The other week a journalist asked me for some quotes on how our TV summer season was faring and I pointed out that historically, the 09 / 10 season has offered an abundance of choice -at least compared to when we had just 5 channels, half of which were stuck on sport.
This year the amount of content has boomed, thanks to our extra digital channels.
But when the article appeared in print, readers hit back saying summer is still a dead zone. I got slammed. Well, it is if you stick with Australia’s Funniest Home Videos Daily Edition or Whacked Out Sports. Or you settle for a repeat of a 1995 movie. The key is to drill down and look at what is being offered on GO!, 7TWO, ABC and SBS. There have been some fantastic shows that are overlooked and deserve a little more word of mouth.
On Free to Air we’ve had The Circuit, John Adams, Lillies, Bush Slam, Torchwood: Children of Earth, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, Shrink Rap, The Graham Norton Show, Killer Whale Attack, The Colbert Report, Reaper, My Place, Gourmet Farmer, Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam, Stephen King’s Nightmares and Dreamscapes, White Collar, Kingdom, Burying Brian, Make Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America, Rex in Rome, Chandon Pictures, The Fixer, The Middle, and Elders with Andrew Denton.
Maybe you’ve been getting reacquainted again with old friends like Survivor, Ugly Betty, Nip / Tuck, Weeds, The Wire, Californication, Band of Brothers, Futurama, The Unit, Stargate: Atlantis, Beautiful People, Inside the Actor’s Studio or ER.
Are you basking in smiles now Big Love is back? Are your eyes popping out of your head at the steamy scenes in Dante’s Cove? Does Fringe still have its fans since its been playing new episodes? Are you now a fan of Man vs Wild or a late-night convert to The 7pm Project?
And has anyone out there actually found a gem on SBS TWO they simply have to share?
Pay TV’s offerings are too numerous to mention but summer highlights would have to include Satisfaction, The #1 Ladies Detective Agency, Gossip Girl, The Contender Australia, Hung and of course Dexter. Not succumbing to ratings pressure, the Pay sector isn’t really doing much in 09 / 10 that it didn’t do twelve months ago, whereas the landscape in Free to Air summer is wildly different.
Let’s not forget a ‘summer gem’ isn’t really a big broad hit title like Dexter or new episodes of Glee. It’s something you’ve discovered, possibly by mistake, that nobody else seems to know about.
I found another one this week: Taking The Flak. A British satire about Foreign Correspondents working for the BBC in the fictional African state of Karibu, and the lengths they will go to in order to land a story for the 6pm News. It was like Frontline meets guerilla soldiers. It’s buried at 10pm on Thursday nights on ABC2. Definitely worth a look, and I only wish I had found it earlier to write a review for the first episode last week (Ep 1 is on iView). Getting On is another little gem (it starts tonight on ABC1).
So let’s hear it. What are your newest discoveries we should all be taking a look at? Please try to keep answers succinct guys.
I duno if this is a gem or not but mine is sex and the city on Ten, they showed it every night, I think it was after the letterman show, sometimes they would show 3 straight eps but duno what happened to it.
David do you no anything about this ,there only showing like 1 ep a week now, they could show sex and the city but instead put video hits up late which is stupid and boring
Naturally all of the high drama of Coastwatch from NZ.
7TWO – How not to Decorate. (You’ve probably seen it on foxtel)
Was on Saturday nights 10:30.
But now moved back to Fridays and competes in part against Graham Norton on ABC1. The two campest shows of the week head-to-head. Great idea 7TWO.
Satisfaction, have really enjoyed that.
I have been lucky however, I still had several episodes of Packed to the Rafters left to watch which I recorded and hadn’t gotten round to seeing. So thats been my summer treat!
Nine’s review of the decade was a good show on new years eve.
Chandon Pictures, Grahem Norton, Torchwood, ABC2, Fringe, New Amsterdam, GO.
Had been enjoying the late night re-runs of Medium on 10.
