Aussie Bloggers

For me and about 300 million of my fellow Americans (and for a lot of Canadians as well), the thought of a free-to-air channel that doesn’t have any ads conjures up images of foreign channels.* However, if I ask any of y’all about free TV without adverts, you immediately would respond with the ABC.

However, it’s the exact opposite that has been getting viewers to switch their TVs onto 2 (or 21 if you have digital) in numbers not seen since Kath and Kim debuted a few years back. The program that’s been hotting up TV dials all around Australia is about advertising - The Gruen Transfer.

Hosted by Glass House favourite Wil Anderson and produced by Andrew Dention, The Gruen Transfer takes a look at ads. Not just taking a look at an ad and being enthralled at it, saying “Ooh! Pretty!” or “Look! That ad had a puppy in it. I’m going to buy that car now!” - rather by discussing the ads, coming up with hilarious ways to sell things and explaining why ads work. Adding into the mix are a panel made up of professionals involved in the advertising business discussing their (and other companies’) work.

It’s a whole new outlook on the world of advertising - one that you won’t see here in the States (mostly because if we have a show about ads it’s one of those lame funniest ads shows that shows the foreign ads which are, to an American audience, very risque ). You even learn things about the industry, such as in the first episode when the regulations that alcohol advertising is held to, including not allowing what was termed the best part of drinking - sexual prowess, changing your mood and the like - to be shown on the ads.

However, to me, the best feature is The Pitch, where representatives of two ad agencies have the opportunity to create ads for something that, well, can’t be sold. The first example that they had was whale meat, and the two ads that were done (seen below) made you maybe want to consider trying the meat, if it weren’t for all the taboos involved in the potential gathering of the product.

If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s available for free download from the ABC Website (or on iTunes), or you can see it on ABC1 at 9.00 PM Wednesdays and on ABC2 at 8.30 PM Thursdays.

And now, the ads -

Whale Meat: The Beef of the Sea

The Angry Prawn

*If you’re wondering why I don’t claim PBS as advert-free TV, it’s because while the actual programs are advert-free, the spots before and after are really no different to the ads you see on everyday network TV.

Two weeks into the most recent incarnation of Big Brother, the eighth, and the show might have actually turned a corner for the best. This is the first series with a new executive producer, replacing Kris Noble, who, in the time he was there, turned the show from an interesting social experiment into a launching platform for models and people just seeking fame, with more emphasis placed on looks and age rather than on personality.

This year, we’ve actually seen a range of housemates from 18-year-old Bianca to 50-something grandmother Terri, and there’s actually a variety of personalities in the house, other than the “I’m here for fame” types. Let’s take a look at some of the housemates up close. Just so you know, I’m writing this before having a chance to screen the eviction show. However, the Friday night show had the bottom three as of then, and they’ll be the first ones looked at.

• Alice: The vet from the country who hasn’t had that much airtime during her stay so far in the house. She’s committed to exercising and has earnt a reward from that, with a bye in the first round of this week’s Friday Night show. Whether that does anything to influence the vote, I don’t know.
• Rebecca: Another person who hasn’t featured that much in the daily shows up until now. The only notable thing that she has done is wanted to go home, but then slept on it and decided that she’s a soldier and she’d fight it out…
• Saxon: A council worker who is chock full of tattoos has shown himself to be a bit of a decent fellow, which is something he’s decided to change consciously, and I gotta say good on him for that, but I think his “old” ways are coming back somewhat. He’s also noted as part of the Spa Mafia, but that phrase didn’t really last all that long…

As for the rest of the housemates, this is what I think of them, in no particular order:

