"Bruno" on Rove

Sacha Baron Cohen ("Bruno") is currently in Australia promoting his new film and was tonight a guest on channel 10's Rove. Besides the fact that Rove always seems to make every interview about him - there was an interesting moment where the end of Cohen's sentence was silenced.

He was in character talking about Sacha Baron Cohen possibly being homosexual and made the statement: "I hear his wife gets less sex than Katie Holmes" - except that "Katie Holmes" was silenced out.

Why?? Because Holmes is on her way to Australia and we wouldn't want to upset a future guest would we? Too bad for Russell Crowe, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Jackson and every other celebrity that was bagged in the 20 minutes preceding it.

Besides that, has anyone noticed Rove seems to have trouble letting his celebrity guests talk about themselves or the projects they're spruiking? He'd much rather talk about himself.

He incessantly interrupted British comedian Russell Brand a few months ago, insisting the fact that he had inadvertently struck his own nose be acknowledged before letting Brand tell his story. In fact, most of his interviews involve a bit of the old 'enough about me, let's talk about you - what do you think of me?' schtick.

Case in point, the 'Bruno' interview tonight; let's see, we heard about Rove's pubic hair, Rove's outfit choice, we saw Rove get a makeover (which he playfully pretended to know nothing about) and ... ummm ... what was the movie being promoted and when is it released? - Couldn't tell you.

new SBS panel quiz show

SBS is currently filming its history quiz AD BC. It's a panel show hosted by Sam Pang - RRR broadcaster and recent co-host of SBS's Aussie coverage of Eurovision with Julia Zemiro. AD BC is a segment style show much like Rockwiz and Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation with two comedic guests and two academics. I managed to get to a taping last night with comedians Tony Martin and Angus Sampson among the panellists. The style of the show is very slick - the backdrops are retro and the graphics, as usual with SBS, are brilliant. I really enjoyed it and can't wait for it to pop up on our screens in August ... surprisingly, I even knew some of the answers ...

Farcical Today Show "News"

You can always count of Richard Wilkins to be a complete ignoramus in almost any circumstance. With the breaking news of Michael Jackson's death this morning he was also reporting the death of actor Jeff Goldblum - which wasn't true. It was an internet hoax that had actually gone round the traps in 1999 (the first time) when a rumour started about Goldblum having an accident whilst filming in New Zealand. Wilkinson was still reporting his death 30 minutes later - even though there was nothing about Goldblum on New Zealand Herald site nzherald.co.nz.

Then there was this (from Crikey twitter feed);
There was also the particularly classy moment where Richard pulled out the folded photo of he and Michael Jackson. The excuse was that Lisa had wanted to know how tall Michael was. There was a particularly awkward few moments where Wilkins was bumbling about comparative heights; "I'm six foot three with hair and heels ... so that should give you an idea" - priceless self-indulgence.
Of course there was also the faux 'gaining composure' moment where Wilkins cleared his throat and respectfully blinked for a moment longer than usual.

I'm sure we can look forward to a whole lot of wonderful reporting of MJ's death over the next few weeks *insert sarcasm here* - there's always the rush for an 'Aussie connection' - news.com.au was asking readers this morning "Did you meet Michael?" and had a story about an Australian family who were friends with him.

Let the chaos begin.

Afternoon News

Channel 9 is spruiking its new afternoon news program This Afternoon, starting next Monday, 4:30pm weekdays. Hosts Andrew Daddo and Katrina Blowers will be taking a look at news and current affairs with live interviews, news bulletins, and panel discussions. Channel 9's weekend news reporter Mark Ferguson will be in the mix too along with a team of reporters nationally. It's an hour-long program so it will be interesting to see how many stories are doubled-up with other channel 9 current affairs programs 60 Minutes and ACA.

Take Two

Seven has a new comedy sketch show called Double Take on the cards. It's a parody show and is supposedly going to send up TV shows, politicians and of course the Hollywood elite.

The cast consists of; Amanda Bishop, Darren Weller, Helen Dallimore, Robin Goldsworthy, Hollie Andrew, Guy Edmonds and Paul McCarthy.

