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Happy Festivus for the rest of us!

Who would you gather around your aluminimum pole to tell them they've disappointed you this year?

Happy Festivus day one and all.

Is your aluminum pole up yet?

Yes, December 23 is the day Seinfeld’s Frank Costanza declared as an alternanative holiday in which you gather your loved ones around the pole to tell them how they’ve disappointed you in the past year. It is to be celebrated by those frustrated or jaded with the commercialism and pressure surrounding the season, which in Seinfeld-land includes both Christmas and Hanukkah.

Cosmo Kramer: And is there a tree?
Frank Costanza: No, instead, there’s a pole. It requires no decoration. I find tinsel distracting. It’s made from aluminium. Very high strength-to-weight ratio.

And let’s not forget the Feats of Strength. Traditionally, the head of the household selects one person at the Festivus celebration and challenges that person to a wrestling match.

So tell us all, who would you summon around your aluminium pole to admonish this year? Who has disappointed you most in television, be it on screen, in management, media reporting, pay television or technology.

20 Responses

  1. i would like to invite channel 9 to my pole.

    first of all for all the reasons already mentioned above, especially to much 2.5 men.

    can i reinstate that ch9 somehow find ways to destroy the seemingly undestroyable shows, namely the mentalist. this show is on occasions the #1 show in the US. it is not a serial, has an aussie actor in it, and is a great watch. seems foolproof, yes?

    but 9 just had to change timeslots, put it up against developed similar shows, take weeks off, have a fake season final, finish a week before NRP etc. all thing that should not be done to shows when trying to build an audience. and the ratings responded, most episodes did not even make 1 million.

    nicely done 9

  2. well i guess the worst station would have to be 9, recently i have come to hate them, i used to hate 7 but any network that made PTTR cannot be hated, i too was going to do a long winded answer but i guess jerome and ashton have already covered that. i doubt you could make a list like that for 7. the only show that 7 has royally screwed up is ugly betty, i guess we can let 1 slide.

    my main complaint for 9 is that there is just no variety. all of their international shows are cop/crime shows. any other timeslot is 2.5men or some cheap 20-1 or copied factual show. on the odd occasion that they do take a chance they produce some trash like hole in the wall, monster house, or my kids a star. 7 and 10 seem to be the only ones buying and airing the “different” ones; lost, merlin, prisonbreak, heroes, house, brothers&sisters.

  3. lol benno yes, if anyone hasn’t picked up yet i am very anti-9 (a recent development), and upon reading that again i was probably in a bad mood,

    i think it is all still true though.

  4. I can’t say the networks have disappointed me as much as previous years, as i have only watched them regularly for about 4 months this year. Then i finally gave up on them with the majority of my shows, one by one.

    Jerome, i take it when channel nine does door-to-door revenue raises soon, you won’t be donating.

  5. 7: banishing 30 rock and scrubs to late night fillers. bring them back to primetime Pleeeeeeze.
    Bad treatment of ugly betty

    Ch 9 – 10 things I hate about you:
    #1 paying the awful eddie 4-5 mil per year to do nothing while their lack of money has resulted in loss of captions for hearing impaired, dumping ed philips, lower pay for trevor marmelade, not being able to afford TGYH, selling 4 shows to foxtel, axing sunday for cheaper shows, james packer selling out, sea patrol budget cuts, possibly boning 2 original hi-5 members and airing the cheapest of shows.
    #2 i guess a 9 complaint wouldn’t be complete without criticising the fact that they overkilled ramsay and 2.5 men. but i guess the fact that they no longer rate is punishment enough.
    #3 the horrible treatment of mcleods, temptation, fringe, mentalist, and canal road <<the few 9 shows i enjoy.
    #4 wasting everyones time and money with monster house, my kids a star, power of 10, million dollar wheel, bad lads army, battlefronts, the chopping block, deadly surf, the strip and 10 to 1.
    #5 the axing of attenbrough, wipeout, moment of truth, 1vs100 and fringe (twice)
    #6 endless repeats of CBS cop shows and 20 to 1
    #7 not enough aussie content
    #8 continually attempting to create factuals just to hit a cheap rating mine, that don’t even work
    #9 not continuing with young doctors
    #10 copying so many ideas from other networks: missing pieces, animal emergency, deadly surf, everyday heroes, rescue squad, Today’s scripts, and all those factuals

    10: do not get me started, i have given up.

  6. This year I am celebrating Festivus with the guys from channel 10 who decided to axe Big Brother, and replace it with a cooking show. Shame! You have disappointed me this year.

  7. Channel 9 getting rid of another good game show, first The Price is Right and now Temptation. I’m running out of game shows and I cannot stand Andrew O’Keefe so that leaves out Channel 7 options!

