While they were surely clutching at straws to try to keep their jobs, the point was a valid one. Even now, we only get one band at the end of Rove, one non-regular band on The Sideshow and the occasional local band on Spicks & Specks on Melbourne prime time TV.

No, I don't think it's valid.

Bands appearing on TV shows is one of the lamest things in the world. There isn't much that sucks more. I think I'd rather watch stories about Paris Hilton than bands making promotional performances.

Thank heaven for BitTorrent - the thought of watching a rehash of hey hey makes me want to dig out my eyes with a rusty spoon. I would have liked to see the show reach its 30th anniversary in the first place - I bet it's kept Daryl up at night ever since. But now it's gone let it stay gone.

Cocoon - I'm not sure how that works but I have a strong image of a wrinkled Don Amiche and others jumping into a pool... I don't think it matters how charming Daryl is - 7 aren't going to go for that.

Screw Daryl - bring back Marty the Monster!

Oh dear. It's going to be like Cocoon, isn't it?

Just got some inside info on the pilot over lunch... Red Symonds has been signed up for it as well - strictly as the nasty judge - no musical role in the programme.

According to the internet, one of Daz's parents was a cabaret singer. Poor bloke probably thinks it's in his blood.

PMcD: Waaaaay back in the 14th century the DAAS ended a manic stand-up routine with a deadpan version of Heard it Through the Grapevine, which pretty much stopped the Big Gig audience dead in its tracks. Since then it's a device McDermott's used to magnify the impact of a song.

McDermott creating the set? I'm 99.5% sure. The style is certainly congruent with the books and album artwork he's produced.

That Songs in the Key of Life backdrop is distracting, isn't it? In the first couple of weeks I was trying to work out what all the other album covers were.

[The link about McDermott being the obvious host is here. What I said about the show only going ahead with McDermott was a bit, er, wrong.]

Adam D, there was no explanation of that context on the show so it was pretty out of place.

Are you sure about PMcD creating the set? Are you talking about the imagery on the flats? One of them is a dead rip-off of a Stevie Wonder album - it's always distracting when something's going on in front of it.

I'm ambivalent about PMcD. There's a bit of like/hate action in my head whenever I'm watching - it's a very conflicting experience. The Sideshow has enough in the way of pleasant distractions to put up with him.

I thought the style of doing other people's songs with an occasional 'hey!' thrown in was more the domain of Michael Buble or Tom Burlinson or latter Tony Bennett or Paul Anka or Mike Flowers Pops. ( :) or Johnny Cash)

@guywithoutaname: I'd forgotten about how screwed you get on BogPong - it's just contemptible for those asshats to double-dip by charging you for uploads... If you're transferring from another BogPong user, they charge you AND the other user for the same bandwidth.

Maintain your rage, young guywithoutaname - never forget.

Isn't The Sideshow just a McDermott vehicle? Even the sets are his work. I'm sure I read an interview in which Ted Robinson said the show would never have gone ahead without him (I'll try to find it).

I know the song you're talking about. It was written by him and originally performed with GUD (I think), about a person close to him who was dying, and it gave the episode a special dynamic. If you don't like McDermott you would never have seen it anyway.

Daz's oeuvre includes stumbling his way through other people's songs and throwing in a 'hey!' at the end of every line. And don't we love him for it?

Also, you never see them in the same room at the same time. Also, Daryl Somers is an anagram of Lardy Mosser.

I've had the opposite experience with telstra this month (although it still dosent make up for all the times they've screwed me over before). This month I've downloaded Six Feet Under Season One, Drawn Together Season Two and Psych Season One (recodes from Xvid asD [350mb -> 120mb]). They didn't count it. The first thing they've actually counted towards my monthly download properly is the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Movie which i got yesterday. They said that i had downloaded about 850mb from their free sites (i hadn't) but that was okay because it was unmetered.


Heres a screenshot of my usage.

TPG is about to release a 150gb unlimited plan for around $70 a month.

Heres the forum article.

Paul McDermott may write and perform his own music but it's so self indulgent for him to put it on The Sideshow. The episode I watched finished with a slow PMcD song that just brought the mood of the show down and wasn't in context with anything else on the show.

True, he's never worn a technicolour woolly jumper but Daryl did it in the 80s at the same time as Red Symonds was wearing those red-rimmed glasses with lenses bigger than his face.

Personality-wise, McDermott is probably much closer to Red - smart-arse wise cracker - at least in real life. Red's never been given enough opportunity for it to come through on screen.

I think the comparison of Daryl and Eddie is a little apples and oranges. Eddie has always been a company man - on contract to 9 and willing to take on whatever they wanted to throw him into. Daryl, for all of the time of HHIS, worked for his own production company. I'm not sure how his contract at 7 is structured for StarDancers but they haven't put him on any other projects since he's been there. Perhaps it's time to call in our friend Chong Lim to see if he has any insight.

I still maintain that the best eps where those that had OZZY

Brett: Would 7 let him just revive HHIS? Daz is no Eddie, but Star Dancers has given him a degree of clout. We can't assume much until the pilot is developed anyway.

Paul McDermott's all about art and style and social commentary, and he writes a lot of his own music (which he can perform with the right emotional weight). Daz was more woolly jumpers and kiddy-safe innuendo, and he shouldn't be let near a band before 2.1 million viewers. I really don't think they're interchangeable.

This episode of Letters to Boxcutters was brought to you by the Letters to Boxcutters and the number eight.

Don't you guys even remember the Sesame Street special last week?

Coming up on Boxcutters Episode 92: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 ... 11,12!

Twelve!

