Neighbours nostalgia (2009 and before)

I couldn't find a topic that wasn't archived so I thought I'd post one here.

I'm mainly going to talk about the presentation of the soap. But firstly I'd like to talk about the thing that, obviously is the most important; the content. I've tuned in this week to Neighbours after a few years of not seeing it. I'd stopped watching around mid-2006, as I just felt it wasn't really a family show anymore. The lyrics of the famous theme now seem ironic considering the fact most of the show revolves around family arguments, such as the current one with Summer and Lyn.

In 1996, the BBC made what is probably the biggest contribution they ever made to the show by actually persuading the show's bosses to make the show more family-friendly, and stop focusing on younger characters with a, dare I say it to make me look old, "younger attitude". After all the BBC is a PSB service, and they knew what their viewers wanted, and it wasn't Jersey Shore, or The Hills, or whatever equivalent was on at that time. Now that Channel 5 has the show, they don't have to bother, and so the show just seems to have lost its heart. Sure I can watch Home & Away, Corrie, etc but Neighbours is a show that played a big part in my life. After all, it was always the show that was on after I came home from school or uni and somehow I came to enjoy it. It was fun. The comedic aspect appealed to me. This is something Corrie does really well.

Now, the biggest problem for me is the 2007 relaunch, to make the show feel "younger". There's that word again. I think this was just a huge mistake. This is what has just lead me to think its become 'Aussie Hollyoaks'. Though there is a still a huge array of older cast members, the focus is on the younger side of things. It doesn't help that the original Australia broadcaster has moved the show to its digital station for a younger audience. Now it'll have to stay like this.

If this kind of thing gets ratings, which it still does in the UK (2m compared to around 7k down under) then good for them. But I think it would appeal a lot more if there was the more family feel that the BBC injected in 1996. With Channel 5, this isn't going to happen. And the move to Eleven in Australia really doesn't help things.

Anyway, on with the presentation. I think they made a really bad decision in ditching the 2002 theme tune. I personally believe it is the best theme tune in the history of the show. Why? Because it is simple. It's just acoustic guitar, and harmony singing. Why is this good? Because it doesn't attach itself to a period of music. The original music? Synth. 80s. The 90s music? Jazz. 90s. The 00s music? Acoustic guitar. Timeless. The current music? Rock. 00s. The theme tune was brilliant, it was the best variation of all the theme tunes, and most of all, it was timeless.

Finally, the logo and title sequence. I think most Neighbours viewers will agree that the 2003 titles were the best out of the recent lot. The split-screen effect worked very well and was simple. It wasn't cheesy or obviously played-out like the 80s and 90s variations. And why the change in logo? Again, to appeal to the younger audience. At this stage, Neighbours just isn't Neighbours anymore. It's more like Hollyoaks. If anything, they just rename it Erinsborough.

Well, that's my little rant on Neighbours. I haven't ever discussed it here or on any other forum, I just felt it was something I watched. But now I realise that it's one of those long-running shows you hate to see die. So, hopefully, this long post will be in tune with some other people's opinions.

And yes, I did steal David's topic description format. But hey, I couldn't resist.

I agree that Neighbours has gone downhill of late. Like you, it's a show I've watched for as long as I can remember. Nearly everyone in my family watched it in the late 80s and early 90s and as such I was indoctrinated from a very early age. I've probably been watching it of my own will for 20 years and in that time I've hardly missed an episode. However, for the past 3 years or so, I really could ditch it at any point. Sometimes I sit there and think to myself 'why am I watching this?' - the only answer I can come up with is that it's because I've invested so much time in the show that I want to see it through. However, if it carries on the way it is now, I sincerely doubt that will happen.

Like you, I think the drop in quality came in 2007 but the rot set in some time before then. I really didn't enjoy the 2004-2007 period when it was over the top dramatic in nearly every episode, but since then it's just been plain boring. Every single episode now revolves around some sort of dispute or one character lying to or cheating on others. It's become so negative that it's hard to watch. The cosy, happy feel the show had until the early 2000s has long gone. It's such a shame to see a once great show rot away like Neighbours is.

As for the remedy, well I think I'd start by sweeping away some of the executive producers. Then, they need to restructure the show from top to bottom, starting with returning to some complete, nuclear families living on Ramsay Street. The only house that currently has something resembling a nuclear family is the Kennedy house. Aside from that, it's all broken families or room-mates sharing. Don't get me wrong, I completely appreciate that 21st century life isn't all hunky dory and that families do break up - but do we really need such harsh reality on every TV programme? As a result of this change, they could introduce some much-needed older characters. Having Harold Bishop back this week has really shown that Neighbours needs more older characters as role models for the younger ones. Now that Lyn's going and Lou hardly ever appears, there's only three older characters in the entire show - Karl, Susan and Paul. Compare that with at least 10 or 15 people under 35. I know Neighbours has to appeal to young people as they make up a large share of the viewership, but not to the detriment of a well-rounded and balanced show. They have to do something if they want Neighbours to survive. In it's current form, I wouldn't be surprised if it goes under in 5 years.

I'm afraid you didn't look far enough ... the existing Neighbours thread is linked below, and hasn't been archived yet.

"Neighbours - 2010 and onwards" ... most recent posts on Page 8 from 29th April 2011.

Well, then I'll add a request in due course to merge my post with that topic.

(Fake Aussie accent) "No worries mate ... stick another shrimp on the baaarrrbie!"

yeah Neighbours want stupid after about 2003/2004 Still can't believe how that Susan Bower is still working there

I think it's a global phenomenon. EastEnders turned into a glorified Byker Grove in recent years, where it's all about the young people and their "issues". The "adults" just bitch and scream at each other constantly. As far as the standard of writing and acting is concerned I've seen better am-dram productions.

After the BBC was told to pay 3 times from what it was paying it seemed doomed from there on it got 5million uk viewers and being the 2nd most watch daytime programme on the bbc as this report shows:

Also, I've noticed in Australia that since the revamp the credits have been shortened by 1 minute, from 90 seconds to just 20 nowadays, omitting quite a lot of crucial credits in my opinion.

Infact, if we condensed the amount of credits back then to the timeframe now, it would look something like this:

[media:a53c58ccf5]http://up.metropol247.co.uk/062011/1309107522_1167825319.m4v[/media:a53c58ccf5]

Haha!! Love it!

I agree that the closing credits are far too short nowadays. If I worked on Neighbours I'd be quite annoyed that I don't get a credit - the only ones who get credited now are the talent, the writers and director. The days of the tea lady being credited are long gone.

And those credits aren't from that long ago, in fact, only from 2003.

The full credits play out on Fridays in Australia: