Boxcutters - An Australian TV Podcast - Latest Comments

Re: Ep 231: Danny Blay, 30 Rock Characters

Sophie — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 23:01:05 -0000

Thanks all! I'll keep at it, hopefully it picks up soon. :) Double thanks to David for pointing out the reasons behind the 'psychic' commenting system.

Re: Ep 232: 7pm Project, Al Swearengen

sc — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 21:25:54 -0000

Not sure if its been mentioned.... Boxcutters named in todays Green Guide. "Trawling for the best pod stars" http://tinyurl.com/2f5ygtu

Re: Ep 232: 7pm Project, Al Swearengen

MordWa — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 07:34:45 -0000

Speaking of 'Sid' - how did I ever forget Sid James from "Bless this House" - Aaargh; damn you boxcutters, 10 names just aren't enough...

Re: Ep 232: 7pm Project, Al Swearengen

Nelly Thomas — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 04:43:58 -0000

Yes, I know what you mean but we have allowed Boxcutters to define the parameters themselves as long as it was a fictional character who appeared as part of a TV series. It won't have any effect on the Top Ten anyway as Anne only has one champion in Sid, but I really did love her! Thanks, Nelly

Re: Ep 232: 7pm Project, Al Swearengen

Katie Purvis — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 03:40:44 -0000

Re your mention of Anne Shirley, Nelly - yes, a great character, but she's a literary character for me, not a TV character. Ditto for, say, Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice - another great TV character as played by Jennifer Ehle in the famous BBC production, but originally a literary one. I chose my list based on characters CREATED FOR TV only. I think that distinction should be made.

Re: Ep 232: 7pm Project, Al Swearengen

Nelly Thomas — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 02:53:09 -0000

I know I shouldn't play favourites, and so many of you have put in an incredible amount of effort with this, but I have to mention a recent BC Top Ten list that I just adore. It's from Sid and includes:

- Anne Shirley (from the Anne of Green Gables TV adaptations) and,
- Brooke from The Bold and the Beautiful

Brooke from Bolds is one of the greatest soap characters of all time (second only to Sally Spectra). And Anne of Green Gables! How wonderful to be reminded of her. She was a feisty female lead when it was very rare.

Thanks Sid, you put a smile on my face with those.

(And yes, I sought Sid's permission before I published this).

Top Ten coming soon...

Nelly

Re: Ep 231: Danny Blay, 30 Rock Characters

actualchad — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 23:43:52 -0000

Danny Blay was surprisingly interesting. Pity he kept getting cut off by everybody else, or questions to him were answered by other people.

Re: Ep 232: 7pm Project, Al Swearengen

actualchad — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 23:39:45 -0000

With the deadline fast approaching, here is A list, probably not THE list, but SOME list.

1 The Doctor (Doctor Who)
2 Sue Sylvester (Glee)
3 Roy Mallard (People Like Us)
4 Giles (Buffy)
5 Brian (Queer As Folk US)
6 Dale Cooper (Twin Peaks)
7 Sheldon (Big Bang Theory)
8 Abby (NCIS)
9 Chandler Bing (Friends)
10 Michael Bluth (Arrested Development)

Re: Ep 232: 7pm Project, Al Swearengen

Lyndal Boxcutter — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:14:59 -0000

Follow up question for Rob Brearley. You mentioned the "three hosts" a couple of times, what happened to the other two? The show launched as a panel of five hosts - how and when was the decision made to disappear Ruby Rose and James Mathison?

Re: Ep 232: 7pm Project, Al Swearengen

Adam — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 05:10:07 -0000

Sorry but that's crap about Bolt and Price being on The 7 PM Project to provide a range of views. Bolt is famously a nutbar but Price is off the radar: in the week that Gillard overthrew Rudd he labelled her 'anti-marriage' and 'anti-children.' There is no excuse for giving air time to a revolting creep like that.

Monday Night Negus is the closest thing 7 PM has to a 'leftie,' and he's not even that. At best he's a moderate. If Rob genuinely wanted to provide a range of views (and not just drum up cheap sensationalism to inflate ratings) there'd be some actual counterpoint to Monday Night Negus. You'd have to go to David Marr or Robert Manne or Catherine Deveny to correctly balance the Bolt/Price nutbar collective, and to be honest they're not even far enough to the left. Maybe dig up the corpse of Kim il-Sung.

