Hey Hey the Verdict

Yes, I sat through the whole THREE hours of it. I did have aspirin and booze at the ready but surprisingly didn't use it - though it wasn't a completely pain-free experience.

Here's the run-down.

Unfortunately for everyone Darryl insisted on dancing AND singing and on telling his usual bad jokes. Besides that though - there were definitely some good moments, and there were some epic fails too. (If there was one person that didn't change channels during "Red Faces" I want to meet that person - and have them commited).

After Darryl's intro where he stated that Hey Hey really wanted to showcase young, new Australian talent - he introduced Jimmy Barnes. Twitter was instantly abuzz with people saying they were expecting John Farnham, and lo and behold, after the ad break Darryl announced that Farnsy would indeed be on the show later. Farnsy was, however, in the middle of a concert in Queensland so Darryl spent the last hour of the show stalling a live cross so that he could say hi to John between songs.

Speaking of Twitter, within 10 minutes of the show being on air #heyhey was a trending topic. By the second ad break it was number 1. Of course the second ad break was not far from the first, or the third, or the many to follow - I think the show might actually have fit into a one hour special were it not for the constant breaks.

Hey Hey tried to show that it had moved with the times by mentioning the infamous Facebook group that started this whole debacle and an email address for people to send their well wishes. In fact, someone was "unbeknownst to channel 9" illegally streaming the show on the internet which interestingly allowed Darryl to cross live to a woman in Michigan, USA - but it wasn't planned of course and nobody knew those naughty scamps would be streaming *wink wink*.

The show stuck to tradition by having b-grade celebs for the segments - the puffin-muffin girl (from the iSelect health insurance ads) was one third of the panel for "Celebrity Head" and pop-singer Cassie Davis (Cassie who? I hear you say) was a judge on Red Faces.

The hot competition for the night, Masterchef, had been mentioned three times in the first half hour - it was as if they were daring people to switch over. Even worse, there was a skit by Russell Gilbert called "Disaster Chef" that was painfully unfunny. In fact, Russell was as bad as he ever was - with his toilet humour and outdated jokes, his gags went down like a kebab-caravan-6am-special.

Particularly awkward moments (besides every second Russell Gilbert was on screen)? The "Great Aussie Joke" segment was a jaw-dropping affair. It seems the folk at channel 9 decided to bring Maurie Fields (who died in 1995) back from the dead without advising the viewers. It was an awkward moment of father/son joke telling with Maurie's son Marty sitting beside his father thanks to some fancy graphics (a la Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole in the "Unforgettable" video clip). It might have actually been a good segment were it not for the fact that Maurie passed away so very long ago and many viewers nowadays (watching for the first time) would have no idea who he was.

Livinia Nixon should stick to weather. She's a lovely girl but has nothing interesting to say - and she did encourage Darryl to dance - which I'm pretty sure is a chargeable offence.

There had to be a major fashion faux pa and that award goes to Cassie Davis and the badly-ripped-jeans. It seems she was channelling a fashion tragedy from the last time Hey Hey was on tv.

Highlights? There were a few. John Farnham singing "Freedom" - I know, it's horribly daggy of me but I just love him, I can't help it. I've always loved him. I've got "Whispering Jack" on vinyl okay? There, I said it. Judge me as you will.

Molly's Melodrama was definitely a highlight. Molly is a national treasure in my opinion and watching him bluff his way through his segment it was as if he'd never left the studio. John Blackman is as quick-witted as ever and he and Molly bounced off each other well. In fact, Molly was all over tv tonight - also starring on the panel of ABC music quiz show Spicks and Specks at 8:30pm.

Speaking of national treasures, Brian Nankervis as beat poet Raymond J. Bartholomew was simply brilliant (currently on Rockwiz on SBS). It was the first laugh-out-loud moment of the evening for me - how does Brian Nankervis not have his own tv show?

Perhaps because I had such low expectations, I could say that all in all it was a pleasant few hours of nostalgia - but it was really as if the show had never been off the air. To be honest, I don't care if they bring it back as a weekly show, because it can only mean that channel 9 will program less Two and a Half Men.

Chas Licciardello from The Chaser said it best on Twitter;

Big Night on the Box

Well the big day has arrived - there are some serious decisions to be made tonight with several shows competing for your attention on free to air tv.

First of all, there is the much publicized, much gossiped about, much anticipated Hey Hey it's Saturday The Reunion, running a whopping two and a half hours from 7:30pm on channel 9.

