Friday, October 20, 2006

please don't call between 10 - 10:30am

There have been a couple of comments recently about my preoccupation with soap operas. My favourites are the classic Aussie soaps from the '70s and '80s. The current crop of local soaps - Neighbours and Home & Away - just aren't in the same league (though I do watch them when the mood takes me, or if I know a favourite actor is appearing). About five weeks ago I was delighted-and-excited to discover the 7 Network had started screening repeats of Sons & Daughters, which comes in at number 3 on my list of all-time favourites (behind Prisoner at #2 and Number 96 in the top spot). Sons & Daughters is a tale of two families - the rich Sydney-based Hamilton clan and the working class Palmers from Melbourne. The initial storylines centred around twins Angela Hamilton (Ally Fowler) and John Palmer (Peter Phelps), who had been separated at birth and knew nothing of each other 'til a chance meeting (this satisfied my love of soap and my fascination with all things twin).

Sons & Daughters runs for half an hour each weekday morning from 10 o'clock and so far we've seen about 10 episodes (for some idiotic reason they took it off during school holidays). Despite having seen nearly all the episodes when they originally screened, I'm reluctant to start my day without a dose of the miscreant behaviour of Pat the Rat et al. Now, the series ran for 972 episodes and after quickly doing the maths, I figure it's going to take 3.7 years (minimum) to screen the entire series. So, I'm just warning you, if I don't answer the phone between 10 and 10:30 in the morning you'll know why...

And now, here's part of the theme song:

Sons and Daughters
Love and laughter
Tears and sadness
And happiness

We will find out
Our sons and daughters
Are what we two
Were once about

They don't write 'em like that anymore

9 Comments:

Blogger Litzi said...

Hi Nash,
Oh my, Sheila wasn’t kidding when she told us you love your “soapys”. At least you’re not sitting in front of the tube ALL day watching soaps, yak T.V. and game shows. I’ve heard that a lot of professional athletes watch soap operas when they’re on the road and playing evening games. It’s a bit hard to imagine a bulking wide receiver (football) watching “All My Children” and getting emotional about the rise and fall of Erica Kane, but to each their own.

When do your start your 8-week acting workshop? Perhaps one day you’ll be on a television “soapy”…..

October 20, 2006 1:43 PM  
Blogger nash said...

Hi Miss Litzi,
I know a lot of our local soaps won't mean much to you, so perhaps I'll attempt to rectify this in future posts. In the mean time have a look at Wikipedia if you're interested (If I tried I'd probably be able to add a link...).

Unlike the States, we don't have a strong tradition of daytime soaps - apart from US imports - so the stuff I love is mostly prime time fodder

I started the course last Monday and will post something about it very soon...

October 20, 2006 2:15 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

OMIGOD Sons and Daughters was the first TV program I was truly conscious of. My mother was hooked on it. I loved it. I remember the music vividly. I used to sing along... although I couldn't quite work out what it meant!
By the way Nash, Julia Blake from Cop Shop is about to do a play here (with her hubby Terry Norris) called The Gin Game, at the Playhouse (where we saw Muggleton).
Love you babe
BG xxx

October 20, 2006 2:43 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nash, when I read the lyrics to Sons and Daughters (here's the link for you Miss Litzi so you can look it up), I couldn't stop singing it. Now I can't get it out of my head. Here's one for you:

Neighbours, la la la la la,
Neighbours, la la la la la, Neighbours, la la la la perfect land? Neighbours, should be there for one another, thats when good Neighbours become good friends.

October 20, 2006 8:18 PM  
Blogger Litzi said...

Thanks Sheila! Now I can't get it out of MY head....

October 21, 2006 7:36 AM  
Blogger Litzi said...

Hi Nash,
Thanks for telling me about the Wikipedia link. I take it “Sons & Daughters” is similar to “Dynasty” or “Dallas” as opposed to “General Hospital”. Do you get any of our afternoon “soapy” operas in Australia?

Are you enjoying your course? I’m looking forward to reading your post about it….

October 23, 2006 1:10 AM  
Blogger nash said...

Hi Bolton Gray,
What a great introduction to TV! Come over n we can watch 'S&D' together. It'd be interesting to see how much of it you remember...

Miss Litzi,
Yeah, at one time or another we've had loads of US daytime soaps screening here - 'Days Of Our Lives', 'Young & Restless', 'Bold & the Beautiful' and 'Passions' are still on. We used to get 'General Hospital' and more too

Sheila,
You'd better be careful with those ruddy lyrics, they're gonna get stuck in my head too

October 24, 2006 12:41 AM  
Blogger FireHorse said...

Come on Nash. I think 'On the Inside' written by Alan Caswell and sung by Lynn Hamilton was the best add to the effect of the snapsots and sound of the closing door. As a teenager in year 9 when it premiered, I wanted to be on the inside with Lizzie and gang, "Oh, come on D'or let's see what Bea's doin'."

It was much more interesting than the crap that I wasn't listening to in class.

April 20, 2007 8:35 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

what about the one that went something like this...

only a journey to our restless years
let our hearts roam free

August 27, 2007 3:12 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home

Locations of visitors to this page
web site traffic tracking
Matchmaking Services