The alternative to that is to balance Monday Night Negus with someone like Malcolm Farr or Neil Mitchell -- journalists who represent the right but are not offensive lunatics.

Re: Ep 232: 7pm Project, Al Swearengen

Rove Online .com — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 01:26:56 -0000

Nice, I'm downloading this

Re: Ep 232: 7pm Project, Al Swearengen

Alex Boxcutter — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 21:50:20 -0000

Watch Hulu without Brett's special fancy.
I haven't tried it but it looks plausible.

http://lifehacker.com/55835...

Re: Ep 231: Danny Blay, 30 Rock Characters

Adam — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 23:05:10 -0000

It's tricky to get into. I think the trick is simply to persevere. Much of the humour comes from really getting to know the characters (e.g. 'ROBOT PENIS' wouldn't be the crying-with-laughter moment it is if you didn't fully understand Liz Lemon's personality).

As David Boxcutter said, the first half of the first series is a bit of a chore. Series 3 dips toward the end (Salma Hayek's subplot is rubbish), and it doesn't really get back on its feet until about halfway through series 4.

Re: Ep 231: Danny Blay, 30 Rock Characters

Adam — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 22:57:17 -0000

To MordWa's comment about GNW's parlour games: GNW runs them at a cracking pace and with biting satire. Hey Hey just lines up the celebs and gives everyone about 30 seconds to have their turn. It's painfully slow and empty.

I think the crucial difference is that GNW uses talented improvisers in its games. Hey Hey puts one person with genuine riffing ability (e.g. Akmal) next to that mystifying Suze Raymond woman and some network random. The result of that is a very slow segment, a very bored viewership and Akmal looking as lost as Daryl at a computer swap meet.

Re: Ep 231: Danny Blay, 30 Rock Characters

Nelly Thomas — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 22:23:57 -0000

Hi Sophie, I found 30 Rock a slow burn but persisted (because I admire Tina Fey so much) and now, as you've heard, I am a huge fan. Once I adjusted to the short episodes and got to love the characters, I was hooked. Having said that, maybe it's just not your thing - I'm sure your sense of humour is fine. Nelly

Re: Ep 231: Danny Blay, 30 Rock Characters

David Boxcutter — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 19:59:24 -0000

I don't know how long you've been listening to Boxcutters, but when 30 Rock first came out, the reaction from the Boxcutters was somewhere in-between "meh" and "Why are people watching this?" Now the show is getting tributes from them.

But then again, the Boxcutters' reaction to Studio 60 was "This is a great show! Aaron Sorkin FTW!" Today, their opinion on Studio 60 is "That show is crap, and why did you steal 13 hours of my life!"

Personally, I think 30 Rock hits its stride towards the end of the first season, and into the second season. It's the characters that make it great. But then again, I thought 30 Rock was quite amusing from the beginning, and I never saw the appeal of Studio 60.

The real name thing has caught me out. If you have your real name at the beginning of your email address, the comment system "helpfully" fills out the name field based on your email address. It's a terrible feature, especially as the text is light grey and difficult to notice, and even if you already entered something in the name field, if you later input to the email field, it writes over what you already entered in the name field.

Re: Ep 231: Danny Blay, 30 Rock Characters

murrayNE — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 09:46:08 -0000

Were you logged in to Facebook when commenting? I've almost been caught out by that (and have been caught out by being logged into one Wordpress blog while intending to comment anonymously on another).

Re: Ep 231: Danny Blay, 30 Rock Characters

MordWa — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 08:26:50 -0000

BTW - whilst no one plays parlour games in this day and age; it sure doesn't seem to do Good News Week any harm-!

Re: Sad

Grief Crystal — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 03:31:09 -0000

A man who will be remembered by many as years passed by he is still in our hearts

Re: Ep 231: Danny Blay, 30 Rock Characters

Leechboy — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 20:06:13 -0000

The king of this is Wings. Nine seasons, NINE SEASONS, and I never met anyone who was a regular viewer.

Re: Ep 231: Danny Blay, 30 Rock Characters

Sophie Geffrois — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 18:40:12 -0000

Ah! Your new comments system knows my last name! I am scared...

