Reality TV, ratings and re-makes

This week we delve more into reality television, go back to the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, and see what’s happening on the new frontier of web TV.

It’s now April and the television ratings season is in full swing. But with the many free-to-air offerings on our so far, maybe we’re still in the non-ratings season.

But who really cares about television ratings anyway? Channel Nine does — especially when they’re having their own ratings woes.

Debuted in a non-ratings period, Excess Baggage is a show that the Nine Network hoped would be a ratings smash, with its overweight celebrities teamed up with average Australians who have battles with the bulge. To put it simply, it was a bust. Only 95,000 people watched its recent finale.

But Nine does have several more chances after Easter to woo back the viewers with Celebrity Apprentice, The Block, Big Brother and The Voice. There must be high hopes for The Voice as it has had plenty of outdoor and on air advertising in the past month.

One show that’s not really on my high hopes, but many at Channel Ten would try and disagree, is a reality television show featuring people from Sydney’s Sutherland Shire. Just named The Shire, its focus would be similar to Jersey Shore and The Hills, but filmed in Cronulla. Production started last week, even with Sutherland Shire Council still up in arms over it.

With all this ‘dramality’ — faux reality with a hint of drama — which Australia has succumbed to, it looks as though it’s not dying down any time soon.

A reality show about Lara Bingle is also set to become a fixture on Ten’s programming schedule sometime this year. Being Lara Bingle could make Lara Bingle more famous than ever, but not as famous as a Broadway star.

Fremantle Media will produce a talent show with such a twist that you’ll get your ‘tits in a tangle’. It’s I Will Survive, the search for the next big queen of the desert. The show will offer those who can dance, sing and act the chance to join the cast of Priscilla, Queen of The Desert on Broadway.

A silver bus will retrace the long stilettoed steps of the 1994 film, with contestants performing along the way. When the final four reach Alice Springs, they’ll flutter off to New York City to audition for the role of Tick, made famous by Hugo Weaving in the film. I Will Survive will air on Chanel Ten later in the year, but auditions start in Brisbane on April 15. I guess there will be plenty of feather boas and stilettoes.

Speaking of stilettoes…

It’s all about WAGs (Wives and Girlfriends). WAG Nation (ARENA) is about the wives and girlfriends of sportsmen. It’s a fascinating insight as they live with the men who kick or throw a ball for a living. These WAGs are all beautiful and glamorous. I wonder if we’ll see the ‘warts and all’. But with its 9.30pm timeslot, hopefully we’ll get to see some candid shots with the hunky sportsmen as well.

At last, after 18 months away from the small screen, season five of Mad Men has begun screening in the US. It will be shown here next week. This show is high quality and very addictive. Now that Don Draper is married and very close to age 40, will he change his ways?

There are at least another two seasons of Mad Men on the cards aside from this one. I wonder if the characters’ stories will go into the ’70s. If so, there would be plenty of hair for the male characters and the fashion for the women would be more flower power than conservative, similar to the later episodes of Bewitched.

Speaking of Bewitched, the ‘60s sitcom that has been in re-runs since it ended in 1972, is set for a remake. American network CBS is working on a pilot script as we speak. If the show comes back to our screens, who would you like to see play Samantha?

Another show to be rebooted with a supposedly modern-day twist is The Munsters. With Desperate Housewives finishing in May, Wisteria Lane could be turned back into Mockingbird Lane.

Also what is coming back onto the small screen is Dallas. It will feature some past cast members of Desperate Housewives (Josh Henderson, Jesse Metcalfe and Brenda Strong) and some of the cast members from the original series (Larry Hagman and Linda Gray).

With all this rebooting, it looks as though Hollywood has run out of ideas.

In Oz, we haven’t really run out of ideas, but look to ’80s films as inspiration to create a new series with the same stories. Puberty Blues, the ’80s film based on the book by Kathy Lette, is to become an eight-part series. It will be set in 1970s (like the film) and feature a coming-of-age story with some shock value. Filming begins in the Sutherland Shire and will feature Claudia Karvan, Susie Porter and Jeremy Lindsay Taylor. In an interview, Karvan commented that it will not be sugar-coated. All those who remember the movie are probably looking forward to the remake. I know I am.

What I’m also looking forward to is the second season of Revenge. Even though the first season has not yet finished, as it is in mid-season hiatus in the US, it has been renewed.

Also renewed for a second season is the singular sensation which is Smash. Both shows are still engaging.

One show that is truly engaging is Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA). DTLA is a web TV show. It’s about a group of friends who live in downtown LA. They deal with the break-up of some close gay friends, which changes their lives forever.

The show is between The L Word and Queer as Folk. Someone should do an Australian version — maybe Downtown Darlinghurst (DTD)?

DTLA is to air on America’s OutTV this month. Australian viewers can watch it on YouTube.

Next weekend is the 100th anniversary of the Titanic sinking. There will be a plethora of documentaries, re-enactments, films and a new mini-series from the creator of Downton Abbey to watch
on Channel Seven (which has continued its clean sweep of the 2012 ratings season thus far). More on that next week…

INFO:

Mad Men, Season Five, Thursdays from April 12, 8.30pm MOVIE EXTRA (Foxtel)

WAG Nation, Wednesdays from April 18, 9.30pm ARENA (Foxtel)

DTLA, http://www.youtube.com/user/DTLAtheSeries

By TIMOTHY CONNELL