I enjoy the 7pm Project, I think Mondays are great, I’d like to see more new people with actual opinions as guests overall though. I think that Hughesy should go, Charlie and Carrie gel better when he’s not there…
David Letterman has been pretty funny lately, capitalising on the NBC late night issues.
Good calls on Not Going Out. That show is hilarious.
Looks like most people missed this in the original article “Let’s not forget a ’summer gem’ isn’t really a big broad hit title like Dexter or new episodes of Glee. It’s something you’ve discovered, possibly by mistake, that nobody else seems to know about.”
Shark
The unit
Not going out
Judge john deed
Gary unmarried
Nip/tuck
Fifth gear
NBA
and also looking forward to full house and alf next week
and thumbs down to ten for pulling Numbers (one of the best shows they’ve got) and One tree hill
none
GO! -New Amsterdam
7TWO -Reaper
ABC1 – Beatiful People, even though its repeats from ABC2
SBS1 – Man Vs Wild
Seven – Parks and Recreation
Ten – Accidently on Purpose
ABC2 – Graham Norton
7TWO – Ugly Betty, Tin Man
GO! – Dante’s Cove, Weeds, Curb, The Hills
Getting On.
It’s been a pretty good summer….Willie’s Wonky Chocolate Factory on ABC2 and Heston’s Feasts on SBS were the standout quality shows.
It’s great to have Frasier and Seinfeld on every night back to back….Curb Your Enthusiasm is also a highlight.
Big bonus having the NBA on OneHD as well!!
It seems the majority of my viewing is now on the alternative channels.
Dexter S4 and True Blood S2, both by other means. Haven’t watched much tv this summer, but i’ve been watching GO! and 7TWO much more than usual.
Gossip Girl, Heroes, Dexter, and older seasons of Boston Legal. Also quite a bit of Family Guy and South Park.
I simply turned on the television and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia was on. Thank god I turned the tv on at that moment, absolutely hilarious show! I love it because the characters are like Seinfeld, in that they never learn, but to an extreme level.
Also enjoying The Office at a reasonable hour and watching Seinfeld on GO! has been great, since the channel launched. Glad that Blackadder is also on GO! Also Gary Unmarried isn’t that bad, its good for a laugh, and so much better than the other CBS sitcoms.
Parks and Recreation by far standout. I also enjoyed 30 Rock reruns, Mother and Son re-runs, Private Practice and The Celeveland show was a big suprise for me, becoming must-watch for me.
Seven: Parks & Recreation, on late-night Tuesdays. Very funny. And tennis. And 30 Rock rpts.
ABC1: Hopman Cup tennis. Once again Aunty’s coverage was outstanding.
ABC3: Heartbreak High rpts, 8:30 weeknights + Sunday. The show started when I was 1 year old so I never had the opportunity to see it, but I’m enyoying it.
GO!: The Nanny, Seinfeld rpts.
TEN: New Simpsons, Neighbours, Malcolm rpts.
Nine: The Middle
my summer has been good with The Circuit (SBS), 2 seasons of Weeds (GO!) and my newly found favourite It’s Always Sunny in Philidelphia (Seven). And the tennis is coming up (the Aus Open), so i’ll be happy with that. Nothing else has seemed to interest me
My summer Gem has been the Middle. At first I also thought ” what the, it looks like Malcome in the Middle and even the name is similar”. But it has been real laugh out loud funny, and in all the crazyness there is a warmth to it that Malcome in the Middle lacks. I particularly like the little kid, Hilarious ( whispers “hilarious”).
The 7pm Project, Ugly Betty, Gossip Girl, ER.
The daytime soaps on 7TWO; Shortland Street and Emmerdale.
Plenty of shows on 7TWO and GO!
parks and recreation is great. the only show i make sure i watch. sunny in philly is good too. not much else, too many movies.
