All Stories FeedRafters blasted over “rampant sexlife”
Did Packed to the Rafters misjudge its audience this week?
Yesterday the show copped a bit of a reaction to its episode which include several fantasy scenes involving sex, and a scene in which Nathan (Angus McLaren) was caught masturbating on the toilet by wife Sammy (Jessica MacNamee).
The scene followed a moment in which Nathan had told Sammy he was too tired to have sex, and was part of a larger episode which looked atmen being turned on by ’simple biology.’
The fantasy scenes, which were shot in music video styles, were also breakout moments for Ben (Hugh Sheridan) and Carbo (George Houvardas).
But comments left on the show’s official website, reflected by talkback radio callers yesterday, criticised the show’s apparent flip from being a ‘family drama’:
- “Why is it so hard to write episodes without gratuitous sex as its main theme? The potential is there to explore some really great issues about family dynamics with all the trials and tribulations that make up life. But all we’ve seen of late is the rampant sexlife of the Rafters!”
- “We are totally disgusted with this last episode. An insult to the actors. This is not what we expected. This is cause us to stop watching this as a family.”
- “Why is it that the writers of so many TV shows think that if they aren’t full of sex romps no one will want to watch them? The producers of Rafters would do well to remember that they won a stack of Logies with a show that wasn’t full of sex. When you’ve found a good recipe, then you should stick to it.”
- “I don’t think it’s a case of being old-fashioned or religious. It’s simply good taste. I was very disappointed by last night’s episode. Were the writers have a bit of a slow week and couldn’t think of a good plot line, so they decided to write pure sexual fluff instead? Come on! I was embarrassed for the actors, and embarrassed that the writers think this is what Australians want to watch.”
- “Packed to the rafters WAS my favourites show. Last night was disgraceful, weird, tasteless and absolute rubbish. Im officially switching off.”
- “I do not have a problem with the infidelity portrayed in this show. You’re right, it is a fact of life, and it does happen. My problem is with the strong sex themes shown. It wasn’t necessary to have those long wild sexual fantasy montages. And I really could have done without the sight of Nathan having ‘fun’ in the bathroom.”
- “I used to love Packed To The Rafter when it was a nice, wholesome family show. Now the writers have gone off on stupid tangents with all those ‘fantasies’ the characters are supposed to be having. Why do writers spoil good shows by pushing the envelope by showing young men supposedly ’satisfying’ themselves? Gimme a break!”
Others disagreed saying:
-”This show is meant to reflect reality. It’s a fact of life that young people, especially young men, spend a lot of time thinking about sex. Dave and Julie are the moral centre of the show and that has not changed. Nathan has always been the weaker member of the family and I think his actions with Layla are reflecting that.”
- “I’ve never seen this show as being something young children should watch either, even from the first episode. It’s an adult show with all adult characters. If anyone believes their children should not / no longer be watching it, they should use their powers of ‘parental guidance’, as the rating suggests.”
Some TV Tonight readers also criticised the episode as being weakened by ‘filler’ montages.
Rafters has always had PG-rated content, including back to its beginnings when it visited issues of domestic violence. But in that time it has also developed a family-following, and would appear to now face a delicate balancing act of wanting artistic freedom without alienating its broad audience.
Similar masturbating scenes have also appeared recently on The Librarians and United States of Tara -both of which saw female characters walking in on male characters. They aired at 9pm and 9:30pm respectively.
Source: Yahoo!7
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I knew there was an uproar about this episode but having never watched an episode I can’t really comment as there is always something better on the other channel when it is on.
Yes but who cares if one episode is a bit sexed up and a few kids see it when you look at how Packed to the Rafters has changed our Aussie TV industry for the better!!
Ok let’s remember… before PTTR McLeod’s daughters had just ended ( a quality drama might I add); Home and away was considered Australia’s number one drama and was like one of the only home grown Aussie dramas that actually appealed to a younger audience (which is a joke considering the crap scriptwriting and lame storylines- to even consider this show as good Australian drama is an insult to every other quality production Australia has come up with over the years. Not to mention the fact anyone over 25 would feel alienated watching this); Neighbours, a fantastic five day weekly soap is one of Australia’s only real decent shows that appeals to a youth audience and has readers of say TV Week tuning in- however its ratings aren’t so good and it really struggles to deal with more adult issues.
