YOU are invited to the Boxcutters Eurovision Party upstairs at Seraphim (formerly Vibe), 123 Smith Street, Fitzroy on Sunday, May 15th, 2011.

43 countries enter… one country leaves.

Join the excitement and the insanity as the glitter hits the fan.

Long-term listeners might remember Nelly from her co-hosting duties on episodes 130 and 137.

Joining us fortnightly, Nelly will bring her wonderful experience in all matter of media, her unabashed love of good television and excellent comedic sensibility to Boxcutters.

She will alternate with John Richards, whose many other commitments have forced him into fortnightly hiding lest he incur the wrath of the government broadcaster.

It’s an exciting new time for Boxcutters. We return this Monday with all new insights into the world of television. Nelly starts her Boxcutter tenure on 25th January.

We’ve decided we need just one more week to get everything back in order for a wonderful 2010 Boxcutters-style.

We’ll be back with normal, but seemingly fresher, programming about programming, programmes and other television-related discussions on 18 January.

Thanks for understanding.

“In the history of network television, no remake of a previous hit series has ever become a hit itself on network television.

“Plenty have been tried… Digging through the files of series past, one could perhaps make an argument for some shows spawned from original hits. Star Trek, of course, gave birth to four separate series, but those were all spinoffs. They were not remakes of the original with the same characters.”

– from Why Studios Keep Cranking Out TV Remakes, Despite the Flops – NYTimes.com

We’ve talked about TeeVeeLand’s inability to come up with solid new concepts for a while on Boxcutters. While this New York Times article doesn’t seem to build anything on what we already know, it’s good to see that the studios and networks are aware that all they’re doing is throwing shit at a flagpole, or something.

It’s also good to see the argument that the only good remake was Battlestar Galactica and that might just be because it was on Sci-Fi (as it was called when it launched), a cable channel that may just have given the creators the freedom they required to make a show on its own merits.

Countless television projects try and fail. It’s the nature of the beast. But the problem with remakes of old TV shows is that there is an inherent lack of understanding about what made it popular in the first place. It’s not just about the characters, the actors or the subject matter, but also what its competition was, how people led their lives and what could they be shown that they have never seen before.

One of those things was a look at the decade 2000-2009. For those pedants who say 2010 was not the start of a new decade (and you know who you are), we’re defining a specific ten year period to look at.*

Other things include a few shows that we’ve said were “great” but might not have expanded upon that.

Programmes like East West 101 and Supernatural, to name just two, deserve a little more analysis.

So we’ll try to do some of that here on the blog during our break and hopefully troughout the year.

And always, feel free to let us know what you’d like us to cover in the comments. We’re more than happy to oblige.

* That one is just for those pedants who wrongly believe one can’t end a sentence with a preposition.

Although none of us know what Freeview is, it has enough pull to trick Tivo US into allowing the name change.

A couple of weeks ago we mentioned Errol Morris’s The Fog of War documentary and it’s currently half price.

You can also get the complete Addams Family for cheap!

There are a bunch of other specials including indie-movies, sitcom box-sets, and a whole lot of British television.

Help support Boxcutters by getting yourself some wonderful entertainment.

Everybody wins.

The Podcraft – Jade Gulliver‘s show about podcasting – is usually a tight half hour. Not this week. Really, it’s like a bonus episode of Boxcutters as?the fabulous Jade tries to get a word in edgeways.?It’s sixty minutes talking about television?- teacher, mother, secret lover. Warning: podcasts about podcasts may break the internet.

That Podcast Show says some lovely things about us, and they’re American so it feels like Hollywood. Listen to the lovely Daniel and Jana?by clicking here.

Josh flies the Boxcutters flag as guest on episode 20 of?The Fool And The Opera, Joy Melbourne’s opera show (hosted by the fantastic Dan Vo).

And don’t forget you can see what the boys would look like if they were awkwardly holding televisions by clicking here. Oh, and buy some T-shirts. It’s better than going nude.

What I found was a disappointing display of potential that had been dashed upon the rocks of Australian commercial television.

In the first episode we’ve got two main characters, Robert Trimbole (played by the excellent Roy Billing) and Terry Clark (who looks a lot like Matthew Newton with a moustache).

These could be complex characters but they seem to be whittled down to a couple of key phrases including: “Don’t you cross me” and “Where’s my money?” The latter of which can be really interesting as in the paper boy from Better Off Dead but in this case just comes across as one-dimensional.

