3 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Chances also went this route when Australian soaps had become much more conservative - the last successful Australian soaps to have nudity and raciness ended in the late '70s.

To be fair, aside from some tit and ass shots, the early episodes of Chances aren't really "racy". I think "Home and Away with tits" sums it up - if anything it's kind of jarring to go from kind of wholesome family drama to a shot of Jeremy Sims ass getting out of a pool.

On 2/28/2026 at 7:57 PM, DRW50 said:

@dc11786 Always appreciate your insights. I'll have to look for more of these as I go through the show. I had never even heard of Jackson's Wharf. That seems to be on Tubi. Other than Shortland Street New Zealand never seemed to have a long running soap.

I think I only watched a bit of season 1 of Jackson's Wharf, which wasn't terrible but wasn't my cup of tea at the time. As I recall, the second season was more of a traditional cop show while the first one was more soap opera.

22 hours ago, te. said:

To be fair, aside from some tit and ass shots, the early episodes of Chances aren't really "racy". I think "Home and Away with tits" sums it up - if anything it's kind of jarring to go from kind of wholesome family drama to a shot of Jeremy Sims ass getting out of a pool.

As you get on, I believe a lot of the racier material becomes the subject of a bit of meta commentary as it usually is set in the ad agency and there is talk about what is appropriate and all the ad campaigns seems to involve T&A. Not that this is better than the early parts, but it at least seems to flow slightly better.

The first season revamp is odd with Annie Jones character. I do feel the surreal elements of the second season do work for a bit before they don't.

Also this and Number 96 will be airing on Foxtel starting tomorrow

https://tvtonight.com.au/2026/02/soap-classics-number-96-chances-to-replay-on-foxtel.html

On 3/2/2026 at 4:39 AM, dc11786 said:

As you get on, I believe a lot of the racier material becomes the subject of a bit of meta commentary as it usually is set in the ad agency and there is talk about what is appropriate and all the ad campaigns seems to involve T&A.

Oh yeah. I've got to the nude woman with a snake pitch. It all seems pretty random. But still, early Chances pretty much looks like Neighbors or Home and Away from that era - it's just obvious to me why it couldn't gain traction. I mostly play an episode here and there in the background and it's not attention-grabbing imho. I look forward to getting to the crazier parts to see if I suddenly feel the need to sit down and take more notice.

So I've been putting this on in the background and I like how it's suddenly just like "hey, let's join a cult and start worshipping the devil". This is a very logical thing to do.

I don't think you can quite describe the absolute u-turn this show does around episode 70 - all of a sudden everyone's into satanism! It's the hip and happenin' thing to do. It's absolutely bizarre and hilarious.

Oh God. If anyone gave up on this show around episode like - I guess 90? I salute you (not in the way the show does). Because it basically becomes a soft porn show with a bit of tits, ass and a barely coherent plot about nazis, Egyptian sex Goddesses (don't ask) and now a blast from the past that makes Dark Shadows look high budget. Abandon ye ship.

And yes, my post makes it sound more exciting than it is, but think of it as exciting in the way you'd describe a random porno plot. No one cares for the plot.

Edited Saturday at 11:59 PM2 days by te.

17 hours ago, te. said:

Because it basically becomes a soft porn show with a bit of tits, ass and a barely coherent plot about nazis, Egyptian sex Goddesses (don't ask) and now a blast from the past that makes Dark Shadows look high budget.

I feel like maybe everyone involved knew the show was done for? But they still had an episode order to fill, so they just tossed in all that [!@#$%^&*] - not to save the show, or even to go out on a high note or with a bang, but just to fill time, lol.

On 3/15/2026 at 6:37 PM, Khan said:

I feel like maybe everyone involved knew the show was done for? But they still had an episode order to fill, so they just tossed in all that [!@#$%^&*] - not to save the show, or even to go out on a high note or with a bang, but just to fill time, lol.

I really think that they had just given up at one point and were just thoughtlessly throwing things at the wall. At one point it just seems to become too soft-porny and the plots just seem really random. At least at one point it seems like there's a long-term plan to plots.

A bit of an odd comparison, but it makes me think of Brad Garrett's post-"*Everybody Loves Raymond*" sitcom "*Til Death*". It was basically kept being renewed despite being a ratings bomb since Sony saw syndication potential. So everyone on that show got oddly meta with cast members appearing and disappearing, certain characters being inconsistently recast and basically just making fun of how they were time period fillers. I guess when you're writing a dead show walking there's a point you just give up and start doing weird [!@#$%^&*] for the sake of it.

Edited 10 hours ago10 hr by te.

Literal dialogue from the show:

"Dr Engels... isn't he... isn't he the ANGEL OF DEATH?"

"Yes, he's very misunderstood."

"But surely, surely that wouldn't make for good PR?"

I can't. What is this even.

Right so the show is trying to close out in the final three episodes or so. Badly.

It makes me wonder how this show was produced? What were the notes? It's genuinely horrible.