It’s been a DVD summer for me. No real “appointment” viewing on FTA, but I was enjoying reruns of The Mole on 7TWO in the wee hours. Such a good show when Grant Bowler was at the helm.
GO! is proving to be a godsend in summer. People complain about the excess of older shows, but they are classics. I’d watch Seinfeld all day if I could!
The Circuit was my fav.
I loved the Joanna Lumley doco’s that I caught on iView… especially the one where she went to visit the Northern Lights. She is a magical person and seeing her watch the lights dance around in the night sky was spectacular TV.
And repeats of the mole on 7two.
Reaper and parks and recreation.
The only thing I’ve found worth watching weekly is Reaper and also the NBA on ONE. The Office, My Family, Futurama, Calinfornication,The IT Crowd and The Cleveland Show are probably the only other shows I consider worth sitting down to watch.
@ Andrew – new eps of Glee ran out – yes, but they were up to ep 7 in repeats which were meant to keep going through summer but have been taken off due to low ratings.
@Steph: Didn’t Ten take Glee off only because they had caught up with the US and there were no new eps to show?
Nothing.
I was very pleasantly surprised by the first episode of How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? on UKTV. Not the usual talent show i was expecting. And Graham Norton is a hoot as the host.
Man vs Wild is must see TV on a Monday night in my household now. Surprisingly, how i met your mother has grown on me and i’ve enjoyed new private practice. The Unit has been good to watch…..and gossip girl when they can be bothered showing it!
the only shows I am watching that haven’t already been mentioned are spellbinder on abc3 and crusoe on 9, don’t know that I’d really call them gems but they aren’t too bad.
Parks & Recreations – nice little new show. Otherwise, some repeats of Heartbreak High was also fun. Reno 911 on GO was something I caught when I remembered too!
I didnt watch Glee the first time around, but was getting into it this summer – before 10 pulled it … again…
Repeats of Being Human, The IT Crowd & Beautiful People on ABC1, that’s about it.
Weeds, Graham Norton, Ugly Betty, Futurama, Heartbreak High, Reno 911 (when I can find it) and Seinfeld. I also enjoyed Hestons Feast and I have been taping TMZ during the day.
Everything else is pretty Z-grade IMO and I am still in two minds re 7PM project.
I sincerely hope The Office and The Cleveland show disappear and never ever come back.
Glad to see alot of people like White Collar – have aslo enjoyed that. 30 Rock on Seven, many were missed last time round due to starting too early or too late or just forgetting it was on. Top Chef on Arena, also Burn Notice on Arena. Enjoyed older Amazing Race seasons on 7TWO and Arena. ER on GO – but only one week so far. Have even sampled Home and Away – the early years and the Leyland Brothers on 7TWO! Tried Survivor for first time on Nine. Blankety Blanks on the Comedy Channel Saturday nights – so much you could not get away with now!
Stargate Universe recorded off Sci Fi months ago (finally get time to watch some), Tangle Showcase also recorded and watched, Chuck FOX8 as well, and of course, my favourite every year – Retro Staurdays on Rage.
Other than that, our local DVD rental store gets triple their usual income from our place in January. Usually catch up on the previous years’ movies in January while nothing much is on TV.
Parks and Recreation was a stand-out for me. I don’t really check any US shows until they are announced as coming soon to FTA so I can see if it’s any good. And after seeing the pilot episode it made me add this show to my ever-growing list of favourite TV shows.
Also on the list: Fringe Season 2 on GO! and Ugly Betty [Even though I've watched this whole season and the season after already (and still continuing)] on 7TWO.
Sidenote – I gotta say that the 7PM Project is daily viewing for me – it is more entertaining and has improved. If Ten aren’t happy with its ratings at 7PM, they should keep the show to late-nights or once a week.
Bones repeats on 7. Still rating highly – anyone know if they’ll go back to Season 5 after the tennis?
Parks and Recreation – like the Office. The Office should be onsold to 7 and shown with this and 30 Rock.
