Wednesday, November 12, 2008
It's Time To Go... To Rocky Horror
I bought tickets months ago to The Rocky Horror Show in Melbourne. The day comes this Sunday the 16th November. And to my surprise, Gretel Killeen is in town this week reprising her temporary role of the Narrator of the show! I never had any idea I'd get to see Gretel in the show when I bought the tickets, so it is a fantastic twist of fate that I should get to see her. I'll report back here after the show how it was.
Final Insult: Replaced by a Cooking Show
BB's final insult is to b replaced by a reality cooking show in 2009.
The show will air in BB's usual Daily Show timeslot of 7pm, 6 nights a week, for 10 weeks, probably from April to July, between TBL and Idol (if Idol gets another series after this year-- Ten are having a bad run aren't they?).
The show will be produced locally, based on an old BBC format. It will see amateurs inventing their own recipes in a limited timeframe, working in a restaurant, and cooking a 2 course meal. They are then judged on their results, so get ready for another Aussie TV judging panel.
How long will this thing last? A week? 2? Sadly, episode one of a new show generally gets the curiosity ratings, then episode 2 decides whether it will continue, without the chance to gain an audience. I think cooking at 7pm vs Home & Away and probably 2 and a Half Men on 9 won't last too long.
The show will air in BB's usual Daily Show timeslot of 7pm, 6 nights a week, for 10 weeks, probably from April to July, between TBL and Idol (if Idol gets another series after this year-- Ten are having a bad run aren't they?).
The show will be produced locally, based on an old BBC format. It will see amateurs inventing their own recipes in a limited timeframe, working in a restaurant, and cooking a 2 course meal. They are then judged on their results, so get ready for another Aussie TV judging panel.
How long will this thing last? A week? 2? Sadly, episode one of a new show generally gets the curiosity ratings, then episode 2 decides whether it will continue, without the chance to gain an audience. I think cooking at 7pm vs Home & Away and probably 2 and a Half Men on 9 won't last too long.
BB09 Out of the Question
Channels 7 and 9 have both confirmed they are not interested in picking up the Ten-axed Big Brother for 2009.
This is good and bad news. Bad because there will be no BB in 2009. Good because it gives Channel Ten the opportunity to try other things and fail, and perhaps revive BB in some format in 2010. Bad also because Endemol's lease of the Dreamworld space and studio expires next year, meaning if the show was revived in later years, it could lose the Dreamworld tie-in, and may move production to Sydney like other reality shows The Biggest Loser and Idol.
(Unrelated, but The Biggest Loser has also been kicked out of their usual filming premises "The White House" by angry neighbours. They need to find a new location before their next series filming begins, probably quite soon!)
This is good and bad news. Bad because there will be no BB in 2009. Good because it gives Channel Ten the opportunity to try other things and fail, and perhaps revive BB in some format in 2010. Bad also because Endemol's lease of the Dreamworld space and studio expires next year, meaning if the show was revived in later years, it could lose the Dreamworld tie-in, and may move production to Sydney like other reality shows The Biggest Loser and Idol.
(Unrelated, but The Biggest Loser has also been kicked out of their usual filming premises "The White House" by angry neighbours. They need to find a new location before their next series filming begins, probably quite soon!)
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Official Site Winds Down
The OS is winding down now. The main menu and news stories have been removed. All that is left on the front page are a few highlight videos. Normally around this time of year a placeholder goes up mentioning auditions for next year. This year, it will probably just disapear at some point.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Hopes High for BB09 on 9
The rumour currently going around is that the Nine Network put pen to paper today on the contract to pick up the rights to BB for 3 years.
Ten only ever negotiated one season at a time.
If this is true and BB returns in 2009, they still hold the contract with Dreamworld to produce the series from the existing facilities, meaning there would be no time lost setting up the series.
With ESS scared they would lose their biggest production, it is likely they'll be more willing to change the format, audience, and timeslot. According to Kyle and Jackie O, it was ESS, and not Ten, that demanded the Daily Show remain in its 7pm timeslot-- the battle against Home & Away probably being what killed it.
Nine is looking to draw in the young adult demographic, so a later timeslot and a more adult-oriented show could be on the cards, taking the focus away from teenage soap storylines of the past.
The rumoured official announcement is 10am tomorrow (Friday). Here's hoping this is true!
Ten only ever negotiated one season at a time.
If this is true and BB returns in 2009, they still hold the contract with Dreamworld to produce the series from the existing facilities, meaning there would be no time lost setting up the series.