Channel 10 has the debut of the special celebrity version of it's powerhouse Masterchef, from 7:30pm.

Over on the national broadcaster at 9pm is the much-anticipated (for all the right reasons), Hungry Beast - Andrew Denton's production company Zapruder's Other Films did a call out earlier in the year for young media talent to create a current affairs type show with a difference - and this is the result.

Channel 7 have gone with World's Strictest Parents and City Homicide - which is either conceding defeat or giving it their best - who can really tell?

The real item-of-interest for me is the Hey Hey special. I truly want it to be something special but fear that it may be memorable for all the wrong reasons. When discussing tonight's line-up with a friend I insisted that she watch at least part of the Hey Hey special - because it's history either way - whether it's so bad it gets taken off air half way through, or it's so good that it heralds a new boost in light entertainment and local funding for Australian tv.

Clearly everyone is expecting the former rather than the latter - but channel 9 will certainly have their fingers crossed.

Coming to a Television Near You

Footballers Review

The grand final episode of the AFL Footy Show was on channel 9 tonight which included the footballer review - you know, the part where the boys dance around to various songs with a bunch of scantily clad gals making pelvic thrusting motions and simulating giving the boys blow-jobs?

First of all - I don't understand this at ALL. Sam Newman did a horrifying rendition of Singin' in the Rain, including out of sync miming and a possible fractured hip (-there goes the only part of his body that was still natural!) But the most disturbing part of the show was Shane Crawford dressed as an extra from Rocky Horror doing the Pink number So What? - except that he must have got his starlets mixed up because he was clearly channeling Lady Ga Ga by forgetting to wear pants. That's right - all he was wearing was a leather g-string ... and did I mention he was doing acrobatics whilst hanging from the ceiling? The looks of shock and awe on the faces of the audience made it quite clear that Crawford had outdone himself this year.

A few observations;
(1) I think the background dancers are all girls because the boys don't want to look 'gay'. They shouldn't worry - if they were gay they might actually have some style and/or talent.
(2) The background dancers are crap - is this an attempt to make the footballers look better? Or is this because they are only trained in pole-dancing and not freestyle?
(3) It seems there were less players involved this year - perhaps they were smart enough to watch the tapes from last year ... sober.

Every year I watch this abomonation thinking it couldn't possibly be worse than the year before but they just keep outdoing themselves. It's a not-to-be-missed, stick-a-fork-in-your-eye, visual atrocity of mass proportions. You just can't look away.

* I should also point out that my last three posts have been related to AFL - I apologise and it won't happen again.

Fev's Big Night Out

Carlton footballer Brendan Fevola has been suspended from channel 9's The Footy Show grand final special and fined $10,000 by the AFL after his 'drunken antics' at the Brownlow Medal count on Monday.

The Herald Sun gave a blow by blow account of his entire night here.

I think The Age columnist and Triple J presenter Marieke Hardy might have hit the nail on the head though with this Twitter update;
As Media Watch reported on Monday night, Sam Newman made racial slurs on The Footy Show (September 17th), first against a Malaysian man, and later, tennis star Serena Williams.

Host, Jonathan Holmes stated;

In a week when another ugly attack on Indian students has again put the international spotlight on racism in Australia, surely we can do without garbage like that?

I'm not saying that being a rude, drunken idiot is acceptable behavior but I wonder if Newman will be suspended from the grand final special?

The Blue Carpet

I wasn't going to bother posting anything about the obvious 'worst-dressed-wag' on the Brownlow Blue Carpet last night - clearly it was this little number:
The woman in question is Brynne Gordon, who accompanied her partner, Geoffrey Edelsten - who is clearly dating her for her ... er, personalities?

You see, I figured all this was pretty obvious and that nothing needed to be said about it - until I heard the lil' lady in question on the news tonight advise that she was ... (prepare to spit out your tea) ... TWENTY SIX YEARS OLD.

Sorry? Did I hear right? I think someone is telling fibs to her sugar-daddy so he doesn't go back to the playboy mansion to buy a younger version. Not only has she had more plastic surgery (-on her face too) than any 26-year-old would have had time for, but if she didn't have those oversized "personalities" on her chest one might have mistaken her for a cast member of Priscilla.