• Ben: Law student who is trying to, well I don’t know. My impression of him is that he’s white bread - pretty plain and not that interesting. He just kinda hangs out and is staying pretty much on the down-low.
• Bianca: 18-year-old who is probably a bit like me in the way that she is much more mature than her age would suggest. I like her mind, but one big negative for her was that she got a bit hung up over the whole Corey thing. However, she’s actually finding out that he’s not that bad of a fella, but I think the jury’s still out on that one. I’d tip her to get a lot of votes from the guys
• Brigitte: Dumb blond pretty much sums her up. Though she says she’s smarter than she appears to be, there are questions about that from me at least, and a lot of the housemates. She’s a good girl, but I think she’s also kinda plain.
• David: Cult escapee turned cop turned firie. I tipped him to be in the running for the win, but the voting is going the other way it would seem, with him in the bottom 5 the last couple of days now. They haven’t mentioned it on the daily shows, but I wonder if he’s going to mention his past to the house at any time. It’d make some interesting discussion.
• Dixie: The first of the Dubbo girls, and also a proud Aboriginal. She works as a coulsellor, but it seems that she’s needed some consoling over the time already, with the lack of food in the house, and then losing Rima to her injury. The latest is that she wanted out of the house, but after Rebecca chose to stay, she decided to stick it out as well.
• Nathan: The surviving housemate voted into the house by the public (after Michael and Barney were evicted by Terri at sunup), he’s won the Friday Night Games, but wound up not having any ability to use the main prizes, except maybe for the assignment of chores and the other duties. His popularity on the web could be useful when he goes up on the block for voting.
• Nobbi: What a pain in the rear end! He’s got probably the best sleeping arrangement in the house, even if it is in the unheated Kombi van, and he can’t seem to stop whining about one thing or another. The upside is that his constant requests to be allowed into the house get repeatedly turned down. It’s making him think of ways to ask, and making the producers think of ways to deny him his request. It’s pretty cool, even though he is prone to the occasional dummy spit. I’d expect him to go some distance in the show.
• Renee: The other Dubbo girl, and probably the coolest of the girls, as she is always happy and having fun. She’s definitely a tomboy, and she’s had an interesting past. I can’t say a bad thing at all about her - I like her. She could actually have a shot to take it all, but that’s just me.
• Rima: A professional belly dancer who, in the time she was in the house, has proven herself to be very worthwhile as a housemate, even if she can’t reach the windows in the garden. Unfortunately, the accident during FNL last week which broke her legs, has sidelined her for the time being. Rumor is that she’s going to return to the house.
• Rory: A Geelong brickie who has gone and probably ticked off half of his town by describing his part of town as a slum. I think that he still could go on and be in the running for the final win. At least that was my thought after I watched the launch show.
• Terri: A bit of bait-and-switch was done with her status, but it will work out in the end. She’s the nanna who was booted out of the house (predictably) after just one night. Then she was brought back as Corey’s chaperon, a job which she did with some aplomb, even climbing up a tree to try to find him. She was reinstated as a housemate, however, after taking up the task of removing two of the web housemates (though she thought it was two from the whole lot). I think that now she’s fulltime there, she’ll go quite some distance. Unless the voters are predictable like the housemates were.
• Travis: He can make his voice deep, but he still always talks in a voice that can only be described as fingernails on a chalkboard. His mannerisms are also very interesting, and have led to questions about his lifestyle. I gotta say that those questions aren’t baseless, considering that he hugs just about everything in sight. It will be interesting to see how he uses his twists to affect the nominations. If I were a betting man (and I’m not ), he’d probably save one of the girls if they wind up down in the bottom 3.

As far as other aspects of the show go, the best addition has definitely been the inclusion of a new show to replace the adults only show, which actually features discussion about the program and the goings on in the house by relatively intelligent people - Big Brother’s Big Mouth. It’s a show that started out in the UK fronted by Russell Brand, and has moved down to Australia. Somehow, I don’t think that this show will run into the same issues they’ve had with the Uncut shows in the past. If anything, it should be given acclaim for being able to give frank opinions of the house and the housemates. Not necessarily Logie acclaim, but maybe a nice writeup in The Australian or something.

Changing the hosts to Kyle & Jackie O has certainly created a different dynamic in the studio shows this year - I don’t mind them all that much, but there is something strange about them together. I’m not sure just yet…

If you’re interested in more discussion of Big Brother, there’s a thread ongoing in the forums: Big Brother 2008. Also, you can check out the official site for news and updates directly from Dreamworld. Lastly, the site with the most buzz about the show is Behind Big Brother - it’s been around for a few years now, and has made itself probably the best source for rumors and other news about the show, housemates, and even the constant ongoings from the live stream in their forums.

My overall impression of the show is that it’s definitely much improved over the last few years. I also think that the new eviction process (a hybrid of the old and the way it’s done in the States), will lead to more intriguing decisions about who goes and who stays, especially if the housemates have to specify a reason for why they’re giving so many points to each housemate. Also, unlike the past, I’m actually keeping an eye on the show every day now.

Forget the Logies, this year’s Australian TV anti* awards, the TV Fugly Awards, or Fuglies, are in full swing.