City Homicide; a perfectly good TV drama but fails to win over teenage viewers and fails to be recognised by the media (i.e. TV Week ect). It fails to show character based plots but succeeds in great mysteries and action. And isn’t something you’d want the kids watching; Sea Patrol- is pretty much like All saints by the Sea. And is far too Americanised and fails to win over younger viewers and rate really well. It also wastes Lisa McCune’s talents and is terrible at character based stuff; All Saints- Dull, out dated and something young people are uninterested in. Plus the fact it has a very undesirable setting; Underbelly- good, gets the whole nation talking but something you’d be mortified with your kids watching and too bloody and gruesome for its timeslot. Also fails to get a lot of coverage off TV Week.
Packed to the rafters arrives… Rebecca Gibney is on our screen. We have a show anyone from 16-60+ can enjoy. It has fantastic character based plots and a young attractive cast it is also well written gets great magazine coverage and is something Australia can really be proud of having as their number one drama.
I honestly had no issue with this episode. I love the show and I thought it was fine. It just seems as though people are acting as if they don’t know how to change the channel and just get over it. Television is meant to be provocative and quite frankly I’m happy that the show pushed the limit a bit eventhough in my opinion what was potrayed on the show was no where near smutty or overly sexual. It was more like a parody on fantasy and i think it poked fun and how men and their fantasies can get the best of their minds. Just get over it and watch something else.
To even attempt to defend the content of Tuesday’s episode is beyond comprehension.
How can parents let their 7 years olds watch stuff at 8.30pm anyway? Shouldn’t they be in bed? And if your 7 year old kid knows what Nathan was doing on the toilet, then you have some serious discussions to be having with your child. Gone are the days of innocence if today’s parents don’t make the effort to protect their children from the things they should not be aware about until they are much older.
This is why PTTR is winning ratings. It does light and fluffy and then dips into serious with a sweet touch of quirk. The unpredictability of this show is it’s charm. You never know if your going to be shocked or rolling on the floor laughing. Some are even touched but not like Nathan, LOL !
Get grip but not like Nathan, unless ……………………
If it’s being promoted as a family drama is should stay that way.
Sorry for you that want to exclude the kids as being part of a family situation. They are important too
That show should be on a paid channel for its lewd suggestive “fantasy” content. and people want to say kids are going downhlill and society sucks. Does life imitate art or is it the other way around?
Packed to the Rafters tends to always be on in the back for some reason, and i tuned in too watch it the other night. there were some very inappropriate scenes for this to be classified a family show. how could a 7 year old be watching that with their mother and father. disgusting. i still do not understand how this is the top rated program.
I love it when TV shows offend people, makes me more likely to watch them.
Yer and Underbelly is all nice and fluffy- Two words- boobs and bullets!! And that was an 8.30 show too!!
So what if rafter’s had a bit of sexual fantasies in it, you should still support the show!
If something like Rafetrs wasn’t around (which is on a level with city Homicide, McLeod’s daughters, sea Change ect) There would just be teen soaps like Neighbours and H&A where anything sexual is a taboo subject and dramas like Underbelly and Satisfaction (both good dramas) that you’d be mortified if you saw your kids watching them!!
packed to the Rafters is anything I would let anyone of say over 13 watch.
The one time I miss an episode of this show it had to be the ep that everyone talks about the next day! Aargh!
That episode was a little over the top for a PG rated show and especially one that should be family friendly, it seems to not fit in with the theme of the show. But what’s even more over the top is people saying that they are never going to watch again. It was just one episode after all!
I disagree though with people saying that it isn’t for children. I’m pretty sure that many children watch the show and the writers should have taken that into consideration.
@Everyone that says it’s okay for 8:30pm – it’s not about the time the show is on, the fact remains that it was PG rated and the content seemed too explicit for PG.
