31 Questions S2E02 aired on C31 Melbourne & Geelong on Saturday 3 August 2013. Could we have conjured a more “game showy” picture than the one in the above YouTube preview image?
If so, I’d like to see it.
Anthony McCormack did a sensational job editing/booty-shaking this one. And I love his Don Bradman gag. Sequentially, this was actually the third episode we shot for this season, and from memory there were quite a lot of problems that night. So it’s good to see it wasn’t a complete write-off (like the first two!).
Other 31Q things…
Thursday evening marked my first time on Melbourne radio station 3AW. I had a chat with Philip Brady, Simon Owens and John Blackman about the show (mainly mine, not so much theirs). Both John and Simon have made appearances on 31 Questions. Their episodes are coming up in the next few weeks.
Amazingly in this media-saturated modern world of ours, the 3AW webcam video of my interview was on YouTube within minutes. Saves me uploading the audio myself. Check it out (stay watching right til the end to see some innovative signaling from the panel operator):
Here’s an interesting bit of news. I was about to reveal it on 3AW before getting sidetracked, but in our upcoming fifth episode – which was actually the sixth one we taped and will air in Melbourne on August 24 – not only is that the episode John Blackman makes an appearance, but the dude contestant that week is Rohan Zorz, who just Monday entered the Big Brother house as a “latecomer” contestant on Channel Nine!?!
I find this all very bizarre. Usually Big Brother contestants appear on game shows AFTER they’re kicked out of the house.
Unfortunately, a cursory glance at the #BBAU tweets shows a general hatred of Rohan. Exactly how this legion of teenage girls with anti-Rohan agendas will affect 31 Questions is yet to be fully understood.
At the moment, we’ve got the classic DMG mug for sale for the reduced price of $20. We’re working on some new designs, so keep checking to see what we’ve got in stock. All proceeds will go towards the future of 31 Questions (there’s already been talk of a third season đ ).
See you Saturday for Ep 3.
Kind regards,
David M. Green
Still not going to watch Big Brother.
Losing the master tape for our second episode turned out to be the best thing that’s happened to us during the course of making 31 Questions Season 2. Tired and irritated, we went back into the studio with an audience one more time on 13 May 2013 to re-shoot the lost episode. It could not have gone better.
Allow me to give you a quick tour of the set:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clnyyD-_btI
I used the best questions and material from our first two episodes to make a kind of “super episode”. And as it was the absolute last chance for the foreseeable future to see a taping live, we had a fantastic crowd. Much better than the one we’d had when we taped it the first time round. Damn Comedy Festival.
As we were re-using questions, this did mean we’d need some fresh contestants. And Declan and Lisa were fantastic.
I’d felt a little disconnected from the show the last couple of weeks and I was concerned about my performance. The original plan was to get rough edits of the episodes done before taping the next one. But once again, logistical issues prevented that from working as efficiently as we’d like.
Though plenty of people were telling me “hey, you were great” (#humblebrag), the only way I know how to access my on-camera performance is by watching the footage back myself. Anthony managed to get a couple of short clips from the raw footage up on a private YouTube link the night before, so I could at least check out some of it.
It’s amazing how bad habits can creep in if you don’t continually self-evaluate. And just like my golf swing, I think my posture had gradually degraded over the course of the season. But I fixed it for this episode. I think.
And that’s the beauty of this redux. Undoubtedly our finest episode will be the first one that goes to air, and – if the YouTube views for Season 1 are anything to go by – quite possibly the only episode a lot of people will watch. Better it be the best one.
There was a bit of TV magic in the studio that night. We were given an absolute gift from above during the “Complexity” round. We’d done this round during the Episode 2 taping, and it was quite well received the first time, so we kept it exactly the same for the re-shoot. A lot of the “gag rounds” are still legitimate game show rounds, where actual points are fairly and squarely earned. Not this round. It’s essentially a sketch.
The gag is the round is so complicated, it doesn’t make any sense. So at the start, Anthony reveals a huge rule book and insists on reading all the rules. He also pulls out a brand new candle. We were planning on doing a jump cut to simulate the passage of time, and come back to Anthony reading from the END of the book and the big candle has burnt all the way down.
But to set this up, Anthony actually had to light the candle first on camera. He’s really dragging it out, and I’m telling him to hurry up. But when it was time to actually light the candle, Anthony for the life of him just could not light the thing.
The audience was starting to giggle, and after about a minute, Anthony finally got the candle burning. But it was the tiniest flame. And after about 10 seconds, a line of smoke streamed from the wick, indicating the flame had gone out. The audience just lost it. You could not have scripted it.
