That's Entertainment

Someone emailed me recently wanting to know what TV is like in Australia. Television offerings here in Oz are a mixed bag. Although there are plenty of American series from which to choose, there is an eclectic array of shows never seen at home.

For one thing, their approach is much more global. You can get half hour news segments from Japan, Hong Kong, Greece and Italy, just to mention a few countries. Nightly, there is at least one foreign subtitled film to view. Travel and cooking shows are also popular. Antiques Roadshow features the English version, which I find fascinating as the antiques are much older and more varied.

One German series, Komandant Rex, is a crime drama starring a German Shepard named Rex - kind of like Lassie on steroids. My favorite series discovery is actually a Canadian show, a Seinfeldesque situation comedy about nothing in rural Saskatewan called Corner Gas. We've been enjoying English productions of Poirot, Cracker, Daziel and Pascoe, and the like.

Unfortunately, I am put off by the production quality of most of the crime dramas here. Even if the story is good, I get distracted by the video-tape, jumpy camera footage.

However, most of my favorite shows are Aussie-produced, including Good News Week, an intriguing mix of game show craziness, political commentary and comedy. Because Australians are less inhibited than Americans, their jokes are bawdier and it is no-holds barred. If you want to check it out, you can visit http://ten.com.au/good-news-week.htm.

Rock Wiz is also fun to watch. Celebreties team up against one another for rock trivia with a bit of comedy and entertainment thrown in.

Rove is the David Letterman of the Aussie airwaves and I haven't yet learned to appreciate him. When they show clips on the teaser commercials, I never think they are funny at all. One example is Rove asking a guest named Glenn why he spells it with two ens. The guest replies, "Why to you spell Rove with a V?" and they all laugh hysterically. I think you have to be a true Aussie to appreciate it.

Sport is extremely important here and there is usually something to watch, usually Australian Rules footy, rugby or cricket plus tennis and car or horse racing. I do like their commentators who say things like "Crikey!" or "That ref is a total boofhead!".

Of course, they have their versions of the American ratings juggernauts, Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, Top Supermodel, etc. I watch them once in awhile when waiting for George to get home from work and have to say there is a lot of talent here for a small country. However, it does seem like you see the same five hosts starring on all the programs on a rotating basis so maybe there is a limited talent pool.

Even though we only get five free channels here, George hasn't yet resorted to watching Maori rap like he did when we lived in New Zealand! Besides, we didn't come here to watch TV!