@TV Tragic 9:51am, read the third quote in the article.
@Bre Saxs, it does seem unrealistic but if Nathan had locked the door like a normal person and Sammy had knocked like a normal person then they obviously wouldn’t have had their scene. Even if that is a good thing.
@Kay, that’s because those shows have a suitable M or MA rating for their content.
You give the show too much credit, Adam. Those dream sequences were naff, plain and simple, and if they were intended as social commentary, they missed the mark. What’s surprising is that so many people found them offensive. I cannot conceive of a show more middle of the road than PTTR, and still it’s not tame enough for the Aussie mainstream.
As normal a great episode and funny
Talk about over-reacting! I agree that the episode probably should have been rated M, but the adult content is hardly some sort of betrayal of the audience. Rafters has always had “adult” storylines, right back to episode 1.
Bre Saxs: Even if they did increase Rafters’ rating, there’d be no need to show the episode at 9pm – M-rated shows are allowed to be shown at 8.30. (And there’s no way any of the scenes in that episode would deserve an MA!)
Some of the fantasy scenes were a bit tacky, though…
I think the issue is not that a lot of people were offended, but the fact that PTTR storylines have stooped quite low this year.
Another thing I’ve noticed this year is the decline in the Rachael character played by Jessica Marais. Last season she was an independant strong willed intellegent character who was a vegetarian btw. This year shes turned into a stereotypical blond bimbo, with a schoolgirl type crush on boys and now loves eating meat!
Now that is a lot more like … at least some of us get the point and appreciate the power of what they are saying … and i am Soooo sick of hearing “what about the kiddies” … Parents, do your job and vet what they watch, do not dare dump that responsibility on the Networks!
Jack!
I has a completely different reaction to the fantasy sequences. Yes they were stupid, but it was clear the me that they were meant to be stupid. They were all parodies of the sort of rubbish we have foisted on us daily in highly sexualised music videos (Jessica SImpson and Pussycat Dolls anyone?) and I feel sure the producers were taking a swipe at the rubbish in popular culture that feeds men’s sexual fantasies. If you look at the credits, the director was Cherie Nolan, one of Australia’s finest female directors, and the writer Kris Mrksa, who wrote the award winning telemovie “The King”. I think these credentials suggest the foolishness of the fantasies was no sloppy film making, it was deliberate commentary on the real rubbish filling our airways. But we do not hear too many of the outraged Rafters viewers inveighing against them. “It’s a very strange world we live in, Master Jack”
Get a life people, its only sex scenes. I am not offended. Why don’t people ever complain about shootings and gruesome murders as seen on criminal minds, underbelly and our own city homicide.
Had a feeling this ep would get complaints. It’s just like that dress Brynne Gordon wore to the Brownlows. If she hadn’t turned up in that then there would be nothing to talk about the next day, other than how all the girls played it nice and safe.
The Rafters can’t be nice and safe all the time. Good on them for addressing that stuff, because shock horror, fantasies and affairs actually happen in real life. Yes, I did squirm for some of it, but I thought it was good that they tried something different, and it was funny hearing how guys think! Otherwise it would be nice and safe all the time. Boring! Agree with other comments that it isn’t a kids show.
BOQ I totally agree. When I was younger (I am almost 35) I wasn’t allowed to stay up past 8 or 8:30pm max. Those were the days when movies occupied that timeslot. I remember my Grade 6 mates were allowed to watch North and South (miniseries). I was not allowed to. After watching it several years later I understood why. Definitely was not for kids
Parents need to stop thinking that tv stations will be doing their job. PTTR is not a children’s show. Have some sense and know if it starts at 8:30pm you need to keep in mind the content of shows changes. Don’t be lazy and think it’s up to others to monitor your children’s viewing habits
I watched the episode and can understand why people are offended. However, I thought it was a good episode because it really did address some of the issues that married couples face. As embarrassing as it was to watch, many viewers could relate and wanted to see how Sammy reacted. They could have gone with the typical “husband is tempted by another woman/possible affair” storyline which has been done many times before.
