Annual Archives: 2005

2006 News for Ten

Thought I’d give you a quick precis of what to look forward to on Ten next year without all the media release guff:

Network Ten caps off one of its biggest years yet by announcing even more for 2006.

TEN’s new Australian programs for 2006 include:

  • The Wedge – sketch comedy set in a fictitious Australian suburb, from Cornerbox Productions and comedian Ian McFadyen, the genius behind The Comedy Company
  • Thank God You’re Here – Working Dog’s latest project, where well-known personalities are dropped into a scene in which they have no idea who they are or why they are there and must improvise their way through
  • The Biggest Loser – 6,000 Australians applied to take part in the local version of the series that has been a hit with TEN’s 16-39 demographic and women 25-54. US trainers Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper provide continuity
  • Honey We’re Killing the Kids – highlighting the problem of childhood obesity and sedentary lifestyles, this adaptation of the major new BBC format scientifically predicts how individual children will look as adults, and health experts then work with parents to radically change the family’s diet and behaviour
  • Jamie’s Kitchen Australia – long anticipated, Australia gets its very own “Fifteen” restaurant, and 15 under-privileged Melbourne kids will get the break of a lifetime
  • Friday Night Games – this adaptation of Big Brother Friday Night Live sees members of the public and celebrities put through hilarious challenges
  • Australia’s Brainiest specials – eight hilarious episodes, including TV Star, Radio Star, Musician, Cricketer, Footballer, Olympian, Neighbours and Big Brother Housemate. The first, Australia’s Brainiest Comedian, attracted 1.61m viewers last Thursday and was the night’s most-watched show in all major demographics

New Australian drama projects include:

  • Tripping Over – from Mike Bullen of Cold Feet fame and Seachange creator Andrew Knight, this multi-generational drama explores the joys of travelling and is set in Thailand, London and Australia
  • The Society Murders – stars Georgie Parker and Alex Dimitriades and explores the Melbourne murders of Margaret Wales-King and her husband Paul through the eyes of Margaret’s five children
  • The Joanne Lees Story – examining one of Australia’s most compelling unsolved murders from the perspective of victim Peter Falconio’s girlfriend, Joanne
  • BlackJack – four new instalments in the successful telemovie franchise starring Colin Friels

New overseas series include:

  • Supernatural, the closest show to X-Files in years and the US WB Network’s #1 new show;
  • Everybody Hates Chris, written and narrated by comedian Chris Rock and already hailed as one of the best new US comedies in many years;
  • Surface, where a new form of sea life arises, challenging everything humans thought they knew about the deep;
  • Jamie’s Great Italian Escape, combining Jamie’s passion for food with the elements of the best travel shows;
  • Reunion, spanning two decades of relationships and mystery among a group of college friends;
  • Conviction, the latest legal drama from Dick Wolf, creator of Law & Order;
  • Threshold, where a female analyst leads a secret team in contacting alien life;
  • Out of Practice, the comedy starring Stockard Channing and Henry Winkler about a family of doctors who have little in common other than their professions;
  • and The Jenna Elfman Show, in which the Dharma & Greg actress plays a successful lawyer looking for true love.

Meanwhile, all* of TEN’s regular favourites – the shows that perform week in and week out – return, including ALL NEW Big Brother, Australian Idol, Rove Live, Neighbours and The Ronnie Johns Half Hour.

And TEN has ALL NEW episodes of returning international series, including: House, Medium, NCIS, Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: SVU, The Simpsons, The OC, Rock School, Smallville, Charmed, Brainiac and Numb3rs.

… and that’s with the guff taken out!

Boxcutters Episode 12

This week on Boxcutters:

  1. we’re talking about what’s happening in TV land and do a little bit of gloating about our breaking of the news of Channel 9 selling West Wing to ABC;
  2. we’ve got a snippet of Raywatch;
  3. we turn the spotlight on Rove and headLand;
  4. there’s quotes from The Apprentice;
  5. with summer TV time impending, we look at the new programming coming up for the non-ratings period;
  6. and we’ve got a new quiz.

Send comments, feedback, hot tips, offers of new TV-related technology for review to hooray@boxcutters.net.

Enter this week’s quiz and you could win a Boxcutters T-Shirt*. Remember, it’s not a case first in being king of the castle. We take answers all the way up to 12pm Thursday AEDST. Send your entries to: gimme@boxcutters.net

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Or download episode 12 through the Direct Link

Boxcutters Episode 11

Possibly the most fun episode of Boxcutters EVER! Maybe it’s got something to do with us still being drunk after the Tenth birthday party that ran all of last week.

