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So ages and ages ago I started watching Neighbours FROM THE START. Then it got taken down from the YouTubes and I stopped. Then I found it on Daily Motion and resumed, and I have now reached...
EPISODE ONE HUNDRED!!!!!
Yes, I realise that is not a large number given that there are nine billion episodes in total, but still, as it is a milestone, here is a rundown of where we are:
Des is sharing with Daphne and they are adorable. There are hints that Daphne is jealous of Des's fiancee but her meddling is rather sweet and in general they are my favourite part of the show. (They also have the house that has changed the least in 35 years, which is nice.) I like that despite Daphne being the most glamorous cast member the show doesn't treat her stripping job as pure titillation. They are perhaps the part of the show that is most recognisably the same as the GOLDEN ERA of '88ish. Des is quite a subtle character and not at all the buffoon he has been in his recent appearances (yes, they brought Des back!!!)
The Ramsay house is very familiar but it's current inhabitants, Danny (a teen boy) and Maria Ramsay, are less iconic than Madge and Harold. Danny is the slightly likelier of the two likely lads, the other being Scott Robinson who is a bit colourless and not really anything like his later Jason Donovan version. Maria is a kind of Gloria-off-of-Modern-Family young European wife to Ozzie Bloke Max, who I vagely remember from when I started watching. Max has his rather sensitive side and can be the funniest character (he gets punched in one episode and his fall is Delboy-through-the-bar levels of amazing). Max and other son Shane have moved out. Shane was a character who hung around quite a while, but he's not in it very much at present, and I keep forgetting he's dating Daphne. Of these characters it might have been nice to see a return of Max and Danny later, overall the Ramsay clan improved a lot in later years.
The Robinson house is very familiar too, though it's hard to believe that out of all its inhabitants, Paul would become the longest serving. At present he's a bit generic and Stefan Denis is phoning it in a little. Luckily the girls make up for these lacklustre boys. Original Lucy is AMAZING, a smart-alec spitfire who's always sticking her adorable nose into everyone's business. I can sort of track the character to Modern Lucy even if the actresses look completely different. But Best Girl goes to Julie. You might recall Julie returned with new husband Philip Martin and kids Hannah and Another One, but I think I can safely say that neither Later-Julie or Later-Philip were anywhere near as good. First Julie is wonderful, an emotionally generous fussbudget, equal parts Lucy From Peanuts and Charlie Brown Also From Peanuts. Later Julie, from what I recall, rather lost the more sensitive side, and Later Philip was never quite as tortured as Original Philip.
Then there's Helen and Jim, who are just instantly perfect and the best actors in the whole thing. Jim is Everyone's Daddy and I am very surprised to find him hot. Helen is the perfect grandmother, taking everyone's problems as seriously as they deserve but no more, and the rest of the time happily getting on with her own things. That mainly leaves Terry: she is a Charlene prototype in that she is Max's plumbing assistant and is constantly in overalls and being tomboyish. She just got engaged to Paul, but I can safely say that she is not a CLASSIC PAUL WIFE. In general I think the show does well to round out the characters and avoid stereotypes, there could have easily been conflict between Max (working class) and Jim (bit posh) but they are mostly friends with the occasional bit of friction. It's just that some of the teens / 20s characters need a bit more body, but this is definitely something that got addressed in later years. I'm amused that the show's tendency to burn through storylines was always there, there's one about a kid who is always riding his BMX in the road (hashtag just eighties things) and Jim tries to dad him a bit and his actual dad is all like YOU MAY BE JIM ROBINSON BUT STOP DADDING MY CHILD and then the kid is killed off screen by a car and the very next scene is AFTER THE FUNERAL when the kid's dad say to Jim WELL I GUESS YOU WERE RIGHT TO DAD MY BOY AFTER ALL, OH WELL and then that is IT for that storyline. I love it.
So with the above in mind, here are the EPISODE ONE HUNDRED CHARACTER RANKINGS:
1) Daphne. She is amaze
2) Julie. She is too pure for this world
3) Lucy
4) Des
5) Jim
6) Helen
7) Max
8) Terry
9) Danny
10) Shane
11) Paul but I suspect he will climb in subsequent charts
12) Maria
13) Scott, he will also climb but probably only one he gets his Jason Face
14) The dog (not Bouncer) that they forget about for literally dozens of episodes at a time
Other observations: it's mainly these three houses and occasionally the bank that Des and Julie work at. The wider community doesn't factor in it much, though Des's mum is a bit of a Mrs Mangel prototype. There is no Lassiters or Erinsborough High (in fact I'm not sure they've even said the word Erinborough yet). Scott has got a job at a coffee shop but I don't know if it's THE coffee shop.
I think I am about halfway to the BIG REBOOT. I am trying to guess what was the first episode I saw, I'm fairly sure Max was still in in when I watched it during the school holidays. Anyway, BACK TO DAILY MOTION FOR MORE THRILLS AND SPILLS.
