Packed to the Rafters

I only started to watch this because a friend told me it was a comedy, and I thought since I love British Comedy shows, an Aussie one might be ok. Well yes there is a lot of funny back and forth with everyone but this is more like a cross between a soap opera and something like Eight is Enough (if you can remember that show). After the first episode I was ready to call it, "Time of Death"? But I have this rule that if I start a new series show to watch, I always give it the first 3 full episodes before giving up. I figure that if it looked decent, I really needed to be sure if it sucked or not. Well I can tell you that I am on Season 3 now and always want to start the next episode right after the previous one. It started out being boring, and ended up catching and holding my interest. It is a great show and I promise if you give it a chance, and you like comedy and family drama, you're gonna love it.

I stumbled upon Packed to the Rafters quite by accident while searching through Amazon Prime for something a bit lighter than the murder mysteries and police/detective dramas I was currently watching. I must say, this show fid not disappoint! It's amusing without being a "comedy" show and has a lot of real life drama without being maudlin.

I think the first seasons which focused more on the kids (Rachel, Ben and Nathan) were better than the later ones that were more about the peripheral characters but I continued to watch until the end and the writers tied-up most of the storylines while still leaving room for a follow-up later. (I haven't watched that one yet).

I do wonder if houses in Australia only come with one bathroom, which seems completely unbelievable in this day & age! Even Carbo's much larger house next door with loads of bedrooms seemed to only have a single bathroom! The writers relied too much on that for their "comic relief and plot reveals" so it was a bit annoying but overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this series and will look for the cast members in other series made before & after this one.

Wow channel 7, what the hell happened? All of the female lead role actors are jumping ship faster then I have ever seen for a new soap. Last season went for 6 shows (WTF?), and upon its return this Aug 2011, it seems like it has lost its magic. Are the actors 'over it', because it seems like all the spark has gone flat. Rachael has gone, Mel has gone, Carbo's flat mate has gone (now on Winners and Loosers).

I never thought I'd say this, but my hectic time schedule allows for Winners and Loosers these days. I am afraid Packed to the Rafters have had too many false starts.

I loved this show so much too. A shame!

Some people rate this show poorly but I think it's great. It revolves around a middle age couple who's mature kids all move back home through different circumstances and the relationship between all of them. It is pretty light but when there are so many dark serious shows and movies around it's nice to see a really nice show based on good old family values. The characters are all well played and after telling my girlfriend this looks like a load of rubbish for 2 weeks I watched an episode and am totally hooked. This is in it's second season and I hope it goes for a few more. Can't wait for the 2nd season to come out in NZ.

I was late to finding this show and sad that it has already ended, but I have enjoyed it immensely.

I am an American and I loved this Australian show.

The thing I like the most about it was it was real and not overdramatic or for excitement purpose. American TV, news, and everything else in the media is always so over the top dramatic, excited, and this was a nice alternative.

There were so many times that I was watching it that I totally forgot that these were actors and not a real family. That does not happen to me often.

The casting crew did a really good job with the common characteristics that family members have when casting each individual family within this show.

I'm going to check out some other Australian shows if I have the ability to from America in hopes that they are very similar.

I also love how different words mean different things and I find that rather interesting and enjoyable to learn.