The main problem is that the story-telling is so rushed we aren’t given the opportunity to get emotionally invested in any of the characters . So we have no reason to keep watching because we really don’t care if they live or die (and they are most likely going to die).

There also seems to be a rule that a random woman must show her breasts every 12 minutes or people will turn off.

I find the whole thing condescending and a little bit boring which is disappointing because we really could have some great television here. The stories themselves, told by somebody who cares, are fascinating and exciting. Unfortunately here it’s like they’re told by someone who not only doesn’t care, but also wants to get away from you as soon as possible.

Underbelly 2: A Tale of Two Cities airs on Monday nights at 9:30 on Nine.

As such, we’ll record Episode 168 on Tuesday and it will be available on Tuesday night.

To make this fair to everybody, we’ll record Episode 169 on Sunday. One day late, one day early, and it all evens up in the wash.

Sorry for the late notice.

Now you can integrate your love for Boxcutters with your need for Facebook attention.

Yay!

It has been disciplined appropriately and we are all sincerely sorry if any of your messages went missing over the past few weeks.

In other news, we’ve opened up our comments using the Disqus system. It means you no longer have to log in to comment meaning you can write your rant and get out before anyone catches you.

There’s also our Facebook page where you can become a fan and see other people in the Boxcutters family.

Enjoy the new openness.

You may remember back in episode 155 we talked about Louis Theroux, who is now (rather belatedly) playing on Channel 7. They seem to have bought an enormous package of Theroux, covering everything from his first Weird Weekends series running through to his later stand-alone pieces. Well, if you think too much Theroux is barely enough, there’s a book you can read as well…

Entitled The Call Of The Weird (with the subtitle “Travels In American Subcultures”), this 2005 publication finds Theroux embarking on a “reunion tour” as he tries to find out what happened to the people he met many years ago (or about three weeks back, if you’re watching on Channel 7). Among them are the survivalists of Almost Heaven, Idaho; aspirant porn-star JJ Michaels; “Hayley” who appeared in his brilliant piece on the Wild Horse brothel in Nevada; and Thor Templar, the man who claimed to have killed ten aliens.

He also revisits some stories we didn’t see – Ike Turner, who changed his mind half-way through the doco Theroux was making back in 2000; and a bizarre piece that reveals he was the preferred media representative for the Heaven’s Gate cult when they committed mass-suicide in 1997 (“…the documentary was supposed to be a light-hearted look at UFO belief. How we would have used footage of me stumbling on to the scene of a mass suicide was far from clear”).

In the book Theroux hopes that by returning by himself, with no camera crew, he’ll be able to get a better understanding of these people who he’s never been able to fully grasp. He also uses it as an opportunity to question his own motives – is he mocking these people? Has he presented them unfairly? Theroux has been criticised (in the UK, particularly) for using a faux-naive style to stitch people up, but from the book it seems that really is him – he’s just trying to understand these people, how they can have such beliefs.

Of course, that could all be a front too, and I shouldn’t oversell the depth of The Call Of The Weird – it is, after all, an extremely breezy read in surprisingly large type. But if you’re interested in Louis Theroux‘s work, or documentary-making in general, it’s an interesting glimpse behind the curtain.

The Call Of The Weird is available through various sources – I borrowed mine from the Fitzroy Library. Oh, I love the Library.

- John

It’s definitely worth having a read.

How Croatian authorities failed the Lapthorne family from the Australian.

We will endeavour to bring you as much news and opinion about television via the blog to fill the gap.

Next week it’s back to business as usual with Boxcutters going up onto the internetwebs late on a Monday night.

Thanks for your understanding.

You can always email us or text us on 0458 288 837.

That means they will probably be available for download around 11:30pm Tuesday, AEST.

Thanks for understanding.

By the way, anybody who wants to fill out a more detailed survey (takes about 10 minutes) can do so here.

Thanks to everybody who has already filled it out

Anybody who had seen All Saints in the last four years would have been aware of Priestley’s exceptional talent. His natural style and extraordinary range helped raise the quality of the show in a time of difficult transition. It was always a pleasure to watch him work.

He was nominated in 2007 for an AFI award in the Best Guest or Supporting Actor in Television Drama category.

It is shocking news and our thoughts go out to his family and friends.

Support for depression can be sought by calling:

• Lifeline 131 114;
• SANE Helpline 1800 18 7263;
• or beyondblue 1300 22 46 36.

