A week for TV disasters

This week it’s all about Titanic, the Logie Awards and Australia’s Next Top Model.

It is 100 years since the Titanic sank, but it still holds great interest and fascination. It’s a legend that has never really left the minds of the public. There have been movies, a mini-series or two, a musical, countless documentaries and exhibitions devoted to the ship. It has been a backdrop of both romance and mystery.

In remembrance of the disaster, Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes has written a four-episode mini-series about the ship they said was unsinkable.

Titanic: The Mini-series tells the whole story of what really happened on that fateful night in 1912. It focuses on everyone, from steerage, second-class and first-class passengers to the servants and the officers. It’s very Downton Abbey, with added ice and water — and plenty of it. When it aired in the UK in March, the mini-series was known as Drownton Abbey.

On the History, Discovery and National Geographic Channels there are many hours of viewing dedicated to the great ship. If you want a forensic analysis of the disaster, then Seconds from Disaster: Titanic (National Geographic) is your best bet. There is also the world premiere of Titanic Mystery Solved (History Channel), the premiere of Titanic: The Aftermath (Discovery), The Titanic Inquiry (History), and Ballard’s Return to Titanic (National Geographic).

Dr Robert Ballard found the Titanic’s watery grave in 1985. There was a movie made in 1958, which was the most accurate of all the films made prior to 1985. I’m sure James Cameron got some ideas for his own 1997 film about the ill-fated ship. A Night to Remember (Fox Classic) is a film you can’t forget to watch. The special effects are excellent for its time.

If this amount of Titanic isn’t enough, there is always the 3D version of the 1997 film at IMAX or at least a cinema near you.

From one disaster to another — the TV Week Logie Awards. This Sunday is the night of nights for Australia’s TV land. It’s all about who is wearing what, and which international celebrity will grace us with their presence. It’s usually entertaining, but as it’s still run by TV Week.

The winners have been voted by the public, not by the industry, unless it’s the awards for the Most Outstanding, which some of the cast of The Slap are high contenders for.

There is some excitement over the other nominations. Underbelly Razor has seven nominations. Packed to the Rafters is up for five awards and Home and Away for seven. Mini-series Paper Giants is up for five awards.

Whatever happens on the night, let’s hope Karl Stefanovic isn’t drunk the next morning on Today, and comedian Wil Anderson does use Twitter. It will make the four hours of the telecast more enjoyable.

What is enjoyable and often degrading is Australia’s Next Top Model (ANTM). It mixes fashion with bitchy girls who don’t eat, which is why they’re bitchy — low blood sugar. Anyway, Foxtel has given Australia’s Next Top Model a gap year. This year was supposed to be its eighth season.

What are teenage girls and plenty of gay men going to do without the show now? We still have Project Runway, New Zealand’s Next Top Model and where it all started — America’s Next Top Model.

But our own version is having a break as no host can be found since Sarah Murdoch decided to depart from the helm last year. But it’s not all to do with an absent host, but to do with money.

Foxtel is acquiring Austar, so its budget may not allow for ANTM to be part of the schedule for 2012. Whatever the case, it will be missed by many, I’m sure.

Starting this week is the excessively advertised The Voice over at Channel Nine and Mad Men on Movie Extra (Foxtel/Austar). There will be more on that next week.

Next week we will also talk about Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, a high camp high-styled drama that has you wanting more every week.

INFO:

Seconds from Disaster – National Geographic, Tuesday, April 11, 7.30pm

Titanic: The Mini-Series (Eps. 1 & 2) – Channel Seven, Sunday, April 15, 9pm

A Night to Remember (1958) – Fox Classics (Foxtel), Saturday, April 14, 9.15pm

Titanic Mystery Solved – History Channel (Foxtel), Sunday, April 15, 6.30pm

Titanic: The Aftermath – Discovery Channel (Foxtel), Sunday, April 15, 7.30pm

Ballard’s Return to Titanic – National Geographic (Foxtel), Friday, April 13, 7.30pm

Titanic: Case Closed – National Geographic (Foxtel), Wednesday, April 11, 7.30pm

Titanic (1953) – Fox Classics (Foxtel), Saturday, April 14, 7.30pm

54th Annual TV Week Logie Awards – Channel Nine, Sunday, April 15, 7.30pm

The Voice – Channel Nine, Sunday, April 15, 6.30pm

Mad Men – Movie Extra, Thursday, April 12, 8.30pm

By TIMOTHY CONNELL