DISQUS

Thanks Brett, I'll give it a shot. And, yes, the ABC site does restrict viewing in that way. Was the same with Hollowmen too although a couple of those episodes could be viewed only for 24 hours after they'd gone to air.

Now, has anyone seen the new South Park episode following the presidential election? Hilarious!

Ah MordWa, the Prince Pat - that takes me back!

Now, a most vital matter. What is Brett's special fancy and how does it work? It's a most urgent inquiry to do with a certain four-part series starting on ABC1 on Monday night. Some of us will simply convulse if we can't see it from our distant locales.

Plus, I can think of much better ways to use THIRTY-FIVE CAMERAS!

On to other more important matters. Much has been made of the spooky psychic abilities of The West Wing's writers in its last two seasons. Earlier this year they admitted they'd based Matt Santos on Barack Obama after the latter's 2004 covention speech.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/21/bar...

Now, it gets even better! Obama has just announced his White House chief of staff will be Rahm Emanuel. Emanuel is a massively connected Democratic insider and congressman who was a senior political adviser in the Clinton White House.

AND... Emanuel was the inspiration for the character of Josh Lyman on The West Wing!

Josh Lyman is Obama's chief of staff!

Stick that in your Golden Age of Television and smoke it!

Ah, election night. Magnificent fun. Watching the Fox News Channel guys try desperately to find any sign contrary to the inevitable oncoming train.

Watching the "Best political team on television" go through their paces, somehow seeming a bit more edgy just because the head guy's name is Wolf.

But this little bit of gimmicky nonsense is just a bridge too far. Beam me up:

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=thOxW19vsTg&s...

Probably for the best. Tough to follow last week's show anyway ;-)

By the way, if you're not seeing the Olympic event you want to see there's an easy solution...

multi-channeling!

Oh, hang on. It's Australia.

BBC rocks - just press red.

Well that's filled in a gap in a report I received about the opening ceremony broadcast in Australia - it must have been Sonia Kruger (down, Josh) who announced the entry into the stadium of the team from Czechoslovakia.

Long way from a paso doble.

The Dart Center is the organisation dealing with trauma in the news media.

http://www.dartcenter.org/

The site has links to the Australasian arm. Brett McLeod has produced a DVD documentary about news trauma which is now available through the site.

Mike, you're so wrong. It's about a network's prestige. And Oakes's interview alone makes it worthwhile. Even if the only people watching are in the Canberra press gallery it can resonate across the whole week.

And another Australian hybrid remake of a foreign show - don't forget Ladette to Lady. Taking eight Aussie girls to the same finishing school in northern England to be dealt with by the same posh etiquette teachers.

Trained monkeys??

Feels odd not getting the weekly fix!

Have a good rest, and we look forward to your return.






*slack bastards*

I loved Lawrence too. Very insightful and amusing. Though one of his gags was definitely pretty tired! And I pretty much thought he sounded a lot like... Shane Bourne!

Josh, if I recall you were talking a couple of weeks ago about Back To You, the new Kelsey Grammer vehicle set in an affiliate newsroom. And I think you shitcanned it.

Caught the first episode last night and yeah it's pretty standard "My Life In Four Cameras" fodder but I still got a more than hearty laugh out of it. Maybe a couple of the characters were a little too close to home!

Brett is right. Often times it's just an easy cutaway to hide an edit.

For example, say an interviewee gives a good answer across 30 seconds which can be concisely cut down to ten seconds for a story running 1.30. A jump cut is unacceptable so a cutaway is required to cover the join and it's in the cameraman's playbook to get shots of each other to cover this. I don't know how it developed.

A show like Four Corners might resolve the same problem by doing an extremey quick disolve. Sports Tonight for example (unless they've changed their style while I've been out of the country) will cut between the two segments with a quick flash edit of white.

And, Wilbur...

The British generals at Fromelles were Monro and Haking.

The Australian commanding the 5th Division was General McCay. Sadly, the Germans - on the morning after the initial charge - offered a ceasefire to collect the dead and wounded. A desperate private agreed but McCay - the cunt - said no. Had he agreed, the missing men of Fromelles would've been collected and buried then and there instead of 92 years later.

Just another one of the disgracs of the Fromells campaign. If anyone wants to knwo more in detail, turn to Patrick Lindsay's book Fromelles.

Have spoken, through an intermediary, to Coxy from the Roxy. He has confirmed the Punt Road yarn in hilarious fashion! I asked him whether he ever found out the identity of his armed passenger and he replied, "No mate, we didn't want to know. We let him out at St Kilda and he went on his way." Gold!

Christ Bill, such passion!

Don't give up on Boxcutters just yet. I promise this week's episode will be thoroughly moron-free.

Though I'm certain last week's was too.

I haven't yet listened to the show but very much looking forward to it. Jim Schembri was one of my journo idols in high school - as an aspiring journo. I even interviewed him for a Year 11 assignment though I'm sure he wouldn't remember it! One of the gentlemen of the game, was very generous with his time, and a great writer to this day. Yay for us this week!

By this is a bit late but This American Life last week was about the things we've learned from television. Funny, poignant, insightful... all the things TAL always is. Still available for download at www.thisamericanlife.org

So very true, Lyndal, so very true.

Nelly, it's Noel. Episode 10 of series 4. The christmas episodes of the Wing are particularly noteworthy. I serve at the pleasure of the president, Josh. Screw you.

I've heard some scary shit from Brett in my time but, "She'd smell like mints", about Kerrianne, takes the cake.

And that other shit is like asking Kevin Rudd to do the election report the night before the election. Rubbish.

Money blowing around a clear perspex box. For some reason one of this show's many utings was in an early morning slot. I don't know how it was deemed to be a kids' show but there you go. Good God, I even remember the theme music. And I've discovered it was a Dave Clark Five song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKBVY28fImM&...

Don't say I don't give ya nuthin.

Besides (sorry to double up) it would be extremely hard to justify introducing a licence for something which is rapidly becoming obsolete.

Have to agree with Brett (there's a first for everything.) The licence fee means it's unlikely the government can arbitrarily slash funding - but it can certainly stop funding increases whenever the licence fee is re-negotiated. And it definite;y doesn't stop the same old allegations of bias. Sometimes it's funny how similar are the criticisms of the BBC and the ABC.

And while often it's the conservative side of politics which criticises public broadcasters it's certainly not always. Ask Greg Dyke.