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Why I heart Network TEN

It's easy to kick someone when they're down. So here's a shout-out to the things I love about Network TEN.

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Let’s be honest. It’s easy to kick someone when they’re down.

And it’s hard to think of a time when TEN has been lower than now. We all know the shows that are tanking, the decisions that are inane and the brand that we once viewed as bold. We’d all run it better than the mob that’s trying to do it now.

I’ve written plenty on what’s wrong, so today I’m turning the tables and giving a little bit back.

We’re a small nation and if we don’t have three commercial networks all firing on four cylinders then we all lose out.

So here’s a shout-out to the things I love about Network TEN. The things I probably take for granted and would miss if they weren’t there anymore. It’s little moments that make up the bigger picture -literally- and here are just a few…

Neighbours. Jacki Woodburne -dammit why doesn’t this woman have a Logie yet please?

An Idiot Abroad. I don’t care if Karl Pilkington is putting it on for the cameras, it’s bonkers.

Bondi Vet. Is there a more perfect nice guy on the telly than Dr Chris Brown? I just want my cat to get sick so I can take it to him. And I don’t even own a cat.

American Horror Story. Jessica Lange, Jessica Lange and Jessica Lange.

Can of Worms. Chrissie Swan won me over when she stood up to bully Ben all those years ago on Big Brother and has been defiant ever since. Smart, self-deprecating, pitch perfect as this show’s new host.

Class Of. Ok it really doesn’t belong on TEN because it’s far too ABC2, but this is quite the surprise package.

Glee. Any musical number from Darren Criss. What a little star.

Homeland. Straight up, the best new US drama of 2012. Played with my head trying to work out if Brody was lying or not. Can’t wait for S2.

Judge Judy. Just to hear her say the word “Baloney.”

MasterChef Australia. Croquembouches, macarons, and Matt’s cravat. Amina was a sheer joy this year and Andy was a popular win. Shine did a great job of restoring the brand. Oh and Gary Mehigan has totally stepped up as the show’s key storyteller.

MasterChef: All Stars. An inspired idea to compete with the Olympics and there was such a feeling of camraderie between the teams. Effortless telly.

Modern Family. A rolled gold cast. Twice as funny when you watch it with a group of friends.

Offspring. Where do I start? Asher Keddie’s timing, Kat Stewart’s cyclonic character, Eddie Perfect’s songs, Matthew Le Nevez’s longing looks and the gorgeous Deb Mailman…. the show is the epitome of a.w.k.w.a.r.d.

The Good Wife. Yes we can talk about Julianna Margulies, but what about Archie Panjabi as Kalinda?

Puberty Blues. For bringing back ’70s, language ya moll. Brenna Harding and Ashleigh Cummings are so natural as two partners in crime. A sparkling ensemble. And I’m keeping my eye on Susan Prior.

TEN News. Mal Walden’s little asides and editorials. Sandra Sully’s dulcet tones and sheer staying power. Angela Bishop’s camp passion for showbiz. Hamish MacDonald, dashing, smart, a nose for news, loves an interview and wears red pants.

Nurse Jackie. L-i-a-r!!!

The Project. Hughesy’s segues, Carrie’s capacity for emotion, and Charlie’s ability to balance it all. Often a deft balance of humour and news which is a bit of a tall order. Plus the poor buggers are made to work on a Sunday and I still haven’t worked out why.

Totally Wild. 20 years and totally committed to kids. Ranger Stacey has seen it all.

The Living Room. Quietly emerging as an engaging mix. Amanda Keller is always wry and personable. Miguel Maestre is a fresh find from the LifeStyle channel.

Planet of the Apes marathon. For having the balls to schedule it.

Meet the Press. Paul Biongiorno.

H20, Lightning Point and a network commitment to Children’s Drama.

And there we have it. Any others you care to add?

Of course this doesn’t mean I don’t heart Seven, Nine, ABC, SBS and Foxtel too …….News flash: I heart Television.

85 Responses

  2. TEN is still my favourite channel, can’t stand majority of the crap that’s on 7 and 9 but as has been mentioned in an earlier post, the latter two know how to market their shows better. Maybe what TEN needs is a good marketing and promotions manager?! There’s a thought. I also think that if TEN brought down the production of YTT just a notch (e.g. not so razzle dazzle) the cost wouldn’t be so high that they would need it to rate extremely well to recoup their costs. I think that TEN have in the past couple of years just lost their way and are reacting to what the other two are doing and someone upstairs has panicked. Some of the shows that TEN have stuck with (regardless of main or digital channels), despite ratings that may not have brought in 1M+ are The OC and Smallville, I might add both were on 9 originally. Look at Neighbours, which 7 didn’t originally want and TEN bought, then when 7 saw how well it was doing they created Home and Away. The latter I might add has way too much drama for a 7pm timeslot (how many deaths/murders etc) can a little place like Summer Bay really have? Does the prison and juvenile delinquent system just send them all there?!
    I heart TEN a lot, but start to think about what your viewers want, not what your Board and Executives want.

