How bad is locally made tv?

emma · 1 June 2006

For a good laugh try watching "Thank God You're Here" - on Channel 10 Wednesday night - its a hoot. I don't watch a lot of TV but think "Australian Story" is outstanding.

professor_frink · 1 June 2006

Stop_the_clock said:
I personally think it is really sad that we are attacking our own people, and our own talent etc.

Given half the chance could any of you do any better?

No I very much doubt it!

Many of these actors/actress/costume designers/script writers/ stage hands/producers/directors etc have spent many hard years learning the ropes.

See the funny thing is that when you leave Australia, and travel overseas, you realize how much other countries love/crave our talent.

You only have to look at Neighbours, screened twice a day in the UK.

Now we are the first ones to knock our own talent, but just get over yourselves and your egos and look at what the rest of the world craves, and that is the simplistic aussie drama/tv soap/and a good old aussie yarn!

You have no idea how much the rest of the world wants to be where you are sitting right now!

Far out stop knocking your own!

I agree with you to a certain extent stop, Australia has made some good shows over the years that have stood the test of time(neighbours/H&A, etc), or a just plain brillant(CNNNN,full frontal, etc), but the shows that the commercial networks have put on recently are pretty weak. In regards to your comment about could we do any better, better than what I ask? Better than shows like-

the wedge (ian mcfadyen still trying to cash in on the comedy company)

last man standing (writer of the show uses family name to try and cash in on secret life of us themed show)

cooks (dunno where this tripe came from but it got the treatment it deserved. I only lasted 10 minutes into this one before turning it off)

let loose live (it lasted 2 episodes, 1.5 more than it deserved)

Australian princess (folks that made australia's next top model came up with this one. Enough said)

The local version of "queer eye for the straight guy" (WTF??? the american one was popular for a couple of months so we should rip it off?)

X factor ( this one was that bad that it shouldn't even be talked about. By anyone. Ever again.)

popstars (responsible for bardot and jackie-O thinking she should be on tv. So very,very wrong)

Australia's next top model (another american rip off that went very badly)

up late with hotdogs (he's even worse than gretel killean)

big brother (yet another o/s ripoff that shouldn't have gone on for more than a year, but is still with us. Also responsible for gretel killean and hotdogs)

idol (o/s ripoff that has given us shannon noll. Note to the producers- all the talented, unsigned singers in the country have either already tried out and been knocked back, or don't want to try. Give it up)

there are more but I can't think of them right now.

I'd have to say yes I could do better. You could do better, most people on this forum could, a monkey could do better. It's this kind of trainwreck stuff that gets served up to us on commercial telly that makes me want to puke all over the tv so it won't work anymore.

Outside of neighbours, which of our locally made shows are screened overseas? I think home and away might be, but I'm not sure what else is.

krisbarry · 1 June 2006

You are so wrong....so much Australian TV is screened overseas....please for the love of god travel overseas.

Have you even left Australia?

Prospector · 1 June 2006

professor_frink said:
Outside of neighbours, which of our locally made shows are screened overseas? I think home and away might be, but I'm not sure what else is.

There are programmes like 'Out of the Blue' which are shown in around 30 countries overseas. Many of our leisure shows, cooking shows, garden shows are shown os. Like stop the clock says, you really need to travel OS to get an appreciation of what is shown

dreilly · 1 June 2006

im OS at least 2 months of every year. Most of the time france, UK and the US. The only australian shows i have ever seen in abundance is H/A and neighbours in the UK.
I did happen to catch a VERY old ep of the great outdoors on cable in LA last year.

From my travels, id say that aus tv productions are very underexposed over seas, and theres a good reason for that. This trend will definately decline if the only shows aus can produce are cheesy knock offs of other countries ideas.

Lets all agree to disagree on this whole topic hey?. i think aus TV sucks across the board and alot of people thinks its great, and thats fine. My opinion is not wrong and neither is yours. I and you have the right to either bag or love our local product and by doing so does not make me or you either anti or pro aussie. Just an exercise of the old free speech which is what really makes australia great.