- Not a whole lot of well-known names so I guess we'll have to wait and see. I can hardly see channel 7 coming up with biting political satire but I'd love to be proven wrong.

Look-a-Like 2 (The Sequel)!

A while ago I pointed out a remarkable similarity between ABC personality Adam Hills and the character of "Ace Rimmer" (and to a lesser extent "Rimmer")* from timeless sci-fi comedy Red Dwarf. (Here's the post).

Well I've done it again - I don't know what it is about ABC personalities and Red Dwarf but whilst watching The 7:30 Report last night, I noticed that reporter Michael Brissenden has a striking similarity to everyone's favourite neurotic robot;

I'll have to keep an eye out for Cat and Lister (and maybe even Kochansky).

* Geeky Red Dwarf in-joke.

Dali and Melbourne

The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) is currently hosting a retrospective of the work of Spanish surrealist artist, Salvador Dali - and it looks like it just may have brought some good luck to Melbourne film director Phillipe Mora who has just been funded to make a film of the eccentric artist's life.

Son of celebrated Australian artist, Mirka Mora, Phillipe has big plans for the project; from 3D hallucinations to filming in 6 different countries. Spanish flamenco dancer Rafael Amargo will play the young artist.


The NGV exhibition Salvador Dali: Liquid Desire is on now until October 4.

Foggy Future for Pete and Myf

The latest Neilson radio stats have shown Melbourne's Triple M losing major ground. It dropped a whole point to 3.2 percent and the audience share is its worst ever.

Unfortunately Triple M breakfast hosts Pete Helliar and Myf Warhurst look set to get the shove after getting constant bad results - though some would say they've lasted a lot longer than expected. Triple M certainly wanted them to be successful, carrying out a mulit-million dollar advertising campaign that saw the pairs faces on almost every billboard and bus-stop in Melbourne.

It's really unfortunate for Myf who was becoming well-known on a national level through Triple J and Spicks and Specks before taking on the role as Melbourne breakfast host. If the morning duo are boned, hopefully she gets a gig where she can share her love of music rather than play pre-selected crap on a commercial station.

Head honcho at Triple M, Ben Amarfio hasn't alleviated fears with the statement; "We can't sit back and watch (the ratings) continue to fall".

Needless to say, Hamish and Andy on Fox are reigning Kings of Drive in all states, and 3AW has done very well with its talk-back king-pins improving their share on the last survey.

Wes joins the Underworld

Speaking of Australian Idol, last years winner Wes Carr has included some well-known faces from Australian TV in a video clip for his new song "Fearless".

Pia Miranda, Matthew Newton and Vince Colosimo feature in this gangsta-esque short film of sorts. Unfortunately the song is terrible, so my suggestion is to turn the volume down on the video and play something like Amy Winehouse "Back to Black" over the top. Even THEN you still have to watch Wes Carr's terrible acting ... so I'll let you sort it out, here's the vid;


And while I'm on the topic of TV royalty, short films and Pia Miranda, the wonderfully talented Paul McDermott wrote a short film "The Girl Who Swallowed Bees" that I recently caught on SBS. It stars Miranda as the girl and Hugo Weaving as the narrator. The film is produced by Justine Kerrigan and won the AFI Award for Best Short Animation. It's a gorgeous little thing full of sweet, sweet melancholy.

Here's what I could find on YouTube (which doesn't nearly show how beautiful the actual film is);

Reality Poor Sports

The phenomena of reality TV failures having a bitch about the show after they're kicked to the curb is getting a bit tired. Of course I speak of Masterchef's Poh Ling Yeow who was eliminated from the show this week after a minestrone taste-test.

Poh made comments after the show about 'in-fighting' and 'sabotage' and insinuated there was some underhand dealings between competitors ... ummm ... correct me if I'm wrong but isn't it a competition? A footballer doesn't hand the ball to his opposition with a "there you go chap, I believe that's what you're after" and a pat on the back. As if any person in a competition wouldn't do everything they could to win.