  8. I would invite the Aboriginal owners of Imparja to explain why they dumped Channel Ten programming, which meant tens of thousands of people missed out on their regular dose of Neighbours (not to mention SYTYCD, Big Brother and Australian Idol), and also why they sacked the entire news department and instead re-transmitted Nine News from Brisbane.
    I would also call on the officials from Australian Communication and Media Authority to explain why they did not do anything to restore Channel Ten programming in Central Australia. They should have seen this coming (Imparja ending its affiliation with Ten). The ACMA could have made an exemption from the 75% penetration rule by allocating a digital TV frequency so that Network Ten or Southern Cross could show Ten programs in the region.
    Northern Territory deserves better!

  9. Channels 7, 9 and 10; their personalities, programmers, executives, management etc….
    Hell, might as well just yell at the TV and give it a good kick!!

    Maybe Santa will bring me a new digital HD with a foxtel subscription and some unlimited broadband…..

  10. channel 9 have been the most disappointing they are the ones with the best shows in their arsenal that they have not made any attempt to air, or have sold off. 10 has shown such shows on on 10HD and 7 in the wee hours but 9 just leave them sitting on the shelf collecting dust. i’m not saying 9 has the best shows overall, just the best shows that have gone unaired. overall i would say 7 has the best shows but they have been treating them badly because supposedly we have gotten over american serials, i know i sure haven’t these always have been and always will be my main viewing.

  11. By far channel 9. Their treatment of Fringe, Terminator, Pushing Daisies, Chuck, McLeod’s Daughters, Temptation…. Not to mention green lighting appalling shows like My Kids a Star, The Chopping Block (twice), Monster House, The Strip, Canal Road….and flogging CSI, 2.5 Men rpts and Ramsay.

    Ugh im out of breath. F#@K you channel 9!

  12. Well i would have to say channel 7. The only decent new show of the yr by them was Packed to the Rafters, and that was way to overrated. They have filled their programming with real life – lifestyle programs (eg the zoo and outback wildlife rescue). They also have some of the most annoying peopld on TV such as David Kosh, Andrew O’Keefe, Larry Emdur and Mellisa Doyle. Apart from the idiots at 7 i would have to say whoever is in charge of the programming at 10, they really need to fix that before next year. And at 9 Paul Vautin is past his used by date and needs to resign from the Footy Show or else he will drag it down. And finally i have been disappointed with Eddie Macquare. Whilst he is a great on air talent and i miss him from our screens i think 4 – 5 million a yr is a bit much.

  13. I would invite Andrew O Keefe, the nightclub owner, the stranger who drove him home, the ceiling of Channel 7 in Brisbane, actually, Channel 7 in Brisbane in general, Jillian Whiting and Frank Warrick to come clean with the aluminum pole. As for the wrestling match, Whiting V O Keefe, sounds like a winner…

  14. Free to air (namely Channel 7) deserve a good kick up the bum for not showing the L word. It has ended up on Pay TV which has put it out of reach of those who cannot afford to subscribe. Thankfully for DVD we don’t have to wait that long!!

  15. Mmmm

    Start with the worst offender..Seven..most irked by the axing of the best show they had all year..the brilliant Michael Palin doco..& to top it off it’s not even on in NRP!! Grrr!!

    Nine..not much but annoyed by the lack of respect shown for the excellent The Closer & not going ahead with The Young Doctors which I was looking forward to.

    TEN..pretty happy with them except for the continuing rubbish treatment of Monk. Could have at least played it in the NRP idiots.

  16. Can I just burn someone at the stake instead ?
    Okay, only kidding, well just.
    Would hardly call “all network programmers” loved ones, but they are first on list.- have some guts, give shows a chance, listen to the public.
    Next up, network execs – cut the crap, be honest and stop lying to the public.If you promise a show for 2009, you must show it in 2009 and not on secondary channel or fobbed off to other network or paytv. BTW, Mr Highly paid execs stop using cos cutting excuse when you pay your talent (for warehousing services) and hand out perks to our mates. The public comes first.
    Next up, all the wannabe reality show contestants and so called judges – you know what you are getting yourself into, think first and then run.
    last up, everyone else that works on camera in TV, you are no different to the local nurse,plumber,social worker.Stop acting like spoilt brats.
    Otherwise when you crash and burn (or stuff up big time), one hopes the law comes down on you like tonne of bricks.

    On serious note, I would invite virtually all TV tonight posters and tell them to keep up the good fight and start being more honest.
    Lets keep the so called Free to air best in TV experts honest.
    Pass the beer someone !

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