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‘News-based’ format for TEN mystery show

EXCLUSIVE: TV Tonight twists producer Craig Campbell's arm on that mystery 7pm show to be produced by Roving Enterprises. Get out your checklists.

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craig-campbellEXCLUSIVE: Everybody wants to know. What -oh what- does Roving Enterprises have in mind for their mystery 7pm show due to air this year on TEN?

TV Tonight sat down with Executive Producer Craig Campbell, who was instrumental in bringing Rove McManus from community to commercial television in 1999, and twisted his arm -metaphorically, anyway.

Campbell was very obedient in holding firm the network line by simply saying what the show isn’t. But there are a few breadcrumbs here that help build a bigger picture.

“What was it again?” he smiled. “It’s not drama, it’s not a quiz show, it’s not got Rove in it and it doesn’t have Hamish and Andy in it. So what is it? Oh you want me to answer that question!

“We’re trying to hang to it for as long as we can and as close to airdate until we start publicising it.”

Roving Enterprises is currently assembling a production crew for the show, expanding from a staff of about 60  to nearly 100 for the new show.

“We don’t have hosts yet. We do have a very definite idea of what it should be. It is loosely news based, and it is live and it is daily. And it will require a team of about 42 if I count correctly,” he said.

“We’re starting to ramp up development now and there will be a lot of testing. What I don’t want to do with the show is put it out there and have it find its feet on air, although it will with the audience.”

Campbell says the show will screen five nights a week, premiering sometime in the ‘third quarter’ of 2009.

“It will go out when it’s ready, which is kinda nice. I think it’s going to have to grow and I think people are going to have to find it. I’m hoping that we don’t go out with bells and whistles and we just let it go out softly and find its feet. But I think every producer has that dream.

“It would be nice to get it out there and go ‘y’know we’re really proud of this thing and just let it be’ but we’ll see how that goes. I think the quality that goes out will be spot on and I’d be really keen to get out there and do stuff that people are seeing at the moment a little differently -if that gives you another little hint of where the format might go.

“But it’s not A Current Affair and it’s not Today Tonight. It’s not entertainment news and it’s not a political daily.”

So what exactly does that leave? Campbell isn’t saying, except to acknowledge it is a variation of a genre and an originally devised format.

“I think it came out of my head looking at a Bali beach!”

23 Responses

  6. Proberbly a Chaser-ish show. Perhaps panel based which is cheap. Wll be great to see an aussie show rating well in that slot (Other Than ABC News). They did really well with “Real Stories”. That was very funny. The show would have to be comedic but no-doubt with a message.

    1. In the sense that it’s not an acquired format yes. Ultimately everything is a bit of a variation of other genres. There is a theory there are only seven stories in the world! Would love to see them named.

  11. I heard someone had picked up the rights for the US show “Attack Of The Show” which is a daily news/tech/gosssip nightly format. Even the crew and host from AOTS have been doing shoot in Sydney this week…. interesting….

  12. Paull…it blatantly says in the article Hamish and Andy won’t be in it. Did you even read past the first sentence?

    I’m thinking it will be something like a Gruen Transfer kind of show, although with daily commentary on news, sport, entertainment, lifestyle and heaps of things and not just ads. So it could be something like a cross between Sunrise, Gruen and The Chaser’s, although I doubt it will be as funny or ambitious…

  14. Obviously Hamish & Andy will be hosting it, they easily have enough time to rush from their job that ends at 6pm, to the ten studio and come up with half an hour of material.

  16. well i think the clues point to basically a chasers every day. which would be great.
    “It is loosely news based”
    “But it’s not A Current Affair and it’s not Today Tonight. It’s not entertainment news and it’s not a political daily.”

  17. If they don’t have the hosts yet then that would suggest that they’re looking at bringing in new people who have previously had no affiliation with Roving Enterprises.

    I was previously hoping that Ten could bring Mike Goldman back to our screens, but now that the show is confirmed as news related the chances of that happening are looking slimmer. Still, news related doesn’t necessarily mean it has much to do with news as all. I’m not expecting a PG rated Chaser.

  18. I’ve seen a European show that sounds a bit like what this might be. A cross between The Panel and Sunrise and Today Tonight. The host sits in the middle and reads a news/entertainment/sport item and then discusses the item with two regular panellists who sit on an angle on either side. When they’ve exhausted the subject, they move onto the next item.

    A bit like the Hot Topics section on ‘The View’. The show can tackle anything that they seem is important for that day from real news to fluff and gossip They can also have guests, when required, for one of the segments.

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