With ESS scared they would lose their biggest production, it is likely they'll be more willing to change the format, audience, and timeslot. According to Kyle and Jackie O, it was ESS, and not Ten, that demanded the Daily Show remain in its 7pm timeslot-- the battle against Home & Away probably being what killed it.
Nine is looking to draw in the young adult demographic, so a later timeslot and a more adult-oriented show could be on the cards, taking the focus away from teenage soap storylines of the past.
The rumoured official announcement is 10am tomorrow (Friday). Here's hoping this is true!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Last Nail in the Coffin for ESS?
BB's axeing could be behind Fairfax Media's decision to sell off production company Endemol Southern Star, which they bought only 8 months ago. BB was ESS's biggest production. ESS have had a few other shows canned recently, such as Monster House, 1 vs 100, and Out of the Blue. Other ongoing ESS productions include Deal or No Deal, Gladiators, Ready Steady Cook, and Mike, Bree & Fitzy's Download.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Almost a Winning Disaster
We all know what happened last year-- they decided to show the voting graph with the faces during the Finale show, it crashed their servers, and the show turned into a huge mess while they tried to figure out who was supposed to win the damn thing, running an hour overtime in the process.
This year they tried again, at the start of the Finale showing Rory was the slim favourite to win over Terri. This time it led viewers to cast the "wrong votes". Voters just started voting out Terri and Rory, ignoring Ben, and Ben slipped into the winner's position (just as Mike Goldman predicted-- spooky!).
Realising what they had done, Jackie O urged viewers to not forget about the one who didn't look like they would win, clearly pointing out that the original favourite evictee had now become favourite to win because of their blunder. Obviously this did not sink in, because despite promising they would not show the voting tally again, they did-- and showed the nation what their votes had done. Terri was now favourite to be evicted, and Ben was favourite to win. Nothing like what the blind votes had reflected, and certaily not what the producers wanted!
But, as expected, like sheep the viewers just reversed their voting pattern yet again and tipped the see-saw back the other way, leaving Ben to be evicted, and Rory and Terri to fight it out, averting a crisis the producers had stupidly not forseen. (Did they think the voting public all had maths degrees or something?)
With Ben gone, it made for a much more gripping winner announcement. Had the public done enough to bring Terri back? Or did the Rory fans get in enough votes to see the Nanna kicked to the curb?
We all know Kyle's favorite was Terri from Day 1, and Jackie O also said she wanted Terri to win out of the three finalists. It was obviously in the producers' interests to have their oldest ever HM, also be their last ever winner. So I'm sure there was many a wiped brow in the control room when it was announced that Terri had actually made it back into the winning position.
It could have been another monumental cock-up in the axed show's history if Ben had wrongly won just because they wanted to get those last few voting dollars. (Make that thousands of dollars!) Thankfully they managed to turn their mistake back around before it was too late....
But we never did see that final voting tally, did we?!
This year they tried again, at the start of the Finale showing Rory was the slim favourite to win over Terri. This time it led viewers to cast the "wrong votes". Voters just started voting out Terri and Rory, ignoring Ben, and Ben slipped into the winner's position (just as Mike Goldman predicted-- spooky!).
Realising what they had done, Jackie O urged viewers to not forget about the one who didn't look like they would win, clearly pointing out that the original favourite evictee had now become favourite to win because of their blunder. Obviously this did not sink in, because despite promising they would not show the voting tally again, they did-- and showed the nation what their votes had done. Terri was now favourite to be evicted, and Ben was favourite to win. Nothing like what the blind votes had reflected, and certaily not what the producers wanted!
But, as expected, like sheep the viewers just reversed their voting pattern yet again and tipped the see-saw back the other way, leaving Ben to be evicted, and Rory and Terri to fight it out, averting a crisis the producers had stupidly not forseen. (Did they think the voting public all had maths degrees or something?)
With Ben gone, it made for a much more gripping winner announcement. Had the public done enough to bring Terri back? Or did the Rory fans get in enough votes to see the Nanna kicked to the curb?
We all know Kyle's favorite was Terri from Day 1, and Jackie O also said she wanted Terri to win out of the three finalists. It was obviously in the producers' interests to have their oldest ever HM, also be their last ever winner. So I'm sure there was many a wiped brow in the control room when it was announced that Terri had actually made it back into the winning position.
It could have been another monumental cock-up in the axed show's history if Ben had wrongly won just because they wanted to get those last few voting dollars. (Make that thousands of dollars!) Thankfully they managed to turn their mistake back around before it was too late....
But we never did see that final voting tally, did we?!
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