The music documentary is certainly a dangerous project – it requires a high level of skill to balance the need to provide new and interesting information to established fans with the desire to also make the documentary accessible to those outside of the tribe of musical trainspotters. This task becomes much harder when the doco tries to take on the entirety of popular music. Long Way to the Top did a decent job with the Australian industry a few years ago. Seven Ages of Rock (ABC1, Thu, 8.30pm) has had some good moments but it backed itself into a corner by dividing music history into genres. In particular the punk episode, which spent most of the hour banging on about The Sex Pistols with small mentions of The Ramones, The Damned and Patti Smith thrown in. What about Iggy Pop or The New York Dolls or the two decades that followed? Punk music didn’t just die when John Lydon formed PIL. Similarly the metal ep had the same usual suspects – Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Judas Priest – and ended with Metallica’s Black Album, which a certain BMA columnist is bound to take issue with. Left of the Dial (alternative) airs Thu Feb 11 and What the World is Waiting For (British indie) Thu Feb 18. If your musical knowledge goes beyond Nirvana and Oasis, you may be disappointed. Just saying.
The new shows are coming from all angles without too many surprises, seeing as the network publicity machines have been plugging late January advertising gaps with lengthy promos. One which you may remember is The Good Wife (SCTEN, Sun Feb 7, 8:30pm), the Juliana Marguiles and Chris Noth drama about the life of a politician’s wife after a scandal (it’s the promo where Noth cops quite a healthy slap). Like Damages before it, it demands your attention just to work out what is going on but the emotion is raw and the struggle of the embarrassed wife getting a foothold in a legal career drags you in. Let’s face it, nobody would believe it if a wronged woman rose to be Secretary of State.
Other new shows to look out for include Ross Noble’s Australian Trip (SCTEN, Mon Feb 8, 10pm) – fashioned on the highly successful Billy Connolly tours, Royal Pains (Prime, Mon, 10.30pm) – which after the over the top backstory ends up with a doctor (Mark Feuerstein – Cliff from The West Wing) contracted to treat the royalty of The Hamptons, Doctor Who: The End of Time (ABC1, Sun Feb 14, 7.30pm) – the tenth Doctor’s final journey, Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyers Cut) (ABC1, Sun Feb 14, 8.35pm), Poh’s Kitchen (ABC1, Wed Feb 17, 6.30pm) – featuring the runner up from that cooking show, Sleuth 101 (ABC1, Fri Feb 12, 8pm) – auntie’s new whodunit with Cal Wilson, Let Freedom Sing: How music inspired the civil rights movement (ABC2, Sun Feb 7, 7.30pm), Durham County (ABC2, Tue Feb 9, 8.40pm) – a small town murder mystery, a post-millennial Twin Peaks.
Among the shows returning for new seasons this fortnight are NCIS (SCTEN, Tue Feb 9, 8.30pm), NCIS: Los Angeles (SCTEN, Tue Feb 9, 9.30pm), 24 (7TWO, Tue, 8.30pm), Heroes (7TWO, Thu, 9.30pm), 30 Rock (Prime, Mon, 11.30pm), Gangs of Oz (Prime, Wed Feb 3, 9.30pm), Family Guy (Prime, Thu Feb 4, 10.30pm), Collectors (ABC1, Sun Feb 7, 6.30pm).
tracyheffernan@bigpond.com
