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Ockers not so keen on Outrageous Fortune?

  • Simonovtich,

    Series one has just started on Channel 9. Here's what the SMH had to say about ep 2 - screening tonight:

    The Kiwis have famously done a few things better than us. A certain Test match and managing the US alliance come easily to mind. Some of Australia's finest actors and directors are New Zealanders. While I am not sure about that accent, their scenery is certainly up there with our best. Not entirely sold on the TV they export these days, though.

    Here is a prime example, a comedy-drama built around the crooked West clan. Dad, who goes by the name Wolf, is in jail and mum, Cheryl, is determined the rest of the clan will go straight. Her four children are not entirely on song, though. The struggles the family face as they try to resist (or succumb) to the temptations of theft, burglary and other vicissitudes provide fodder for the plot.

    This is episode two, and there are some genuinely funny moments - older daughter Pascale is a would-be model and chip-shop employee who cites one-time NZ checkout chick Rachel Hunter, who married singer Rod Stewart, as her icon (she wants a boyfriend who will be "Rod to my Rachel"). But the show is also laden with weak jokes and dialogue (tonight's worst line leans to Benny Hill, "she's got nipples like Jaffas").

    The whole thing is lifted by a likeable performance by actress Robyn Malcolm as the family matriarch. But Sam Neill remains a superior cultural emissary for the Land of the Long White Cloud.

    Since Dec 2006 • 5 posts Report

6 Responses

  • Robyn Gallagher,

    I saw my first ever episode of Outrageous Fortune last week. I was surprised to discover that it wasn't a half-hour comedy show. If I'd originally known that, I would have watched it right from the start. Now I'm going to have to catch up on DVD.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    But Sam Neill remains a superior cultural emissary for the Land of the Long White Cloud.

    I'm sorry, but WTF?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Simonovtich,

    And now apparently Channel 9 are also trying to claim Outrageous Fortune as part of their local quota.

    Since Dec 2006 • 5 posts Report

  • kerry w,

    Oh my, the Aussies have got the pip (again)....never mind, they'll be claiming it as theirs shortly, seeings the Wolfman actor is one of their own. Wasn't he once a Blue Heeler??

    Being a technophobe, I don't record telly programmes, so I have to do a speedy, ticket-inducing trip home on a Tuesday night from night-class, to catch the last half of OF. It's years since I was that keen to see anything on the box! It outclasses that nauseous, pretentious load of tripe, Insiders Guide to Terminal Boredom which got the TV award. It ain't perfect but it is authentic and has a gloriously "up yours" vivacious-ness that is sooo refreshing....

    Since Nov 2006 • 9 posts Report

  • Craig Miller,

    I seem to remember the first season got off to a clunky start but the convoluted stories start to improve. The Aussies have some surprises in store. :-D

    There are of course the quota claims. No matter which way you slice it the Aussie quota - the culture of home-grown production - has helped the struggling NZ industry, but it is an accountant's argument - what's the bottom line $$ - that would include OF as any part of the hard fought Aussie Quota. The local actors/writers/directors guild have every right to protest its inclusion as locally produced.

    Solidarity Brothers! :-)

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4 posts Report

  • Simon Bennett,

    The CER thing cuts both ways.

    Last Man Standing - the Australian drama series filmed principally in Melbourne, written in Australia, with one NZ actor in it was claimed by TVNZ to be 'local content'.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 174 posts Report

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