Survivor – Can’t wait for Villians v Heroes (when is it coming to 9?) Saw an ad for it last night.
I had hoped White Collar would be my summer gem, as it seemed like it had a fun premise. But it hasn’t held my attention. I think it veers off track too often within an episode, sometimes changing direction from an off-the-cuff comment, and if I miss that I find I can’t keep up and lose interest.
For me it will be the reruns of Alf starting next monday on 7two. Other than that, I’ve found this summers line up pretty bland.
Mike, The Office is one of the silliest shows you’ve ever seen? You need to stay in more … and catch some truly bizarre shows, like Flight of the Conchords and The Mighty Boosh. The US version of The Office is one of the rare examples of the yanks taking an import and making it work.
I’ve been enjoying Graham Norton and, like Len, surprised by how funny The Middle can be.
Nine- CSI:NY – has become the better of the three CSI’s in my opinion. Wipeout is another fave as well as The Big Bang Theory.
GO!-Nightmares and dreamscapes, South Park
Seven- 30 Rock ,Parks and Recreation
Ten- The Cleveland Show, Glee, Futurama
ABC2-The Colbert Report, also will be watching Breaking Bad.
Well i have been watching a truck load of PayTV and so my favorites have been Gossip Girl and Top Chef while on FTA it was fantastic to see Private Practice and on 7TWO its been great watching Ugly Betty, Reaper and Stargate Atlantis.
I happened to watch lead balloon on ABC2 last night and it was hilarious. Its got me hooked i will be back next week. its a funny version of curb your enthusiasm.
for me – definitely fringe – im amazed c9 have rolled straight on through to the 2nd season. Good work people.
For once, i have something good to say about C9 and It feels good not to be 9 bashing – for this post at least.
Other than that – been watching the office (though it pains me to know it’ll probably get yanked off prime time soon). Watched man vs wild for the last 2 days and despite some of it seems a tiny but staged, it’s actually pretty good, mainly because it’s surprisingly educational with survival pointers.
I didnt know parks and recreation was on 7 – has it been on long? Have i missed much? Im assuming this is the show with Will arnetts wife (amy poehler, or something?).
Loving The Fixer on SBS, repeats of Party Animals on ABC2, Ugly Betty, The Unit & Reaper on 72, ER, Fringe, & New Amsterdam on 99! Was looking forward to SGU, Supernatural & now White Collar has finished I’m afraid Ten has lost me completely, only ONEHD gets a run for the male in the house.
Sunrise with out Kochie !
I’m hooked on Jack Osborne’s Adrenalin Junkie on ABC 2, I only wish they started with the previous season.
Very excited about the return of ‘Big Love’
Also addicted to Dante’s Cove (in spite of the atrocious acting) and The Graham Norton Show (The 50 cent episode was v funny).
Looking forward to The Inbetweeners on Go! and Benidorn (except 7 has ruined that one)
I’ve caught up with a few Ugly Betty episodes lately. Plus it’s hard to knock back a weeknightly fix of Seinfeld on GO, and I’d forgotten about Big Love until i was channel surfing last night so saw that too.
also enjoyed The 7PM Project, 30Rock and on my days off even the repeats of Sons and Daughters on 7TWO.
Also there can be a few gems on ABC iView for those that have access. They’ve recently put on the Barry Humphries Flashbacks series from 1999 and also re-run a doco from a few years ago about Indian call centres – Never forget the little Indian fellow learning to say in his best Australian accent “I’m as dry as a dead donkey’s dong”.
And for any fans of Catherine Tate be sure to check YouTube for Nan’s Christmas Carol that aired in the UK on Christmas night. It’s a cack.
Inside the Actors Studio on ABC 2
Iron Man cartoon on ABC 2
New Amsterdam on GO! (pity so few episodes were made)
The top three for me are White Collar which I am really enjoying (and hopefully Ten continues to fasttrack), Parks and Recreation (I nearly died of laughter at last weeks ep where they tried to find dirt on each other) and one which nobody has mentioned yet, New Amsterdam which was unfortunately cancelled after only eight episodes.