We hope you can find out a way to entertain yourselves until then.

On another note, thanks to Paddy who created a Boxcutters Wikipedia page. Unfortunately it was taken down fairly quickly because, apparently, it didn’t have enough information. Thanks for trying, Paddy.

Anyone who wants to give it another go, please, be our guest. You might want to have a look at some other podcast descriptions on Wikipedia.

Sorry to get your hopes up.

[Mr Black] had a very busy time towards the end of last year and has promised us that a catch-up in the coming months will make up for it.

I certainly hope so and I’m sure you will too.

Next week our regularly scheduled Boxcutters returns.

And for those who missed out, why don’t you go back and listen to our interview with Pete Smith from last year to tide you over until then.

Lots of love,

Boxcutters

Anybody else see it?

Screening 10pm Mondays for the next 8 weeks.

Pure gold.

ET breaks news that ALEX TREBEK has been hospitalized.

A rep for “Jeopardy” tells ET Alex suffered a minor heart attack last night at his home. He was with his wife, JEAN, who is currently by his side at the hospital, where is is said to be resting comfortably.

Let’s hope he gets much better soon.

Alternately check out the cover and special features here

If you know a great way to get your link clicked on a lot in the next 24 hours then go ahead and do it. You could be sitting in front of the tube in Crumpler comfort.

Click the play button on the bar below to listen now.
[MEDIA=1]

Any time you want to hear the preview, use the player on the left.

The shows have been selected through a mixture of appeal and influence. We have tried to limit it to the past 10 years , because that is when this resurgence has largely come about, however this does lead to difficulties. Generally any show that started before 1997 is out, but there are exceptions. For example Larry Sanders and Seinfeld are both out of the timeframe. Larry Sanders was pivotal in creating HBO as we know it so it is in, where as Seinfeld, while undoubtedly very influential but no so much in creating this ?Golden Age? is out. Confused? Excellent.

Obviously it is all very subjective (I mean Firefly??!? Phhhttt, what a joke), and we would love to hear your thoughts and comments. What should be in, what should be out. Tell us how wrong we are. We value your opinion, but remember – the envelope is always right?

THE OFFICIAL amended LIST:

Arrested Development
Buffy
Carinvale
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Deadwood
Entourage
Firefly
Futurama
Friday Night Lights
I?m Alan Partridge
The Larry Sanders Show
Lost
Love My Way
Nathan Barley
The Office
Oz
The Shield
Six Feet Under
The Sopranos
South Park
Weeds
The Wire

And by popular demand:

THE WEST WING!!!!

(the people have spoken)

THE PERIPHERALS:

Heroes (originally in, but tossed out on reflection)
The Newsroom (disappeared from the list at the 11th hour)
Sex And The City (again, unlucky not to be included)
The Games (the greatest Aussie comedy?)

The show will be up late Monday night.

All you need to do is spread the word about Boxcutters, in any way you want – the more creative the better – bring new visitors to the site with your special URL and you’ll be in the running for a Crumpler bean bag of your own.

If you want to enter, send us a message to let us know, through the Boxcutters contact form, so we know how to contact you.

You’ll have to be registered on the site to make your special link so we can make sure we have a unique address for you to use.

How does it work? I’m glad you asked. The link you want to send people to begins with http://www.boxcutters.net/blog/index.php?compid= followed by your username on the blog. My username is brett, so the URL I’d put out is http://www.boxcutters.net/blog/index.php?compid=brett

For our unusual users with more than one word in their username, where there’s a space, enter “%20″. So, if my username was brett boxcutter, the links would be http://www.boxcutters.net/blog/index.php?compid=brett%20boxcutter

It seems complicated but remember: you can always get in touch and we’ll explain it some more.

As you spread the word, put a link to where your link is posted, or describe your strategy, in the comments on this post.

The competition is open until 11:59pm on Sunday, September 30, at which point the winner will be decided by the judging panel (Brett, Josh and Ross) based on the number of visitors brought to Boxcutters, with extra points for style and creativity and minus points for shenanigans.

Happy Promoting!

A newsreader refusing to read a Paris Hilton story.

At last you can see what we really look like.

After the jump you will see, from left: Ross, Brett and Josh.

We mentioned it on the show last week but maybe some people forgot.

Pork is.. pork is.. pork is on the table… wiggedy-whack!

Just one of those strange things that happen when you send these things out there.

