So Different, yet so much the same.
Neighbours, Home and Away- so different, yet so much the same. Two dramas, two different channels, two different time slots. Both shows competing for the higher ratings and the overall love of a drama. No person can say that they love both shows the same because it is just not possible. People have grown up with these shows, people live for these shows and Channel 7 (Home and Away) and 10 (Neighbours) don’t realize the love that some people grow for their dramas.
There is an obvious, but hidden competition that never ends between the two shows, they are on at different times, so anyone could watch both with ease, so why don’t they? Words cant describe the feud that Home and Away and Neighbours have with each other because it is deniable, yet any loyal Neighbours fan and any loyal Home and Away fan will do exactly that and stay loyal.
The only reason that Neighbours and Home and Away seem like complete enemies is the competition, these days there are competitions for everything. There are plenty of different shows that could compete against Neighbours or Home and Away, yet the bond which brings these two soapies together also breaks them apart. So the question that everybody is thinking- Which Drama is better? Is there a way that you can decide?
Define Better… The dictionary definition of Better is- ‘more excellent, in a higher degree, more suitable.’
The drama which is ‘better’ that the other doesn’t always have to have the higher ratings or the majority of fans, every single person will have a different point of view on which show is most suitable for them. That being said, the different time slots give them both different restrictions. Neighbours being on at 6:30pm is still a kiddy hour, being on after shows like The Simpsons, its timeslot is too early to be rated anything higher than G. Home and Away’s time slot is a totally different story, starting half an hour later than Neighbours, it has the opportunity to have one higher rating and much more freedom. Not every episode of Home and Away is rated PG, yet any episode could suggest Parental Guidance. Therefore Neighbours being rated G makes it suitable to all audiences, more audiences than Home and Away is suitable to. Does this make Neighbours a better show? Or do its restrictions make it less interesting than Home and Away can be?
Both Home and Away and Neighbours have been on Australian television for over 20 years, Neighbours for just 2 years longer. Way back, Channel 7 previewed the first episode to their new show, Neighbours. Yes, Channel 7 were the first to air this show about the residence of Ramsay Street, yet in 1985 after becoming disappointed with the ratings- it was axed, only to be thankfully picked up by Channel 10, who turned it into a world wide phenomenon.
The first ever scene of Neighbours, back in the Channel 7 days kicked off with a bang after a bad dream caused young teen, Danny to aggravate his father, Max Ramsay with his awakening screams only to be eventually comforted by mother, Maria. The relationship between Max and Maria eventually broke off after Max found out that he wasn’t the biological father of Danny. More to the concern of Max the next night was the loud noise coming from a few doors down, Des Clarkes bucks party going late into the night. His soon to be wife, Lorraine was deliberating with bridesmaid, Julie Martin whether or not this marriage was worth getting into. Before the marriage reached the altar, it was off and Des soon married his Bucks party stripper, Daphne.
After the Seven Network realized the loss of Neighbours, they soon were on the look out for another teen- based drama to fill that vacant spot, and that’s where Home and Away came to life.
Home and Away’s Pilot episode started with a flashback showing Tom Fletcher having trouble with his foster son, Frank. Tom is warned that one foster child is enough, but 10 years later, he is celebrating his 40th birthday with wife Pippa and their five foster kids: Frank, Carly, Steven, Lynn and Sally. When Tom loses his job in the city, the family moves to Summer Bay and takes over the Caravan Park.
Home and Away and Neighbours both hold the records for the longest running dramas on Australian TV. Both shows started off with a bang, leaving interest for the following episodes. Another important question is whether both shows have kept the intrigue going still today. Running for over 2 decades isn’t easy, yet both soapies have kept their cool for that long amount of time.
Over the years, these home grown Aussie Dramas have been the kick off for some young stars, some have just flopped out of the industry, yet most have excelled onto bigger and better things. Neighbours has been the starting point for some stars now knows around the globe, including- Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Delta Goodrem, Natalie Imbruglia, Craig McLachlan, Holly Valance and Natalie Bassingthwaighte. Some of Home and Aways home grown heroes include- Melissa George, Bec Hewitt, Belinda Emmett, Dannii Minogue, Tammin Sursok and Chris Hemsworth. There is nothing that makes both shows any prouder than knowing how far the stars that they discovered have come. Back in the present day, both shows are still producing young stars who will one day make them proud.
Drama is in everybody’s lives, death, marriage, love, children, drugs, hate and hope; this is one thing that you are guaranteed to find in both Neighbours and Home and Away. Revolving around the same sort of drama makes Neighbours and Home and Away so similar and hard to compare, yet there are some important different things that make the way that you view the shows a totally different experience.
Neighbours is based in a suburban town, Erinsborough, the characters in the show live in the six houses in one through road- Ramsay Street. We find them visiting places such as Charlies Bar, The General Store, Lassiters Hotel, Lassiters Lake and Carpenters Mechanics.
Home and Away is situated in the beachy town of Summer Bay, where there are plenty of ways for tourists to settle. Including The Caravan Park, The Diner, Surf Club, Bait Shop and the loyal Summer Bay Beach.
Drama is a main key in the success of such a show, yet the basis of where each character comes from, where they go at the end of the day and the people that they respect and love is a major way to put forward a show like this.
Excellence is a way that you can judge the better show, yet how can a soapie produce excellence and how can that be judged? There are many things that are needed to be contributed to make either show a whole and worthy of excellence. There are rooms full of people who come up with the ideas and write the scripts for both Neighbours and Home and Away, what they come up with gets scrutinized and judged. The effort put into by actors on 5-day-a-week shows like these is enormous, yet the effort could mean nothing if their character is not portrayed believably and with heart. These actors are picked and pocked and pressured to be completely up to scratch and perfect. Surely things like hair, make up and props don’t mean too much when it comes to determining the better show, yet it all does contribute to make a difference.
Australian television is so advanced and admired, all of the hard work is eventually acknowledged once a year at the TV Week Logie Awards. This is the best place for an actor or actresses work to be awarded and also the show itself. Over the years both Neighbours and Home and Away have received awards for female and male talent, new talent, particular storylines and the most important award for the show itself is the ‘Most Popular Drama Award.’ Yet the pinnacle of awards at the Logies is the official ‘Gold Logie Award’ where an actor or actress is especially awarded for their popularity and excellence. The only Home and Away star to have ever won a Gold Logie is Kate Ritchie, who won it twice in 2007 and 2008. There have been two stars to have won this award for Neighbours- Kylie Minogue, back in 1988 and Craig McLachlan in 1990. The awards for Most Popular Drama have had Home and Away receive double the amount of Neighbours, with 8 awards to Neighbours’ 4, all won from the time of 1987- 1990, Home and Aways awards have been more recent. A very important moment for the history of Neighbours was back in 2005 when the show entered the very important ‘Hall of Fame,’ to be remembered forever.
These awards are all determined by popularity, yet popularity does not at all make either show any better. There is no way at all to have a better show, because there is no way to decide how a show is better. Every single individual watches either Neighbours or Home and Away because of the love that they have for it, there is no reason to compare either show because words will never stop love, and love is what drives these shows to grow and be better.