And I’m there looking irritated, but all the while thinking, “Oh thank you. Thank you God.”
I’ve now seen the rough cuts for all the episodes. They’re all pretty good. A couple of them are amazing. Of course, I am extremely biased.
This week, we did something that most community TV shows don’t bother to do: We had a dedicated studio date just for pick-up shots. And I’ll tell you why most shows don’t do this: Because it’s a pain in the arse. But we really want 31 Questions to be the poster child of low budget television. So we knew we had to do it.
After going through the rough cuts, Anthony and I compiled a list of 15-20 things that would benefit from being re-shot. They were mostly due to audio problems, but there were also a few bits of footage that we just didn’t have, even on the iso-recordings, eg. shots of the score board at critical times.
So we went back in the studio on Monday May 27 with a skeleton crew (not actual skeletons) and set up half the set. We were also planning on shooting some prize footage for our “prizes” at the start of each episode (this is a Season 2 addition). But the pick-ups took longer than we thought, as is usually the case with making TV. So we’re still not done yet. But we’re close. So, so close.
We’re currently exploring options to shoot this prize footage outside the heavily in-demand RMITV studio.
Our first episode of Season 2 is due to air on Channel 31 Melbourne & Geelong at 8.30PM, Saturday July 20. TVS Sydney, 31 Digital Brisbane, 44 Adelaide and Face Television New Zealand have all said they’re keen to air Season 2.
We’re still waiting to hear back from WestTV Perth. I’ll have air dates for all of these cities & NZ soon. But they’ll be on YouTube shortly after they air in Melbourne.
We’ve just about reached the end of the “production” stage of 31 Questions Season 2. We got off to a shaky start, but there’s some real magic this year. I’m proud of my team. I’m proud of how we got it done. And I’ll be proud of the finished product.
I don’t know about you, but 31 Questions is the kind of TV show I actually want to watch.
The Logies are unique among the worldâs entertainment industry awards. This is not a compliment.
The organisers would like to believe Australian Televisionâs “night of nights” is the equivalent to The Oscars. The biggest. The fanciest. The most regarded awards ceremony on the event calendar.
But the Academy Awards are for the silver screen. Not the small screen. The fashion reporting on the red carpet is where the comparison between the two stops. So in that sense, The Logies are more like The Emmys; The American awards for television production.
But if The Logies are supposed to be Australiaâs version of The Emmys, why arenât they run like The Emmys?
Emmy Award winners are decided by industry professionals. Some Logie winners are chosen this way; the categories that begin with “Most Outstanding”. However, the majority of Logie categories begin with “Most Popular” and those winners are decided by votes from the public. Itâs basically a popularity contest.
So in that case, The Logies are run more like The MTV Movie Awards. No offense to MTV, but I think thatâs pretty embarrassing for Australian Television.
But even The MTV Movie Awards have an award for “Best Comedic Performance”. How many awards do The Logies currently give for comedy? Zero. Pardon the pun, but thatâs a joke.
There hasnât been an award for comedy at The Logies since 2009, when “The Hollowmen” won “Most Outstanding Comedy Program”.
What does that say about Australian comedy if itâs not even acknowledged at the highest level? This serious lack of respect would make Rodney Dangerfield roll over in his grave.
Think about all the hilarious Australian TV shows that have made us laugh through the years: The Late Show, Frontline, Kath & Kim, Hey Hey Itâs Saturday, The Chaser, The Micallef Program, Summer Heights High. All of those shows won the Logie for “Most Outstanding Comedy Program”. In fact, some won it twice.
Interesting to note, of the 16 awards for Most Outstanding Comedy Program given between 1994 and 2009, 13 of them were won by the ABC. Goes to show you donât need money to make outstanding television comedy.
But the best a comedy show can hope for these days is the Logie for “Most Outstanding Light Entertainment Program”. What is “light entertainmentâ anyway? Arenât all television shows supposed to be entertaining?
In 1997, there were three separate Logies for comedy. Roy and HGâs “Club Buggery” won “Most Outstanding Achievement in Comedy”, the hilarious “Full Frontal” won “Most Popular Comedy Program” and Eric Bana won “Most Popular Comedy Personality”.
It was a simpler time. Comedy was comedy. Drama was drama. And reality TV only existed in movies about a fictional dystopian future.
But though comedy is no longer officially recognised by Australian TV, it seems to have crept into just about every other program.