Enjoy

***UPDATE***
And this morning’s piece is here (in the second section).

Hopefully it is good news. FNL is a great show (Not to be confused with local Big Brother spin off Friday Night LIVE which isn’t).

Nine finally ended its tortured relationship with the high-profile star with a terse three-sentence statement.

Nine announced that Rowe, currently on maternity leave, “would not be returning to the Network and that Nine and Jessica had reached an agreement that would allow Jessica to take up other opportunities for her career”.

Read the article.

Yay!

.

Ross sounds like this:

whereas Brett sounds like this:

Easy!

Last night Coonan huffed and puffed her way through Lateline, in a condescending and patronising manner, attacking Labor’s new broadband initiative.

Her main arguments seemed to be that if Labor’s plan would eventually run at a profit, it shouldn’t need any initial investment (an argument proving she has as good a grasp of business as she does of everything else) and that the government are committed to providing the bush with the same level of service metro enjoys.

What’s that 256? 512?

We are falling dangerously behind the developed world on this. A study highlighted in The Age showed in Paris for the equivalent of $50 Australian they get 24Mbps, unlimited downloads, unlimited VOIP calls within France and 100 TV channels coming in through the internet.

And it is not just for entertainment purposes. The lack of a world class broadband service will start to effect the way we do business, the economy, everything.

Nobody is suggesting the bush doesn’t need broadband. That is not the issue here. And I know we have a vast, somewhat isolated country and that there are complex problems which need to be overcome. So overcome them. Just sitting around saying there are problems and doing nothing won’t help. Neither will Telstra and the government just blaming each other.

It is heading towards as big a stuff up as digital TV. Only this matters even more.

It’s not entirely unexpected given the show only just survived the chop last year, then had this season’s order cut by 4 episodes.

Still it is bound to upset the small but dedicate army of fans. I guess we will never find out how Veronica did at the FBI academy.

The last few episode screen in the states in May (while Channel 10 has slotted them in for 2236).

Glenn Dyer (Terry TV for those who didn’t realise) gave us a nice little Raywatch:

It wasn’t the finest hour for Today Tonight and new host Anna Coren last night. Just ten days after blitzing its bitter rival, A Current Affair, Coren and the program were forced to eat a very humble pie last night.

It seems a reporter named Nicholas Boot (which sounds like a character from the Evelyn Waugh novel, Scoop), bodgied up a particularly graphic story on Tuesday night which claimed that a little old lady in a nursing home was being chained to her bed.

Dramatic stuff but then last night … ooops, no chain. It was all a stunt gone horribly wrong. According to Seven, the little old lady had asked Boot to bring a chain along to the interview to help her make a point.

How that progressed to the idea that she was being chained to her bed (implying that the operators of the home were perhaps responsible) is the subject of investigation.

What it does show is that there is no quality control at TT, no-one running a sniff test across stories and questioning them. It sort of summed up what was a schizophrenic program last night: a very good investigation about a dodgy truck operator in NSW that ran a brave ten minutes or so, the apology over the chain and then two outright plugs for Seven programs or products: Dancing With The Stars (understandable given that it is a big program) and the competition linking Seven’s new program Ugly Betty with Pacific Magazines’ faltering rag, Famous.

Or should that be Fatuous.

In news:

First primetime casualty of 2007 – The Code. Nine has “rescheduled” its first primetime program of the year and we haven’t even finished the second week of ratings. The newly developed The Code, an observational police doco series at 7.30pm Monday nights, was flicked after just three outings. Its audience tumbled from just over a million for the first two eps to a low 971,000 on Monday night. With Nine showing the Oscars next Monday night, The Code won’t be back the week after (March 5). What’s Good For You will be returning in its place. The Code was shot with the cooperation of the Victorian Police and the Victorian Magistrates Bench. It was an average attempt to match the observation style developed by Seven with Border Security and The Force, which is shot in Western Australia with that state’s police force. In announcing the return of What’s Good For You, Nine said “The Code remains in production, with additional episodes commissioned for Nine, and this groundbreaking series will return to Nine later this year.” So it is being “rested” rather than “boned”. It won’t be back in the 7.30pm Monday slot which is too important; not unless Nine runs out of product. The statement leaves open the possibility that it won’t be seen until after ratings finish in late November. — Glenn Dyer