Prospector · 1 June 2006

I think maybe the shows are more highly exposed in the Asian markets, which is where we mostly travel. You can watch TV in Asia and almost forgot you arent in Australia, almost...

kgee · 1 June 2006

love the glasshouse and spics and specs is pretty good as well

twojacks28 · 1 June 2006

blueroo said:
Hey Prof

IMHO option 2 could do with a bit of reworking.

Why would anyone go from bad Aussie TV and pay good money to receive a product even worse? Namely Foxtel or Austar. :swear:

Maybe there could be an option as follows:

Aussie TV is so bad, I rarely watch it.

what are you talking about foxtel is great!

twojacks28 · 1 June 2006

there are lots of good shows on 7 at the moment! prisonbreak, lost etc

sam76 · 1 June 2006

Hmmmm... interesting thread.

After reading everyones opinions and views I've come to this conclusion about Aussie tv.

I HATE GRETEL KILEEN.

thank you.

hardmoney · 1 June 2006

It isn't just Australian television, all of it is junk...............

"Television has become the heroin of the masses, a powerful escapist drug deviating stressed psychologies away from reality. For hours at a time, the human mind, never before bombarded with the stresses experienced today, can relieve pressure and relax to the tunes of a fictional world of beauty, perfection and orchestrated wonderment, a world that the natural human condition can never duplicate or achieve. Lost in fantasy and entertainment, the mind travels to locations far and wide, surfing the waves of channels in search of the greatest pleasure, and the most comfortable escape.

Today, the experiment of television has been a rousing success as subsequent generations of citizen's fall prey to the heroin inside their homes. Never before a part of human evolution, the television suddenly appeared without study or research into its effects on the human brain, captivating millions of citizens half a century ago. For over fifty years entire generations of children have been subjected to the now known damages of television, creating in the population of Murka, a group that watches by far the most hours of television in the world, a series of behavioral, emotional and psychological anomalies that no human society has ever had to confront."

Excerpt from Land of ‘Murka’
By Manuel Valenzuela

professor_frink · 1 June 2006

hardmoney said:
It isn't just Australian television, all of it is junk...............

"Television has become the heroin of the masses, a powerful escapist drug deviating stressed psychologies away from reality. For hours at a time, the human mind, never before bombarded with the stresses experienced today, can relieve pressure and relax to the tunes of a fictional world of beauty, perfection and orchestrated wonderment, a world that the natural human condition can never duplicate or achieve. Lost in fantasy and entertainment, the mind travels to locations far and wide, surfing the waves of channels in search of the greatest pleasure, and the most comfortable escape.

Today, the experiment of television has been a rousing success as subsequent generations of citizen's fall prey to the heroin inside their homes. Never before a part of human evolution, the television suddenly appeared without study or research into its effects on the human brain, captivating millions of citizens half a century ago. For over fifty years entire generations of children have been subjected to the now known damages of television, creating in the population of Murka, a group that watches by far the most hours of television in the world, a series of behavioral, emotional and psychological anomalies that no human society has ever had to confront."

Excerpt from Land of ‘Murka’
By Manuel Valenzuela

going off topic here... well sort of anyway. Watched spongebob squarepants with the son of one of my girlfriends relatives the other day- interesting stuff

Do any of the parents on these here forums have kids and foxtel? From the few kiddies I've seen, when they get near foxtel, you can't get the little buggers away from it! It does seem like a "drug" when you see a five year old who's been watching cartoons for hours go off his head when you drag him away from it.

I don't have kids yet, but I can't imagine myself having foxtel when I do. I'm not sure if I'd want my kid having that much tv to watch. Anyone have any comments on this?

mista200 · 1 June 2006

You guys are pathetic...
Local TV is the best!!! I can't stand all this commercial imported american trash!!!! aaargh!!!!

SBS and the ABC are great!

although yeah home and away and neighbours are sh*t!

blueroo · 1 June 2006

twojacks28 said:
what are you talking about foxtel is great!

2jacks you really need to get a life. Besides my wife, I don't know anybody who can watch repeat after repeat

As regards Prisonbreak, I had to walk away from it last night. Enough is enough from channel 7. It started life as what looked like a unique storyline and was great for a while until the ads took up more airtime than the show. Now it has become a disjointed series of short skits flitting backwards and forwards in an effort to lengthen the series. The makers obviously realised they have a winner and are desparately trying to milk the idea for all they can get. Good on them for that, but they can do it without me from now on.

