Shortland Street

In it's original form, "Shortland Street" had a certain naive charm. It was cheesy, it was bad, but it was a soap opera, it was filmed locally (about two minutes from my house, to be exact) and we were young so we forgave it's flaws.

Over the eight years it's been on, however, there's been a definite drop in quality. The early writers of "Shortland Street" knew it was drivel, so nothing was taken very seriously. Minnie's devotion to American soap "Tides of the Heart" was an opportunity for SS to poke fun at itself. Unfortunately, the self-depreciative remarks have gone, as have the enjoyably silly story lines. Current writers seem to believe they're writing Montana Sunday Theatre...only without the talent. Consequently, storylines are now delivered in deadly ernest, and those over the age (and IQ) of 15 are beginning to turn off.

I have kind of a love/hate relationship with this show - sometimes it is gripping, funny and touches on various social issues pretty well, and other times the story and the characters are so stoopid I want to scream! I've been watching it off and on since the beginning of 1992, there's been times when I can't miss a single episode, other times when I couldn't care less. Shortland St does pretty good villains, though - the characters of Mckenzie Choat, Oscar Henry, Greg Feeney and Aleesha Cook (among others) are all unforgettable!

I regret to say that I find this television programme boring, predictable and totally lame. But what do you expect, it is a melodramatic soap opera, is it not! The characters are shallow, more predictable than the sorry plotline we endure every week. It does, however, match other soaps ie 'The Young Doctors', 'Sally Jessie Raphael' and 'The Young and the Restless'. Fortunately, this will never equal ER or even Chicago Hope.

I really see no appeal to this show, it's a struggle for me to watch when I'm forced to. I remember watching it a lot when I was a kid, but that's because back then there were three channels, we couldn't get TV3 and TV1 was pretty bad reception.

The show is repetitive and, personally, boring. When forced to watch it, I know what's going to happen because I can almost always say "This happened ten years ago," and it will have, except with different characters... well, sometimes it's the same characters.

Also, sadly, there are often untalented actors. But that can almost be excusable, as there is admittedly little public outlet for actors in New Zealand to hone their skills.

In all, I feel that the show is rather cheap. So I guess if you want to watch something with limited quality, and you didn't watch the show already a few years ago, you can give it a shot, but I wouldn't recommend it.

Shortland Street is New Zealand's most successful television "drama". Market saturation (it runs at every weekday) and determination by TVNZ has seen the show a steady rater. But despite all the hype (critics and academics who once drubbed it now fall over each other in praise), it's hard to see what's so great about it. Sure, compared to Neighbours, Brookside, Days of Our Lives, it comes off well, but Shortland Street is hardly great drama. In fact, technically, it ain't drama at all but melodrama. The plotlines are thin and pointless, largely consisting of the standard soap love triangles of who is sleeping with whom this week, and the show's much vaunted "humour" is about as amusing as jamming your fingers in a door. I think that Shortland Street's success has, in the long run, crippled NZ TV drama. It seems that, having one success, broadcasters and production companies are now unwilling to branch out and try new things. There is no stratification of primetime drama, there's just Shortland Street and nothing else.

At the end of the day, Shortland Street is a finely put together little soap. But that's all it is, and until we learn to grow up and create proper TV dramas, this silly show will be all we're ever capable of.