ABC considers more Differences of Opinion. There’s speculation that the ABC could add between one and three episodes to its discussion program, Difference of Opinion. It was down to run for 12 weeks and has rated so far 462,000 and 554,000 for the first two showings. But ABC TV sources say the extra programs are not linked to demand from viewers but it would seem Andrew Denton’s Enough Rope probably won’t be back till after June, about a month later than previously believed. The exact number of additional programs is flexible, according to ABC TV sources. — Glenn Dyer

Encore screening for Insight’s Hicks special. SBS has decided to do a special repeat screening of last night’s Insight: Hicks On Trial. It will screen this Friday at 7.30pm (that’s in addition to the normal repeat times of Fridays at 2.30pm and Mondays at 2.30pm). SBS Management has decided to do the special repeat screening because of the strength of the program and the timeliness of the content. Last night, Insight averaged 201,000 viewers, while at 8.30pm, The Trial of Saddam Hussein averaged 210,000 for an hour and then at 10pm, doco The President vs David Hicks, (which is a repeat but wasn’t marked as such in the guides) averaged 233,000 for an hour and half. So did SBS management make the right decision? The President vs. David Hicks would seem to have more appeal on repeat than a fresh ep of Insight. — Glenn Dyer

All via Crikey

Eddie set to swing axe at STW-9

With the sale of Channel Nine Perth to PBL Media set to be negotiated in late March, Eddie McGuire (CEO of the Nine Network) is ready to swing the job slashing axe, numerous TV executives and industry sources have said.

Jobs are expected to be dropped firstly in senior management positions at STW-9. PBL’s eastern states counterparts are expected to take their place.

It’s no secret that Nine’s 6 o’clock news bulletin perfoms dismally in Perth, with Seven’s Rick Ardon and Susannah Carr attracting majority audience share for this timeslot.

STW-9′s local productions Just Add Water and Postcards WA are also under threat. However, McGuire has said the aim for the network’s weakest link is to strengthen the content and revenue base.

PBL offered STW-9′s operators, Sunraysia , $136.4 million for the Perth TV station early last week.

Barber bouncing back on our screens

FORMER quiz king Tony Barber is returning to Channel 9 after 16 years.
Barber, who quit Sale of the Century and the network in 1991, is being brought back to host a night of Sale’s replacement Temptation.

Barber, who has been working on pay TV and as new Carlton president Dick Pratt’s entertainment consultant and MC at Raheen, is confident he has not lost his quizmaster touch.

“Doing quiz shows is like getting on the bike or horse, you just don’t lose it,” Barber said.

He said he could be tempted to return to network television if the right project was offered.

“Quiz shows are my bag, so of course if I were asked to take part in something I’d be checking out the format carefully,” he said.

Barber’s offsider on the show, which will air on Wednesday, March 12, will be his former Sale co-host Alyce Platt. Barber and Platt will take over the show when co-hosts Livinia Nixon and Ed Phillips become contestants for the evening.

When I first read the Barber article, I missed that important a night… I thought our very good friend may have been departing.

That is all for now.

BB

But what will the length be? Back to the traditional podcast length? Longer than the radio shows? Or a whole new length just to keep you on your toes?

Guess you’ll have to wait and see………

The guy is working on a path in the backyard. Turns to Merv and says: “Can you pass a brick?”

GENIUS. Absolute comedic gold. I came up with heaps of possible examples for I Don’t Buy It a few weeks back, but I wasn’t clever enough to think of that one. Whoever is writing these ads, your talent is being wasted. Move in to professional comedy writing and make your fortune.

Any guesses what the next All Bran poo pun will be?

Foxtel claims it’s IQ and time shift technologies will open the show up to an entirely new market (yeah, good luck with that – I am not convinced it’s all that different from people being able to tape it when it’s been on 9 during the day).

Nine appear to be strongly considering showing the test pattern for three or four hours mid afternoon to fill in all the gaps from their quickly disappearing daytime line up.

Good news. All great shows. Fantastic for Heroes now to really be able to develop its storylines knowing it has this year plus another 22/24 eps to work with.

The Nine Network Australia today announced that it has parted company with Jamie Durie.
After seven years association with Durie, the Nine Network would like to wish him all the best in
his future endeavours.
No further comment will be offered by the Network.

While I’m sure none of us are surprised by this announcement, what with all of the success he’s had overseas, the coldness of the statement betrays some hostility. The fact that “no further comment will be offered” just makes me more curious.

Jonesing now . . .
Rob Boxcutter