3 veiws of a secret · 4 June 2006

Your talking about local TV! -what about "Inspector REX" on SBS: I mean who is the producer of this show????? If somebody came up to you and said I have a concept, it involves an inspector that is an alsation/canine who understands German perfectly well and is involved in crime busting, would you stand to attention?
I swear REX could solve the Iraqi solution as I type!
Paw,paw me
:couch

The Mint Man · 4 June 2006

3 veiws of a secret said:
Your talking about local TV! -what about "Inspector REX" on SBS: I mean who is the producer of this show????? If somebody came up to you and said I have a concept, it involves an inspector that is an alsation/canine who understands German perfectly well and is involved in crime busting, would you stand to attention?
I swear REX could solve the Iraqi solution as I type!
Paw,paw me
:couch

HEY!!!
Dont you talk about kahn like that :swear:

Anyway,
Like I said early in this thread 'Answered by fire' is a good mini series on at the moment...
It is on tonight on ABC so be sure to check it out.

Julia · 4 June 2006

3 veiws of a secret said:
Your talking about local TV! -what about "Inspector REX" on SBS: I mean who is the producer of this show????? If somebody came up to you and said I have a concept, it involves an inspector that is an alsation/canine who understands German perfectly well and is involved in crime busting, would you stand to attention?
I swear REX could solve the Iraqi solution as I type!
Paw,paw me
:couch

Rex is just the greatest dog. I often get people saying my Libby looks just like Rex. Sadly, she doesn't quite have Rex's talents.

The owners of Rex must have made a fortune from him.

For Inspector Rex fans, there's a gorgeous movie, called, I think
"Rex - the Early Years" which shows the young puppy and his progress to adulthood. The storyline is rubbish, as it is on the TV shows, but Rex makes up for it.

Go, Rex!

Julia

Smurf1976 · 4 June 2006

I stopped watching TV when it became dominated by "reality" and "real estate".

"Reality" TV is nothing more than a cheap means of producing an hour program. Don't worry about costly professional actors, script writers or even a decent set. Just bring in some bunch of wannabe stars and turn the camera on.

Big Brother might have been interesting as a one-off series screened nightly for a week or maybe up to a month but it's gone on way too long. Likewise Popstars was interesting the first time but it just didn't need another series. Australian Idol has already flushed out practically everyone who thought they could sing so it's a bit pointless to keep going. Maybe having another go in five years might make sense, but not now.

As for "Real Estate" TV programs, suffice to say that their extraordinarily high popularity a couple of years ago was confirmation of the house price bubble as far as I'm concerned. Blatant ramping of an investment class which would be on the receiving end of ASIC or some other regulator if it were anything other than real estate. A sad obsession with houses which has lead so many into serious debt and misery. You pay double or triple for the SAME house and this is "good" (for whom? Not anyone buying or trading up) whilst the very same media never shuts up how "bad" it is when a business that actually does something productive and useful makes a profit. Talk about how to mislead the masses with dodgy investment "advice".

As for news, what can I say? Some story about the landlord from hell is NOT an important current affairs issue. Neither are diet pills or dodgy mechanics. If these programs (ACA and TT) would actually tell the full story, even if it meant seriously criticising the activities of some major advertisers on the relevant networks, then I would have a lot more respect for them. But at the moment it seems to be little more than brainwashing :swear: to push the interests of whoever is currently favoured by the network bosses.

The good thing about all of this is that by not watching it I have plenty of time to do other, more worthwhile, things. Like ASF for example...

twojacks28 · 5 June 2006

blueroo said:
2jacks you really need to get a life. Besides my wife, I don't know anybody who can watch repeat after repeat

for your information i do have a life im guessing a more satisfying life then yours. also I hardly watch tv it is just a few shows which I enjoy and when im at home and there is nothing on free to air then i watch foxtel. I dont watch often so that is why I guess i never see repeats..

MalteseBull · 5 June 2006

anyone watch "Single Bed" On community tv

funniest community based tv i ever watched

How bad is locally made tv?