All Stories FeedThe 7PM Project
There was a moment at the end of Tuesday night’s 7PM Project when Shaun Micallef raced through the set to tell Charlie Pickering to hurry up and get to Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation. I tried to yell out “Wait! Stay!” to Micallef but in a flash he was gone….
It was a fleeting reminder, in television fantasies, of what might have been. How ironic that Micallef had also previously presented news but not as we know it, on SBS’ wry NEWStopia.
It’s now been a week with TEN’s newest baby and there has been much debate about how it has performed. On this site alone it has generated more comment than any single topic (ratings excluded). That shows awareness and engagement with the product. It would be far worse if nobody had an opinion. Some critics scored its first night a Pass, just. In fairness to the show, I’ve held off comment until it had a week in the bag.
On the positives, TEN was right to try something new. Hit reality shows notwithstanding, the timeslot has been a dog for too long. It was even right to try a genre such as this. The news premise is worthwhile (more on the execution shortly). The set looks bright and lively, the live element adds a sense of danger and, individually at least, the cast are appealing.
On the negatives, it’s format, format, format. This show doesn’t know what it is yet. It’s attempted to be bold by saying it will present news irreverently. But it isn’t working well enough yet as either a news and information show, or as light entertainment. Aiming for a middle ground, so far it ends up missing both.
Central to this is a desire to cram so much information into its 30 minutes, causing news item to arrive as a mere headline accompanied by a punchline. Suggestions that the show will go behind the news or provide some analysis, even comedic analysis, are yet to be realised. On Friday a cross to the premiere of Balibo lasted 50 seconds. An interview with Tony Moclair lasted 90 seconds. Putting less on the running sheet would allow more food for thought, unless this is a smokescreen to disguise the possibility the team has little depth to offer (none of which would be their fault, they are hardly experts on these subjects).
The hierarchy of news items is also questionable. On Thursday the Miss Australia winner ranked higher than the charging of a mother over the murder of her disabled son. On Friday the third news story of the day was a possible 5c rise in stamps. And for a team that promises to talk about the serious news it already shows a habit of avoiding many sensitive issues. One internet bullying subject was tackled, with Ruby Rose talking about her high school experiences and advice from Dave Hughes to “Just don’t do it.” Hiring a News Editor in journalism could address some of these points.
The live element has kept the team on their toes. It’s been a week distinguished by shaky cameras, presenters not knowing which camera to address, talking over one another, pregnant pauses, vision switching issues and three network cross promotions. Nine’s THIS afternoon showed just how difficult it is to talk about news events and so far The 7PM Project demonstrates it is yet to show the way forward.
The casting of the five personalities is yet to prove diverse enough to warrant a nightly conversation with the audience. Unlike the robust debates on Q & A, there is little black and white here. Dave Hughes is a funny guy, Charlie Pickering is a likable guy, but so far there isn’t enough to justify why their opinions, or those of the other cast, warrant a nightly visit.
Bickmore’s sing-song voice-overs accompanying video packages are too light and too identified with Rove, undermining her television shift as a serious newsreader. There is a reason female newsreaders have an Alto vocal range -to add gravitas.
It is hard not to compare the show with TEN’s former Panel, which similarly borrowed many elements from radio. That show benefitted not just from a later, weekly and longer slot but also a thoughtful discussion that took time to smell the roses. 7PM could do a lot worse than read all the news headlines at the top of the show then work out which ones it was going to dissect for the remainder of its airtime with some insight. Radio does it all the time.
That said, TEN should stick with the show, even with some lowly figures. It’s still a good idea if it is allowed some fine-tuning and addresses its news make-up with more conviction.
The 7PM Project airs weeknights on TEN.
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Definately no women in “Front line”. They are far too vicious.
Pearl don’t ask me.. .but I believe the 7PM Project has a contest. Try the TEN site?