Living in the country in WA,my summer TV has been the following,
SBS-John Adams, Rex in Rome, Rock Wiz,
ABC-Lilies, Make em Laugh,Torchwood, Wild at Heart, The Bill, Beautiful People,
Graham Norton, Wah-Wah, HG Wells, 7 ages of Rock,Teenage Kicks,Elders, My Family
Win-Division 4
it seems a lot of people are pinning their hopes on 10 having a 3rd channel, well folks, I hope it lives up to the expectations. But, I wouldn’t be holding my breath. And I have loved hestons Feast and Survivor Samoa. Lets hope we get Heroes and Villians on 9 and not GO.
Been spending time either watching or recording The Office (agreed of how Ten has been disrespecting hope their 3rd channel will solve this), Gary Unmarried or some movies and Showcase’s mini Series. Good summer overall abit of catching up along with New Shows.
Lynda La Plante’s The Commander, Dante’s Cove, Survivor Samoa, Glee (especially the marathon), Stevie Jacobs on The Weekend Today, Cold Case repeats, The Middle, Nip/Tuck
RE: The Office: Ten treat it like crap because it is crap! It’s one of the silliest shows I’ve ever seen.
Graham Norton !
@Brandex: LOL!
Parks and Recreation on 7 deserves a mention as 1 or 2 others have said. Works well with It’s Alway sunny in Philly” on afterward for some good dumb guy laughs late on Monday or Tuesday night.
White Collar – absolutely love that show. Matt Bomer, yes please.
Nip/Tuck – i am loving seeing this back on even though i have no idea what season it’s up to and i missed all the episodes after the Carver finale.
Dante’s Cove – my guilty pleasure, it’s such a terrible show, but oh so hot. Survivor – never gets old
The Office – Ten treat it like crap, when it is the only decent thing they have at the moment.
Parks and Recreation – another great comedy, similar to The Office, but i love it. Deserves better timeslot.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia – I’ve really only started to watch it this summer, but i love it. Funny stuff.
My Family – Also very funny.
Many new shows were being aired during the summer season & I tried giving shows at least one viewing but I haven’t been hooked by many of the shows on offer I had high hopes for such as The Cleveland Show, Parks & Recreation & more. There were a few shows I had lost interest in such as Survivor, Elders & Futurama among others. Many shows did not appeal to me whatsoever such as Gary Unmarried, Whacked Out Sports, Seconds From Disaster, Secret Millionaire, No Leave No Life & more.
On the upside, there were some decent shows on ABC2, Go!, 7Two & even SBS2. I enjoyed Make ‘Em Laugh (I’m also hoping ABC will make a similar series about Australian comedy), Heston’s Feasts, Mysteries of The Brain series, Graham Norton among others. I also watched usual offerings such as Border Patrol, Motorway Patrol, Cricket, Tennis, Iron Chef & Mythbusters. Overall, it’s been an expected diminished summer period for TV but I think it has been better than previous summer seasons for television.
Burying Brian was a NZ dramedy which had a late night Monday time slot on 9. It was quirky but enjoyable and surprisingly quite engaging too for a genre I don’t normally watch. It had a good storyline and the only drawback was the “Previously on Burying Brian” voice over at the start of the show which sounded more like it should say “This is TVNZ News”. It’s too bad that 9 put it in a poor time slot over summer because it had the potential to do well for them, and I and others probably wouldn’t have discovered it if David hadn’t noted it.
Also, ABC2 is airing reruns of Season 2 Father Ted Fridays at 8pm, possibly due to the success of the Christmas special. At the same time on Mondays there is another British sitcom named Teenage Kicks.
