Home and Away or Neighbours?

[katya]

in Neighbours there are quite a few that have been around 5+ years and to be honest none really get on my nerves.

Oh, there are so many characters in Neighbours that get on my nerves! Particularly the entire Timmins clan and especially Stingray - he's so hyper it just grates, and his character is not funny at all, just whiny. Bree really bugs me as well, and to be honest it's been so long since I watched Neighbours that I can't remember why. And Lynne. Oh my God. Possibly the most irritating woman on TV, as well as the flakiest. And her hair is insane; I can't believe she's supposed to be a hairdresser. Sort it out woman! Steph always had the potential to be a really good character, but as far as I know she's just become really boring - and I know she has the cancer storyline but why couldn't they let her stay single and develop her wild streak a little?

Despite this, I do like some characters - Karl and Susan, for example, but only when they're together. They used to be such a realistic couple. They had loads of little natural touches that made them work really well together; they used to finish each other's sentences and I always liked the way they talked over each other when they were having a disagreement - it was so true to life. I miss those days

[neighbours_h&a_fan]

Neighbours is WAAAAY better that H&A in my opinion.

[katya]

Why is that so? Most of my friends prefer Neighbours to Home and Away but I really don't get why, I just think it's so boring!

[~Angel~]

home and away so beats neighbours, i think its got a far better storyline and way better characters. (no offence to neighbour fans)

[Princesssparkle]

I prefer Homeandaway but Neighbours storylines are a bit more believable like everday stuff, Sky going to Uni, or showing charachters sitting in each others houses just for a chat you dont really see that as much in Homeandaway and they rely more on comical things happening, for exmaple what Stingray and Dylan, Toadie etc get up to!

[ste]

The downside to Home and Away is that you can't watch episodes any faster than they produce them. With Neighbours you can watch as much as you like. All you have to do is slap some paint on a wall and watch it dry. Ok, so it lacks the theme tune, but the effect is much the same.

[katya]

Yea, I've noticed that too.

[claire@easypeasy.com]

Yea, I've noticed that too.

I watched Neighbours yesterday and today, and compared with Home and Away's cyclone episodes and Hayley and Scott's leaving do, it was sooo boring. Yet my sister loves Neighbours and thinks that Home and Away is boring ! ( I don't even think she has watched H &A !). Comparing Home and Away's past couple of episodes and Neighbours last few episodes proves why Home and Away won 4 logies and Neighbours won none! I am really missing H & A Australian pace now that nei.gfunk is down!

[~Lynd~]

Home and Away is a lot better.I prefer the characters and the storylines.Neigbours is to slow and i get bored.

I remember when i was lyounger they were both on at the same time so i'd go in the bedroom and watch it on a black and white tv while everyone else watched Neigbours!

I do think the storylines are picking up on Neighbours though,they are starting to realize it does really bad in the ratings in Australia and need to do something about it.

I don't really care if i miss an episode of either,though i get more annoyed if i miss Home And Away then if i miss Neighbours.

[Angel_Parrish]

I agree with everyone who said that the channels that both are shown on in the UK has made a huge difference to the amount of viewers. For Neighbours 20th anniversary, the BBC made a special programme and advertised the show loads, and generally made a big deal of it. To be honest, I can't see Five doing the same for Home and Away's 20th. Also, the fact that Home and Away wasn't shown for a year would have definately lost viewers, although I do remember that they did a behind the scenes programme and catch up show when it started on Five.

Having said that, I seem to remmeber seeing somewhere (I think it was in the TV mag where they list the top 10 shows for each channel from the past week) that a couple of years ago Home and Away was the most watched programme on Five. That probably isn't the case now that they have shows like House and Grey's Anatomy though.

In terms of which I prefer, I always try and watch Home and Away, whereas yesterday was the first time I watched Neighbours in about a month. The storylines may be more realistic, but I don't really find it very entertaining watching people plod around not doind very much. Maybe I would if the characters were actually likeable, but since they brought the Timmins in (with the exception of Stingray and Dylan) they have irritated me, I don't like Lyn, Max, Alex's kids (and Alex in fact) and others. The storyline when Toadie became a wrestler really did it for me. It's a shame because, a few years ago they did big, emotional storylines such as Dee's death really well, but nowadays their attempts at Home and Away style disasters aren't a patch on the real thing.

So yes, Home and Away may be a bit unbelievable, but the fact that the actors are so good, and that the characters are still well written and likeable makes me enjoy it so much more. Neighbours is too much like Eastenders and Corrie, which is probably why a lot of people in the UK watch it, but is the reason I don't.

God, sorry about the essay!!