Bit catty? You're right, but the skank-o-meter was so low on the whole with the Brownlow Broads this year that this abomonation stuck out like a sore thumb. Where's a bedazzled g-string when you need one?

Welcome back John

Look, to be honest, I don't care who he's offending or what he's doing, there is something so darn attractive about a skinny Jewish boy with self-esteem problems poking fun at organised religion.

For the record, I'm down with that.

So here's a look at John Safran's next project for ABC:

It starts on Wednesday, October 21st.

Rove's Birthday Bash

Tonight was the 10th anniversary of Rove Live which meant a 90 minute special of past cast members and favourite clips. If the world ended tomorrow and all that survived was a tape of Rove's 10th anniversary show, aliens would think that the human race consisted of juvenile pranksters obsessed with self-harm and bad fashion who told far too many bum jokes and had no respect for themselves or anyone else ... and they wouldn't be too far off really. The laugh out loud moments were courtesy of Hamish & Andy and Ryan Shelton, otherwise it was an excercise in cringeworthy self-indulgence - a bit like a 21st birthday party where your dad makes a speech with a whole lot of gags that no one laughs at. Nonetheless, there is something lovable about Rove McManus and it must be said that the show has filled a void in variety entertainment and has endeared where many others would have fallen by the wayside.

Besides all that - an interesting program change for 10 tonight - moving Australian Idol back to 7:30pm and putting a repeat of Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation before it. Obviously ten were hoping that their biggest success of late might lead into some good audience numbers for the failing Aus. Idol. Unfortunately Idol seems dead and buried with it's only stand out performer knocked out in round one, it's left with better than average karaoke and forced bickering between the judgeing panel.

Best of the Best

Channel 9's Best of the Best program tonight was surprisingly quite a nice showcase. Here were the stars and programs featured;

• Personalities: Graham Kennedy, Molly Meldrum, Daryl Somers, Lisa McCune, Andrew Denton, Jana Wendt, Bert Newton, Paul Hogan.
• Comedy: Frontline, The Mavis Bramston Show, Kath & Kim.
• Drama: Homicide, Number 96, The Sullivans, A Country Practice, Underbelly.
• Current Affairs: Four Corners, Sunday, Foreign Correspondent, 60 Minutes.
• Entertainment/Variety: The Don Lane Show, Big Brother, Hey Hey it's Saturday, In Melbourne Tonight.

There were a few tear-jerking moments in there, like Bert's 2006 Logie performance of a duet with the late, great Grahan Kennedy and Molly's death on A Country Practice. I thought some of the choices were odd - Lisa McCune, really? Georgie Parker would have been a better choice. And as usual, where the hell was Shaun Micallef?

Nostalgic Nine

In times of crisis, the world turns to nostalgia. The idea is that when things are going badly, remembering when things were going well is a nice escape from reality. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks there was a spike in nostalgia tv and programs like Better Homes and Gardens gained a new audience of viewers that wanted to forget about the 'bad' out there and focus on creating a 'good' home environment.

The world is currently in the midst of a Global Financial Crisis - and who better to deliver some heartwarming nostalgia than good old channel 9 - which is suffering its very own crisis after a string of bad program choices (Australia's Perfect Couple anyone?).

To kick things off we have Television's Best of the Best on Sunday night at 6:30pm. The website describes it as;

A host of Channel Nine's biggest stars look back at Australian television's very best performers and programs. From groundbreaking dramas to our most brilliant comedians, this special event features some of television's most memorable moments.

You'll never have guessed it, but yes, Jules Lund is involved - and one would also assume that the majority (if not all) of Australian television's greatest moments happened on channel 9 of course.

Then we have The Very Best of the Paul Hogan Show on Tuesday the 22nd at 8:30pm. The website tells us we will;

Relive the laughs of the hugely successful Paul Hogan Show with a collection of his favourite moments from the show that changed comic television in Australia.

And I don't mean to alarm you, but it will be hosted by none other than Paul Hogan himself. I wonder if he'll be throwing any shrimps on the barbie? *

But of course the one we've all been waiting for is Hey Hey it's Saturday - The Reunion, airing at 7:30pm on WEDNESDAY the 30th of September with part 2 the following week. As the website says "it's a quirky timeslot for a quirky show" - way to get around that hairy question Nine execs!

And what can we look forward to?

Hey Hey It’s Saturday is bursting back onto your screens ‘LIVE’ with 2 reunion specials featuring the original gang and many of your all-time favourite segments.

