Slightly less witty than my debut Q&A re-tweet on March 7:
But a thrill all the same!
Last night’s episode of ABC TV’s “Q&A” was broadcast live from Albury-Wodonga (obviously they weren’t in both towns. I forget which one they were in. But it was certainly one of them).
The main theme of the evening was rural Australia. Not having much to contribute to that discussion, it was more a coincidence that my love of high speed rail would also be beneficial to “rural folk”.
There’s also the possibility someone at the ABC “Twitter Desk” has their own high speed rail agenda, with fellow RMIT journalism student Emma Buckley Lennox having her fast locomotion-themed tweet broadcast as well:
I am jealous her tweet appeared beneath Tony Windsor. I do love that man.
I didn’t get much response after my tweet this time. I’m guessing that’s because Osama Bin Laden was providing a distraction from regular current affairs viewers, and probably also because the theme of last night’s Q&A was “rural Australia”, which, let’s face it, probably doesn’t rate high on the typical Australian’s care meter.
No doubt these two factors contributed to below average TV ratings. I also noticed the “#qanda” hash-tag wasn’t “trending” last night either. Case closed!
Last night was the first time I’d twittered along to ABC TV’s political discussion programme “Q&A” and my second ever use of the #qanda hash-tag was put on TV!
They were talking about the Tea Party movement in the United States, and whether that sort of movement would ever happen in Australia.
My first tweet was: “I think someone needs a tea bag”. But then I thought of a better pun I had a feeling would be right up the ABC’s alley…
I’m not entirely sure how they decide which tweets to put on TV. I figure there’s probably one guy who scans the twitter feed and somehow transfers the relevant/funny ones. I’ve heard the show gets tens of thousands of tweets during the hour, so I was quite surprised and very honoured to have achieved the Twitter “Holy Grail” of every comedian and journalist alike, especially on what was essentially my first attempt.
Within seconds I had about 10 replies on Facebook and Twitter, including one from The Sydney Morning Herald’s Glenda Kwek:
And I liked this one too from my Internet friend in Townsville:
Pantomime_HorsePerhaps they’ll hire Hugh Jackman to do the advertisements for a Green Tea Party. #qanda RT @David_M_Green How about a Green Tea Party?
Several of my friends in Melbourne and Adelaide inform me they gasped in amazement when they saw my name on TV, as did my cousin Laura in Canberra, who apparently nearly fell of her chair. Even one of my RMIT journalism lecturers, Alex Wake, who was watching from the Solomon Islands, allegedly “laughed and laughed”.
Hehehehe… *sigh*… Can I have a job now?
Kind regards,
David M. Green
As seen beneath Gail Kelly
I took a rare deviation from my usual meal-time cable television ambience this evening and tuned to Channel 9. There I saw about 90 seconds of their latest US sitcom import, ABC’s “The Middle.” Even though I only watched it for 90 seconds, it was overwhelmingly obvious to me that this show is nothing but a blatant carbon copy of “Malcolm in the Middle.”
Here are the similarities I’ve passively picked up on:
1. The title of the show “The Middle” is but one proper noun and one conjunction short of “Malcolm in the Middle.”
2. 3 of the cast members are DEAD RINGERS for their “Malcolm in the Middle” counterparts, ie. Patricia Heaton/Jane Kaczmarek (Frankie/Lois), Neil Flynn/Bryan Cranston (Mike/Hal) & Atticus Shaffer/Erik Per Sullivan (Brick/Dewey). Not only that, they seem to be practically the same characters.
3. Both shows are single camera, have no laugh track, use similar transitions and both employ similar musical stings that abruptly stop and start for comic effect.
4. Patricia Heaton’s character is named “Frankie.” A possible reference to Frankie Muniz? He of course played Malcolm on “Malcolm in the Middle.”
5. Both shows break the fourth wall and speak to the viewer directly (“Malcolm in the Middle” through Malcolm speaking directly to the camera and “The Middle” via Patricia Heaton’s voice-overs).
Now I’m admitting I haven’t even watched a whole act of this show. Or the opening title sequence, so I’m sure there’s even more similarities. And I’m sure there’s plenty of differences too. Of course, it’s easy to criticise. I’m the first to admit there are no new ideas in comedy, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t employ some freaking subtlety! I couldn’t believe how obvious it was! Surely I’m not the only one to notice this?
But of course, what do I care? I probably won’t watch it anyway. On the other hand, recent television shows that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend: Mad Men, Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 7, The Cleveland Show, John Adams and John Safran’s Race Relations. All great shows I’ve seen in the last 12 months.
