Shortland Street's producers need to get to a hospital fast - Top 10 changes I'd make

I've been watching Shortland Street since 1994. It's one of the first ever TV shows that I started watching and it is the whole reason I got into acting in the first place. Since 1994 there have been some good years during the show's production and some absolutely awful years. Despite that I haven't ever really stopped watching.

That was until last year. After a really bad 2024 the show was cut down to three episodes a week due to budget constraints and problems with viewing numbers due to the rise in the number of people streaming and not watching linear/analogue/live TV. Most people these days who have a television only have it for dedocation or just use the applications on it rather than actually watching live TV.

That is just one of the many problems with Shortland Street though there are many more and I will detail them in this blog post.  Before you ask why I still have a blog in 2026 when most people have vlogs, the answer is quite simple. I prefer the written word and would rather write content than read content. That's not to say I wouldn't start a YouTube channel, I do have one. I just don't feel like posting videos. The written word is way more authentic for me and there's less need to perform, which is weird given I'm an actor and ernjoy being on camera.

Anyway, moving on from that and into the purpose of the blog. Here are some changes I would make to the show to get it back to its glory days.

1 - Re-introduce non-hospital sets

While some drama absolutely takes place in the hospital, normally the ED department, the best place for drama is at someone's house/apartment, the local bar, the local cafe, the local school or exterior locations like a beach or the street. The show lacks a big financial budget so that's no issue. In 1992 Chris's apartment was first introduced. Two years later Grace's apartment was introduced but they were actually the same set refurnished based on whose apartment was being filmed in. It gets very boring watching a show with only one or two hospital sets.

Retire the Molly's set. It is one of the worst bar sets the show has ever had and is absoultely awful. There also hasn't been a cafe set since the 2022 season finale when there was the Ferndale fire.  A cafe set needs to be re-introduced rather than just filming the staff outside having lunch or coffee. Even having a caravan with a couple of seats would be oky if the budget doesn't allow for a completely new set to be built.

 2 - Reduce the number of medical storylines

If people wanted to watch Grey's Anatomy or some equivalent show they would. If they wanted to watch a medical documentary they would. Basically the excessive use of medical storylines becomes boring and there's no reason to tune in every episode. 

 3 - Re-introduce a family and personal relationships

People tune into the show for relationships and want drama. Without a family you don't have drama. Without teenagers you don't have drama. Without parents you don't have drama. Without interpersonal relationships whether that's romantic relationships, friendships or sworn enemies you do not have drama.  That also provides opportunities for weddings and funerals, neither or which the show has had in at least a couple of years. Introduce a proper group of teenagers so they can interact with eachother rather than casting a teenager and giving them adult storylines like they did with Cassie.

4 - Stop recycling storylines

It gets really boring seeing Esther pregnant basically every single year. Just because the actor is pregnant in real life does not mean that needs to be written into the show. Women can have storylines other than being pregnant. Ther'es opportunities for love triangles, career issues, attempted murder, mental health issues etc.

5 - Don't refuse to cast white women

The last couple of years the producers have been happy to cast white men, coloured men, but for some reason refuse to cast white women which is outright racism and reduces relatability. Look through previous cast photos and you'll see the cast was actually MORE diverse in the 90s than it is now. It's outright exclusionary at this point and the producers will aliente the few viewers they have left if they don't do something about this. Bringing back former cast members like Rachel and Libby does not count. There are no NEW white women being cast. That is an actual fact. Race doesn't need to be a character's sole identity either. Look back on episodes from the 90s and you'll see it was just a part of who they were but wasn't their entire personality. On that, don't pair characters just for diversity sake. The reality is Chris Warner would never ever look at someone like Selina, yet they've been paired and it just suspends belief based on the character's 33 year history.

 6 - Quit with the time jumps

TV is supposed to be escapism. It suspends reality if there is a time jump between the season finale and the season return. It just looks like sloppy writing and leaves so many unanswered questions. If budget is the issue then film the season return at the same time as the season finale and THEN take the end of year break. It's also really anti climactic if there's a time jump and reduces possible drama. Shortland Street is a serial not a movie and shouldn't be written as a movie.

7 - Bring back the fun storylines

In the 90s there were some crazy storylines like a wedding ring being caught in a fish and arguments over who would have the trolley round. The producers needs to introduce the fun back  into the show rather than just having depressing storylines.

 8 - Don't butcher characters

There are so many characters recently that have been absolutely butchered like HarryWarner (this can be fixed by doing a stolen identity storyline like with Samara in 2001), Nicole Miller, Maeve Mullens and Harper Whitley. If a character has exhausted their usefulness then write them out. Don't keep them on the show just because you're friends with them. Keep them behind the scenes if you want to keep them employed but don't butcher them.

9 - Introduce a bartender and/or cafe owner

These two positions can actually be combined with the person working between the two or if a couple was brought back like Nick and Waverley or Caroline and Greg they could work in both. It would also open up potential for more storylines and give viewers a break from all the hospital sets which became really repetitive and boring after a while. 

10 - Adopt a digital first approach. Rather than targeting traditional networks simply make the show available on the TVNZ website at a small price for a subscription regardless of geographical location. Nobody wants to wait six months for a whow to be shown at a specific time anymore. That's simply not what people's viewing habits are anymore. Change with the times.

 There are so many other changes I would make but these are the top ones.