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Axed: Reality Check

Host Tom Ballard confirms, "Unfortunately we won’t be back this year."

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2014 panel show Reality Check is not being renewed by ABC.

Last week host Tom Ballard posted the news online, confirming, “Unfortunately we won’t be back this year. It’s a real bummer but I can hardly complain about getting to host my own show that I’m very proud of for an entire season. Thank you so much to every single one of you out there who tuned in every week and let us know how much you enjoyed it, whether you were a reality tragic and loved finding out about all the inner workings of the genre or if you despised it all and enjoyed us taking the piss.”

The show, produced by CJZ, dissected Reality Television with industry experts, in a similar vein to Gruen‘s approach to advertising. But there were mixed results and middling ratings, with debate about whether the show was suited to an ABC audience.

ABC Head of Programming Brendan Dahill recently told TV Tonight, “There are some things on Wednesday night that did work in 2014 that we want to continue and there are other bits that we need to improve.”

12 Responses

  1. Was it axed because it didn’t rate well on Wednesday night, or not highly enough overall. It’s a shame because it was a great show and Tom Ballard a great presenter.
    The ABC should have moved it to another night. Instead they axe it so they can add another lame duck to their precious Wednesday night line up, which has been dying a slow death for years now anyway.

  2. While I don’t watch reality shows, I did enjoy watching this as a summary to what was going on these shows and some of the tricks of the trade used to make these shows. The show was used as a Gruen replacement for last year. Shame that it is gone cause it was missed the week after it left our screens last year when The Bachelor finale occurred and 1 or 2 other things.

  3. Ballard did a pretty good job but they didn’t have the material or guests to make it work.

    If you aren’t currently watching one of these contest shows, invested the characters and participating in social media and watercooler conversations about them, they are of no interest at all. So the idea that people would be interested in what happened in shows overseas that you can’t ever see was stupid.

    1. Would have worked better broadening from one genre to all of TV’s genres. Should have come back as TV Check (or another title). There is a lot worth talking about and deconstructing for a smart audience, as Gruen has done for advertising. Also the Todd / Russel tugs of war are crucial to Gruen, this barely included any.

    2. Completely disagree.

      I don’t watch any of the shows under discussion but really enjoyed this. The true/fake segment became a little tiresome basically recycling the same thing week after week but otherwise the panel discussions were quite illuminating.

  4. This was a good show that had some genuinely very good moments. The problem was a lack of consistency – but given enough time I’m sure that would’ve come. Bummed about this news.

  5. This is a shame, as it was a good show, and I don’t even watch Australian reality tv. I was hoping for a return with a few minor tweaks, losing Tom’s forced jokes, and including some non reality shows. Maybe the show was not strong enough for Wednesday, but there must be a 30 min slot on another night, or even ABC2.

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