Each two hour show will be jam-packed with a kaleidoscope of guests both new and old plus the fabulous Hey Hey ‘live’ Band. And it wouldn’t be Hey Hey without RED FACES, PLUCKA DUCK, CELEBRITY HEAD and many other classic bits.

I must say, the promos for the Hey Hey special definitely had me remembering good times sitting on the living room floor with my siblings on a Saturday night watching Red Faces - but that's the problem isn't it? - these Hey Hey special's aren't going to show us the old clips, they're going to bring something back from the dead that has well and truly decomposed, and I think we've all watched enough zombie movies to know how that turns out.

Either way, it's time to make yourself a vegemite sandwich, drape the Australian flag around your shoulders and get into the spirit of some nostalgic nationalism with channel 9.

* note: if Paul Hogan, in his hosting duties, actually does put a shrimp, or any shrimp-related crustacean, on a barbeque I will eat my own hat ... if I'm wearing one ... and if I haven't already had dinner.

Different Spins on Story

Channel 7's current affairs program Sunday Night returned today with a story about the much publicised kidnapping of American girl Jaycee Dugard by convicted felon Phillip Garrido. Unsurprisingly, channel 9's 60 Minutes covered the same story.

The arrest of Garrido and the details of Dugard's captivity have been unfolding in the news this week as more and more information comes to light about Garrido's possible involvement in other crimes.

The interesting thing tonight was watching how the two programs told their respective stories.

Sunday Night was first at 6:30pm and used home video, court footage, video of the abduction area and, most importantly, an interview with Jaycee's then stepfather Carl Probyn. He told the story of the day Jaycee was abducted and her reunion just last week with her family.

The story of Dugard's arrest in 1976 for the abduction and rape of Katie Callway Hall was also told with comments from Hall and the investigating officer on the case at the time. Overall the story was well put together, tightly edited and made good use of image and sound.

Then we had 60 Minutes at 7:30pm on channel 9.

With the earnest intro including the "as you’ll learn, the evil Phillip Garrido has been bad for a very long time" precursor to what was in store, there was no doubt that 60 Minutes was again going to give us the same old story.

Reporter Tara Brown told us what had just been shown on channel 7 but with a one-on-one interview with Garrido's 1976 victim Katie Callway Hall. Besides taking the victim to the storage unit where she had been repeatedly raped and abused and asking her if it was painful to be there, the gratuitous use of 'dramatic reenactment' was possibly the most disturbing aspect to the story.

Do we really need to see some bad overracting to understand how a persons head is slammed into a stearing wheel? After a 'reenactment' of Garrido tapping on Hall's car window, we had Hall in-studio stating that Garrido tapped on her car window ... is this necessary?

The 60 Minute story basically confirmed that the program is past its prime. I'm not at all suggesting that Sunday Night is the epitome of reporting, but it was leaps and bounds ahead of the shock-tactic-superstory that 60 Minutes served up.

It seemed that the focus of Sunday Night was to tell a story - and that the focus of 60 Minutes was to keep viewers watching. What they fail to realise is that if they tell the story well, they don't need to bribe the audience with humiliating interviews and shakey, constructed drama.

Fun AND Educational!

Soap Creative are the design company behind a couple of fantastic sights for SBS programs Rockwiz and ADbc.

I must say I'm addicted - not only am I learning - but every now and then on the ADbc quiz Sam Pang tells me I'm "not just a pretty face" ... which is something we all need to hear every now and again, right?

Truly though Soap Creative have done an amazing job with these sites - the graphics are spectacular and the quizzes are really fun to play.


*I love the music on the ADbc site too.

The Punch Line 3 Months Later

Fairfax media will next week launch an opinion/analysis/commentary website based on it's National Times masthead (published weekly from 1971 to 1986). It's called, you guessed it, National Times.

It follows the launch of News Ltd.'s opinion site The Punch three months ago.

Anything's a welcome change from Bronwyn Bishop one week insinuating that $150,000 is an average income and the next week talking about those elites and how they endlessly presume they know better!

Tosh!

20 versus 15 ...

Or is it 10 versus 9?

Channel 10's new show The Spearman Experiment started tonight at 7:30pm. Hosted by Magda Szubanski, it counts down 15 things in popular culture as voted by the Australian public (I know! I didn't get the call either). Tonight it was Australia's favourite comedic characters - with Kath & Kim taking first place.