I heard you say that if you still wanted to get tickets to see Oprah in Sydney to ask you nicely for two . I would love to go and missed out on the ballot. Hope i’m lucky, Love Pearl
The Only Problem if they change the timeslot and call it the 7am Project.What would they do for something to follow Neighbours?Friends,Seinfeld,The Nanny,The Simpsons,Mad about You,Everybody Loves Raymond And Almost Every other long dead sitcom has been done to death a million times over.They would have to go back to the drawing board and start from scratch.Worse They could do is put on Jerry Springer
Carrie talks way too much about her kid. “My two year old…”
Everyone should give it a chance otherwise it is back to old American Sitcoms or even worse Jerry Springer as a 7pm offering.
Try the official site not me?
hi, *waves*
We are attending Drouin Secondary College, and we are currently in publications, which enables us to write articles on real life situations and true stories for the College Knowledge which is our School Newspaper, and its 100% free. Our article is about, if real people can contact their heroe’s, we thought that it would be a great oppurtunity to contact you guys, and see if we could get an interview, maybe even be skyped on air, or even better attend the show and interview the cast on what it’s like to be famous. we would muchly appreciate a reply, a.s.a.p
much regard Mel and Miki
This show is terrible. Dave Hughes is way over exposed on radio and television these days, there is no escape from him. The man is not pretty and doesn’t have a great voice.
Where is the new talent? Why do these shows try so hard to be so overly “ocker”?
I am loving this show. Granted when it started it was like a headline roll call but in the last week it has been pretty cool. Interesting and funny. They’ve slowed down, started discussing topics not just reading the headlines. I think Charlie is great and his voice over works much better, Carrrie is kinda cute doing a fine job. Mathison is gold.
Hughsey seems to have calmed down thank god, am surprised he was so nervous last week, his comment the other night about Carrie’s pimple being the 4th guest was really surprising and hilarious. All in all, looks like they’re finding their groove. Keep it coming ten, nice work so far.
I hadn’t watched the show for about 3 episodes so I gave it a chance again tonight. Sorry, it hasn’t improved. Right from the first 30 seconds of the show Dave Hughes was scratching for a tag line to his first “joke”, if you could call it that. And, why is James Mathison even on the programme? I actually feel sorry for the guy. They seem to have him on some nights just because he has to be included. It looks like the uncle you feel has to be invited to your wedding – you don’t really want him there, but he’s part of the family so he has to be there. All in all still not good enough and, despite what they are saying, I still think 10 will give it a long “holiday” at some stage from which it will never return. For those who say that will cost 10 a lot, I’m sure their lawyers would have that possibility covered in other parts of the contract.
Here’s the problems:
1) Dave Hughes. He’s had his time in the spotlight and it’s time for new talent. His voice is horrible.
2) Carrie Bickmore – very unfunny person.
3) 7pm is the wrong time slot for any kind of comedic discussion. Kids are still up and so i don’t really see how a proper adult discussion can occur.
4) Seeing how it’s a 20 minute show (after ads are taken out) why not just discuss 4 stories for 5 minutes each.
5) I’m guessing that Channel 10 think that Rove is God. Guess what? He’s not. He’s dull. Please look elsewhere for new talent Channel 10.
Anyway, I’ll give it another month before it gets axed.
Last night the 7PM Project was the best yet.!!
Charlie Pickering did a brilliant interview with Dr Phil and seems to be more in-charge than previously.
I hope they can keep the show going.
What a poor, try hard version of ‘The Panel’!
Ratings for 7PM Project were 764,000
H&A and 2.5 Men each did 1.3m (Men won the slot)
Interestingly – reading your review David I kept thinking of that show on Sky News – 180: The Other Side of the News, where Paul Murray has a pair of talking heads on (usually different each night) and they pick a topic and chew over it for a few minutes, it’s been on a break (I think) but when it was on earlier in the year I got hooked on it – it was like a half hour of “tell us what you really think” and it was great.
As for 7pm I have two pieces of advice – a) If no-one has anything interesting to say then don’t report a story, viewers have likely already been bombarded with news in the previous two hours not to mention throughout the day they don’t need rehashed headlines, instead pick a few stories and really debate them which means…
b) you’re gonna have to have a strong opinion about something – one thing that absolutely gets my goat about Rove is that he is completely Vanilla, he’s tries so hard not to offend anyone and in the process doesn’t amuse anyone either – and his vanilla fingerprints are all over this.
