Channel 10

Lara Bingle. Controversial? Definitely. Polarising? Certainly. Gossip fodder? Absolutely. Savvy? You betcha. Not as vacuous as most people think? You’d better believe it.

The 24-year-old’s first foray into television debuted on screens across the country last night and while most were too proud to admit it, almost a million people tuned in to watch her show.

We set aside half an hour to sit down with our cups of tea and bucket loads of commentary and we watched it. All 925,000 of us.

Continue reading "Being Lara Bingle was pretty bloody good television" »

For years, I avoided The Sopranos because I thought it was a show about high-pitched singers. When I realised it was actually about mobsters, I never missed an episode. Who doesn’t love gangster shows?

Until recently, I also avoided MasterChef, as I don’t much care for cooking shows. Then I learned that it, too, is in fact a show about gangsters. Now I’m glued to the thing six nights a week!

What’s this, you say? MasterChef really is actually a cooking show? Sure. And Kyle Sandilands is a good bloke. Without question, MasterChef is a show about gangsters. Let’s examine the evidence…

Continue reading "GangsterChef!" »

Channel 10 has launched its bold bid for an older, smarter, bigger-spending demographic by unveiling a young cub reporter, George Negus, who looks to have a real future in journalism.

Negus is said to be 68 and a veteran of Australian TV news and current affairs, but he cannot possibly be, as no one over the age of 30 has ever willingly worn an item of leather neck jewellery like the one above.

George Negus – if indeed that is the youthful cub’s real name – is the anchor of the new show, 6pm With George Negus. You can tell he’s the anchor because he helpfully did a publicity shot wearing what looks like a mock military shirt with an anchor motif (see below).

Continue reading "Ten unveils gun young reporter “Georgie Boy” Negus" »

I’m sure $15,000 seems like a lot of money when you’re nine, especially if you break it down into mixed lollies.

But heck, even cobbers are 10 cents now. One dollar’s worth of mixed lollies gets you a few strawberries and cream, a banana, a set of teeth, two snakes and some leftover white jelly beans.

My point is while raising $15k requires a lot of hard work for most of us, the prize money on offer for the winner of Junior Masterchef is laughable in TV terms.

Continue reading "Bringing in grown-up ratings but being paid like children" »

“Dead in the water” is how industry insiders have described Channel 10’s So You Think You Can Dance in the wake of reports it’s the latest reality show destined for the scrapheap.

Today’s Daily Telegraph reports that the combination of a poor fourth season and Natalie Bassingwaithe’s extended abscence due to maternity leave, has left the program the “worst-rated” since it debuted in February 2008.

Ouch. But what do you think, are there any disappointed fans out there?

Or, if the decision was yours, would it really be the first reality show you’d be happy to see the back of?

This morning’s Channel 10 news debate between Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner and his Opposition counterpart Barnaby Joyce was the first time the two have gone head to head since Joyce took up the job.

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The clash was a good example of how a political debate can appear one way in Canberra and unfold in another when it comes time for people to actually tune in.

To give a cricketing analogy, Tanner has won the test match of a parliamentary sitting fortnight but Joyce just won the higher rating Twenty 20.

Continue reading "Tanner wins the week, Joyce wins the day" »

UPDATE 3/8/09, 5pm : Ten has just announced that Kyle has been sacked as Idol judge. Here’s what Emma wrote last night…

The decision of Austereo to suspend Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O from the morning show will now put pressure on the producers of Australian Idol and Channel Ten to decide whether he should stay as a judge on the popular TV program.

On Saturday Channel Ten was quoted in The Age as saying Kyle “will obviously be in the audition episodes as they were filmed some time ago.”

“But Idol is a family program, we consider this a very serious incident and our executives will continue discussions over the weekend to come to a decision regarding his future on Idol.”

Considering Australian Idol premiers next Sunday, they will have to announce this week whether they are standing by or punting the controversial personality.

Continue reading "Will Kyle get kicked off Idol?" »

After three months, 7500 applications, a top 50, then a top 20, MasterChef Australia now has a Top Six to duke it out in the final week of this extremely popular TV show.

The eliminations start on Monday, and there will only be two left standing for the Grand Final on Sunday 19th July.

Who will win? I rate the finalists:
Chris Badenoch:
The beer merchant from Melbourne has barely put a foot wrong in the competition with strong innovative cooking. However he is starting to look like he could do a Greg Norman, and choke as he gets near the finish line.

Continue reading "The MasterChef final formguide, time to cut the fat" »