Being a TV addict in Australia
One thing that you don’t give to a TV addict is more engrossing episodic television. Lately I’ve been watching House, MD - the new show on Ch. 10. This and all the CSI and Law & Order shows. Plus Lost, Desperate Housewives, and Las Vegas.
*Warning - rant follows*
Notice that they are all US shows. And yes I do know that the shows that the Oz networks bring in happen to be the cream of the US crop so it’s not fair to compare that with the bulk of Aussie TV shows. But I ask you this: why can’t I get the cream of Aussie TV when I’m right here in Oz??? And please don’t mention to me Home & Away, Neighbores, All Saints, Blue Heelers and McLeod’s Daughters. Those shows are either highly stereotypically Aussie, badly written or both. Some of the actors are good mind you, but the scripts are crap.
The last Aussie shows that I followed religiously were: Heartbreak High, and Head Start. Both were canned a while ago while mediocre shows like those above plod on. The Aussies shows that I do watch now are non-fiction: The Panel (has that been canned too?), Enough Rope and Foreign Correspondent (now Dateline). Along the same line, the last great Aussie movie that I saw was “The Castle” and before that “Muriel’s Wedding“, “The Big Steal“, “Romper Stomper“, “Proof“, and “The Sum of Us” - the last three had Russell Crowe in his pre-A-list, pre-yobbo years. What Aussie movie had been memorable lately???
I’m not asking for slick productions values - the US market is much bigger and wealthier so they can afford it. All I want is witty and intelligent writing, and for the government to invest more in the Arts again. Too much to ask?
p.s. I went a bit link-happy there.
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10 Responses to “Being a TV addict in Australia”
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Jul 07 2005 / 4:09 pm
You forgot The Secret Life of Us. It ruled my life for a while - and that was whilst i was in London. Back to back DVD sessions and then repeat for weeks on end.
Neighbwhores has been so crap since it’s reappeared on my radar in the wake of my return to these shores. I occasionally catch the odd episode whilst i’m torturing myself at the gym, and i’m always stunned by how bad it is.
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Jul 07 2005 / 5:03 pm
cheeryripe: Ah yes yes - “The Secret Life of Us” but I never got into that tho. And from what I’ve heard, the good writing went south after a while with that one too. Hahah I like how you term it “Neighbwhores”. It’s not even a good trashy throwaway like “Melrose Place” isn’t it?
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Jul 07 2005 / 6:29 pm
As a former (reformed) TV addict, I generally don’t find myself watching that much tv these days… The greatest thing that puts me off: AD BREAKS. Why don’t we have decent ads in this country??? Whenever i’ve managed to catch those “funniest/best commercial” type shows there are all these fantastic ads - from OVERSEAS! Do companies think Australians aren’t clever enough to get good ads? or too stupid that even the most mediocre plug will get us to buy things? My fave ad on tv atm is that Stella Artois ad where the dying father asks for beer, which his son drinks and blames on the priest - foreign ad! I say boycott all TV! Make those networks earn their ratings! Then may be we’ll get some decent aussie tv, or at least more interesting ads?
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Jul 07 2005 / 6:42 pm
lee lee: u’re right about the ads. The last imaginative one that I liked was the Toohey’s Dry one - with the tongue. And the current fave is the one for the square-bottom Tacos (can’t remember the brand). The moment when the kid suggests the solution to the adults and everyone picked him up and jumped for joy is classic. There’s the Heineken ones as well where the guys risk cold and pain to find the bottle at the bottom of the barrel - but yes it’s a foreign one.
We can’t boycott all TV because then advertisers won’t advertise, networks lose revenue and even shittier shows are aired. Vicious circle really. -
Jul 07 2005 / 7:26 pm
Gee thanks for that nice label “cultural philistine/snob”… no no, it’s quite ok, you don’t have to change it.
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Jul 08 2005 / 8:24 am
Is it proper blog etiquette to introduce oneself before making a first comment? Hi, I’m Curtis. Prepare to be boarded.
All I want is witty and intelligent writing, and for the government to invest more in the Arts again.Why is it the government’s place to invest in the arts? Shouldn’t the arts be required to stand on their own? That’s what the free market is all about. If crappy TV shows are all that stay on the air, it must be because advertisers are buying time. And if they’re buying time, then people must be watching the shows. And if people are watching the (crappy) shows, then they must be idiots. Throwing government money at TV isn’t going to make people like better shows. That’s just the sad reality. What we have to do, of course, is support our preferred arts with OUR money. Which is why I don’t watch network TV and instead prefer to buy DVDs of independent, HK and Japanese movies.
But that’s just me.
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Jul 08 2005 / 9:29 am
Curtis: Welcome aboard.
You make a good point re: idiots watching stupid shows and then complaining about it. My point about the govt. investing in the Arts is this - some writers and artists are born brilliant, some are trained. If we don’t have the proper investments in education/arts, then the brilliant ppl would leave elsewhere, and those who could become good are left with their potential unfulfilled. -
Jul 09 2005 / 1:57 am
Point taken. Here we have the so-called Public Broadcasting System, which everyone knows has a leftward bias (to be kind about it), yet is fully subsidized by the gov’t despite its ability to generate its own income. I say, pull the gov’t money and let it sink or swim on its own.
On the distinction between (and value of) fine art vs. commercial art, I’m less certain. I’m generally against, say, the National Endowment for the Arts. Aren’t there enough rich people or private foundations to invest in artists they deem worthwhile? And I wouldn’t necessarily want fine artists to have to “whore themselves out” commercially, though I can’t really see how it would be bad to make someone pay his/her dues.
Here’s what I fully support: school arts and music programs. But before sticking a hand out to the gov’t, schools should take some of the sports budget to pay for them.
Gee, who’d have thought I’d have so much to say about this? Not I.
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Jul 09 2005 / 10:41 am
Curtis: the only show we get here from PBS is the “Jim Lehrer News Hour”. I quite enjoy that actually.
Back to who doles out the money. I can see the good and the bad between the govt. vs private entities/enterprises. Depending on the govt of the day, you may get certain kind of art programs discriminated against. I’m talking about the conservativeness of the Oz govt., and I presume the US one too. Then again if you only have private enterprise then it’s either gonna be too commercial - catering to the lowest denomination, or too eccentric that only a few would enjoy it.
Agree with your point about the school budgets. We don’t see that too much here - instead of schools, athletes get scholarships at the Australian Institute of Sports (govt). Which brings me back to my point - for a small nation, we sure have a lot of athletes. Money could and should be more evenly divided between the sports and the arts.
Likewise I didn’t know I had all these pent up shit about the Arts to rant about.
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