Having said that – ATM it’s probably the best prospect for 7pm, Two & a Half Men is done to death and Home & Away is a soap so you’re either for it or against it, but it’s by no means something I must watch, Ten needs to find something in this show that’s gonna make me wanna tune in and they don’t have it yet – but it’s early days (he says without having seen last night’s ratings yet!
)
So much better tonight and whether or not that had anything to do with what is said here (@Ben) we as viewers are all the better for it.
A really fun show that informed me of stuff from news that I missed traveling home. I got informed and had a laugh at the same time too.
Also as a post note… to all the Rove knockers… 5th Grader was hilarious tonight! To see Matt Preston “ponder” over the questions was gold!
Our family enjoyed it all thanks!
It was a lot better tonight. Still not certain if Hughesy should be on the show but I will definitely be watching/DVRing this every night.
Much better tonight, except I won’t be able to watch it if Dave keeps swearing, as my kids are still awake at 7pm.
Also opened with a voice-over from Charlie.
It’s good to see the producers of this show appear to have read and taken on board some of the comments and criticisms everyone has shared. Tonights episode was much tighter, there were less news items, the guests stayed longer than a minute and they go into the news items more and by having longer allowed more depth to the topics which seemed to produce funnier comments by the hosts. Just hope that people take another look and dont judge this show on last weeks episodes.
This show is getting better! It’s a nice wind-down after work. I like it!
Brett, your comment is pure gold! “Lesbian says shes a lesbian for some reason” – hilarious!
Good analysis, not really sure what I think of this show at the moment. Probably nothing good!
I have to strongly disgaree that the ‘set looks bright and lively’, I find it one of the most distracting things on the show, not to mention the fact it is too similar to Rove and 5th Grader. Roving entreprises needs to go buy some books / magazines and get some new ideas!
I watched this for 5 mins the other day and they had some fat chick on a Skype call who explained how her boyfriend dumped her because she was fat. It was the most awkward TV interview I have ever seen. Epic fail.
Australia is burnt out on Roving Enterprise’s formula for television….too much reliance on a core group of comedians (most of which are mildly funny), similar production values on each show….no room for real improv, hosts that freak if guests seem to veer into another direction off script.
It’s time for another production company to step up and refresh our flagging live TV scene.
We are a country that produced Graham Kennedy, Hey Hey It’s Saturday…etc. etc. so it’s not impossible.
Great discussion and I do agree that the programme shows potential. I personally think that it is suffering (as most new shows on the commercial networks) from overhype. How about letting some new shows grow organically, not scream “This Is Gonna Be Fantastic” from the get-go.
I also agree, that the stories are way too short. It seems pointless even having guests on as they get 3 words out and it’s “Thankyou for coming” and they’re away.
I also agree that one of the main problems of the show is the ‘Carrie at the the newsdesk’ similarity which doesn’t work. Also, why is Ruby advertised as one of the team if she is absent from the desk or in-between shooting for Pay-TV. Her inclusion is obviously a generational grab, however again this doesn’t work.
Hopefully, as a lot of you have said, I would like Channel 10 to give it a chance to find it’s place as I too dislike Home & Away and detest Two And A half Men’.
A lesson for all networks should be don’t overhype as it results in shows getting canned after a few episodes.
Welcome to the convo!
Incidentally, isn’t it amazing how many comments there have been on this and the first 7pm Project thread! There must have been hundreds. I’ve been reading TV Tonight for ages and have never commented till now.
I think most of us were hoping the show would be good – we’re obviously bleeding for something topical, funny and intelligent and have all been disappointed to vary degrees by the dross this show has churned out.
Pity, isn’t it?
I agree with Rufus – light news only – steer clear of heavy or sensitive topics where “punchlines” are inappropriate. I find the shift between a serious news article and an amusing one quite uncomfortable. It is hard to laugh at something when the previous item was quite a sad one (the return of the body of Australians killed overseas for example).
Stick to light news & entertainment or even consumer news stories. I watch the news, read the paper, check the internet and listen to talk-back radio for my news.
I totally agree they are trying to fit way too much into 30 mins. Maybe an hour could work better, trying it over summer could be interesting.
