Will 7pm find it's feet?

The 7pm Project is becoming a rather frustrating 30 minutes. There is so much potential there for a really entertaining, not-so-serious look at news events - yet every night they run well short of the mark.

Firstly, Carrie reads the serious news items with a smirk on her face that suggests she might burst out laughing any second. Unfortunately her work on Rove is what she's most well known for, so it's difficult to take her seriously.

The 'state roundup' where the panel crosses to correspondents around Australia is very hit and miss - some of the correspondents are hilarious, others are cringe-worthy beyond belief (Hans from Perth is particularly bad).

In fact, it seems generally on the show that everyone chosen to comment or be interviewed has been slipped a valium before going to air - the Paxton-esque unemployed girl, the young woman and her mother reunited with their dog, the fat girl who's boyfriend dumped her ... need I go on?

Then there's the other end of the stick with commentators being overly opinionated. Examples include the parking infringement officer (who made a completely out of line sexual advance at the young Ruby Rose) and ex swim coach Laurie Lawrence - both of whom were raving lunatics given too much rope.

The reason for this? The panelists aren't very good at interviewing - they're asking closed questions (questions that can be answered with yes or no) and are having to ride the awkward silence when the guests respond with one word.

Dave Hughes also has a knack of answering the question in the question, eg. "So you're pretty happy to have you're dog back, aren't you?" - it doesn't exactly call for a detailed response with expressions of heartfelt emotions does it?

Then again, Dave Hughes isn't a journalist so he can be excused, however Carrie doesn't get off so easily. I don't know what Charlie Pickering is or does (besides pontificate with an elitist air of self-satisfaction) and Ruby Rose shouldn't be on the show at all.

James Matheison is still the saving grace of the piece. Tonight he made what would have otherwise been an absolute fizzer (the reunion of the shy teenager with her clearly sedated dog) into a funny little piece.

I'm still holding out hope for it but there are so many bleedingly obvious things that could make the 7pm Project better - pre-recorded interviews for example, or maybe just having a chat beforehand to ascertain whether the people you're putting to air are actually interesting?

- Oh, and ditch the Skype 'voice of the people' bit - there's a reason some people don't have a voice.