Here was the article about Poh in the Herald Sun and here was a similar article the week before about ousted contestant Geni.

Contestants on reality TV need to realise that it has nothing to do with talent and that it has everything to do with demographics and ratings. Robert Mills and Shannon Noll are perfect examples of this - neither of them were able to sing in tune or with any sense of musicality at the start of their respective series of Australian Idol - yet they moved ahead every week while people with actual singing talent were dropped by the wayside. Why? Because they filled a demographic. Young, (supposedly) good-looking lads that they were, the teenage girls who vote for Australian Idol were inevitably going to develop RSI in their texting thumbs in support of these lovable lads.

You can almost pick the 'types' of people there will be on these programs. Australian Idol as an example will have; the big-voiced girl who loves singing Whitney and Mariah. The 'ethnic' boy or girl (Anthony Callea, Mark Spano, Natalie Gauci), the Rocker, the Emo, the Blonde Bombshell, the Sensitive-Little-Thing (Lisa Mitchell), and the musical-loving Stage Singer. There will also usually be a Kiwi element and of course the 30 or 31 year old getting their 'last chance' to shine. My particular favourite element is the 'quirky-kid' - these are usually not at all the kinds of people you would expect to see on reality TV and eventually get torn apart by the judges - remember Chanel Cole? Bobby Flynn anyone?

Basically, it's more luck than talent when it comes to reality TV - so I wish the contestants would stop being spoil-sports, appreciate their 5 minutes of fame for what it was, and fade into obscurity so the next batch of wannabes can have their shot at the title.

Return of the Rafters

Well the promos have started again - and thankfully no sign of a Jason Mraz song as yet. That's right, the family that won the hearts of Australia and almost every Logie in sight earlier this year is returning!

Packed to the Rafters will be back on channel 7 on June 30. It will be reclaiming its Tuesday night 8:30pm timeslot - so bumpity-bump to the much-maligned All Saints. Not only is All Saints getting a shove but its production has been suspended and its future is hanging in the balance. It seems attempts to 'razzy' it up with more action has resulted in higher costs but no love from viewers.

I can't help it - I too have fallen under the spell of Julie, Dave and the Rafter clan. Interestingly my favourite character isn't a Rafter at all - it's the gorgeous Mel (played by Zoe Ventoura). I fell in love with her in the SBS series Kick in which she played the lead role of feisty "Miki Mavros" (best TV name ever?).

So there's my Tuesday nights sorted.

Need something to do?

The ABC online has launched a great little website where you can find events happening in your local area.

It's called The Big Diary and is another reason why the national broadcaster is so important to Australia and the future of Australian media.

The ABC's web content is slick, sleek and easy to use. The online content is high quality, fast and utilises the most talented young web designers and content creators in the country.

The Big Diary site doesn't have a whole lot of events on it yet but hopefully it will catch on and become well used. The fact that hot Brunswick venues the East Brunswick Club, Edinburgh Castle and Don't Tell Tom have jumped on board is promising.

Hopefully it catches on.

How many cooks spoil the broth?

Channel 9 is jumping on the cooking-craze coat tails of Masterchef by announcing auditions for a family cooking show sponsored by Coles.

The Great Aussie Cook Off will be a daytime program a la channel 10's Ready Steady Cook rather than a prime-time powerhouse.

It won't be for Wolfgang-Puck-wannabes either - the official website says;

"This is not for cooking professionals or those aspiring to be a chef, this is a competition for real people like you who have a passion for cooking with and for family and friends."

Applications are open until 5pm Friday the 3rd of July.

Oh, and don't be put off by the extremely patriotic logo - they're asking for "diverse" family groups after all - they might even have a family with same-sex parents, or a muslim family, or a family of Sudanese refugees ... or a ... well, I shouldn't get ahead of myself - we'll just have to wait and see.

HS Creative Writing (aka. News)

It's not like I expect exceptional journalism from the Herald Sun but this article on the website today is beyond a joke.

