Comments on: Interview: Jason Stephens

By: SHINTARO

SHINTARO — Fri, 09 May 2008 16:34:00 +0000

David, with regards to “Choir Of Hard Knocks” I did say “All kudos to him for finding and making the thing work..” but the simple fact is that the claim this was his original idea is extremely hard to credit, especially because he is a TV professional (and otherwise a pretty impressive one, it seems) and must surely know there are a substantial number of very similar formats which pre-date COHK. Even “Trial by Choir” (troubled kids instead of homeless) went to air the year before. Sure, credit where credit is due, but here? Forgive my doubts. Also my doubts that “execution” is the only valid criterion of originality. Anyway, peace brother. Sorry if I ticked you off and keep up the great site.

By: Leith

Leith — Fri, 09 May 2008 14:09:00 +0000

Thanks for that article David, I was curious to hear how he went from The Late Show to where he is now over the last decade or so.

As you said, it’s one thing to have an idea, but another to execute it successfully and convince a network to pick it up.

By: faystar

faystar — Fri, 09 May 2008 14:04:00 +0000

I totally enjoyed it thanks David. I’m a big late show/D-gen fan and have followed the careers of the cast over the years. Jason was always the hardest one to follow though, as he was never in the spotlight as much as Tom, Rob, Santo etc.
It’s good to see him doing well and coming out of the shadows a tad.

By: David Knox

David Knox — Fri, 09 May 2008 12:38:00 +0000

I'm assuming you're referring to Choir of Hard Knocks concept... there were several referenced in the article.

They say there are only ever 7 stories in the world.....even Andrew Denton had housemates in a house before Big Brother did. But do we say Denton was the creator of BB? No.

In copyright everything rests on execution. In this interview Stephens himself referenced both Montreal and Jonathan Welch as inspiration. But the concept for CoHK, the execution, was his.

Say what you like about what brought him to the final format, but the point is they brought HIM (and not somebody else) to the end game.

His other successes also back up an impressive record, so I certainly dispute your claim of "total crock."

Since CoHK there is now Clash of the Choirs, Battle of the Choirs etc but Stephens isn't their creator either. Following two Logie wins I felt it was timely to bring Stephens out from behind the spotlight. Hopefully others enjoyed the backstory.

By: SHINTARO

SHINTARO — Fri, 09 May 2008 09:30:00 +0000

Oh, puh-leeze! This concept has has been produced all over the world for years now. Jason’s “Aw, shucks yeah, it was really me who invented it” schtick is a total crock. Why are you buying it? All kudos to him for finding and making the thing work but fair crack of the whip, eh, Jase? We’re not all idiots, you know, mate.

Ah, television. Every success has a million fathers and every flop is an orphan.