The biggest controversy of the Winter Olympics isn’t the Russians’ indigenous ice dance, whether flamboyant ice dancer Johnny Weir can make the sign of the cross correctly or even US snowboarder Scott Lago being sent home because of that pic. The biggest question is – why didn’t someone offer Roy and HG a big wad of cash to resurrect The Ice Dream? Chez Blackbox is Winter Olympics-friendly – especially the X-Games sports, backroom bitching at the ice rink and the curling – but even with that magnificent lineup, Vancouver Gold (WIN, daily, 9.30pm) is wearing pretty thin. Mick Molloy is a great comedy writer and even actor in the right circumstance but he ain’t no commentator. And Eddie? For God’s sake, stick to the Footy Show (WIN, TBA) where homophobic pranks, juvenile jokes and chauvinistic jibes seem to be the backbone of the show and Millionaire, where the contestants (including the armchair ones) will put up with anything for the chance of winning a million.
As the Winter Olympics heads towards the closing ceremony, WIN’s 2010 lineup is (finally) taking shape. As we go to press there’s still no start date for the third season of Underbelly but one has been set for the remake of V (WIN, Sun Mar 7, 8.30pm). Sure the technology has improved – the rat swallowing is bound to look more believable this time around – but the whole thing has a seen-it-before feel to the production; a sci-fi version of Robin ...
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The biggest controversy of the Winter Olympics isn’t the Russians’ indigenous ice dance, whether flamboyant ice dancer Johnny Weir can make the sign of the cross correctly or even US snowboarder Scott Lago being sent home because of that pic. The biggest question is – why didn’t someone offer Roy and HG a big wad of cash to resurrect The Ice Dream? Chez Blackbox is Winter Olympics-friendly – especially the X-Games sports, backroom bitching at the ice rink and the curling – but even with that magnificent lineup, Vancouver Gold (WIN, daily, 9.30pm) is wearing pretty thin. Mick Molloy is a great comedy writer and even actor in the right circumstance but he ain’t no commentator. And Eddie? For God’s sake, stick to the Footy Show (WIN, TBA) where homophobic pranks, juvenile jokes and chauvinistic jibes seem to be the backbone of the show and Millionaire, where the contestants (including the armchair ones) will put up with anything for the chance of winning a million.
As the Winter Olympics heads towards the closing ceremony, WIN’s 2010 lineup is (finally) taking shape. As we go to press there’s still no start date for the third season of Underbelly but one has been set for the remake of V (WIN, Sun Mar 7, 8.30pm). Sure the technology has improved – the rat swallowing is bound to look more believable this time around – but the whole thing has a seen-it-before feel to the production; a sci-fi version of Robin Hood re-imagining with pretty young things and a monochromatic backdrop. Sure the ‘80s mini-series was cheesy and there was no CGI but that’s what made it so good – Blackbox recommends searching it out. If you’re a fan of old Star Trek, you’ll love it.
Kyle Sandilands will join Danii Minogue and Brian McFadden as hosts of the upcoming season of Australia’s Got Talent (Prime, TBA). That’s at least two good reasons not to watch.
Kings (7TWO, Wed, 10:30pm) is the latest offering from Heroes creator Michael Green. The plot is a modern day imagining of the bible’s Book of David, set in the fictitious kingdom of Gilboa, that looks a lot like NYC. It’s no doubt the bible is a great plot resource and Ian McShane of Deadwood fame certainly makes for a great king. The fact that Prime has relegated it to 7TWO is probably the best indication that it’s a sophisticated, not to be missed drama.
Docos to check out include Rendezvous with Death: Kennedy and Castro (SBS2, Thu Mar 4, 7:30pm) which hypothesises that Lee Harvey Oswald was a gun for hire, Contact (ABC2, Thu Mar 4, 9.25pm) which looks at the first contact between a remote Australian indigenous mob and ‘whitefellas’ in 1964, Underdog (ABC2, Wed Mar 10, 8.30pm) which follows a Jamaican dog sledder (yes dog sled, not bobsleigh) and Natascha Kampusch: 3096 Days in Captivity (SBS1, Sun Mar 7, 9.30pm) where the former pre-Fritzl captive tells her story.
The folks who give away money at the ABC have announced a further $400,000 funding will be made available for young documentary makers under round five of the triple j TV docs initiative. You can apply for funding until Monday April 5 at www.screenaustralia.gov.au/jtvdocs.
A new series of Wilfred (SBS1, Mon Mar 8, 10pm) starts this week.
And yes, that was English star Dominic West, who plays McNulty in The Wire (ABC2, Tue, 9.30pm), putting on a half-decent Australian accent in Breaking the Mould: The Story of Penicillin last Sunday night.
TRACY HEFFERNAN
tracyheffernan@bigpond.com
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