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So what’s been your summer gem?

With so much content on digital channels, 09 / 10 summer has delivered far more content than previous years. So what little gem have you found?

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The other week a journalist asked me for some quotes on how our TV summer season was faring and I pointed out that historically, the 09 / 10 season has offered an abundance of choice -at least compared to when we had just 5 channels, half of which were stuck on sport.

This year the amount of content has boomed, thanks to our extra digital channels.

But when the article appeared in print, readers hit back saying summer is still a dead zone. I got slammed. Well, it is if you stick with Australia’s Funniest Home Videos Daily Edition or Whacked Out Sports. Or you settle for a repeat of a 1995 movie. The key is to drill down and look at what is being offered on GO!, 7TWO, ABC and SBS. There have been some fantastic shows that are overlooked and deserve a little more word of mouth.

On Free to Air we’ve had The Circuit, John Adams, Lillies, Bush Slam, Torchwood: Children of Earth, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, Shrink Rap, The Graham Norton Show, Killer Whale Attack, The Colbert Report, Reaper, My Place, Gourmet Farmer, Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam, Stephen King’s Nightmares and Dreamscapes, White Collar, Kingdom, Burying Brian, Make Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America, Rex in Rome, Chandon Pictures, The Fixer, The Middle, and Elders with Andrew Denton.

Maybe you’ve been getting reacquainted again with old friends like Survivor, Ugly Betty, Nip / Tuck, Weeds, The Wire, Californication, Band of Brothers, Futurama, The Unit, Stargate: Atlantis, Beautiful People, Inside the Actor’s Studio or ER.

Are you basking in smiles now Big Love is back? Are your eyes popping out of your head at the steamy scenes in Dante’s Cove? Does Fringe still have its fans since its been playing new episodes? Are you now a fan of Man vs Wild or a late-night convert to The 7pm Project?

And has anyone out there actually found a gem on SBS TWO they simply have to share?

Pay TV’s offerings are too numerous to mention but summer highlights would have to include Satisfaction, The #1 Ladies Detective Agency, Gossip Girl, The Contender Australia, Hung and of course Dexter. Not succumbing to ratings pressure, the Pay sector isn’t really doing much in 09 / 10 that it didn’t do twelve months ago, whereas the landscape in Free to Air summer is wildly different.

Let’s not forget a ‘summer gem’ isn’t really a big broad hit title like Dexter or new episodes of Glee. It’s something you’ve discovered, possibly by mistake, that nobody else seems to know about.

I found another one this week: Taking The Flak. A British satire about Foreign Correspondents working for the BBC in the fictional African state of Karibu, and the lengths they will go to in order to land a story for the 6pm News. It was like Frontline meets guerilla soldiers. It’s buried at 10pm on Thursday nights on ABC2. Definitely worth a look, and I only wish I had found it earlier to write a review for the first episode last week (Ep 1 is on iView). Getting On is another little gem (it starts tonight on ABC1).

So let’s hear it. What are your newest discoveries we should all be taking a look at? Please try to keep answers succinct guys.

78 Responses

  1. The top three for me are White Collar which I am really enjoying (and hopefully Ten continues to fasttrack), Parks and Recreation (I nearly died of laughter at last weeks ep where they tried to find dirt on each other) and one which nobody has mentioned yet, New Amsterdam which was unfortunately cancelled after only eight episodes.

  2. Living in the country in WA,my summer TV has been the following,
    SBS-John Adams, Rex in Rome, Rock Wiz,
    ABC-Lilies, Make em Laugh,Torchwood, Wild at Heart, The Bill, Beautiful People,
    Graham Norton, Wah-Wah, HG Wells, 7 ages of Rock,Teenage Kicks,Elders, My Family
    Win-Division 4

  3. it seems a lot of people are pinning their hopes on 10 having a 3rd channel, well folks, I hope it lives up to the expectations. But, I wouldn’t be holding my breath. And I have loved hestons Feast and Survivor Samoa. Lets hope we get Heroes and Villians on 9 and not GO.

  4. Been spending time either watching or recording The Office (agreed of how Ten has been disrespecting hope their 3rd channel will solve this), Gary Unmarried or some movies and Showcase’s mini Series. Good summer overall abit of catching up along with New Shows.

  5. Lynda La Plante’s The Commander, Dante’s Cove, Survivor Samoa, Glee (especially the marathon), Stevie Jacobs on The Weekend Today, Cold Case repeats, The Middle, Nip/Tuck

  9. Parks and Recreation on 7 deserves a mention as 1 or 2 others have said. Works well with It’s Alway sunny in Philly” on afterward for some good dumb guy laughs late on Monday or Tuesday night.

  10. White Collar – absolutely love that show. Matt Bomer, yes please.
    Nip/Tuck – i am loving seeing this back on even though i have no idea what season it’s up to and i missed all the episodes after the Carver finale.
    Dante’s Cove – my guilty pleasure, it’s such a terrible show, but oh so hot. Survivor – never gets old
    The Office – Ten treat it like crap, when it is the only decent thing they have at the moment.
    Parks and Recreation – another great comedy, similar to The Office, but i love it. Deserves better timeslot.
    It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia – I’ve really only started to watch it this summer, but i love it. Funny stuff.
    My Family – Also very funny.