The new buzz word at the moment is âdramedyâ. I hate that word. For me, it represents a comedy not quite funny enough that the producers want to commit and call it a comedy. Or a drama not quite dramatic enough to be called a drama. Shows such as Sevenâs “Winners and Losers” and Tenâs “Mr and Mrs Murder” have both been promoted as “dramedy” shows.
Network Tenâs “The Project” is another example. Hard news, light tragedy, music, stock footage, infotainment, and a few gags.
But for a really bizarre example of comedy white-anting into a traditionally no-comedy TV zone, take a look at this new comedy segment thatâs just appeared on Ten Late News. One recent segment involved my good friend Sam Mac videoing his facial expressions while receiving a series of simulated prostate exams:
I’m a fan of Sam Mac. But this is not a comedy program. This is a late night news program broadcast nationally on Channel Ten. I’d much rather see him do this schtick on his own show – A show that could be nominated for a Logie for comedy.
The Logies also has a serious lack of respect for Australian writers. Unlike The Oscars and The Emmys, The Logies has no awards at all for writing. None for comedy. None for drama. None for a telemovie or miniseries.
I find it absolutely beyond comprehension the industry award body for Australian television doesnât recognise its writers. Industry people and viewers alike are constantly complaining about the substandard level of screenwriting in Australia. We have great actors. We have world class cinematographers. Australian films and TV shows always look amazing.
But the script? The story? The writing? Itâs such an afterthought; we donât even have an award for it. Who cares, right? Hey, why do we even need writers for TV?
I believe the first step to improve Australiaâs reputation for quality screenwriting is to recognise quality screenwriting at the highest level. And the easiest way to do that is to include Logie Awards for writing.
The Logie Awards Ceremony itself also differs from the big American ones. The Oscars. The Emmys. The Tonys. Theyâre all held in theatres, with a seated audience watching the stage.
But The Logies are conducted more like a pub trivia night, with the audience and nominees seated around tables in the Palladium Ballroom of Melbourneâs Crown Casino. Many of the attendees arenât even facing the stage.
Is it any wonder nobody wants to host The Logies? Itâs widely believed among the TV industry that hosting The Logies is death. Itâs a tough room. Most people are there purely to be seen and to enjoy a steak dinner.
At last yearâs 54th Annual Logie Awards, Adam Hills walked out on stage to present the first award, and after establishing that there was no host, he said, âHosting the Logies is like being one of Gina Rinehartâs children. It sounds good, but you get nothing out of it.â
Thatâs true for most of the hosts in recent memory. In fact, of the last 10 ceremonies, six of them had no single host. The risk of dying a death on stage was shared by several presenters.
For a truly exceptional ceremony, you have to go back to Shaun Micallef in 2001.
Channel Nine thought so too and they gave him his own tonight show two years later. But Wendy Harmer (2002) and Gretel Killeen (2009) werenât so lucky.
So how do you cure The Logies? Itâs so simple even a TV executive could do it. Bring back awards for comedy. Introduce awards for writing. And hold the ceremony in a theatre where the audienceâs attention is on the host. Only then will The Logies be the Australian equivalent of The Emmys.
On Friday 22 February, popular fast food restaurant Hungry Jack’s (The Australian incarnation of Burger King, for my international friends) posted a Facebook status:
âToday the legendary Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin would have turned 51. Rest peacefully in burger heaven mate.â
What exactly has the late animal lover got to with cheeseburgers? What is this âburger heavenâ? Why doesnât it have capital letters? Would Steve Irwin even go to burger heaven? Whoâs to say he wouldnât end up in burger hell? And are the burgers in burger hell still flame-grilled?
Perhaps he wouldnât be admitted into burger heaven OR hell â Condemned to an eternity in âBurgertoryâ. Ahh, Burgertory: where the burgers are plain and the service is âokayâ.
This is social media marketing: Using current events (or anniversaries of current events) to tie back into your brand, no matter how tenuous the link.
Everyone hates ads. Especially on the Internet. When Iâm watching a YouTube video with an ad at the start, my mouse-clicking finger hangs over the âskipâ button, waiting impatiently as it counts down from 5 to 0 â which actually takes 7 seconds, if youâve ever bothered to count it.
Advertising has really invaded social media in the last couple of years. Facebook and Twitter are now awash with spam. And most of it is just lazy. Status updates from major brands can be as vanilla as: âHappy Friday!â
And I know. Because I wrote them.
For a short time, I was one of the faceless men who came up with these updates for companies. Last year I spent seven weeks at a digital advertising agency, writing Facebook and Twitter posts for their big name clients who wanted to sell hairspray and sunscreen and avocado dip.