  3. I think we all care that TEN survives….I use to watch TEN a lot ….I seriously want things to turn around and for them to succeed!
    Good article DK.

  5. Let’s see… there’s all the fabulous dramas like Mary Bryant, Jessica, Society Murders and the short lived but brilliant Tripping Over. And of course Secret Life of Us. Oh and the Blackjack films with Colin Friels, and Small Claims with Claudia Karvan & Rebecca Gibney.
    And Big Brother in the first years was excellent with Gretel.
    And shows like Saving Babies and The Ultimate Donation…
    Still love TEN. Puberty Blues is inspired.

  7. JB: Since we are being positive about Channel 10.

    Channel 10 have had a pretty good record in the past of sticking with shows and all of season once they start it. That is probably due to the they have less content to switch to.

    Channel 10 put on repeats of NCIS during a production break than with 4 episodes to go in the current series. There are only 24 NCIS eps/year so you are going to get repeats half the year.

    The Good Wife’s ratings were never very good (which is a shame because the 3rd series was very good). Channel 10 tried various slots at screened every episode later in the week. 7 or 9 wouldn’t have bothered.

    House’s rating plunged long before 10 started moving it around. Channel 10 showed them all even though only a few hundred thousand wanted to watch them.

    White Collar has always been shown by 10 in summer behind the US, where it has done OK. It not the sort of show that would rate well up against hit shows. Hopefully we will get S3 soon.

    Dumping Psych one episode into S5 on a secondary channel was annoying though. As was the disappearance of The Finder from 10.

  9. I was at TEN, North Ryde, in 70’s. We had stuff 7 and 9 didn’t. Automation, VTRs that could edit, etc.
    TEN had some great programs. Mission Impossible, Dr.Kildare, Young Talent Time, Paramount movies, Mike Walsh, the list is endless.
    But they ran out of money. Someone had the audacity to suggest Number 96. The Board told the Chairman (Sir Kenneth Humphreys) “we could lose our licence”. His response was “don’t worry, if this fails we’ll be off the air next week anyway”. History tells the rest. ATV-0 soon followed with The Box, with gratuitous nudity etc., but they made programs that people would watch, not the “reality” rubbish now made. And – programs were never shuffled around. They stayed in place. Programs always ran on time. None of this quarter to and quarter past nonsense. And the rating only came out once per week. Perhaps that’s a contributing issue now – overnight ratings.

    1. Again… the spirit of the post is to pause, take a breath and acknowledge the good stuff. Plenty of other occasions to point out what’s wrong. Everybody, me included, has been doing that at great length. I thought it was worth detailing some of the goodies…

  10. David – pretty much agree on everything you have listed.

    Such a shame that Ten has totally lost it’s way now.

    I watched IWS and PB – and both should have rated much better than they did.

    PB in fact is heaps better than Howzat which is getting monster ratings and heaps of media kudos.

    Sadly missed Class of – again. Is this being repeated anywhere? The promos alone look terrific and so much better than Shire and Bingle.

    And despite the love you’ve given Ten – I think IWS and Class of will be moved to Eleven very very soon.

    NCIS repeats and an encore screening of Devil wears Prada will be on Ten very very soon too.

  11. I heart Channel 10 because I think programs on 10 tend to be more socially progressive (or rather more socially up-to-date) than programs on 7 or 9. Perhaps not always, but as a general rule.

    Like David said, I don’t know why gay parenting was considered to be a subject more appropriate for Big Brother Confidential than regular ‘family-friendly’ Big Brother, especially when Modern Family is on at the same time. And shows like The Farmer Wants a Wife and Please Marry My Boy are the biggest historical anachronisms on telly.

    I also think local productions 7 and 9 are incapable of subtlety – I found the style of Packed to the Rafters and Winners and Losers so relentlessly ham-fisted. And from the promos, House Husbands looks like its offending the taste of its target audience. Whereas shows like Pubery Blues and Offspring have a subtle, clever sense of humour. Serious issues are handled sensitively and with respect for the audience. Morals aren’t shoved down your throat and you don’t cringe during family-oriented scenes (compare the families in Puberty Blues and the Proudmans in Offspring to Jenny’s family in Winners and Losers).

  13. Ten has consistantly been the underdog, but even from the 90’s they were always my favourite station. I think they suffered from trying to play catch up with Seven and Nine by changing their schedules all the time. And while all the networks are guilty of doing it, Ten seems to do it alot.

    I think they also made the mistake of moving too many of their imports over to the digital channels. Sci-fi and dramas that rate well in the US and have the potential to rate decently here are being lost on One and Eleven because, despite the uptake of digital channels, not everyone pours over the entire TV guide to see whats on across 12 odd channels.

