It's Television: Dissected
TV News, Reviews and Interviews
Some good news and some bad news but mostly all boring news coming out of the US with this morning’s Emmy Awards.
You can see the whole list courtesy of Variety.
Discussion questions will happen after the jump (in case somebody’s waiting till later for some reason).
The Herald Sun this week reported on Channel 9?s end of year line up, under the somewhat humorously banner: Nine?s Rating Charge. It referred to a mess of new Nine shows including the ridiculously over the top Damages, Burke?s Backyard Spring Special (I assume Nine are hoping Burke has somehow traversed the divide from old and past it to retro cool in his time away), Surprise, Surprise Gotcha (hohum, a celebrity prank show), The Singing Bee (karaoke) and a bunch of lifestyle rubbish including: Girl?s Of The Playboy Mansion (already screened on Pay TV), RFDS (about the Flying Doctors), The Gift (about organ donation), and Dirty Jobs (about crap jobs people do).
With the exception possibly of Damages that group has the freshness of week old garbage at best.
To borrow a bit of football parlance I think it?s about time Nine started ?tanking?. 2007 is over, start thinking about 2008. In the meantime, try some different ideas, blood some new players.
Here are some things they could try:
*Give shows more than one of two eps to find their audience. ER has disappeared from our screens already. It was always going to struggle up against Californication.
*Weeds is funnier and more irreverent than Californication and could easily be just as much a hit here. Nine could give it a proper run, showing an entire series or two, unedited, in a consistent timeslot with a bit of promotion.
*Why not use the HBO output deal to give Flight Of The Conchords a run? (Same rules apply as for Weeds) Or the new relationship drama Tell Me You Love Me.
I know none of these ideas will help Nine win the rating the rating but neither will this steaming pile of guff they are serving us.
EDIT Channel 9 are apparently going to screen series two of Weeds from Oct 1st at 10:30pm… Whether this means consistent, unedited and promoted screens remains to be seen.
If you’re ISP throttles your peer-to-peer traffic and hinders you from getting at all that wonderful TV, you might want to have a look at this article from Wired.
Apparently there are ways to get around the problems.
via LifeHacker
News this morning that Mercedes Corby is planning to sue Channel 7 will no doubt see the network tied up in another useless court battle.
Arguments aplenty in this week?s instalment as we examine The Chaser’s APEC stunt, look at local hero Chris Lilley’s new production Summer Heights High, go slightly further a field for the New Zealand via New York lunacy of Flight of the Conchords and dissect a doco on the Human Brain.
Plus when we get sick of arguing with each other then we pick fights with those who have been kind enough to write and can?t answer back in Letters.
Don’t just sit there reading – write in to the Quiz for your chance to win some Crumpler coolness.
102, tomorrow’s podcast today.
Oh, and thanks again to Catbrain for this week’s delicious cake.
Hear:
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
This just in from The Age:
Chaser duo held over APEC stunt
And so the Chaser gets more column inches dedicated to them. Those boys do that so well.
Now we’ve seen a full season of Mick Molloy doing a chat show – with a twist – after Micallef got bent around by management at 9; Parky’s been around forever and Denton’s picked up that format and thrown in a tear-jerker question at the halfway point; and Letterman has inspired any number of pretenders from Vizard to Rove, I wonder what the Boxcutters family want in a late night talk show.
What do you want to see in a one hour chat show with a personable host and a musical combo on the side? Should there be a monologue? Should the host do a song from time to time?
Does it need to try to be a comedy or can it be sustained with intelligent conversation? A barrel or wheel? Audience interaction? SMS voting? We’ve come a long way from Don Lane’s barrel but would it still work today?
Any thoughts invited – it’s a blank canvas.
Exciting news just at hand STOP James Talia in Australia STOP Brings foreign I Don’t Buy It STOP Adds to discussions of City Homicide and Californication STOP
Podcasts are so much better than telegrams, wouldn’t you agree?
Get episode 101 here:
Send us more modern communications STOP
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
For those of you who missed the premier of Australia’s latest cop drama, City Homicide, Seven wants to make sure that you get your chance to see it because they’re showing it twice in the days leading up to episode 2. Once was last Friday night and the next one will be midday on Monday.
Considering that TV shows are generally bought with a limited number of repeats, has Seven blown its repeat load already?
Are repeats mostly a thing of the past with exceptions for Seinfeld, Simpsons and Raymond (or any other half hour filler on Channel Ten)?
We’re still trying to get a network programming person onto the show to discuss these questions and more.
100 episodes – 100 reasons to smile.
Big name guests, surprises, enormous givaways… we’ve got none of it. Thats right for ep 100 we just decided to go classic Boxcutters. Three guys eating cake and talking telly. An ep with the lot. One of everything. All our segments are here, including: News, Ratings, a Raywatch actually about Ray (and Mary And Gary), an all time classic on Things You May Have Missed, a very special I Don’t Buy It, a look at new show The Kill Point, an investigation into Media Watch, Quotes, Quiz and of course some Pork.
Thanks to Catbrain for the delicious cake.
Listen:
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Recent Comments