I think the only issue is the 7 promote as being a family show (i.e. people of all ages can watch it). I still think it is more of a young adult and older show because of the themes it addresses. If parents are worried about the show, instead of turning kids away, let them watch and you can discuss the issues with them. I actually think it confronts many issues in the right way, particularly which will confront many people later in life. Use a show like this as an education or else kids will find out in a way you don’t want them to.
The only part I didn’t like about it was the whole Carbo/Car Wash scene. That was predictable and went on way too long.
Everyone needs to get over themselves
It is on at 8.30pm – this should mean that the content is going to be far more adult that 6.30/7/7.30 timeslots. It is not at 7pm like Home and Away as the audience it wants to attract are adults.
I am sorry, but parents need to have the forsight to know that from 8.30pm, tv becomes more adult. Showing my age here, but with A coutnry Practice it was on at 7.30pm at night and off to bed at 8.30 before the adult shows came on for me in those years.
As an adult (37 next month), i dont want to have to wait til 9.30 for a show with an adult story line with a complex storyline. The kids have 3pm to 8.30 to get their tv fix!!
Maybe if they want a show that’s family friendly portraying real families they should have a tv show about a family sitting in front on a tv!
I thought it was a fantastic episode. It touched this so called ‘touchy’ subject but did not do it in a crude way.
It was great aussie tv.
I can’t vouch for this particular episode, but I’ve watched the first few episodes of season 1 and the domestic violence storyline should have been rated M. It seems that Seven are only issuing PTTR a PG rating in order to attract the widest possible audience in a timeslot which is usually reserved for more “adult” programming.
Expect the ACMA to perform an investigation in 18 months time.
Hasn’t Sammy heard of knocking or Nathan locking the door? My mum enjoys the show but doesn’t like the storyline of Nathan’s love triangle between Sammy and Layla.
If that storyline had to be shown, then Rafters shouldn’t have started until 9:00pm. Seven could have slipped on an episode of Scrubs or How I Met Your Mother beforehand at 8:30pm.
I loved this episode … Rafters is not a show for kids and never has been so that whole point is rubbish … “Family” is a category that is nothing more than “not strictly adult and not just kids” and it never means that it suitable for all the family … Doctor Who is the perfect example of a “Family” show and it can sometimes end up “M” rated on DVD …
I thought the scenes were excellent as they portrayed the everyday reality of life and fantasy life and the comment from Dave about “being a man and sticking to boundaries” as well as “keep away from the temptation” was absolutely brilliant and powerful.
The sensitive minority need to get a grip!
Jack!
So surprised some people are disappointed by the inclusion of fantasy in this episode – whilst all our fantasies don’t include Jessica Simpson washing our car, or our girlfriends pole-dancing or stair striding, they are just that, fantasy, and a part of everyday life for all of us. Why shouldn’t the characters have off-the-wall fantasies? Only because it taints our clean-cut family image of the Rafters? If anything, PTTR has shown us that we are all human and despite best intentions, can make some incredible (and sometimes life-changing) mistakes. I actually didn’t mind the direction of this episode and the sojourns into fantasy. As for the Greek girl, she does seem cartoonish however her Greek seems pretty fluent to me. I’ve noticed on many shows that when non-English speaking actors are cast, they are usually very good acting-wise at delivering their non-English lines (maybe because we may not understand them?), but the moment a few English words come out, it’s all a bit of a train-wreck. It’s probably a casting problem in terms of finding someone who can act well in both Greek and English. Carbo’s ‘cousin’ seems to be one of these!
Last year I would record PTTR and occasionally watch it the next day, not with my children, but they might have wandered into the room or been in the room doing other things. As most episodes were very mild and inane, this was fine. Any warnings about violence, language etc and I would save it for when they were asleep. This episode sounds like it was incorrectly classified if it was PG. Were there any warnings about strong sexual references, adult themes etc?
That photo is the stuff of nightmares. Who needs to see that guy in a compromising position.
