First Review: Monster House
- Published by David Knox
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The hidden camera genre is not especially new.
Allen Funt had one of television’s iconic feelgood programmes for decades with Candid Camera. It spanned over 31 years in one form or another.
Recently there has been a swing back to the idea of people being caught on camera. The Chaser has made a profession out of it, though their humour leans more towards ambush tactics. Punked, Stooged, Just Kidding, Surprise Surprise Gotcha follow on from Catch Us If You Can and the Aussie forerunner Surprise Surprise hosted by Tommy Hanlon Jr.
Nine has merged elements of Thank God You’re Here, Big Brother and Candid Camera for this new hidden-cam hybrid.
A warehouse in inner Sydney has been built to resemble a home / business, and behind two way mirrors are surreptitious cameramen ready to catch all the action.
A mock nuclear family, The Webbs, lives inside with Mum, Dad, Daughter, Son, Best Friend and Grandmother. Unsuspecting tradesmen and a host of consultants come to visit, becoming unwitting victims in an array of stunts and tomfoolery, thanks to the skills of improvising actors. It’s all pretty classic fare with the added twist of sitcom-style characters for the audience to bond with.
In the first episode, a party-organiser is subjected to deja-vu as the family keep interrupting a meeting, asking the same question over and over. She must have thought they were a house of loonies. A financial advisor finds himself on the end of a briefcase chockful of cash and a cop asking him some serious questions. Another girl is asked to quickly substitute for an absent art designer, directly before the opening of an art exhibition.
The actors work well at improvising and steering the scenes to maximum effect. There are some genuine laughs here. Some sketches seem a little long in the tooth. The family later sit in a studio audience alongside host Bernard Curry to comment on the sketches, but this only drags out a 30 minute idea into 60 without adding much.
Fans of Rebel Wilson, who has fronted most of the promotion, may need to wait for later weeks to see much of her work.
All the episodes have been filmed before the series premiere, to avoid any chance of recognition. It which begs the question: how do you keep fooling your next victims should the show reach a second series?
Monster House is a cute idea and with some tightening up should prove light fun.
Monster House airs 7:30pm Tuesdays on Nine.
5 Responses
I love Glen Butcher and I was surprised to see him do a show like this. I’ve never rated Rebel Wilson either as a comedian or an actress and the shows promotions didn’t change my mind. Looked like rubbish from the first time I saw the ad. Nine used to be at the fore front of TV but this show is scraping the bottom of the barrel. The studio audience obviously didn’t find it that funny either because even with the live studio stuff they used the laugh track. I thought the laugh track died with “Candid” Camera? Although there is “Funniest” Home Videos I suppose.
Couldn’t agree more with you lake. Lucky to make the third week. Look out late night television!
David did you even watch this terrible show or are you just pushing a piece of Nine’s PR? Their should no chance of a second series and I would be surprised if it reaches a third week.
Good one Nine! Great way to kick off your year. There must have been a mass exodus of viewers minutes into the show. Eddie has gone but the station remains a stinker.
i was one of the people who got set up and i had no idea who any of them were when it happened.
It all made sense after of course.
Glen Butcher! Lol – Geez, I’m glad they didn’t invite me to the house, I would’ve thought I was at a Logies party!
Don’t most people recognise the cast anyway? The main actress was in the movie Ghostrider and the face of the Wedge, the other a Neighbours actor, and the other from Full Frontal.
It’s a little difficult to have such familiar faces and dupe these people at the same time.