Reviews
Ghosts (2021)
Not as childish as the UK version
I'm different to just about every other reviewer here. I prefer the US version over the UK one. There are plenty of UK comedies that haven't translated well when made for the US market. Coupling, one of the greatest comedies ever made, was completely unwatchable with US accents. The Office took the concept and ran with it to the point it was completely different and almost unrecognisable from the UK original. Most others are just, well, meh. Man About The House became Threes Company and bland in the process.
I have a problem with the UK version - it's almost a pantomime. Most of the cast are graduates from Horrible Histories, a series aimed at pre teens and I can't but help see their gross over acting with silly put on voices. I managed a few episodes and gave up.
By comparison the US version seems more adult, not in humour but maturity. It's the same silly premise but you're not trying to understand what word is being said in the over the top accent. Rose Mciver has a great range of facial expressions to convey her discomfort, embarrassment or confusion with little more than a smile or raised eyebrow. The ghosts themselves behave as you would imagine people of their past would react and play off each other well.
It's not brilliant, groundbreaking television by any measure but it is an enjoyable way to spend half an hour.
Sense8 (2015)
Great concept but needlessly long
The idea of 8 strangers from all around the world, all sharing the same mind space, able to inhabit each others bodies and assist each other in times of need is great. The cinematography is flawless and special effects second to none. But that's the end of the good stuff.
We have a script full of cliches. For example the heavies from the bad guys all wear masks so we don't sympathise when they're killed. We have the evil corporation hunting them down because, well they're evil. Hackers accessing virtually anything they want in seconds because they are that good.
We have thrown in character development that is completely irrelevant to the plot. Gay and trans characters each with multiple episodes explains how they came to realise who they really were. Most people I know don't care if someone is gay, much less why. Oh and let's not forget to have the bigoted parents that don't accept them for who they are but finally have an epiphany any all is forgiven and accepted.
And the pace. OMG. We have frantic action scenes where the film speed is cranked - fairly typical in modern action movies - except where they slow it down so we can revel in the blood splattering gore. Or the character scenes where sit on a bench with seemingly endless dialog that says nothing or repeats the obvious. Beautifully shot sex scenes shows the intimacy, sometimes with needless detail, and always in slow motion making the show drag on even longer.
The finale was a perfect example of the flaws that persisted the whole season. A one hour episode that takes more than two and a half hours to tell. It was self indulgent and meaningless.
If we could re-edit and cut out the pointless scenes, cut the slow motion scenes and stick to character development that was relevant to the story then this would have made a fantastic series. Instead I found myself wading thru the second season when I should have been on the edge of my seat.
Quantum Leap: Let Them Play (2023)
Writing is horrible
This was the most tedious, poorly written episode of any TV series I've had the misfortune to watch. QL has always had the clear line between telling a story and telling you what you should think. The entire appeal of the show Is to compare modern attitudes with those of the period. The Rosa Parks episode in the original series looked at the appalling treatments handed out to black people in America. It works because we have all evolved beyond that point and wonder how people could have been treated that way.
This episode doesn't have the luxury of time difference to present the contrast which means it needs clever story telling and subtlety. It fails dismally.
Let's look at the logic of the story telling. A high school coach allows his trans daughter onto the girls basketball team but she's not a player. What? How is that inclusion? How does that support her transition? What parent or teacher would think that's better than not allowing her on the team at all?
And then there is the dialog. Speech after speech about how important it is to let trans people "be their true selves" or participate fully in life or aren't a danger to anyone else. To get any more preachy they would have to break the fourth wall and give their talk direct to the camera.
I saw another review here that said you would have to be a bigot to not love this episode. I would say you are so desperate for television to write any positive story on trans issues that you're prepared to forgive the extremely poor writing that delivered it.
Outback House (2005)
The only reality TV show worth watching
I avoid reallity TV in all its forms. Contrived rubbish. This is not. There is no voting, audience polls or fake drama injections.
