out, want to be involved - it's a way to market a new soap today. Stuff like product placement might be easier to include if the viewer feels like they're a part of what's happening.

DAYS got some press but I don't think they got a ratings boost. The problem was that one of the possible fathers had essentially raped Hope, in mind and in body, for some time. The other father was part of a very popular supercouple, and his time with Hope only came about because he had also been brainwashed at the same time Hope was. He and Hope were basically both raped by Stefano. They also didn't give viewers an option to vote for Hope's husband, Bo, the man many viewers loved her with. It left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths. As a result, this was all retconned in 2002, with Bo suddenly being the father. Then the child ended up being killed off in 2006 anyway.

As for Hollyoaks, I think the show has always had a mission of being entertaining and educating. This initially involved stories like teenage pregnancy and drug addiction, then around 2000, Jo Hallows began pushing tougher topics like male rape. The contrast to these issue stories often seemed to be very silly comedy.

Something I don't think Hollyoaks got enough credit for was their comedy characters were a lot of fun (Tony, Max, OB, and from the little I've seen, Max's father - then in later years, people like Joe, and even Lee and Bombhead somewhat) and they could also do drama. Now the comedy characters are just horrible. Duncan and Cheryl are bitterly unfunny. Marquess won't let them go but they have only barely managed to move up from actively killing every scene they were in. Mitzeee is more fun on paper than she has been onscreen, although she has her moments. That's about it on comedy characters, although I do love what Marquess is doing with Myra - lots of fun and silly stuff.

Kirkwood probably did the best job of blending comic and serious stories, at least in his first year or two as producer.

Marquess has brought back the social issue element but as a producer he has a very weird sensibility and it ruins all the social issue stories. Steph's cancer story became a sick joke - that awful play, her committing suicide, her funeral being a farce, the added absurdity of "angry" Gilly, of Frankie and that damn cardboard cutout. The gay domestic violence story is quickly thrown aside because a lot of fans and the producer love Brendan, so it soon becomes yet another saga of the sexually confused twerp and his beard, Ste as the new Craig Dean, only now they are going to have Ste as the abuser just to make sure viewers don't have a negative opinion of Brendan. What a lovely message to send about domestic violence victims. And the "stranger danger" story with India's murder quickly devolved into yet another clumsy lobotomy saga - her killer wanders around the crime scene and creeps everyone out, and no one notices or cares. Nancy, who has always had a brain, blithely wanders around in the dead of night alone with this creepy man she barely knows, who is unnaturally interested in the murders. It's ridiculous.