ABC 2 ..we love you. Really. Taking The Flak was wonderfully satirical.. a must see. The new series of Ideal continues to amuse with it’s distinct stoned and surreal ways. Massive is fun with Ralph Little setting up a record label. Finally I have found the IT Crowd just gets funnier. Sweet summer gems all of them.
It’s finished now, but Heston’s Feasts on SBS was fantastic. Stumbled upon this whilst flicking channels and it was a fascinating look into dishes cooked during history and Heston taking his own approach to the recipes. Bizarre and intriguing show
The Middle. Caught my first episode of this show during the week and it was surprisingly funny. I thought it would just be a Malcolm clone. I’m not into Vampires much but the Vampire Diaries isn’t bad viewing.
I’ll be a little bit cheeky and say GO! and 7TWO as I have enjoyed watching ‘old’ shows on these new channels. Call me what name you want but I enjoy reliving old shows like Seinfeld, Hogan’s Heros, Mother and Son, Get Smart and The Flintsones! So much better than much of the new crop of shows!
I’ve just about given up watching local TV now. With the multitude of channels the picture quality is unacceptable for anyone with a big screen interested in quality.
So it’s mainly Blu-ray and “alternative sources” for me.
The summer gems for me have been The Circuit (SBS), My Place (ABC3), Satisfaction & Hung (Showcase), Ugly Betty & Not Going Out (7Two), Beautiful People & Chandon Pictures (ABC1). Also caught quite a few of The Graham Norton Show on UKTV and ABC2.
Also discovered a lifestyle show called “Peter Perfect” on The Style Network. I don’t usually watch these types of makeover shows but this one is quite funny and interesting. It features a flamboyant Brit stylist named Pater Ishkhans doing makeovers on American businesses and workers. It’s a bit like a Queer Eye for the Straight Small Business. They’ve only made two short series and it’s constantly repeated in different slots. One of the Free to Air Networks should grab this show. Ideal for Ten or 7-7Two.
White Collar.
Can’t wait for it to return next week on USA Network.
Definitely parks and recreation…that show is a gem!
I really enjoyed White Collar!
I have enjoyed Wild at Heart season 3 on ABC2,
and it was good to see Ch7 run Private Practice as a first run show. better than the movies now!
Plus Beautiful People was unusual and funny!
Inside the Actors studio is becoming my new Sunday night tradition on ABC2 – the one with Ricky Gervais on Sunday was Hilarious!! So glad Big Love is back too – am currently watching season 2 on dvd so I “timeshifted” last night’s episode to watch this weekend when i’ve finished season 2. ‘How I met your mother’ always grows on me during the summer – it’s only because it’s been on Monday nights, which in our household is Top Gear and then usually recording one of the other channels, which means I don’t get to watch it during the year (usually whatever reality is on ten gets the preference). 30 Rock too – it’s just too late for me to watch during the year, so I tend to catch up in Summer. Disappointments – I had high hopes for The Middle, now I’m hoping it gets axed so Neil Flynn can go back to Scrubs. And Parks and Recreation (I think that’s the name, the Amy Poelher show) was very disappointing – I had high hopes for it, but it is really just a poor man’s The Office.
Seven: Band of Brothers, The First 48
Nine: CSI Miami, CSI NY, The Commander, Cold Case
Ten: Californication, Outrageous Fortune
GO: Nip/Tuck, Dante’s Cove, Nightmares and Dreamscapes, Blackadder. Glad that ER is back too.
7TWO: Mother and Son. A funny alternative to the other shows on at 7pm.
ABC: Lilies.
ABC2: Torchwood
SBS: The Circuit, Big Love.
I don’t know if there has been one show for me over the summer. Yes FTA has seen a huge change with it’s new channels, PayTV not so much but still heaps to offer, 2010 will be interesting with TEN and others planning a 3rd channel I just hope they don’t chop and change their line-ups too quickly before letting a show find it’s audiance.
My summer gem was a great show called Supernatural, it’s on Mondays at 9:30…… oh hang on…. =@