"Des Moran killed as fear stalks Ascot Vale"

I'm not sure if writer and ASSOCIATE EDITOR of the Herald Sun, John Hamilton, is in the right business - methinks he'd be better off penning fluffy prose for Mills & Boon. An entire article based on a parakeet with an anxiety disorder is almost too much to bear. My favourite line;

"Outside the florist's shop, the parakeet tries his cheerful whistle again. Then stops. And trembles again."

- there are so many things wrong with that sentence I'm not sure where to begin.

Worse still is that this made PAGE FOUR of the actual paper! Both this and an article about channel 10's Masterchef got top billing ahead of Peter Costello's retirement ... I honestly wonder at how I'm still shocked.

The title though, must take the cake. Fear 'stalks' Ascot Vale does it? How terrible. Perhaps Ascot Vale should stop updating its status on Twitter? Or take out an AVO?

Almost 600 words of 'setting the scene' - I've forgotten, is the Herald Sun a newspaper or the Old Testament? Talk about trying to ride the coat-tails of an already dramatised series of events - perhaps Hamilton is trying to get a job as a writer for series 3 of Underbelly?

Really, I'm just not sure that glamorising the high drama of another gangland murder is such a good idea ... it's not like there's any money to be made in it ...

It's baaaaaaack ...

The 2009 Community Cup is on this Sunday the 21st of June and promises to be a wonderland of rock, sport, comedy and good times.

The Community Cup is an Aussie Rules football game like no other. Pitting the sporting prowess of Melbourne radio stations Triple R and PBS (team-name "Megahertz") against a dangerous group of angst-ridden musicians known as the "Espy Rockdogs". The game sounds like entertainment enough - but the entertainment starts well before kick-off.

Enter stage-left; Cosmic Psychos, Kram, Doll Squad, Jordie Lane and the Scared Weird Little Guys.

Money raised on the day is going to Reclink, "a charitable organisation whose mission is to provide sporting, social and arts activities to enhance the lives of people experiencing disadvantage" (from the website).

There's heaps more info at the official site here. Entry is $5, bands start at 11am, kick-off is at 2:30pm.

There will also be a doco on channel 31 by Stratos Pavlis - this Thursday the 18th;


Here's a brilliant pic of Tim Rogers lining up his second goal in the last Community Cup - this is by Matt Carr and can be found on the official Community Cup flickr page here.

* please note public transport is encouraged as there is no parking at Elsternwick Park!

More surf-related reality for Ten

Channel 10 has a surfing reality show in the works called Next Wave. The show will be hosted by Toby Martin (a pro surfer) and will follow the careers of the country's best junior surfers.
There will be some insight into the surfing 'lifestyle' and segments where celebrities are matched against junior novices.

Sounds booooooring - but so did Bondi Rescue and it won a Logie in some obscure, made-up category trying to pass it off as documentary rather than reality. So who knows?

I'm sure it will have beach, babes, drama and rhyming slang - that's what Australians like right? I mean, that's what the Prime Minister's people found when they did their research titled "Can you relate to the Prime Minister" - the response clearly being a resounding "not in a montha sundee's".

But I digress. Next Wave is coming. Tune in or you're a flamin' monkeys uncle ... or don't.

Mike Munro and the Colarectal Ratings Killer

Catchy title for Dan Brown's next thriller huh?

I'm talking about last nights Sunday Night on channel 7 that was unceremoniously ousted in the ratings by Random Acts of Kindness on channel 9.

Did we really need to see Mike Munro drop his trousers and have his doctor do a rectal examination to prove the point that prostate cancer is a disease that should not be ignored? Since when did the reporter become the story? I don't care about Mike Munro or his healthy prostate and I certainly didn't need to see him grit his teeth and "think of something pleasant".

Note to self Mike; the story would have been just as effective had you not been the centre of attention or, dare I say it, used a diagram to explain what a non-event having an examination for prostate cancer actually is. The point was that the examination is not "as bad as you think" right?

Even more disturbing though, was the fact that I switched over half way through the story and was wondering what Mike was getting up to - so I went online a little later to figure out if there was anything else in the story besides Mike's digital examination and was confronted by this grotesque affront to all things holy;

Much more disturbing than Mike's lily-white legs (and face - as it happened). Although Alan Jones comparatively makes a prostate check seem quite pleasant, perhaps that was the point.