I don't think Daryl or Blackman will be any different at all in the new incarnation - I just don't think they have it in them and I don't think either of them were convinced what they were doing was wrong as HHIS was wound up.

Having said that and having just had a look at a Sideshow from a few weeks ago, apart from having more experience controlling an unruly crowd, is Paul McDermott a million miles away from Daz? He doesn't drum but there's not much difference aside from that.

Is variety coming full circle, then? It's been milling about in celebrity-game-show guise for a while (Star Dancers/Singers/Spellers/Astronauts/Lagerphoners), and ABC light entertainment is consistently gaining momentum. Rove's doing okay on Sundays too, so maybe the genre is ready for a proper revival.

You couldn't do it like the old days, though. Back when HHIS was on we had wall-to-wall US sitcoms and Aus dramas galore and no Big Brother, and people had to be talented in order to be famous. I trust 7 (particularly Leckie) to give it the right angle, but I'm not convinced that Daz fully understands today's market.

Just to clarify, Chuck Berry isn't dead and is still performing in the US and overseas, including one Wednesday a month at the restaurant/bar, Blueberry Hill, in St Louis, in case you wanted to see him.

I've now got Coming Up rolling in my head - thanks Catbrain!

I don't see a problem with Daryl hosting a Saturday night variety show. Why not? Is anyone actually hanging out to catch the repeat movies at 8:30? One of the big claims from people involved in the production at 9 was that it was the only avenue for new or upcoming bands to get national TV exposure. While they were surely clutching at straws to try to keep their jobs, the point was a valid one. Even now, we only get one band at the end of Rove, one non-regular band on The Sideshow and the occasional local band on Spicks & Specks on Melbourne prime time TV.

One of the classic moments on the old HHIS was TISM performing Saturday Night Palsey, taking the piss out of the fact that the bands mimed their songs by having seven different versions of the band - which they could do because they all wore balaclavas.

We all know that Daryl is painfully self-indulgent but we're all thoughtful viewers of the medium. The same obviously can't be said for the vast majority of people-metered viewers. The market penetration for talented artists - whether or not they know the show is a joke - is invaluable and is reason enough to let Daz have his way.

If he gets a Saturday slot, I'll use the functionality of my remote to find something interesting to watch - just as I do with Russell Gilbert's Comedy 'Classics'.

Im really glad to hear you've included six feet under in your golden age of television. I've recently had the flu and have had the pleasure of watching it from the first episode.

I feel sorry for poor Daz. He comes off a bit like David Brent in the christmas specials.

You can't even find Songlines in bargain bins, did he buy them all? Bet he doesn't use his garage for cars anymore.

You know he’ll sing. Every week he’ll be his own special guest. ‘And now… here’s me! With me on drums! Start spreadin’ the newwws… hey!… I’m leavin’ todaaay… hey!… I want to beeee a part of it…. hey!’ etc etc.

heehee - shades of Paul McCartney's clip for 'Coming Up', except much much worse.

Daryl: That show was tragic in its last few years. 50-year-old men thinking they're teenagers, like when your dad tries to be hip and says 'hey, that new Oasis record is groovy,' and doing vaudevillean custard pie jokes with utter conviction.

That notwithstanding, it's good because (a) it won't be Hey Hey it's Saturday, that would be stupid and (b) it's not yet another American summer-schedule reject.

It's bad because (a) it'll be as rubbish as all the other kids' stuff that goes in that slot (Funniest Home Videos is just horrible, and can only be appealing to very young kids and everyone who lives in Caroline Springs) and (b) he'll sing. You know he'll sing. Every week he'll be his own special guest. 'And now... here's me! With me on drums! Start spreadin' the newwws... hey!... I'm leavin' todaaay... hey!... I want to beeee a part of it.... hey!' etc etc.

If it gets commissioned it'll only last two weeks anyway, so care factor.

Ice TV: With viewers dropping off across the board, it's easier for the networks to blame ad-skipping than to acknowledge that their offerings are just crap. Like when the US music labels blamed file-sharers because fewer people were buying Mariah Carey albums. Shareholders like to see that the company is taking active steps to maintain profitability, even when those actions don't make any sense.

Six Feet Under: Lost its way. Brenda went from being a brilliantly unbalanced shagbot to a wholesome loving companion. I still don't get what they were trying to do there. Everyone else (except Nate) just went around in circles.

Doctor Who: Christmas special is on this Thursday, then it's back to its normal Saturday night slot. Steven Moffat's episode is one of the best pieces of television I have ever seen.

Bring back Hey Hey! Loved that show and it would be a nice change from crappy movies and people getting hit in the nuts on The Video Show.

It's the Robert Altman-inspired ep of Boxcutters this week, folks...

Bringing back Hey Hey? You've got to be kidding... for starters, the only thing going for it in the latter years was the amount of giveaways - any excuse for a prize. Oh, and Plucka, cos he just didn't give a shit. Daryl Somers is completely deluded, or perhaps suffering from Alzheimer's.

Great interview with Marc Edwards, guys - very informative.

Re Six Feet Under: loved that show; was always disappointed that they never continued the fake ads for embalming products, even just occasionally (I think there were only two ads - one in each of the first two eps). Looking locally, I've always felt that Love My Way owes a BIG debt to SFU.

Note to Nigel P. Boxcutter: Telstra recently changed their whole billing system for BigPond, which resulted in a change to the billing date; along with that, the FUCKERS (oops, language warning) pro-rated usage on the basis of what you had already downloaded in your billing period to date, ie: if you had downloaded 3GB in the space of 2 days, that was extrapolated to 30GB over the month and you got choked. Believe me, you weren't the only one affected.

Re the APIA ad: my dad sends me sms in txt spk, and he's 78.