James Mathison I find irritating. Waving a knife in front of some kids (Masterchef’s Julie cooking at viewers home episode), there’s nothing funny about that! Apparently to him being funny simply involves yelling at someone. Ruby Rose didn’t seem to offer much either, her ‘interview’ technique left me cold, mind you trying to ask anything insightful in 90 odd seconds is a big ask.
They do need to decide what sort of show they want to be. I hope it does succeed, 7pm has always been a bit of a non event time slot for me. I’m not a soapie viewer, or a Simpson’s fan, so a humerous look at current events really does interest me, just stop trying to cram so much into 30 mins!
no matter what they do it’s never going to work. the population in australia is too small to support good discussion in a commercial fta show. no one wants to screw up their potential future revenue by saying something some viewers might disagree with an miss out on a future job. this show should have been closer to politically incorrect with bill maher – one host, 3-4 rotating guests, 2-3 issues a night. but again that’s too ambitious because no one wants to say anything that might offend.
Ruby Rose is a lesbian!
If you didn’t know i’m sure she’ll tell you.
I think it has potential, but like David said, they are just cramming far too much stuff in it. If I have a headache after watching it, I can only imagine how tough it must be for the hosts and producers. There’s a bit I saw when they did an ‘around the states’ thing which had 5 or so comedians doing gags from the major cities. Some of them were pretty funny, but ultimately it was far too much crammed into far too little time.
Also I don’t think there’s anything wrong with them just making it a light news/ comedy show. If there’s a mass murder or stories of war, I’m not going to tune into the 7pm project, I’ll watch ABC News. But if I want to watch someone poking fun at a political gaffe or Hollywood gossip, then the 7pm project might be something I would consider. If that means dropping the awkward news headlines stuff, then so be it. Just have more open discussion, and more time for it.
I think it is too early to point the finger at the talent. The format needs to be fixed first, before we start saying get rid of the hosts.
I think I agree with Ruth, Wil Anderson would be a good host for a show like this. But then you could probably just swap out Carrie for Corinne Grant and it’d just The Glass House on Channel 10…
Would like to see Akmal hosting this show…. that’ll be great! =)
I’m laughing already =P
I gave up on it after the second show…. I’ve gone back to watching ABC 7pm news.
I keep hearing that Masterchef started off slowly. Well, obviously Masterchef was a different program that caught the imagination of the public. The 7pm Project is a bad copy of a very successful program on TEN, The Panel, that they are trying to run 5 days a week. TEN lost Working Dog to 7 and think Rove has all the answers to their problems. Wrong. The program is not working for a number of reasons and in a few weeks/months time I for one won’t be surprised when it is axed. Plus, where is any new talent on commercial TV in Australia? Surely they could’ve come up with at least 1 new comedic talent on the program. Although they’d never give it publicly, I’d like to hear the professional view of the Working Dog group on the 7pm Project.
As many a producer has said, “why do I care?” And so far, I haven’t found anything in this show to care about. Give me a reason Ten!!
If Channel 9 still had Temptation or some other game show at 7pm I would happily tune into that or Home and Away over at Seven instead of things like this.
Does anyone here remember the days of Alan Jones Live That thing was gone within months and since that time with a few exceptions we have relied on old American Long Dead Sitcoms for Channel 10′s 7pm offering.
Great review David.
After a week of the show, I still believe that as time progresses the show will naturally weave itself into its wanted format and work. Perhaps they should’ve had more rehearsal time? Or maybe have a longer show to fit everything in? I think an hour-long show would be better because then we could actually see some propper conversations about news issues, and maybe interact with the audience a bit, ala Q&A.
I reckon this could work for TEN:
5:00PM: TEN News at Five / 6:00PM: Neighbours / 6:30PM: Out of the Blue (replay it from its first ep and if it works get more eps made!) / 7:00PM: 7PM Project
8:00PM: Whatever comes after 7PM Project for the night.
Having the show run longer gives them time to have longer interviews and actually make full use of the amount of hosts and correspondents they have.