Please note: Wil Anderson's brilliant tweet - "Mike Munro films prostate exam. Doctor says test was easy, he has never seen a bigger arsehole." - comedy gold.

Hughesy's Pickering Roses ...

Alright so that's a really bad pun - mainly on account of the fact the new show channel 10 has lined up for 7pm weeknights will also feature Carrie Bickmore and James Matheison.

The 7pm Project will be hosted by Dave Hughes and Charlie Pickering and will be a (hopefully) humurous look at the news of the day. (It will also star MTV's Ruby Rose - hence the post-title gag ... get it?)

Supposedly there will be a lot of viewer participation in the show and guest comedians. It's being made by Mr McManus' Roving Enterprises and channel 10 have made a 52 week commitment on this ship so let's hope it floats.

I'm just glad there is something that might take some ratings away from the abhorrent crime-against-humanity that is Two and a Half Men.

Hot! Hot! Hot!

The Triple J Hottest 100 countdown has embedded itself into Australian culture - so much so that the cooking of meat outdoors on the 26th of January is no longer called an "Australia Day BBQ" but is more commonly referred to as a "Hottest 100 Party".

When the J's started the countdown back in 1989 it was the hottest 100 songs of all time. When this became a bit repetitive (God bless Joy Division) it was decided that the songs could only be chosen from the year before. Thus the countdown as we know it was born.

But here in 2009 we have a return to that holiest of holies - the hottest 100 of ALL TIME.

Here is the link to vote now. The big reveal will be next month - this is from the website:

"The countdown will start on Tuesday 7th July and we'll slowly reveal the list across the week and countdown the entire 100 across Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th July with a big finale."

Voting closes on the 28th of June. Unfortunately, as in recent years, the top 100 will probably be full of teenage jerk-off bands like My Chemical Romance but I still have hope that at least a few of the truly brilliant songs will get in there.

For the record - my vote:
New Order - Ceremony (not my all-time fave New Order song which is "Here to Stay" but I figured Ceremony at least has a chance of top 20)
Joy Division - She's Lost Control
Pixies - Where Is My Mind?
Beastie Boys - Sabotage
The Velvet Underground - Sunday Morning
Sonic Youth - Teenage Riot
Paul Kelly - How To Make Gravy (The Aussie element - could have been The Go-Betweens "Streets of Your Town")
The Cure - Love Song
Bowie - Rebel Rebel
The Smiths - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out

Breaking News: Head officially rolled.

ABC managing director Mark Scott has offered up a sacrificial lamb following the Chaser's "Make a Realistic Wish" hoo-ha of last week.

Amanda Duthie has been removed as Head of ABC TV Comedy to be replaced temporarily by ABC TV’s Executive Head of Content Creation, Courtney Gibson, until a new Head of Comedy is appointed.

Mark Scott's comment:

“Where staff are concerned about the potential for satirical material to cause harm they should refer the matter to the next level of management. In this instance, the Head of Arts, Entertainment and Comedy reviewed the segment and did not refer it up. This was an error of judgement.”

New Idea? - methinks not.

So I caught New Idea TV today on channel 7 (now 4pm daily) which I'm assuming was bumped back an hour due to previously being in direct competition with Entertainment Tonight on 9 ... and nobody messes with Mary Hart - she's wearing her arm in a sling to prove it!

Anyway, for the first 10 minutes I was under the impression that I was watching a series of those 'breakaways' on 7 Digital of Better Homes and Gardens segments. First we were in the kitchen with "Fast Eddie", then we were given some inane information about walls (example: they hold up the roof and keep the other room ... in the other room) from that curls-get-the-girls chippie Rob Palmer. Then there was something about sandwiches (I got distracted ok??) then we were in the garage with Tom Williams (who isn't actually from Better Homes and Gardens, but he was talking about paint and general home betterment). Then there was Fast Eddie again!

