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Drama
I am a
great fan of quality Australian drama. My
current show which I cannot miss is The Secret
Life of Us - it seems very true-to-life, I love
the St Kilda filming locations, and the characters,
especially the doctor and Evan.
Australian
dramas which I have loved in the past include
All Saints, A Country Practice, and
Pacific Drive.
Pacific
Drive was not very popular at all. It was
filmed on the Gold Coast and featured paramedic
lesbians, gigolos on boats, conniving radio DJs and
lifesavers having sex in the surf while men were
dying on the beach. Absolutely fantastic stuff, it
featured all the required soapie elements and
featured esteemed actors like Libby Tanner, Kate
Raison and Mellisa Tkautz.
A
Country Practice on the other hand was very
popular. It was like an old shoe. Every Monday and
Tuesday night for an hour. Terence Elliot and Sgt
Gilroy were always nice and serious, while Esme,
Cookie and Bob provided the cheese factor. I bawled
my eyes out when Molly died, as did most of the
nation.
Seachange
I really loved watching every Sunday night in front
of the warm open fire after a nice lamb roast
watching the ABC news. Seachange is a
quirky Australian drama full of quality acting, fun
stuff, great stories, and it won the ratings for
the ABC, beating 60 Minutes, it was great. I just
watched the repeat of the final episode that
I had missed while I was in France, and
it was absolutely great. So charming and
heart-warming and Australian. Love it! Here
is a link to the theme song:
http://www.abc.net.au/seachange/audio/theme.mp3
Pie in
the Sky was another Sunday night thing, only
this time British. It was a quirky little drama
about a big fat policeman who ran a restaurant and
wanted to retire, but the police chief wouldn't let
him and every now and then (well, every episode..)
would give him some crime to figure out with the
policewoman, Cambridge. Henry Crabbe, the
policeman, made great steak and kidney pie.
All the
American dramas that I like tend to get axed. I
used to love Savannah, Models Inc. and
Malibu Shores, but they only ran for one or
two seasons. But my absolute favourite trashy
American drama was definitely Central Park
West. It ran in 1995, had a super sexy theme
song with a woman moaning as though she was in the
throes of ecstasy. It featured the greatest bitch
ever, Carrie Fairchild, played by Madchen Amick of
Twin Peaks fame. Lauren Hutton, Mariel Hemingway
and John Barrowman starred in this atmospheric and
exciting serial. There was even the token
Australian, Kylie Travis. I was addicted to
CPW, and I even learnt several of the
most exciting scenes' lines by heart.
In terms of
day-time soapies, Days of Our Lives is the
one and only that I have watched since I was a
toddler, and I always enjoy catching up with
it. To watch boring crap like The Bold And the
Beautiful and Santa Barbara.
American
Comedy
I grew up
on a staple diet of Family Ties, Golden Girls,
Empty Nest, Family Matters, Growing Pains,
Valerie/The Hogan Family, Saved by the Bell and
Full House. Anything that started later than
around 1992 I wasn't too keen on, although I
enjoyed a bit of Ellen. Of the newer
comedies, Frasier and Seinfeld are
certainly very good.
I remember
that Golden Girls was quite risque for a
comedy, and had a PGR rating. I was quite
scared my Dad would notice this rating, as
I was only about 8 years old, and he would
make me turn it off. They talked quite openly about
sexual things, and it fouled my innocent mind.
;)
Does anyone
remember the final episode of Family Ties? I
bawled my eyes out, knowing it would never come on
again. "I bet we've been together, for a million
years...and I bet we'll be together for a million
more..."
I also
watched the Australian comedy Hey Dad!
featuring Betty and the man who played the lead
role in ABBA The Movie, Robert Hughes,
as Mr Kelly, as well as Nudge and the Sorbent
Toilet Paper boy. Mother and Son was of
course a great ABC Aussie comedy.
British
Comedy
I also love
quirky British comedy, particularly Fawlty
Towers (I've seen every episode at least
ten times), To The Manor Born, Executive
Stress, Waiting for God, One Foot in the Grave,
Keeping Up Appearances and The Brittas
Empire.
Children's
TV
Every
morning I would get up early to watch cartoons on
the ABC. On my ideal morning, I would watch at 7am
Astroboy, then the lovely Japanese but set
in France/Spain cartoon Belle and Sebastien,
then the animated version of The Wizard of
Oz before Sesame Street and
PlaySchool. Then in the afternoon
I would watch my Thomas and the Tank
Engline videos, The Afternoon Show with
James Valentine (including the cartoon with the
truly inspirational theme song, Superted)
and finally at 6pm, Inspector Gadget, my
absolute favourite. My favourite bit in the theme
song was where the van changed into the police car,
and I *had* to hum along to that bit. Or else.
As
I grew older (about 9 or 10) I would
watch Neighbours and Home and Away
instead of cartoons. The days of Lance, Celia
Stewart, Todd Landers (he got Phoebe pregnant
then died when he was run over while running to
stop her from getting an abortion - she didn't get
it and had a beautiful baby and lived with Dorothy
Burke, Toby and Bouncer the dog), Julie Martin
(that great storyline where the evil stepson,
David, was trying to make everyone think she was an
alcoholic), Rick Alessi, Christina and Caroline
(the twins - one the classy Assistant Manager of
Lasseters complex and one the silly one who tried
to run a ladies boutique), Tug and Sarah.
PS Toady
is a dickhead, so is Tad. Harold rocks, so does Pam
Willis and Hilary who uses cuttings in her garden.
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