  11. Many new shows were being aired during the summer season & I tried giving shows at least one viewing but I haven’t been hooked by many of the shows on offer I had high hopes for such as The Cleveland Show, Parks & Recreation & more. There were a few shows I had lost interest in such as Survivor, Elders & Futurama among others. Many shows did not appeal to me whatsoever such as Gary Unmarried, Whacked Out Sports, Seconds From Disaster, Secret Millionaire, No Leave No Life & more.

    On the upside, there were some decent shows on ABC2, Go!, 7Two & even SBS2. I enjoyed Make ‘Em Laugh (I’m also hoping ABC will make a similar series about Australian comedy), Heston’s Feasts, Mysteries of The Brain series, Graham Norton among others. I also watched usual offerings such as Border Patrol, Motorway Patrol, Cricket, Tennis, Iron Chef & Mythbusters. Overall, it’s been an expected diminished summer period for TV but I think it has been better than previous summer seasons for television.

  12. Burying Brian was a NZ dramedy which had a late night Monday time slot on 9. It was quirky but enjoyable and surprisingly quite engaging too for a genre I don’t normally watch. It had a good storyline and the only drawback was the “Previously on Burying Brian” voice over at the start of the show which sounded more like it should say “This is TVNZ News”. It’s too bad that 9 put it in a poor time slot over summer because it had the potential to do well for them, and I and others probably wouldn’t have discovered it if David hadn’t noted it.

    Also, ABC2 is airing reruns of Season 2 Father Ted Fridays at 8pm, possibly due to the success of the Christmas special. At the same time on Mondays there is another British sitcom named Teenage Kicks.

  13. ABC 2 ..we love you. Really. Taking The Flak was wonderfully satirical.. a must see. The new series of Ideal continues to amuse with it’s distinct stoned and surreal ways. Massive is fun with Ralph Little setting up a record label. Finally I have found the IT Crowd just gets funnier. Sweet summer gems all of them.

  14. It’s finished now, but Heston’s Feasts on SBS was fantastic. Stumbled upon this whilst flicking channels and it was a fascinating look into dishes cooked during history and Heston taking his own approach to the recipes. Bizarre and intriguing show

  15. The Middle. Caught my first episode of this show during the week and it was surprisingly funny. I thought it would just be a Malcolm clone. I’m not into Vampires much but the Vampire Diaries isn’t bad viewing.

  16. I’ll be a little bit cheeky and say GO! and 7TWO as I have enjoyed watching ‘old’ shows on these new channels. Call me what name you want but I enjoy reliving old shows like Seinfeld, Hogan’s Heros, Mother and Son, Get Smart and The Flintsones! So much better than much of the new crop of shows!

  17. I’ve just about given up watching local TV now. With the multitude of channels the picture quality is unacceptable for anyone with a big screen interested in quality.

    So it’s mainly Blu-ray and “alternative sources” for me.

  18. The summer gems for me have been The Circuit (SBS), My Place (ABC3), Satisfaction & Hung (Showcase), Ugly Betty & Not Going Out (7Two), Beautiful People & Chandon Pictures (ABC1). Also caught quite a few of The Graham Norton Show on UKTV and ABC2.

    Also discovered a lifestyle show called “Peter Perfect” on The Style Network. I don’t usually watch these types of makeover shows but this one is quite funny and interesting. It features a flamboyant Brit stylist named Pater Ishkhans doing makeovers on American businesses and workers. It’s a bit like a Queer Eye for the Straight Small Business. They’ve only made two short series and it’s constantly repeated in different slots. One of the Free to Air Networks should grab this show. Ideal for Ten or 7-7Two.

  21. I really enjoyed White Collar!

    I have enjoyed Wild at Heart season 3 on ABC2,

    and it was good to see Ch7 run Private Practice as a first run show. better than the movies now!

    Plus Beautiful People was unusual and funny!

  22. Inside the Actors studio is becoming my new Sunday night tradition on ABC2 – the one with Ricky Gervais on Sunday was Hilarious!! So glad Big Love is back too – am currently watching season 2 on dvd so I “timeshifted” last night’s episode to watch this weekend when i’ve finished season 2. ‘How I met your mother’ always grows on me during the summer – it’s only because it’s been on Monday nights, which in our household is Top Gear and then usually recording one of the other channels, which means I don’t get to watch it during the year (usually whatever reality is on ten gets the preference). 30 Rock too – it’s just too late for me to watch during the year, so I tend to catch up in Summer. Disappointments – I had high hopes for The Middle, now I’m hoping it gets axed so Neil Flynn can go back to Scrubs. And Parks and Recreation (I think that’s the name, the Amy Poelher show) was very disappointing – I had high hopes for it, but it is really just a poor man’s The Office.

  23. Seven: Band of Brothers, The First 48
    Nine: CSI Miami, CSI NY, The Commander, Cold Case
    Ten: Californication, Outrageous Fortune
    GO: Nip/Tuck, Dante’s Cove, Nightmares and Dreamscapes, Blackadder. Glad that ER is back too.
    7TWO: Mother and Son. A funny alternative to the other shows on at 7pm.
    ABC: Lilies.
    ABC2: Torchwood
    SBS: The Circuit, Big Love.

  24. I don’t know if there has been one show for me over the summer. Yes FTA has seen a huge change with it’s new channels, PayTV not so much but still heaps to offer, 2010 will be interesting with TEN and others planning a 3rd channel I just hope they don’t chop and change their line-ups too quickly before letting a show find it’s audiance.

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