Where is the celebrity gossip?! I was expecting Entertainment Tonight for Australia and I got a thinly disguised advertisement for Johnson's baby soap and a bacon and mushroom pasta sauce! It's not like we don't have celebs behaving badly - the Ramsay/Grimshaw stoush? Bec and Lleyton's new digs? The Home and Away poppet's biker-crac-den shenanigan?

Come on channel 7 - we don't want more home renovation and cooking - we want more sex, lies and fisticuffs!

Grimshaw V's Ramsay

In the blue corner we have a self-righteous ass who spends their career belittling people who may or may not have the capacity of right-of-reply and who may or may not deserve to be cast assumptions upon by an elitist holier-than-thou, self-appointed social commentator.

And in the red corner ...

we have the other one.

Basically, Tracy Grimshaw spends her career belittling people and making assumptions about their character based on mostly unfounded 'evidence' (ie. their elderly neighbour with slight Alzheimer's says they are receiving the single parent pension but are actually partnered) and portraying people in a manner that may not accurately reflect reality.

Gordon Ramsay is a rude, arrogant ass who makes a living belittling people and treating them like something stuck to the bottom of his shoe. He has no respect for anyone (not just women) and thinks that he is better than you, me and the general population.

In theory, these two should get along like a house on fire.

Fortunately for us they don't - so we get to watch the shit-fight.

I particularly enjoyed the line in Tracy's 'right-of-reply' that went "I'm not going to sit meekly and let some arrogant narcissist bully me" ... really Tracy? Well isn't it lovely for you that you have your own TV show to defend your honour. Too bad for the people you show on ACA every week that don't have a right-of-reply.

Alright, alright, her rebuttal was pretty good ... and Ramsay is a complete ass who deserves a good and proper cock-punch and a lesson in how-to-make-fun-of-people-without-showing-what-a-misogynist-prick-you-are (or even just a lesson in how to be remotely funny) ... but I like to look at the bigger picture.

On another note - Tracy made a big deal about the fact that she wasn't gay. Ummmm, not wanting to cast aspersions but I have some pretty solid sources who would suggest otherwise. Not that it should matter - but it makes my blood boil when people in the public eye *I'm looking at you Anthony Calea* go to great lengths to deny their homosexuality. It perpetuates the insinuation that there is something WRONG with being gay and that 'coming out' will ruin a persons life.

Be out and proud I say - and if being gay IS something that would jeopardise a career in current affairs perhaps that is a worthwhile story rather than another "deadbeat dad" or "bumbling bureaucrat" one.

* Please note: I am well aware that many of the people shown on current affairs programs may, in fact, be represented quite accurately as the cretin they are - they might be dole bludging, womanising, morally bankrupt pieces of human waste - but since when did I become the judge and jury?

When it comes to current affairs you need to remember - who is it that wants you to see this, and why do they want you to see it, and who is making a profit from your elitist moral outrage?

ONE MORE THING: The feminist groups are outraged by the comparison of women to animals - whilst the comments were abhorrent and definitely derogatory to women (or at least one woman) - I think if he was having a go at a male reporter he might use similar techniques - let me repeat: he's just a prick.

And finally, a few of the people at Ramsay's live show (where the comments were made) have expressed 'outrage' - commenting that the show was supposed to be for families ... Sorry?!?! Any idiot thinking they were going to get a family-friendly evening out of Gordon Ramsay deserves to be offended.

Fuck that!

Chaser boys in trouble ... shock! horror!

Well the boys from The Chaser's War on Everything (ABC1, Wednesday 9pm) are certainly getting some publicity for this season! Week one received backlash for a skit involving a doll made to look like the Governor General and this week the ABC has supposedly been inundated with complaints relating to a skit involving sick kids and the fictitious "Make a Realistic Wish Foundation".

Here it is - [although it will probably be pulled from youtube soonish]


The news this morning stated that there were 'complaints'. By about 11am the news updates were reporting 'public outcry' and in the latest news break on channel 9 we have 'calls for the Chaser to be axed!'