We have a group of people from all walks of life sent back to live as squatters in the mid 19th century. Everything modern is removed and I mean everything. You are transported with them back in time and somehow forget you're watching something made in the 21st century. A few episodes in one of the participants has an accident and an abulance is called. When you saw the modern ambulance it was a shock - it was out of place in this world they had created.
The scenary is wonderful and the helicopter shots over the property is cinematography of a standard not expected on TV. Wonderful vision of the high country of NSW.
The tasks they have to perform as exactly as it would have been at the time. The narrator explains what they need to do and why and we're left to watch them muddle their way thru. For example there's a government inspector who turns up to make sure they are using the land allotment correctly and not wasting it.
A couple of the interactions were uncomfortable in modern times, especially the treatment of a couple of indiginous cast members. As you would expect at the time they were not considered equal and the show depicted this. I'm not sure this degree of accuracy was warranted and is probably the reason we've not seen any repeats.
It has been aired just once that I know of. It's a show that's timeless and would certainly be worth showing to new generations.
You Can't Ask That (2016)
Unique television
Hell, it's a unique life experience watching each episode.
Let's face it - we've all looked at a minority and have had a question that's just too impolite to ask. Does a dwarf shop in the kids clothing section? Do prostitutes have a normal sex life outside work? What's it like for a soldier to witness a mate die in his arms? What's it like to live to be 100? How do you accept a diagnosis that you're terminally ill? Why do people with Down's Syndrome like to hug so much?
The format is extremely simple. Sit the subject on a stool in front of a plain white background and hand them cards with the questions. They read the question and answer it. It then cuts to another person answering the same question - because different people have different responses. By the end of the episode you feel you know and understand each person, their struggles and successes. The white background means you concentrate on the person and their answers. There's no studio audience, no backing track and no interviewer - just the answers.
Ordinary people with extraordinary courage answering the questions with frankness, honesty and humour. You'll never look at a minority the same way again.
Boston's Finest (2013)
Scripted or real?
OK - disclaimer here. I despise reality TV. I'm a fan of great writing and the reality TV surge of late has seen quality writing pushed onto the fringes of mainstream media.
Boston's Finest is not a huge stand out. It blends the awful Cops with great camera angles and sound effects. The production values are so high one has difficulty believing it's the fly on the wall series it pretends to be. Many shots are clearly set up or dramatised later.
Other than that, it is no different than any other reality show. We follow the lives of the boys and girls in blue as they clean up the streets. We get to see glimpses of their families and they give us narratives of their fears and motivations.
I'm not really sure if this is reality or carefully scripted to hoodwink the viewer. Either way the pilot episode didn't hold me enough to care so this won't become part of my viewing schedule.
God on My Side (2006)
Imbedded with the enemy
Andrew Denton is renown in Australia for his interviewing style. He excels in getting his subjects to reveal incredibly intimate things about themselves without realising what they are doing. He's a very non-threatening and likable person but incredibly intelligent and quick witted. He will often be three or four steps ahead of his interviewee and adjusts the direction of his questions accordingly. I watched this in a batch of religious documentaries which included Bill Maher's Religulous and Richard Dawkins' Enemies of Reason. It's a standout because, unlike the other two, Denton's unassuming nature allows him into the inner sanctum of the religious zealots. At no time throughout any of the interviews does Denton claim to be "of faith", however his subjects all assume he is. He doesn't contradict them but lets them display just how ridiculous the faithful can be. For example when some stall holders want to bless him, he stands there politely taking the blessing. How you come away from viewing this will depend on your faith. If you're a believer you'll see Denton as trying to make fun of religion and the unsuspecting believers. Non believers will be frightened by the dedicated extremism displayed by these normal people.
Real Time with Bill Maher (2003)
From well outside the bubble
Bill Maher is an annoying character. You can appreciate his humour, his political views and his humanity but his smirk irks. That smart ass grin he gets when he tells a gag, especially a controversial one, takes the shine off an otherwise great performance. Maybe it's just me.