And they don’t really need to worry about truckloads of people already having seen Out of the Blue since it only attracts 250-300k each week. And on Sundays TEN can do a longer news bulletin instead of the short amount of news they subject us to, as well as propping up Simpsons ratings a bit. 
Of course what I suggested above TEN would only really want to try over summer.
I agree with how you have interpreted the first week. I think as someone who has watched Rove it is hard to take Carrie Bickmore seriously. I’m constantly waiting for the punchline. I think they need to get someone else to do the voiceovers, or vise versa. I don’t mind Dave and Charlie, but they definately need to work out what they are trying to achieve and not to put so much into an episode. Do all the stories then chat. I will stick with it, but it does need some tweaking. I hope it succeeds and finds its feet.
I’ll probably be shouted down but I reckon Will Anderson should be at the helm.
I know lots of folks don’t like him, however he is very clever and articulate and could be the savior of this show.
BTW this show is far too Rove……ugh
Right on David..I think Pickering should lose the beard.It always puts a barrier between the viewers and the wearer.The segments should be longer..and for heavens sake..employ some script writers….
Spot on Blogger!
I think less topics more discussion on each, better panel (enlarged), warmer softer set = good
Micalef = Absalute winner. I bet they are offering him the gig right now.
Sorry Mam, hes just too good!
Agree Entirely David. Much about the wanting to be “not as you know it”. They do order the stories differently and they do try and do too much for a good discussion to take place and shows it as punch lines which is why I liked “The Panel”. I really have hope for the kinks to be ironed out because they did find a point of difference for that time slot.
For this programme to work cohesively, it needs to be an hour long.
Spot on evaluation. The show doesn’t know what it is yet. It’sgot potential. It is funny, it is interesting to watch, but the hosts aren’t all the right people for the role and don’t go together. The content is all confused, serious news followed by light news with gags. Once it gets all these things sorted it could certainly be a worthwhile program for Ten and get a solid audience each night. While numbers dropped during the week, if it improves, word of mouth can do wonders. Look at Masterchef, slow to start but then bam. If this show can hover around 1 mil mark nightly then keep it.
See – i think it does deserve to fail. And all the people who are envolved with it! Its the same old tired thing offered up by the same old tired people.
Rove can’t even make his own show work properly, why let his goonies inflict us with more nonsense. How about giving some unknown’s a go. Sure have some famous heads to host it, but there are a million other ideas for a TV show that some other crew could come up with.
If channel 10 are serious about taking chances, p**s Rove’s people off, they have been out of touch and out of date for years.
And can someone explain what this 7pm Project’s intent is because all i get out of it is.
News story… punch line
Look at the wrong camera
Lesbian says she’s a lesbian for some reason
People in other states crack jokes funnier than anyone on the panel
Look at the wrong camera
Cut half of Carrie’s body off in a 2 cam shot.
Interstitial ‘s that pop up out of no where!
I have audience tickets for tomorrow night, so it will be interesting to see it live. I’ve previously been to The Panel and to TGYH, but we’ve been told that this time we’ll be standing. I’m assuming they’re filming in a news studio and we’re there so the stand-up comedians behind the desk have an audience to play to. (Though they need to learn to look down the camera, not at the audience.)
I’ll report back after I’ve been.
As for ‘fixing’ the show, here’s my top five:
1. Get rid of Dave Hughes. He’s a funny guy, but this show needs acerbic news analysis not aussie-drawl.
2. Get rid of James Matherson. He’s totally pointless. Totally. As is every story he’s been a part of.
3. Have Ruby do any (pre-recorded and well-edited) interviews. No need to be at the desk.
4. Get rid of 80% of the content and Slow Down.
5. Get some writers. Don’t rely on the hosts to write everything. You need professionals providing the material who have time to carefully analyze the news.
Bonus suggestion: Give Charlie some of the headlines to read or put them all at the top of the show.
An excellent critique David.
over all an enjoyable show to watch, but more for the comedy rather than the news, as almost all the stories i have already heard in the 6pm news, maybe they should focus more on the underreported but still important news, also the cross to news in other cities segment is just stupid, they should have used this opituinity to talk about actual news not just lighted hearted stories.
