Loved desperate networks, am looking forward to 'who killed channel 9' just out of curiousity - are there any other books in that vein that you guys can recommend?

Favourite in-joke in Arrested Development that I didn't even get until I read about it:

Henry Winkler played the a lawyer character in the first (and second?) season. When the next season rocked around, he was filming another show and was unavailable, so AD got Scott Baio to play his replacement, Bob Loblaw.

In Happy Days, when the producers decided that the Fonz (played by Henry Winkler) was too old, they introduced the new generation of coolness, Chachi, played by Scott Baio.

Also the "Save Our Bluths" show was fantastic.

Was it in Arrested Development (I think it was) where there was a scene with Henry Winkler's character involved in a small scuffle in a men's room . . . after getting up and straightening his clothes he goes to the mirror, takes out a comb to make sure his hair is ok and then does the typical Fonzie thing of raising the comb halfway to his head, seeing his hair is still perfect as always, then stretching out both arms towards his reflection in a gesture of fleeting but profound self-admiration.

The overdubbing was remarkable this week. Nice stereo effect.

@markymarc: I'm having a think about which books to recommend. Gerald Stone keeps referring to his previous book about Channel 9 called 'Compulsive Viewing' but I haven't read it.

@ActualChad: There's actually a line where Bob Loblaw is comparing himself to the Bluth's former lawyer (played by Winkler) and finally says "Plus I skew younger." I loved that joke.

Y'know, I don't know if I can manage to listen to you guys anymore: it's just that... the show... is... just too LONG.

If any of you are interested, there is an in-depth review (read: SPOILER WARNING - includes numerous stories from the book) of 'Compulsive Viewing' from Quadrant Magazine, October 2000. Here's the link - if you need to login (free), may I suggest the postcode 90038 and library name Highland Park?

Compulsive Viewing, reviewed by Clement Semmler

The review reads to me like a cautionary tale of excess and success at all costs, and highlights in stark contrast the extreme difference in management styles. Perhaps Gerald Stone just yearns for the days of yore?

Of course, the whole tone of Who Killed Channel 9? is coloured by Stone's personal experiences and those of his friends, such as Peter Meakin. Kerry Packer obviously loved the network and the family he had built, but also came to recognise that it needed trimming. Unfortunately, and as is often the case, the new guard felt they had to make a clean sweep of it, neglecting to consider the wealth of experience that would disappear. I understand the reasons, but the methodology was appalling (and continues to be, really) - not just towards staff but also the viewers. It's only about the $ now, and I am truly sad that it has come to this.

I applaud Channel 7 for embracing their inner dag; however, it concerns me that it has really become lowest common denominator - it's such light fare and quite parochial.

Did you catch the panel "discussion" attached to The Great Global Warming Swindle last night?

Incredible. A couple of the guys on the panel were fairly nutty - but then they crossed to the audience, who were just insane. There was the carbon-14 guy, the "eugenics" woman, and the "environmentalists are the Nazi reincarnation of Hitler" guy.

I'd love to hear coverage of this litttle debacle on the next episode of Boxcutters.

@Dishy -- I'm so glad someone else saw that. It was absolutely hilarious! The Carbon-14 guy made me laugh so hard I thought it was impossible for anyone else in the audience to try. But try they did.

The debate part of the show was live wasn't it?

Surely they wouldn't have put those retards to air if it was pre-recorded. I think the producers of the show must have been shaking there heads in disbelief at the ... the ... the ... I don't know what to call the stuff was coming out of the mouths of the audience members. I think there was one coherent thought from one woman about halfway through the questions.

I'm sure I've seen other panel shows on the ABC where there have been interesting and intelligent arguments put forward by the audience. Even an audience made up of the general public rather than experts. I'm pretty sure this audience was neither.

How gold is Tony Jones? I loved that 20 minutes or so when he just went Martin Durkin. That was great television.

The audience was lots of fun.

Tony Jones: "The man up the back"

Audience nutcase: "What have you got to say about blah, blah, blah?"

Tony Jones: "OK, we'll regard that as a statement and move on. The woman in the front." Repeat over.

The doco itself wasn't much chop, but everything after was great.

In the interests of being fair and balanced I hope the ABC show Durkin's "Storm In A D-Cup" next, which tells how breast implants are actually good for women.

Has anyone got a recording of the panel discussion including the audience members? I got the first half of the panel, but the best part at the end was cut off, damnit.

I need to have an archive of this. Perhaps send it into boxcutters if you have it, and I'll get in touch with them?

The whole thing was absolutely hysterical. It was just bad on so many levels - down to that ominous synthesiser chord, and "swindle" logo on a blood-red background as they slowly panned and cross-faded to the panel after showing a clip.

They should do this every Thursday night - and get even weirder audience members in. Though it would be a challenge to do better than some of the UFO cultists in this audience.

Who the hell selected that audience?

I recorded the whole abc coverage of the program and i'll try to post the audience segment of the show on youtube for anyone who hasn't seen it

I've uploaded the video to google video. There are a few issues with the sound being out of sync (Only a few ms. Not my fault [original video perfectly in sync].) otherwise video is fine. Check it out at: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8572626...

On a different note i was glad to hear that Arrested Development and Curb Your Enthusiasm were featured in the Golden Age Of Television. How about Entourage?

But can I get it on videotape or DVD, so I can have proper quality video to match my existing digital recording? The quality on Google Video and Youtube sucks, and it's a pain to convert for DVD.

It's on Diwana - e-mail me for an invite.