The problem with social media advertising is most advertisers have absolutely no idea what theyâre supposed to do. All of these companies demanded their Tweets and Facebook statuses a month in advance. How are you supposed to make a Tweet topical and interesting if you have to get it approved by middle management 30 days in advance? The best you can do is look at an upcoming anniversary and schedule something about burger heaven.
Hence, most companies just end up posting generic spam about their products â a sentence that will offend no one and bore everyone â effectively junk mail delivered directly to your news feed.
Remember junk mail? Itâs really amazing that businesses still persist with print advertising. This is how I deal with it:
But how do you make advertising work on social media? I donât know. But I can tell you what people donât like. People donât like someone trying to sell them something they donât want. People donât like being bothered. People donât like being asked by a brand of head lice shampoo what they got up to on the weekend.
Businesses are desperate to engage you on social media. Thereâs an abundance of discounts on offer. Lots of restaurants are now offering free drinks or 20 per cent off your bill, just for using Facebook to âcheck inâ to the restaurant. And even better, most of these restaurants donât even check to see youâve done it. So you can get the discounts anyway!
A company called LivesOn is due to launch in March. Using complex algorithms and artificial intelligence, they plan to mimic individualsâ Twitter activity to allow you to continue to socialise online after youâve logged off the server of life.
If your online robot is still posting statuses for you after youâre dead, you can guarantee thereâll be banks and supermarkets and airlines all too eager to keep you up to date on their latest deals.
We may need to develop Blade Runner-esque testing to determine which Twitter accounts are real people and which ones are robots. Who knows, maybe it will be the companies themselves who use LivesOn to continue advertising their products long after the business has died?
Robots selling robots to other robots â this is the future. Do androids Tweet about their dreams of electric sheep? More importantly, do they go to burger heaven?
Burger heaven… wait…
Wouldn’t burger heaven just be full of burgers?
When we say the dog has gone to “Doggy Heaven”, presumably this is a heaven for dogs, right? Not a heaven for the people who eat dogs?
So according to the good people at Hungry Jack’s, the late animal activist Steve Irwin now resides alone, surrounded by either whole or partially eaten, possibly sentient cheeseburgers.
We’ve already long since surpassed our original goal of $1,000. But can we now get to $2,000? It’s up to YOU.
Here are some tasty morsels that might convince you to contribute…
Want to impress your friends and family with your knowledge of answers? Do it via this convenient “Moderator Mug”, while also questioning whether they too are aware of the answer that you yourself claim to know. Featuring a drinkable TV’s Anthony McCormack in his signature pointing pose, this mug will make a welcome addition to your cupboard or dishwasher. Available now for $31. All proceeds go towards production of Season 2 of 31 Questions!
And the next 8 lucky fans who donate $10 to the show on Indiegogo won’t just receive a personally autographed headshot of benevolent host David M. Green, you’ll also receive an ORIGINAL SEASON ONE QUESTION CARD (featuring actual printed questions, hand-written notes AND last minute gags)! As used during the taping of Episodes 12 & 13, 17 May 2012. Think of how much these are going to be worth once David M. Green has moved on to better things and/or died! Strictly limited to the next 8 crowdfunders.
We’ve now received contributions ranging from $2 to $100 from 65 individuals in 4 countries. Check out this map of their approximate locations:
We’re already using this money to pay for tapes, printing, hard drives, set materials, electronic components for the new buzzers, postage, “fabulous” prizes, parking, costumes and all matter of miscellaneous things needed to make some sort of television show.
It’s very touching knowing there’s so much love out there for this scruffy underdog of a game show. I had an exchange of Facebook messages over the weekend from a gentleman in Chicago, who informs me his whole family has been enjoying Season 1 on YouTube.
And what put the biggest smile on my face was finding out his 7-year-old son has been repeatedly quoting the punchline “Just my colon”, as delivered by Sophie Loughran in Episode 4, and “dying laughing”. Evidently, American children are better educated on punctuation than their Aussie counterparts. I don’t think I learned what a colon was (either definition) until I was twice that age.
This might be good karma for all the times I myself have quoted The Blues Brothers, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, National Lampoon’s Vacation and any other motion picture set in The Windy City.
Keep those donations coming in. They’re making a big difference. I’ll leave you with some more Season 1 outtakes, highlighting a few community TV problems. Hopefully we’ll avoid them in Season 2. But somehow, I doubt it…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhwY1SehbRE
Kind regards,
David M. Green
No sir, Mayor Daley doesn’t dine here any more. He’s dead sir.