The response from the Chaser boys is that if people are offended by it they should donate to the actual Make a Wish Foundation - a good point. Here's a link to the website.

Here's the press release from ABC:

Statement from Kim Dalton, Director of ABC TV and Julian Morrow, Executive Producer The Chaser’s War on Everything

The Chaser’s War on Everything is a satirical program aimed at provoking debate and providing social commentary on topical issues, current affairs and public life in general.

The sketch in last night’s show called ‘Making A Realistic Wish Foundation' was a satirical sketch and black comedy.

The ABC and The Chaser did not intend to hurt those who have been affected by the terminal illness of a child. We acknowledge the distress this segment has caused and we apologise to anyone we have upset.

As a result, ABC TV will edit the segment out of tonight’s repeat screening on ABC2 and on-line.

If you don't like the Chaser's style of humour, don't watch it. As everyone should know by now, the Chaser boys push the boundaries of freedom of speech and yes, they sometimes get it wrong and yes, they sometimes go too far and yes, it's sometimes just not funny. But I appreciate that we live in a country where a show like The Chaser's War on Everything can go to air.

The point of that particular skit - which I'm sure most people missed - was to bring attention to the fact that charities use emotionally charged imagery like sick kids in an attempt to get you to give money to their charity rather than another. Of course sick kids deserve presents - as if that was the point?! The point is how do you make decisions about which charity you will give your hard earned cash to? And why is one more deserving than another? There was a skit in the episode the week before about charitable choices too - was that outrageous and offensive? No. Because the kids were black, poor and from a third-world country.

The right-wingers and Christian groups who have jumped on the moral-panic band-wagon don't really have any context to assess the message that the Chaser was trying to send because they don't watch the show. It was an interesting point ... but was made in a bad way (ie. not funny and pushing the envelope for no particular reason).

Where the heart is at channel 9

Well channel 9's home reno show Home Made has proven to be a fizzer. It's been axed after three weeks and has had tongues wagging with the phrase "death by promo".

It's being replaced by yet another 'feel good' show - here's a grab from the official press release:

NINE PRESS RELEASE 3 June

Random Acts of Kindness – a touching, joyous and surprise tribute series to people with hearts of gold – premieres on Nine on Sunday, June 14 at 6.30pm.

Each week three presenters – Karl Stefanovic, Scott Cam and Simmone Jade Mackinnon – grant wishes and make dreams come true when they head into a community and find someone special who deserves recognition for giving their all to deserving people or causes.

Besides the fact that I would rather tear my own skin off with a potato peeler than watch one moment of anything hosted by Karl Stefanovic - I am soooooo sick of these good samaratin reality shows.

Basically they consist of finding a poor person (- the only people desperate enough to use a reality tv show to solve their problems) who has a self-esteem problem due to (a) being ugly, (b) not having a mother/father or (c) being somehow disabled. The network then blow the budget on solving these problems by (a) carrying out extreme dental surgery, (b) utilising the services of the office of births, deaths and marriages or (c) supplying a new electric wheelchair.

Unfortunately the Australian public love these shows because no matter what your social-standing it's always nice to look down on someone. Reality shows bring out the elitist in all of us; "Oh, look at that poor dear with no front teeth. Isn't it lovely that he'll be able to smile again?"

Well I for one am self-aware enough to realise that looking down my nose at people is a short-term solution to the bigger problem of me not having nearly as much money as I'd like. Unfortunately with the "economic crisis" in full swing these 'Aussie Battler" stories will only grow in popularity.

Welcome SBS TWO

SBS TWO was launched today - it's promo's are dreamy (though played too often - something I hope is 'first-week overkill') and the content looks to be enticing. I already sat down to a treat at 6:05pm with the screening of the Academy Award winning Australian short-film, Harvie Krumpet.

The week-long evening international film line-up looks great and the promise of more documentaries and local content has me excited (- mind you, it doesn't take much).

Here's vid of the promo's and idents:


They look amazing in hi-def digital. (SBS certainly have some talented animators on their staff.)

Looking forward to more options ... bring on the 'freeview'.