Over on channel 9 at the same time was Bert's 20 to 1, counting down 15 minutes of fame. Monica Lewinsky took the crown there.

Differences? Well besides the numbers, Magda is a lot shorter than Bert.

Similarities? B-grade celebrities commenting on things they probably knew nothing about before the station sent them the highlights reel? check.
Awkward jokes from the host? check.
Building the intrigue as to what might make number 1 on the completely irrelevent list? check.
Dragging out what could otherwise take 20 minutes to over an hour? check.

Did I mention B-grade celebrities? Seriously, I was watching both shows wondering "who the hell is that?" a little too often.

Either way, it's light entertainment that's light on the entertainment - but still watchable if you're trying to avoid other things (like cleaning, doing schoolwork, pondering how your life came to be so pathetic, etc.)

Besides all that though, how the hell does plumber "Kenny" out-rank Norman Gunstan? Give me strength.

Aus. Idol Kicks Off

Australian Idol officially began the performance shows tonight with the top 12 finalists performing songs of their own choosing.

Let's break it down;










First off was Ashleigh, she's the teenager from Tamworth and tonight sang "Miss Independent".
You might remember her (or someone just like her) in season 1 as Lauren Buckley, season 5 as Lana Krost, or more famously in season 3, as winner, Kate DeAraugo.










Next we had brickie's labourer Scott singing "Come Together" - You might remember this unassuming country lad from season 1 when he was known as Shannon Noll and was equally wide-eyed and unassuming at the wonders of instant celebrity (and in need of a makeover).










Then there was Casey with "On my Mind". Casey is a generic - he's an everyman of sorts but with a slight disability to enable the crowd to tell him apart from the other generics (see Toby and Tim below).










Hayley is the 'rock chick' of the bunch - she sang "See the Light". Australian Idol has a strong history of rock gals. Season 1 = Kelly Cavuoto, season 2 = Emelia Rusciano, season 3 = Milly Edwards, season 4 = Klancie Keough (please also see country-gal Kate below) and season 6 = Amanda Grafanakis.










Young country-boy-at-heart James was next with "How to Save a Life". He has a bit of Milsy about him, a bit of Shannon, a bit of Ben McKenzie, a bit of Tom Williams (from season 6) ... and a few others that I can't remember the names of.










Next we have Sabrina, the migrant/ethnic element, you might remember her most famously as Cosima De Vito and to a lesser extent Natalie Gauci. Her performance tonight of Michael Jackson's "What About Us" was stellar - she certainly has a set of pipes on her and was the highlight of the night.










Nathan is another young lad with an emo fringe. He has a touch of Matt Corby about him without the killer baby-blues. He did a good job of "Stop and Stare" tonight and he's got a bit of that Thanh Bui (from last year) lovable-camp about him.










Next we have 'thank-the-lord-Jesus-for-everything' Stan. He's the kiwi/islander element - seen in past seasons as Joseph Gatehau (season 4) and Levi Keremea (season 1).










Teacher Toby could easily be mistaken for the aforementioned Casey. Again, he's an everyman - just your average Aussie bloke. He ruined Radiohead's "Creep" tonight by overpronouncing every word of it and turning it into a rock-opera. Some songs should NOT be given the karaoke treatment under ANY circumstance.










Next was Kim with "Best of You". She likes sitting down when she sings so you can tell her apart from the other girl with peroxide blonde emo hair (see aforementioned Hayley). Last year she was played by both Sophie Patterson (with a British accent) AND Amanda Grafanakis.










Then there was Tim. I have to say right now he's my favourite. I couldn't care less if he could actually sing of course. He sang Beyonce's "Halo" following the apparent trend of pretending to 'give it your own feel' by singing a song originally done by someone of the opposite sex. For the record, it's still karaoke. He did mention Jesus which certainly doesn't endear him to me - but he did it in a half-assed way that makes me think he's sheepishly gunning for the Guy Sebastian vote and isn't really a God-botherer at all.










Finally we have Kate, the country-hick element that is in every season in various guises. This year it takes the form of a burly lesbian who doesn't take off her cowboy hat ... ever. The last girl to don a cowboy hat was Klancie Keough (season 4) and it certainly didn't do her any favours. Kate "really loves astraya" (Australia) and tonight performed "Stuck in the Middle".