Hopefuls vying for a gong are eagerly anticipating Friday, 2 May 2008, local television’s afternoon of afternoons, and the day Fuglies founder and MC, Anthony Dever takes the podium in what promises to be a lavish awards ceremony.

Anthony was good enough to take a little time out from steam cleaning the Fuglies trademark brown carpet mat in preparation for this year’s ceremony, to talk about the awards, and also share a few thoughts about Australian television.

(* or actual awards, depending on your opinion of the medium)

Q: So, is it that you “love to hate” what’s on local TV, or are some of the offerings really that bad?

A: It’s a little from columns a and b. I wish I could say that I have the best viewing taste in the country but the reality is I love rubbish television shows as much as most people.

Australian Princess was by far the greatest unintentionally funny show our country has produced in the last couple of years. It was an awful show but also so very good.

It is shows like The Nation which was on on Channel Nine last year that really annoy me. I say this even as a fan of Mick Molloy, but it was such a pedestrian offering. A sad show to watch knowing how funny Mick is and how much money was involved yet the overall idea couldn’t be made into a decent weekly offering.

But it’s not just the shows these awards take a swipe at. I’ve found out by running a survey like The Fuglies that as many people are dissatisfied with the logic defying programming decisions than they are with the shows themselves.

Hopefully one day all the programming things that networks screw over loyal viewers with will be eliminated thanks to technology like Digital TV, PVRs, EPGs and TiVO. I say bring on the Televisión en la revolución!

Q: Something tells me you aren’t too impressed with the “official” TV awards, the Logies. What’s up there?

A: The voting process which was originally linked to buying TV Week magazine as well as the ownership ties between the magazine and the Nine Network were the initial catalyst for it all but now that has mostly changed it’s more that the Logies continue to be so taken so seriously by the industry yet almost universally mocked by the public.

It is fun to be tucked away on the internet hiding behind a laptop parodying the seriousness of it all.

Q: And, er, has there ever been any comment from the TV networks, or Award winners, regarding the Fuglies?

A: Nine time Fugly award winner Eddie McGuire has been bundled up in a wacky breakfast radio interview (mp3 file 185k) saying through gritted teeth that we can keep doing what we do.

Other than that, nothing. I really don’t think anyone in a TV network cares. As much as I’d love to be completely self important and think television executives note down the results, unfortunately I live in reality where I know it doesn’t matter to them.

It’s just a bit of annoying publicity on the Friday and Saturday after our results are announced which is swamped and forgotten once the Logies hype machine spins into gear on the Sunday.

Q: So far no winner has ever collected their award in person, but I understand there was a “close call” once… what happened there?

A: Each year I fly down from Brisbane to Melbourne so I can announce the winners on a small square of brown carpet on the footpath outside Crown Casino.

It’s done on the Friday before the Logies which are on the Sunday. But I fly back that same day. As much as I adore Melbourne I don’t bother hanging around. Just drop the lightweight bomb that is our awards and get out as quickly as possible.

So, one year late in the day while I was waiting for my flight back at Avalon airport I received a call from a publicist at Token a company which manges a heap of comedians.

She wanted to know where Adam Hills could come to accept his award. He was the recipient of one of our good awards, the Most Under Acknowledged TV Personality.

I was just too far away and too poor to rearrange my flight to get back to Melbourne in time to make it happen. Maybe this year now that we’re having an actual ceremony people might turn up, I doubt it though.

Q: You’d be pretty familiar with Australian TV. What would you personally consider to be quality local programming?

A: The Chaser and Working Dog are two groups consistently giving us “must watch” television. Their most recent shows War and with TGYH respectively are a good investment once a week.

But the one standout new show last year that I was disappointed to miss or not record and once even tried to get SBS to send me review tapes was Wilfred.

And while not produced here or screened here yet and technically not even ours but in the great way Australia adopts successful New Zealanders I think Flight of the Conchords is worthy of being claimed as our own.

I have really enjoyed the illegally downloaded episodes I’ve obtained via the wonders of the internet. That show is a classic example of local production companies and television networks not backing our own creative talent.

These two insanely brilliant people were part of a show on ABC TV called Stand-up! in 2004 yet no one here had the gumption to sign them up.

Later they got spotted at an overseas comedy festival and now they have their own show on arguably the best channel in the world, HBO. A New Zealand, sorry, Australian folk-parody duo have a show on HBO.

Let that sink in. Sex and the City, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Entourage, The Sopranos, Big Love and now Flight of the Conchords.

