Tag Archive for 'austar'

SMASH Season 1

W have been advertising this show for ages, and despite the fact that to start with the ads were so vague that I had next to no idea what the show was even about, I did now that Debra Messing was a character, so I had to at least give it a crack.

They’ve shown about 4 episodes now, and I’m in love with it. But I’ll be totally honest, it’s definitely not for everyone. To watch SMASH you’re going to have to put up with a lot of showtunes. A lot.

The story follows the creation of a new Broadway musical based on the life of Marilyn Munroe. It follows the writers, directors, producers and actors and their relationships with each other. The Producer is left with next to no money during a messy divorce from her husband, which is the shows explanation for why everything happens so fast (she wants it to start making money as fast as she can so she can get her cut).

SMASH is basically the grown up version of glee, but they usually limit themselves to 3 songs per episode, and one of them is always an original song (the other two being covers). Following glee’s formula, all their songs are released on iTunes each week. And, I’ll admit, I did actually pay for some of them. The songs are actually really good, even the originals, I would actually pay to see the Marilyn musical if it was a real thing, because I think it would be the greatest musical ever.

So, as you would expect from a musical series, there is a lot of breaking out into song, but they have done a pretty good job so far of keeping it somewhat realistic.

If the show has a flaw (and it has many) it’s that it can get very lame. The other night one of the characters was in some speech about how he wanted to support his family that was so soppy and went on for so long that I had to fast forward it because it was literally that long. I don’t think I even took anything away from the episode from doing it, either.

Look, you’re either going to think this show is okay, or really hate it. So if you can stomach musical series, then give it a go.

SMASH airs Monday Nights on W (Austar/Foxtel)
Subscription SD Channel 115, High Definition Channel 215, or two hours later on +2 Channel 155,
(*times will depend on your timezone, check the guide for yours)

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first look: Rove LA

Rove LA: 8:30 Mondays on FOX8

He’s back. Rove McManus has a brand new talk show, but he’s moved to pay tv and it’s now set in those United States.

I thought the show was surprisingly good, but I think it mostly owes to the fact that being located in Los Angeles means that the quality of guests is dramatically improved. The premiere episode featured Lisa Kudrow (Friends), Kathy Griffin (My Life on the D-List) and Jerry Ferrara (Entourage) – any of which could be considered a major guest for a talk show based in Australia.

The format is stripped back significantly from it’s predecessors, Rove Live and rove. with focus more on conversation with the three guests (who all appear from start to finish, rather than one at a time, or gathering one by one). I think I’ve mentioned in the past that I liked the idea, I mean it certainly works for Craig Ferguson’s Late Late Show, but here I don’t think it pans out quite as well.

It felt a little bit empty, due to the fact that it was just Rove all on his own, without any of the sidekicks like Pete or the other billion people they had gathered by the end of it’s run on ten. They’ve tried to add gimmicks into the interviews (Random Question Hat, the 3 Leading Questions or Getting to Know You) but they all sort of fell a bit flat for me, and seemed so out of place with the lack of other ‘segments’.

Of course, most importantly: The theme music is amazing, the onscreen graphics are quite nice, and the set is probably up there with some of the nicest tv sets I’ve seen – which has guaranteed it’s place on my weekly viewing schedule.

I’m really hoping the show takes off, because I can see it being as great as his previous series have been, despite now being on cable, but it will need time to grow a bit. Ultimately I’d like to see other presenters added to the ‘Rove Team’, they wouldn’t have to be any of his old team, they don’t necessarily have to be anyone we’ve seen much of before, but adding in a few extra small segments (a la Ryan Shelton’s Investigationating) could really help the atmosphere of the program. That’s just my opinion anyway.

Rove LA airs Monday nights at 8:30pm* on FOX8: Subscription channel 108, +2 timeshift channel 150, or HD channel 208 (where available). *Daylight Savings time when applicable, check your local listing or EPG.

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SLiDE Advert

I’ve totally been neglecting invalid channel for far too long, so here is a present: The 1:30 advert for SLiDE, which starts in August on F0x8, and is set in Brisbane – which is exciting for me since I live in that particular city for most of the year.

I’ve been recording the ad breaks on F0x8 all afternoon trying to grab a capture of this ad.

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wtf!? (AusNTM)


seriously? how is this chick a model. It’s like they didn’t even bother trying to make her bit nice.

also, i want to know at what point in the competition they record the opening titles and get their promo photos, like… for the website and stuff, because… yeah.. i dunno. it has to be in the first 2 weeks cause the next episode they get their makeovers, but like… they never show it, like… they could totally make that be one of their challenges. some of them are sooo pretty in there and then some (ie: Claire) are so unbelievably ugly i actually cannot believe it. Like.. ugh… that should be one of their tasks and like.. they should be judged on it.

hahah now i’m just annoyed.

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Australia’s Next Top Model + a rant about austar

So, I’m liking Next Top Model, I know it started last week, but I made the decision to wait a week before I posted, since the “chat on” feature was to start this week. Anyway, as it turns out, Austar subscribers don’t get that (yeah.. :| what a surprise) So now I’m pissed. And the post that was meant to be about my opinion on the show is now going to be a rant, have fun:

Click to reveal off-topic rant about Austar Subscribers not getting the same cool stuff Foxtel Subscribers do.

Anyway, back on track, I’m liking Next Top Model, I never had any little bit of like for the American version, but the Australian one is amazing. I love it. There was about 100 hilarious quotes from it, and although it has it’s “this is a serious competition” moments, it also has a whole heap of “yay lighthearted fun” as well, which makes it actually fun to watch.

Also, I read in the Sunday Mail tv guide this week that apparently the contestants are not being bitches like is usually the case and that the show is not about the bitching anymore, and I’m liking it, so…. yeah, good times.

Pretty sure I’m going to religiously watch this for the however many weeks it has left, I’m absolutely lovin it.

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