Can’t do anything these days can they?
I don’t see any problem with the scene involving Nathan’s ’self love. They had a similar scene a few weeks ago when Ben walked into Carbo’s room unannounced and we didn’t hear a peep about that. I just don’t think we needed to have Nathan cheating on his partner, another Rafter son so soon after we saw Ben go through exactly the same thing.
I totally agree with the quote in the article that says:
‘Why is it that the writers of so many TV shows think that if they aren’t full of sex romps no one will want to watch them’
It’s as if its mandatory to have our screens filled with sex to get viewers! Take MasterChef as an example, what an awesome, Clean, real family show whose ratings went throught the Roof!
PTTR has built up a reputation of being a family show, but this has been majorly damaged by Tuesdays episode. I am glad that regular views are refusing to watch it again, I will join them. Shame on you Channel 7.
@Gerry – probably tonight?
@ryaneco – lock the door next time!
I’m a youngish male, not religious, and I have nothing against there being a bit of sexual content in the show, but this episode was just over the top and rather silly.
Yes sex is a part of life, but really, if a girl wants the attention of a guy, she wouldnt wash his car with a work mate she just met, both sticking their wet bums out and acting like cheap porn stars.
Not sure about you but I don’t think of my girlfriend on the stairs dancing like a cheap stripper either.
Even while I was watching this episode I Knew it was going to receive complaints. I didn’t have a problem with the content in principle – I think PTTR is a good example of a show trying to portray today’s society in a realistic way, even if we find it difficult to understand the decisions of the characters. What I did have a problem with is that it made the actors look ridiculous – the scene with the carwashing was just so so bad, it was embarrassing to watch. I don’t think either of the females in those roles were very good throughout the episode, but I don’t know if this is because of (a) bad casting; (b) bad writing; (c) bad directing or (d) all of the above. The girl who has supposedly come from Greece in particular is bad onscreen – like a cartoon character stuffed into the group of realistic actors – I’m really hoping that storyline will be over with very soon!
But also, like so many above, I don’t think this is a tv show for kids. In the first few episodes they dealt with drug addiction, abortion, internet sex videos – parents have a responsibility to censor for their own children instead of being lazy and indignant because their child saw something mature in an 8:30pm timeslot. The ad for this week’s episode was quite clear that it was going to be about sex – they showed part of one of the fantasies in the ad – if you don’t want your kids to see it, don’t let them watch!
I wasn’t offended by the content, but it was a woeful episode.
I was wondering as I watched if this may be the shark.
Who would have thought that would happen before the baby was even born?!
When will we see a story about this on A Current Affair?
People need to get a life. There are worse things airing on tv. If they stick to the PG stuff all the time the show will get boring. Then people will start complaining about that too…….
haha. I think this says more about some Rafters viewers than anything else. Nothing we havent seen before, it should have been a non-issue. Two weeks ago on Rush they had two women making out, and i didnt hear a thing. But of course with Rafters, anything that breaks away from typical paint by numbers family fluff is considered weird, scary and offensive.
I think they could have alluded to what happened rather than showing you, I found it a bit difficult to watch with my family at the time. That being said, we’re not going to be overly dramatic about it and we’ll watch again next week. My only criticism of the show was that it was difficult to like the character of Nathan before, now it’s going to be even harder… err… more difficult to.
I thought it was fantastic – gave this very safe show a real edge and tackled the topic with some guts. Well done, Rafters – more of that please.
Then again, this is the same network that fled screaming away from pursuing the lesbian storyline on Home and Away when the Murdoch press tried to stir up some hysteria. It’s a pity, as I am now sure we wont be seeing more, modern, contemporary and fresh episodes like this again on Rafters. You can almost hear the scissors snipping away at upcoming episodes this very moment. Seven likes to play it safe, middle and bland. That’s why David Koch is their poster boy.
Never watched this show but I’m going to give it a go if it’s on Channel 7’s website.