SO - They can all actually sing this year which makes watching the show like seeing a highlights reel of the previous 6 seasons. It's that same old cheesy Idol that we remember - completely fabricated for your enjoyment (there is NO way that the Australian public voted Kate in to the top 12 - I'm sorry, but she gets no reaction from the crowd and is hardly a character that 13 year old girls would go crazy about). Because that's what they are really - characters in a narrative constructed for your enjoyment.

Speaking of characters, there are a few missing this year; the cute ethnic boy (Mark Spano, Anthony Callea), the diva kiwi/islander girl (Paulini Curuenavuli, Emily Williams, Madam Parker) and the 'quirky kid' (Chanel Cole, Bobby Flynn, Lisa Mitchell).

Either way, as Marieke Hardy so accurately pointed out in The Age last week - it's just not the same without James Matheison.

Celeb Masterchef Comes to Pass

Well, well, well, back when Masterchef finished up in July, your trusty scribe made a prediction about the inclusion of a certain actor in the celebrity version which is taping now - a certain Mr Colosimo if you'll indulge me - who it's rumoured along with Kirk Pengilly (from INXS) to indeed be a contestant. Shock! Horror! Gasp!

That is ... unless the 'rumour' the courier mail was reporting on today was just my post from back in July?

A few definite contestants were revealed on The 7pm Project tonight in a special 1 hour episode, including Eamon Sullivan (swimmer), Peter Fitzsimons (sports personality), Kathleen De Leon Jones (ex High-Fiver), Alex Perry (designer), Michelle Bridges (Biggest Loser trainer) and Indira Naidoo (journo and presenter).

Let the games begin!

Emos not just depressed

It seems that the term 'Emo' short for 'emotional' refers to a burning rage rather than a deep meloncholy - judging from the latest fire, hell and brimstone response to the nothing-but-lovable Josh Thomas. It all started when he frocked up in a costume on the finale of Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation last night.

Basically the panel (and host - bless him and his cotton socks) were dressed as key characters from their respective generations. Josh decided he'd go Emo seeing as Emo is very Gen Y. He went for the lead singer of popular band My Chemical Romance, as he said on Twitter;

FAQ: I dressed like Gerard Way because I was asked to dress as a defining person of our generation. I wanted an Emo, because Emo's are funny.

All in good fun yes? Entertainment and laughs and all that yes? - well seeemingly no.

MCR lovers everywhere came out in force to attack Josh on his twitter account - resulting in him having to throw up the white flag with this post;

I've resolved to delete my twitter App. from my phone and stop reading @replies. It shouldn't be this easy for CrAzY ppl to talk to me.

What the hell is going on here? When did bullying graduate to the real world?

You see this isn't the first time a bunch of kids have harrassed someone online for having a laugh about one of 'them'.

The brilliantly funny Jess McGuire of Defamer had World War III going on for a while with the teenage fans of Australian band Short Stack. You can check out what started the whole thing here, and then if you search "Short Stack" on the Defamer site you can catch up on the whole sordid affair.

As you can see Jess was attacked in a most immature and grammatically incorrect manner by what can only be described as slightly unhinged, hormones-gone-crazy teenagers hell bent on seeking revenge for the likening of their young heroes to those lovely gals of Designing Women.

The not-too-surprising similarity to both of these incidences is that Jess and Josh reacted in a most gracious, adult manner - choosing to ignore the rudeness and in both cases explain their point more clearly in the hope that the kiddles might understand the idea of critique and/or homage.

But alas, the vile impertinence of youth wins out. Is it any wonder that grown-ups are so weary of social networking sites? These sorts of interactions should be kept to the playground where they belong.

You can watch the hilarious final episode of Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation here.

Much love to Josh.

Jamming it up on Nine

In between the tacky intro and the overuse of the 'jam' metaphor (see above), channel 9's Money for Jam (8pm Wednesday) does have a few bits of advice. Sure there's a whole lot of advertising, animation, unnecessary cut-shots and network promotion but what else can you expect from a commercial program?

It does look great though - the graphics are bright, music is up-beat, editing is tight and there's all those friendly channel 9 characters - quick question; is Scott Cam one of the most endearing Australian tv personalities of all time, or have you just dialed triple 0 to have me commited?

Back to the point, I would assume it does ok in the ratings - the "Aussie Battler" does love a good money-saving scheme after all. Just thank Christ it's not on channel 7 or we'd be listening to more self-congratulatory advice from that unholiest of unholies, David Koch.