I'm an Australian. I live in Australia and visit the US about once a year for business. I find watching Real Time and Jon Stewart's The Daily Show all I need to keep up with what is happening in that country. I get that education in an entertaining way. I don't agree with everything Maher espouses (smoking pot is dumb - period) his views sit well with a right wing Aussie. It amazes me that a right wing Aussie is about level with an extreme left wing American. Our countries are similar but so different.
The show starts with a short Johnny Carson style monologue - and Maher should either refresh his writers or look at his delivery style as it isn't as great as it could or should be. A few chuckles on the events of the week but nothing you want to remember for the water cooler Monday.
We then go into an interview with a weekly guest. Maher brings in some interesting guests, some of which I would normally go out of my way to avoid, but he manages to extrude interesting television from each and every one of them. I remember he once brought in a rapper I'd never heard of and had my finger poised on the fast forward button. To my amazement the interview finished before it got pressed.
We then get into the panel where three guests discuss and debate issues. This is where the show gets into its own space. The conversation bubbles along with a rapid pace and humorous tone. Maher chips in with his two cents worth which is normally death to a chat show host - there's an unwritten rule that the moderator sits in the middle and steer the conversation, not get involved in it. Maher somehow gets away with it most of the time.
We wrap up with New Rules where his writers earn the money. This is regularly the funniest part of the show making fun of everything from teenagers cell phone addiction to the president. New Rules finishes with a semi-serious dig and social commentary which proves to be Maher's issue of the week.
All in all, a reasonably entertaining show considering it's subject matter. Not as funny as Jon Stewart but Maher goes a bit deeper in his hour than Stewart can.
Over the Hill (1994)
A unique show that deserved much better treatment
Don Spencer, marketing expert who specialised in mustard, is retrenched from his job during the recession we had to have. He and his wife, Sandy, decide for a tree change so buy a country pub and leave the city behind them for a better life in the bush. Along with their teenage daughter, Melissa, (played to perfection by Belinda Cotterill) they make their new home in the old Federation style hotel.
The plot is a classic fish out of water story. Despite their education and city smarts they simply do not understand what is going on most of the time. They always seem to be a couple of steps behind.
But, like all good TV, it's the well fleshed out characters that bring this series to life. There's Thel, the mature barmaid and previous owner of the pub, assisted by Maureen the nervous and dowdy young waitress. Pat the poet sits in the corner dispensing his wisdom because "Pat know things". Clancy the drover, legend of the lost herd - he's still looking for them - and his dog, Skip who does the exact opposite of what Clancy tells her. There are two barflies called Bob who don't seem to do anything but tell the young farmhand, Jeremy, to pull his head in whenever he comes up with a half decent suggestion.
But my favourite character would have to be Kevin the "Chinese" cook. His main claim to fame is that he's Chinese and Chinese people "know stuff about cooking". Steaks can only be cooked to charcoal and all salads have to have cubes of cheddar cheese in them. He has a wonderful running gag about his people but when quizzed further his people are never who you think they are. For example in one episode he's thrown in jail and insists on serving time to save face because that's very important to his people. "Chinese?" "No, Anglican."
This is the sort of humour that runs thru the entire series and it never gets tiring. Whenever the viewer, along with Don and Sandy, think they know what's going on, bush logic defeats them every time.
It's a series that wouldn't make sense to any person who had not spent some time in a small country town in Australia. You would have met all the characters and been in similar situations as our lead characters.
Over The Hill is one of those charming series, beautifully shot, lovely soundtrack and wonderful writing that captured the stereotype rural Australia in a heartwarming and genuinely funny way.
I can understand why it didn't do well - the target audience is just too small. But if you're lucky enough to be the target, you'll love it. About a dozen episodes, only shown once as a summer filler and never release on tape or DVD.
This series deserves better.