EPISODE ONE HUNDRED!!!!!
Yes, I realise that is not a large number given that there are nine billion episodes in total, but still, as it is a milestone, here is a rundown of where we are:
Des is sharing with Daphne and they are adorable. There are hints that Daphne is jealous of Des's fiancee but her meddling is rather sweet and in general they are my favourite part of the show. (They also have the house that has changed the least in 35 years, which is nice.) I like that despite Daphne being the most glamorous cast member the show doesn't treat her stripping job as pure titillation. They are perhaps the part of the show that is most recognisably the same as the GOLDEN ERA of '88ish. Des is quite a subtle character and not at all the buffoon he has been in his recent appearances (yes, they brought Des back!!!)
The Ramsay house is very familiar but it's current inhabitants, Danny (a teen boy) and Maria Ramsay, are less iconic than Madge and Harold. Danny is the slightly likelier of the two likely lads, the other being Scott Robinson who is a bit colourless and not really anything like his later Jason Donovan version. Maria is a kind of Gloria-off-of-Modern-Family young European wife to Ozzie Bloke Max, who I vagely remember from when I started watching. Max has his rather sensitive side and can be the funniest character (he gets punched in one episode and his fall is Delboy-through-the-bar levels of amazing). Max and other son Shane have moved out. Shane was a character who hung around quite a while, but he's not in it very much at present, and I keep forgetting he's dating Daphne. Of these characters it might have been nice to see a return of Max and Danny later, overall the Ramsay clan improved a lot in later years.
The Robinson house is very familiar too, though it's hard to believe that out of all its inhabitants, Paul would become the longest serving. At present he's a bit generic and Stefan Denis is phoning it in a little. Luckily the girls make up for these lacklustre boys. Original Lucy is AMAZING, a smart-alec spitfire who's always sticking her adorable nose into everyone's business. I can sort of track the character to Modern Lucy even if the actresses look completely different. But Best Girl goes to Julie. You might recall Julie returned with new husband Philip Martin and kids Hannah and Another One, but I think I can safely say that neither Later-Julie or Later-Philip were anywhere near as good. First Julie is wonderful, an emotionally generous fussbudget, equal parts Lucy From Peanuts and Charlie Brown Also From Peanuts. Later Julie, from what I recall, rather lost the more sensitive side, and Later Philip was never quite as tortured as Original Philip.
Then there's Helen and Jim, who are just instantly perfect and the best actors in the whole thing. Jim is Everyone's Daddy and I am very surprised to find him hot. Helen is the perfect grandmother, taking everyone's problems as seriously as they deserve but no more, and the rest of the time happily getting on with her own things. That mainly leaves Terry: she is a Charlene prototype in that she is Max's plumbing assistant and is constantly in overalls and being tomboyish. She just got engaged to Paul, but I can safely say that she is not a CLASSIC PAUL WIFE. In general I think the show does well to round out the characters and avoid stereotypes, there could have easily been conflict between Max (working class) and Jim (bit posh) but they are mostly friends with the occasional bit of friction. It's just that some of the teens / 20s characters need a bit more body, but this is definitely something that got addressed in later years. I'm amused that the show's tendency to burn through storylines was always there, there's one about a kid who is always riding his BMX in the road (hashtag just eighties things) and Jim tries to dad him a bit and his actual dad is all like YOU MAY BE JIM ROBINSON BUT STOP DADDING MY CHILD and then the kid is killed off screen by a car and the very next scene is AFTER THE FUNERAL when the kid's dad say to Jim WELL I GUESS YOU WERE RIGHT TO DAD MY BOY AFTER ALL, OH WELL and then that is IT for that storyline. I love it.
So with the above in mind, here are the EPISODE ONE HUNDRED CHARACTER RANKINGS:
1) Daphne. She is amaze
2) Julie. She is too pure for this world
3) Lucy
4) Des
5) Jim
6) Helen
7) Max
8) Terry
9) Danny
10) Shane
11) Paul but I suspect he will climb in subsequent charts
12) Maria
13) Scott, he will also climb but probably only one he gets his Jason Face
14) The dog (not Bouncer) that they forget about for literally dozens of episodes at a time
Other observations: it's mainly these three houses and occasionally the bank that Des and Julie work at. The wider community doesn't factor in it much, though Des's mum is a bit of a Mrs Mangel prototype. There is no Lassiters or Erinsborough High (in fact I'm not sure they've even said the word Erinborough yet). Scott has got a job at a coffee shop but I don't know if it's THE coffee shop.
I think I am about halfway to the BIG REBOOT. I am trying to guess what was the first episode I saw, I'm fairly sure Max was still in in when I watched it during the school holidays. Anyway, BACK TO DAILY MOTION FOR MORE THRILLS AND SPILLS.