I don’t have a problem with the sex part fo the show (fact of life), the infidelity, or Nathan’s toilet scene (men masturbate, so what)…. what i didn’t like was all the fantasy scenes because they were just stupid, a waste of time, weird, unfunny, and a complete switch to watch the show has been. Have faith that the actors can act and deliver good scripts, instead of getting lazy and doign 5 minutes of nothing but them dancing around. What was the point of it? Sack whoever wrote that episode and brign back the old writers.
PTTR is a brilliant show, brilliant writing, scripts, actors, acting, it deals with a lot of life issues and is the most real family portrayal i’ve seen in a long time, thats why i love it cos i can relate. Hope they don’t shoot themself in the foot with that episode.
I do not regularly watch PTTR as I just don’t think it’s all that great. However, never in a million years would I think this as a show that the whole family could sit down and watch. It is definitely themed as adult, so I don’t think youngsters should be watching it. I didn’t see this particular episode, but it does sound as though it was very tacky and badly presented.
Saw this one coming a mile away – watching the episode I kept wondering to myself how they figured this either fit the show’s vibe or fit into a PG rating.
Does a scene of masturbation on the toilet fit PG?
Doesn’t bother me, I just don’t want those pesky religious nutters to have another excuse to impose their morals on me
I don’t watch Rafter’s so it’s of no consequence to me, but it seems the shows popularity has stemmed from it’s PG values, so such themes are probably not necessary in such a show.
Oh get off your high horses people – do you forget one of the first episodes where Dave took Viagra and ended up in hospital because he “couldn’t get it down” – and it’s been a little secret between him and nurse Melissa that she has seen his wotzit. It’s never been a family show, at least not a family show for young kids. Rachel’s abortion, her alcoholism and boyfriend’s drug addiction. There’s been some really adult stuff in the show amongst all the warm and fuzzies. And I don’t think it’s over – looks like there’s going to be a Dave-Chrissie affair storyline if recent scenes are any indication.
if anything i thought those scenes were a bit b-grade and lame, not offensive. also i have never thought of this show as one for little children, not just because of content but also because they wouldn’t be interested, then again some people have stricter standards for what kids can watch than i think are reasonable/realistic.
Next the producers will sack everyone over 40. McLeod’s anyone?
I had no problem with the content of the show; and In no way whatsoever am I a prude; I’m with those that think it isn’t a big deal for such a theme to be included in the show; But I do think a PG classification was a bit lenient for the show; it is in an 8.30pm timeslot; they could’ve quite easily classified the program M then there would be no problems.
Lets face it; hands up guys who haven’t been caught having “fun” in the bathroom………no one? Just me? Ok I’ll shutup.
The only part of the ep I didn’t like was the last scene, why did they have to take it there?
It is an interesting dilemma for Rafters, how to explore sexuality within adult family members honestly without alienating a strong family following. The whole point of the hour was that men have sexual fantasies (hardly a revelation) and the end warning, as the young Rafter leaps headlong in to infidelity, was that turning fantasy in to reality can potentially have very damaging consequences (equally a hardly startling observation). We were left with this thought as a sort of cliffhanger. The fantasies, although somewhat over the top (but then aren’t a lot of them) and containing nothing more shocking than you’d see in the average Pussycat Dolls video clip, weren’t filler to me. They elaborated on the theme and seemed to me to be a tongue in cheek comment on how popular culture fuels our thoughts on sex. I think the social comment and the ironies sailed over the heads of most of the posters quoted. Interestingly, given the outrage, the episode was very moral in its stance, making it quite clear that infidelity is a bad thing. If the episode has any weakness to me, it was the rather finger wagging nature of the scene that espoused this stance. I think the main cause of the outcry was a very literal reading by the audience of an episode full of irony. If the Rafters producers misjudged their audience, it was I think in crediting them with the ability to see past the surface hi-jinx to the irony and social comment beneath. The strong response certainly proves one thing however, that prudery is alive and well and living in Australia. However far we might think audiences have come, they haven’t really when it comes to accepting some more challenging truths about family and sexuality. They seem to want Rafters to be real as long as it is a reality that comforts them and shores up their preconceptions.