Monday, March 31, 2008

Sunday Ratings

777,000. Yes, that is what Rove got on Sunday night. 777,000. I still can't believe it. I can't remember the last time they got such a low result. It is quite disappointing for Rove, given all the plugging, and given it was a series return. It came 4th after the heavyweights Grey's and CSI. It even lost to East of Everything. Not to say it isn't great news for this Aussie drama. 1m is fantastic for its debut. The ABC is probably hoping they have another Seachange on their hands.
Everyone seems to have fallen for the Gladiators too, with 1.8 million, but will this be another Bingo Night? Let's hope so. It's just another pointless, brain-dead show encouraging violence.
In other news, Earl returned strongly on 1.2m, even though the Cops episodes are rubbish.
60 minutes is recovering after a shaky start on 1.4m, Channel Nine's reality docu-dramas continue to not prove as popular as their identical counterparts previously aired on Channel Seven. Dance drops in popularity as viewers realise just how boring and drawn out it can be sometimes. People also continue to lap up the trash which is Police Files Unlocked and The Biggest Loser... no big suprise.
Thanks to www.tvtonight.com.au

Really the only suprise here is Rove's result, but maybe we can see why with my Rove post.

Rove Review


In my opinion, Rove had a fantastic 2007. His move to Sundays proved a success, with the show regularly getting around the 1m mark. There were new segments and new faces and it put the show in a class above the previous Rove Live years. It was really funny and it seemed that they had achieved the right mix between written material and banter between Rove, "the gang" and the guests.


This is why when I found out that Rove would be making a few changes to this year's show, I was a bit suprised, but I was optimistic. Surely the show could only get bigger and better... but I was somewhat disappointed.


The first difference noticed were the opening credits. They were 10 times flashier and slicker than the last years. Mind, I had no problem with this, but I didn't see the necessity for them to be changed last year.


Rove's opening monologue was more or less the same- it was still quite funny, but this isn't what I had a problem with. Then it was time for "Carrie at the Newsdesk", also with flashier graphics. I don't know whether you were supposed to see Carrie sneak in from backstage or not but I suggest this should be cleaned up a tad, to match with everything else new and flashy, this looked messy in comparison. And whule the "News" was still funny, there was no banter between Carrie and Rove like there was last year. It used to relax things a bit and it could be quite funny. I don't know who decided that Carrie wasn't funny enough but I suggest they bring back the banter. Pete Helliar was funny as usual, not much different to his segment, which was good, Petespace is perfectly suited to him.


Ross Noble was funny and quirky as always and Rove's interview with Jodie Foster was OK, but those pre-recorded interviews are never as good as the live ones.


Hamish and Andy were also quite funny, but they deserve more time for their segment, and Hamish Blake needs more opportunity to do what he does best... be funny.


Dave Hughes' segment was quite good. It was better than last year's Hughesy loses it, which got quite tired- Hughesy probably did too. This was one of the only actual improvements to the show.


The main problem I had with the show was the amount of written material it now has. They have cut down the amount of banter to almost nothing to allow for more stuff like the Kevin Rudd sketch and I Love... at the end of the show. And while these segments were not exactly unfunny, it restricted the gang so much that they couldn't relax and Hamish or Pete couldn't come out with any spontaneous "winners".


The other problem I had was why they had to switch around the set. For a person like me, who had watched the show last year, the position of the couch which was switched to the other side, it seriously messed with my head. I don't know whether it was because Rove wanted the set to look more like Letterman's or not but it now does.


Nevertheless, Rove is still one of the funniest shows on TV and I hope that they realise that it thrives on spontaneous jokes and banter.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares

Just when everyone thought the biggest show of 08 would by So You Think You Can Dance, along came a man named Gordon Ramsay. His show has just exploded on the Aus TV scene. It is quite amazing in fact that it has become such a huge phenomenon. It started quitely in the Summer non- ratings period once a week, with very little fuss or promotion. It was a steady performer then, hovering around the 1m mark. Channel Nine just screened it to give viewers a
taste of what was to come with their massively promoted so-so Chopping Block.
In fact, all Nine did was show a slicker, grittier and funnier show before the not-as-good second show.
It also made The Chopping Block look like an weak imitation, and they wonder why it didn't work.
Anyway, Nine must be ecstatic that they have finally come across their first new show which is actually popular in the past couple of years. Really. Think about it. Nine hasn't had a truly popular new show like this for ages. They have always just relied on their older favourites like CSI, 60 minutes, etc. to prop up their collapsing network.
But now, this show, this man, could prove the turning point in Nine's fortunes.
But why has this show proven so popular? It is a cheap American reality show where a man comes into a crap restaurant, swears, abuses the staff and picks on the food. It is all because of Ramsay. Just like house, the show revolves around and supported solely by one grumpy man.
It has steadily increased in ratings and peaked at 1.5 million on a Thursday.
And now that Nine has unlocked the Ramsay juggernaut, they could also tap into his other shows he has made like Hell's Kitchen.
All I know is that the Ramsay phenomenon can only get bigger.