Neighbours should be there for one another, because that’s when good neighbours become good friends. But unfortunately, after 37 career-launching years, Australian TV show Neighbours is finally coming to an end. Hollywood stars such as Guy Pearce, Russell Crowe and Margot Robbie all had early roles on the long-running soap opera.
The official Neighbours account tweeted; “We are so sorry to say that after nearly 37 years and almost 9000 episodes broadcast, we have to confirm that Neighbours will cease production in June. Following the loss of our key broadcast partner in the UK and despite an extensive search for alternative funding, we simply have no option but to rest the show. To our amazing, loyal fans, we know this is a huge disappointment, as it is to all of us on the team. We thank you for all your messages and support and promise to end the show on an incredible high. From here on, we are celebrating Neighbours.”
Pop star Kylie Minogue, who played Charlene, and Hollywood star Guy Pearce, who played Mike – both in the late 1980s – were among the first to respond to the statement with their condolences. Minogue said; “I’ll be forever grateful for the experience & the friends I made on Neighbours. We had no idea how big the show would become and how passionately viewers would take it to heart. Pure love! I can still hear Madge calling … CHARLENE!!!!”
Pearce said; “I’m so sorry to hear Neighbours will end. Aside from being the incredible launch pad it’s been, no one can deny the effect it’s had throughout millions of homes around the world. It’s bonded all of us in immeasurable ways. A true honour to have been a part of it. Great memories.”
Pearce and Minogue were not the only big stars who had their careers launched by Neighbours. Russell Crowe, Margot Robbie, Ben Mendelsohn, Bella Heathcote and Liam Hemsworth (with his brother Chris being on Home & Away) all started out there too. The Neighbours-to-pop-star pipeline was also a successful career path, for the likes of Natalie Imbruglia, Holly Valance and Delta Goodrem.
Both Guy Pearce and Russell Crowe got their Hollywood break-through roles in 1997’s thriller movie LA Confidential. Robbie went straight from Neighbours to American TV show Pan Am, before breaking through in The Wolf of Wall Street and then starring as Harley Quinn in the DCEU. One of Hemsworth’s first American movies was The Last Song with Miley Cyrus, before playing Gale in The Hunger Games.
For British kids who grew up with Neighbours, phrases like “strewth,” “fair dink’um,” “flamin’ galah or flamin’ mongrel,” “rack off,” “daggy” and “drongo” became part of the vocabulary. Scott and Charlene’s Wedding in 1987 brought in 20 million viewers in the UK. While it hasn’t reached those heights of popularity for probably a couple of decades, it’s still very much the end of an era.
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