Kind regards,
David M. Green
Marvel at my recent “star rating system” and “thumbs up/thumbs down” plug-in blogging applications!
I did a spot of stand-up again last night. Thought I’d talk about my job at the cinema a little this time, so I did… I hope it doesn’t lead to my firing, like the last time I did workplace-related humour… Triple J’s Dave Callan did a great job hosting the evening. I actually thought I was on 3rd, but someone didn’t show up so I was surprised when my name was announced. Smiddy didn’t have the camera ready, as it was still in my bag, so the first 15 seconds or so wasn’t recorded (but those opening jokes fell flat anyway!). It was a very casual, laid-back evening of entertainment. Please enjoy.
Oh yes, while I’m here, I watched John Safran’s Race Relations on ABC TV this week. Hilarious! By far the best Australian show I’ve seen all year. Wasn’t impressed much with the show on before it “Hungry Beast” (which I actually auditioned for under the show’s previous title of “Project Next”). It seemed like a bunch of journalism students trying to be the next “Chaser,” but very wooden and bland and not particularly funny. And I’m not just saying that because I was looked over for a hosting gig… stupid stuffed shirts wouldn’t let me on their crappy show for jerks… Na, they’re okay.
Kind regards,
David M. Green
Several projects in the pipeline
Until recently, I was just like you; I thought that Internet TV was something that only existed one time in my mind when I thought up the concept myself a few years ago. Foolishly I did nothing about it and turns out someone else invented it. Not only that, but Australia’s first Internet TV station, Australia Live TV, is based right here (where I am, at least) in Adelaide, a mere 17.8km (via road) from my house!
After perusing Australia Live TV’s extensive list of 5 shows (4 of them sports-related), I was just about to close the web page forever, when I noticed that they’re launching their new morning show, to be called “Mornings Live.” Furthermore, they need a couple of hosts. Hey hey! Now it’s personal. And seeing as though applying for the position required little effort on my part, I figured I gotta get in on this, so I threw this demo video together in an afternoon…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJsmw6IAceo
I certainly enjoyed myself. In all seriousness, I’d love to do it. but if it doesn’t go beyond the demo-filming stage, hey that’s okay. I’ve also enjoyed watching the other entrants (Check those out here). There are about 5 with which I have been legitimately impressed. I must say, SOME of them are absolutely shocking… I’d love to put together a 30-minute TV special where I critique all the entries. But I don’t have the resources for that, so I’ll just do it here: For starters, about half of them either didn’t read the guidelines, or completely ignored them, as the demo video was supposed to be no longer than 60 seconds. Granted, my own is 69 seconds, but if you only watch the first 60 seconds, I was essentially through. But other entries range from 20 seconds to 10 minutes long! And most seem to be around the 2-4 minute range!
Furthermore, some of them are not directed to the specific position. Okay, fair enough, a few people have just put up a generic showreel. No harm in that. However, some have gone further (or shorter, rather), actually using their demo video for a completely unrelated talent search conducted earlier this year by the new ABC3 digital children’s channel. Hence several demo videos on the Mornings Live website feature hopeful presenters pouring their hearts out about wanting to work with children on the ABC! I myself also applied for that (and actually re-used part of my ABC demo for this one!), but I was clever enough to sneakily splice in new footage, which explains why my hair subtle changes length throughout the video, hehehe!
Another trend I noticed: Of the 90 or so video entries submitted so far, the most popular choice of background music seems to be “Clocks” by Coldplay. I can’t help but notice I was the only one to include both “Conditioning” by Howard Jones (stereotypical hilarious ’80s music) AND “Menuet From String Quintet No. 5 Op 13” by Luigi Boccherini (stereotypical hilarious “rich guy” music).
Lastly, I’d love to share just a few specific entries with you (who ever YOU are…). Please don’t get me wrong. This is not a mean-sprited dig at others’ expense, but merely me pointing out a few entrants’ “interesting choices” with regard to making their demo. Behold…
5. Jason Kemp: Evidentally a keen user of Movavi Video Converter’s fabulous trial version. Also, which one is Jason Kemp?
But of course, for maximum enjoyment, I highly recommend you watch EVERY entry. Thanks to guidelines not followed, what should be 90 minutes of entertainment, is more like 200 minutes of entertainment. And darn good watching!
Kind regards,
David M. Green
What’s next? Internet books?
PS. Oh yes, by the way, if you like, feel free to vote for me on the Mornings Live website. I’d very much appreciate it and be happy to email you a signed photograph of something.
