Change Your Image
jarthur66
Reviews
Funky Squad (1995)
Funky Squad - "There's a flare in there"
It has been seven years since Funky Squad graced the screens of the ABC and there hasn't been enough said about its' value as a monument to the kitsch cop show days.
It was great to see the 70's taken out the back and beaten like a maligned step-son. The pitiless parody of the mannerisms, fashion, clunky procedures and banal catchphrases of legitimate 70's police dramas was the triumph that typifies this show.
Originally the Squad was a short interlude on morning radio in Australia, but its' move to TV was somewhat less successful. That lack of ratings was primarily put down to the fact that the show didn't have a laugh track and hence the robotic audiences of the day weren't able to laugh at the gags because they weren't adequately prompted to.
However, one of the greatest portions of the show were the ad-breaks. Original 70's ads for long bombed-out products were woven in giving a true insight into the advertising world of the day (sexist, arrogant, misogynist, corny, buxom; sorely missed). A revelation for some to see soft drinks in "press-stud" cans.
The acting was worse than an evening with Matt LeBlanc, but it was supposed to be. The writing was tight, but it had to contain so many stereotypical 70's sayings that it couldn't sound original. No matter, it gave pleasure to people who always had a soft spot for those days. (even those of us who were still being fed rusks when they ended)
It probably won't be seen again because it just didn't hit the spot with the proletariat - not enough pies in the face to please Joe six-pack. Maybe it can be revived in a more enlightened time, and I'll bet there's a crate of fresh scripts sitting in the garage of one of the writing team.
Like a big girl's wedding dress - it was great on the day, but it will only come out of the closet for occasional airings.
Friends (1994)
Fair weather Friends indeed.
For some reason this base excuse for a sitcom seems to remain on our screens year in, year out. Why is it that audiences can't see past the half-baked scripts and street theatre acting to realise that it is merely a collection of hackneyed g-rated gags performed by an overpublicised cast who are screaming towards 40.
The main supporters of this show are evidently those who list their main asset as an unroadworthy RV and like their Raccoons well done. Perhaps it would be appropriate if Friends was to be relocated to a trailer park somewhere in the mid-West of the US. Only then would we be able to see an episode where the cast become Tornado fodder.
Whenever I am forced to endure an episode, it takes at least a flagon of sour mash for me to get past the first ad break.
Every week it's like being ambushed in a fox-hole by Bob Saget and listening to his lame monologues while the Napalm burns around you.
Come on consumers - demand more from your networks and let this Dolphin get caught in the fishing nets where it belongs.
The Mick Molloy Show (1999)
Molloy maligned.
What is it about commercial television that takes the greatest talent of the day, enslaves them by expecting instant ratings results, then bulldozes them into the sea when they don't come up to scratch on time?
The Molloy era at Channel 9 Melbourne will have to go down as one of the most painful for programming executives, but one of the most entertaining for devotees of live broadcast. The show was a "free-for-all" combining the talents of some of the best comics of the day with an attitude of "bugger-it" on the night. Great intro & interlude music from Hester & others and a steady stream of regulars ready to cater to Mick's every whim. And live it was - When a guest came on to sell a new book about Barby's in Australia, Mick pointed out that the Dragon shaped Barbecue on one of the pages was the spot where they cremated Mark Hunter!
"Crass, urine soaked, visual sputum" was how one critic described the programme at the time. However in the next paragraph the woman went on to praise Friends. Unfortunately the intellectual minnows of the journalism world seem to hold as much sway with readers as those who seek higher enlightenment.
It has been a few years now since its' passing and barely a word has been spoken of it. There will obviously be no re-runs on the horizon and I'm sure 9 won't allow it to be released on DVD under their banner. Therefore, it is up to those who were recording on those lazy Saturday evenings to treasure their tapes. It was the last great live show of the 20th century and if 9 has its' way, we'll never see the like of it again.