This week we’ve got heaps and heaps of news, including a number of scoops that you’ll be waiting weeks to hear about in other media.

We point the spotlight on Joker Poker and, especially for our regular listener friends, Blokesworld.

Josh has a special opportunity sent in through the email in out first full Letters segment.

Ross is talking about classic TV available on DVD.

Nine are being very naughty as we head towards the end of the ratings period and we’re here to catch them out in Crap TV.

The new New Inventors clone, Dragon’s Den comes up for discussion.

And we’ve got the answer to last week’s quiz question that stumped all of you out there.

We’d love to hear from you with feedback or suggestions or hot tips at hooray@boxcutters.net.

For the moment, though, Get the Feed!

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Only the Good Die Young

For those of you who think that Crap TV only happens in Australia, check out what’s happening with Arrested Development over at Fox in the US. This article, straight from Variety Magazine, shows exactly how Fox fulfills its own prophecies.

It’s a shame. We all know how fond I am of "Arrested" but I’ve also been watching what little of Kitchen Confidential Fox has shown (I think it’s only been three episodes). It’s a small and cute show. Nothing special but also nothing terrible (unlike 2 and a Half Men which I note is still going).

I note with significant interest that these are both television comedies completely lacking in any kind of laugh track (unlike the excruciating How I Met Your Mother which continues despite my sensibilites of all that is good in the world). This poses many questions – none of them with good answers.

See the article

Boxcutters Episode 10

This week on Boxcutters we’ve got a world of excitement all packed into one neat little package.

James Talia, Channel 9 news reporter and all-round-nice-guy joins us for a chat. And are you sick of us talking about the Workchoice ads in I Don’t Buy It? We thought so. Out of the three ads we discuss only one is about IR Reform.

We’ve got some Crap TV regarding Ten’s treatment of the Shield, a new segment called Quotes and Ross tries to rename the show Channel Seven Sucks.

All that and a whole lot more on Boxcutters.

Want something covered on the show? Why not email us? hooray@boxcutters.net

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Special Features

We’ve got a new section on the Boxcutters Website. If you have a look over to the left you’ll see SPECIAL FEATURES. This is where we’ll post a bunch of stuff that is more indepth than the usual posts.

We kick off this section with even more information on the ridiculous world of TV Ratings.

Check it out.

Boxcutters now on iTunes Store!

Subscribing to Boxcutters is even easier now that it’s available on the iTunes Music Store.

Click on this link and iTunes should open automatically. Then just click on the “Subscribe” button and Boxcutters will be downloaded automatically from now on.

See? What could be easier?

Don’t have iTunes? You can get it here.

Boxcutters Episode 9

This week, Boxcutters bring you a whole swag of TV news, along with a focus on audience numbers in Raywatch, internet refrigeration in I Don’t Buy It, Crap TV – which isn’t actually bad TV but the shoddy treatment that viewers get from the networks – looking at Arrested Development, Scrubs, The Wire and House, a quick run down on new shows on the box coming up over the next week and the return of the Boxcutters Quiz.

Send your quiz answers to gimme@boxcutters.net and remember that we need the answer to only one of the questions.

We’d love to hear from you with feedback or suggestions or hot tips at hooray@boxcutters.net.

Get the Feed!

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The Wire

I should have picked up on this earlier. I should have been more aware… more observant.

It seems Channel Nine have started showing new episodes of the excellent series The Wire.

It was created by David Simon who was a co-creator of Homocide: Life on the Streets. The characters are realistic and the problems they face go beyond anything we’ve encountered on television. It’s not shocking nor terrifying. It’s just excellent drama.

You can see it Thursday nights at midnight on Nine. If you’re worried about having missed something you can always pick up the first two seasons on DVD.

Why, Seven? Why?

Well, Channel 7 has done it again.

Arrested Development and Scrubs have been canned in favour of a special encore screening of Desperate Housewives.

This means we are yet to all of Season 1 of Arrested, while new Scrubs have gone after a disappointing 2 episodes.

Why bother putting them on at all??

***URGENT UPDATE FROM BB***

Hang about Boxcutter. Seven haven’t pulled Arrested Development and Scrubs… you’ll just have to wait until midnight to get your hit.

AD: 12am, Scrubs: 12.30am.

Update your video programming now!

This does raise a couple of questions though:

Given our conversation last week about anything after midnight being outside of the ratings survey scope, how are seven going to have any idea what sort of demand there is for these shows and is there any way they’re going to make it back to the human side of the witching hour?

AND, how much is seven paying for these shows that they can throw them away?