Re: Ep 231: Danny Blay, 30 Rock Characters

Sophie Geffrois — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 18:39:00 -0000

I've never understood the fuss about 30 Rock. After hearing, repeatedly, from just about everbody (including Boxcutters) that it was the best thing EVER EVER, I tuned in this winter and was disappointed. To me, it seemed to be too self-consciously wacky, and not particularly funny, like it was taking decent punchlines from a sketch and then spreading them out over a 30 minute television program.
It felt like watching an episode of reasonably good SNL sketches: nothing hilarious that caused me to laugh out loud, a few 'that's funny' moments followed by 'this is going on too long. Oh, Jesus Mary and Joseph, someone get them an editor!'
Did I miss the good 30 Rock, or do I just have no sense of humour?

Re: Ep 231: Danny Blay, 30 Rock Characters

Adam — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 05:52:07 -0000

Yes. Yes, exactly. The potential of the format to endure for decades is enormous. Daryl just has to relinquish control a bit. Just a little bit. As you said, groom people to replace the fogeys who are probably only planning to hang around for another few months anyway. Roster a week off for all the regulars and drop in a fresh face, giving new talent an opportunity to be involved.

If Daryl weren't such a tenacious control freak, it'd work.

Not long before it was axed in 1998, Lano and Woodley guest-hosted an entire show. It was a bit rough, of course, but it was very, very fresh. It proved that the show can cope with a different host.

Obviously I don't want to see people like Wilbur out of a job, but let's be honest: if the show doesn't move into the 21st century, it'll die.

Re: Ep 231: Danny Blay, 30 Rock Characters

MordWa — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 04:45:19 -0000

*stands up and claps*

The odd thing is, even at this stage, there's still a chance to save Hey Hey as a show. There's nothing wrong with the format per se - it's just the rusted on performers and routines that (then - and now) are killing it. Imagine - even if only by way of hypothetical, a bizarro universe version of Hey Hey hosted by say Rove, with Tony Martin in the John Blackman role (stay with me! I'm going somewhere!). it'd be energetic, it'd be fun, and it'd have the barely-controlled chaos that made the show a legend in the first place. Of course, I know that will never happen - collective pride and that "we're all still having fun together" attitude gets in the way. BUT -
- it'd damn well work, wouldn't it? Now go find an up-and-coming Rove, and a not-yet-famous Tony Martin, and BY GOD start grooming them to take over. If not this year, next year. or the year after. Try deliberately evolving the format, because at the moment you're just exposing all the weaknesses that caused the show to be cancelled in the first place. And it doesn't have to happen.

Also, 20+ shows is waaaaay too much for a nostalgia act. I go back to old argument from an earlier thread - if Hey Hey had come back for six specials, spread over the year ( Hey Hey it's Xmas, Hey hey it's Mothers Day, whatever) then the numbers would stay up, and the show would easily get renewed...

Re: Ep 231: Danny Blay, 30 Rock Characters

Adam — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 06:39:44 -0000

Sorry Wilbur but fail. You acknowledged that audiences have moved on: that's precisely what's wrong with the show. Also, it's great that you're all enjoying yourselves and that you don't want to be concerned with ratings, but fun alone is not enough to sustain a television show in the 21st century.

I know you're more contemporary than your appearance in this interview (Cat Empire enthusiasm aside) so I trust you're being diplomatic for the sake of the show. Next year when it's gone and the dust has settled I hope you can be frank.

Now, Daryl, if you're listening:

- The show's weird insistence on booking guests that were history 10 years ago is mystifying to say the least. Book more Kylies and fewer Engelbert Humperdincks.

- The format is tired and irrelevant. I can do my own Phunny Fotos in far less time with a laptop and Google. The parlour games are slow and dull, even if people did still play them in real life (hint: they don't). Use your considerable resources and talent line-up to bring the show up to date. Citing a Twitter hashtag once a week does not cut it.

- Be less patriarchal. Ditch your weird barrel girl. Give Livinia something real to do. Stop pretending men do all the real work.

- Embiggen the set. The current one is tiny. It was fine in 1999, but Big Brother, Aus Idol, Stardancers etc etc changed expectations. You need dynamism and depth.

Oh, and when the show is inevitably axed, please -- PLEASE -- don't hit the press blaming Nine for being unsupportive and short-sighted. Normally Nine is exactly that, but by the end of the year Gyngell will have allowed you 23 attempts to get it right. 23. That's about 21 episodes more than most failing shows get in this country.