The problem is none of them are funny or interesting, it’s the same as Rove without the occasional interesting guest.
I preferred Newstopia- better host, clever humour, on once a week to prevent becoming stale and on at a later time so you had a chance to actually digest the news of the week before seeing it from a different view.
Great review David.
Might you, you are being very generous towards the hosts.
Hughes is shocking, as Bass says “deer lost in headlights”, pregant pauses, which camera, should I be funny or serious and on it goes…This show is not for him.
Pickering could be good, if only someone would shake him by the collar and tell him to think first…
Bickmore should be a hit in this but her role and the format stuffs that up.
I watched the whole 1st ep, then have seen 5 mins of 2 other eps.
I doubt if I will return.
The show needs a shake up – it needs a strong host and needs lengthy interviews not 30 seconds cameos.
I wish that Ruby Rose* would put some clothes on. I’ll vomit if I see those hideous camouflage arms any longer. Looking like one of Jim Rose’s freaks.
*and what are her abilities anyway?
Agree with you David, I think you have been generous in your assessment, Hughesy just seems lost, very deer in headlights, stumbling and bumbling over his ‘punchlines’ its a bit like watching Gretel do the Logies again.
Charlie Pickering just doesn’t seem right as host, there is something missing, seems to have very little presence, Carrie is good and manages to hold some of it together but she can’t hold up the entire thing.
I hope they iron out the kinks, and 10 holds its nerve, but it just seems like there wasn’t enough done to get the chemistry/format right, the sneak peeks came off like the lame Breakfast Radio promos that are meant to entice you to tune in, but you leave it saying to yourself, “did they actually think that was funny?”
Also the audience – where is it? and if you have them there, what about a warm up guy, cos I’ve been to funerals which have been more animated (well not really but you get the point)
A very perceptive review. Not sure I agree with your closing comment , although I fear that this show will end up doing well.
This because the very few free-to-air shows I enjoy are poorly treated (30-Rock, Boston Legal, The Office, Newstopia), while the shows I loathe (anything Rove, cheap US sitcoms, any soap, current affairs, reality shows, made-for-TV dramas, game shows and …..well, everything else really!) seems to flourish.
Therefore, using that simple logic, this stinker of a show will live on.
I agree that they should stick with it, and they really need to work out what they want out of it. For me there are too many celebrity interviews, interviewing the stars of G.I. Joe: The Movie isn’t news it’s a cheap grab for Ten’s target audience.
I’d much prefer to hear Hughesy, Charlie and Carrie get into real and funny discussions about the news of the day.
The pace is my biggest problem with the show, too.
Does it have to be live? Can’t they record it at 5.30 and then rapidly edit it down, with time for pickups to tidy up the edges?
Great article David. I agree completely.
I don’t know why, but I personally want this show to be successful and am willing to give it a good chance. It’s certainly generated a lot of conversation. I guess people are just desperate for something good in this time slot.
fair review.. i like the fact ten took a chance on this show, just a pity that it doesnt work.. Theres just not chemistry on set, you dont get the impression they’re friends sitting around having a chat.
Only thing you got wrong is dave hughes. he’s not funny. period.
It’s a crap show. Enough said!
This is a fair review, and I agree with it. The major issue with The 7PM Project is that they don’t know what they are aiming for. Is it comedy, or is it news, or is it a talk show? That, and they try to pack too much into the half hour slot.
Still, I would rather watch this than 7′s Home and Away, or 9′s Two and a Half Men.
To me, everything about this programme is wrong. It’s got the wrong name, the wrong time, the wrong hosts, the wrong format & the wrong production company.The only good thing about it is that it’s not on weekends.
One easy fix for the programme… change the name to the “7AM Project” and move to the appropriate timeslot…
Great review David. Completely agree with your comments.
Find some people with brains and balls and it might work
I really like this show… congrats ten
After starting of with a very impressive figure on Monday (5th position) to 18th position on Friday nights rating,I think it will be downhill for the 7PM Project from hereon.
Thanks and well put David.
I absolutely agree with you on all points.
Al though I didn’t watch every night I did like what I have seen, I hope TEN doesn’t axe it too soon …
i think that is a very fair assessment david.