As someone who loves watching telly I just shake my head and think how many other shows are out there in the heads of young kids with unique ideas who are stuck entering film festivals or doing stand up comedy that just aren’t seeing the light of day.

With TGYH being sold into so many overseas markets and therefore making Working Dog crazy coin it has shown that the world gets our sense of humour and can be financially lucrative.

So you’d think just from a potential money earning perspective local networks would be throwing a little more effort into producing the ideas of talented people.

Thanks for your time Anthony, we’re all looking forward to the awards ceremony!

The promo video for cycle 4 of Australia’s Next Top Model is now being shown on Foxtel and Austar. Here is the extended clip - there are also shorter versions.

Australia’s Next Top Model website finally has some content on it, so if you’re interested in the show head on over and check it out.

There’s less than 3 weeks to lift off, and I will be live blogging the show here on the Aussie Bloggers website, so you won’t miss out on a minute of the insanity.

Australian Idol have announced they will hold auditions in London and LA for expat Aussies to be the next Australian Idol in addition to its Australian auditions. Apparently the ratings have dropped and after five years of finding talent within Australia, the pool must be getting a bit low.

The audition process for this, and other shows like it, is the best bit of the show I think. Once the top 12 have been finalised it does tend to get a bit predictable especially if the song choice is not your cup of tea and especially if you haven’t connected with a particular singer in the hope that they will win.

Another part of the show that I liked was Mark Holden but unfortunately it was recently announced he won’t be doing the show this year. He added some kitsch value and humour with his Touchdowns and silly speak but in addition to this he was the only judge, apart from Marcia, to be a singer. Australian Idol is about about singers - not just potential record sellers. None of these contestants will sell records in the long term if they can’t sing and feedback about singing is needed.

The issue of judges aside, by searching for Aussies overseas to potentially give up their life for a few months to come back to Australia to be the next Australian Idol, it will add an extra dimension to the show. They are therefore pretty much guaranteeing an audience who will surely wonder whether this will work or not. If it does perhaps it will keep the show going for another year or two where it might have crashed earlier.

Do you think expat auditions are the answer to reinvigorate Australian Idol?

We started watching the Australian version of So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) a few weeks ago. I’d really enjoyed the American version so I was interested to see what the Australians could do.

Half the fun for me in these reality tv shows is the audition process and overall the audition process for this was much much kinder than the one for Australian Idol. Mind you, there are lots of people out there who have been told they can sing and really can’t, compared to the amount of people who’ve been told they can dance and are not very good at it. Or perhaps the Dance show’s producers are much kinder than Idol’s producers. I’m not sure, and I’d be interested to hear others’ opinions.

The types of judges are different on the two shows too, as there is no Kyle equivalent on SYTYCD - thank goodness. While some of his comments are constructive, a lot are not. But I’m not going to mention Idol any more in this post as that’s over for this year and hopefully for good.

An interesting programming decision happened with SYTYCD being scheduled right next to The Biggest Loser. One minute we’re seeing grossly obese people about to begin a journey to lose weight and get over the being fat mindset compared to very fit, slim people hoping to break into the dance world. But I digress.

As with all reality television shows, there are bloggers who blog about them. I have been guilty of this in the past with Big Brother - ahem - moving right on. I think people blog about reality tv because it is somewhat addictive to watch, the competition gets us interested, some of the people are just unbelievably good bad or bitchy and you just have to share. Some of the reality tv blog posts are as entertaining as the show itself and if you have missed out on an episode, they are a good place to catch up with what happened and get other viewpoints.

Mr Melodicus is blogging SYTYCD Australia and also the US version. He has a good wrapup of the Australian audition, talks about the very emotional pruning process, and the top 20 dancers.

Defamer Australia has the usual snarky (where deserved), but informative summaries, and the comments are interesting too.

TV Tonight also keeps us informed.

Personal blog wrapups are usually a lot more entertaining than the official show’s blog, but then the dancers are pretty busy learning their next dance in the hope they won’t be eliminated this week.

Who do you think will win?

Arena TV has recently announced they will be making an Australian version of the incredibly popular Project Runway series. If you have never seen Project Runway - which is possible as the show airs on Arena TV in Australia - it is a reality tv show where fashion designers put together amazing outfits on tight budgets with limited time.

If you can sew and design, you should put in your application to be on the show today. Applications close at Midnight on Sunday the 9th of March.