    Ten has been very innovative over the years as mentioned in the article, and they should be congratulated for many of the changes they made to the TV landscape.

    These days, it seems as though they are in a constant state of catch-up, rather than sitting down and strategising a way to turn things around. They need to stop chasing that “one hit” show, and start building a schedule that will hook people for a night, or many nights.

    And just maybe pull some of those shows from One and Eleven that have a lot of hype or sell well on DVD, and put them on the main channel instead of more Modern Family!

    Here’s another idea – a retro night on the main channel where they replay some of the series from the late 90’s and 00’s. Would be great to see X Files back on (although 7 has the rights now). Friends, Drew Carey Show, Ally McBeal – bring them back one night a week!

  14. I really like the intent here David…so..in the spirit…
    And an analogy.

    When I was small mum used to dress us up and come into the city to browse and shop. ‘Normal’ shopping was in the area where we lived (of course).

    Watching Ten has always reminded me of that dressing up and going into the city – the more up-market feel, the intimations of style and ‘gloss’, the sense of visiting and experiencing a slightly more upmarket community than the one you might be living in.

    That to me was Ten and I think the essence is still there (perhaps needing water and some tlc) irrespective of individual programs.

  15. Hate Chrissy Swan for the exact opposite reasons you like her, man hating Gretel put the spin that Chrissy stood up to Ben, in fact she manipulated, back stabbed and bullied him.

  16. What I heart about Ten is I don’t think I’ve ever missed the end of a program due to overruns and having my PVR stop recording. Can’t say the same about Seven and Nine….

  17. Count me in on the Ten love. It’s the network I watch the most, and that’s mainly due to their locally produced l content.
    Unfortunately, I don’t have a ratings meter to be able to show them some tangible appreciation.
    I sincerely hope they can turn things around.

  18. 95% of TEN’s shows are complete garbage. However, The Simpsons and Futurama, ‘nuf said. I fully agree about Homeland, but Neighbours? Let alone MasterChef and Judge Judy. Tell me you’re joking. Please…

  19. Absolutely agree with David on Big Brother, Homeland, The Good Wife and Can of Worms. Its about time someone showed some love for Kalinda, but why not Alan Cumming’s Eli Gold which is one of his best roles I have even seen him in(with the exception of his role in Burlesque) and one of easily one of the best character in the series.
    Additions of So You Think You Can Dance (Aust. & U.S.), Australian Idol, The Game Plan NRL, Hawaii Five-0, White Collar, Burn Notice, and Blue Bloods (even though two of these shows have been cancelled, and four are not scheduled they are all still brilliant TEN shows). TEN used to be the place for brilliant series, both international and domestic, and I think with some hard work TEN can get back to that prime position in the coming years.

  20. Nice article David. Agree with all. I would add Late News to the mix, but only when it is hosted by Natarsha Belling. Sorry but MacDonald is over-hyped and hasn’t delivered.

    P.S I think Sandra Sully’s tweets during Puberty Blues last night probably outrated the show itself. Very funny lady.

  21. For me TEN was always my favourite channel because it felt as if there was a ‘community’ that was like-minded watching along with me.

    Big Brother, Aus Idol, MasterChef, Biggest Loser, SYTYCD, Talkin Bout Your Generation

    Then it all changed. Most of those shows have gone to other networks or as in TBYG’s case, got shifted around too much on different nights and times by some dull monkey working the controls in the programming dept.

    I miss the old TEN!!

  22. I love Sons of Anarchy, NCIS, the LA version, Burn Notice, White Collar and hell I love the US output deals that TEN have with Fox and CBS. Without a doubt they are buying the majority of the best television out of the US!

    I love that they show two US talk shows, when some networks don’t show any! I love that they take risks and for once upon a time I never turned the channel off TEN except for the breakfast shows in the morning.

    Most of all though, I love the passion people here have for the network! Myself being one, but we all have passionate ideas of how we want to see TEN bounce back and no doubt some of them would go a long way! They may be loosing us as loyal viewers, but we still hold out hope and show a lot passion in how they could improve, and I love that!

  23. Thanks for articulating all the reasons why Ten has always been my fave FTA network. Can I also mention Bondi Rescue and the legendary The X-Files as other reasons to love Ten. Agree with you about Dr Chris Brown, he is a major find, as is Miguel Maestre. TBYG needs to be revived by the way, Ten.

    I watched PB last night. Oh my goodness, absolutely fantastic. I was a teenage girl in the mid-70’s living in a similar beachside area in Sydney and I was instantly transported back. I even had a similar brown newsprint T-shirt to the one Sue was wearing last night! I was going to avoid it as a needless nostalgia trip, but the hype sucked me in and I’m glad it did. I even heard “Gypsy Queen’ by Country Radio on the show’s soundtrack, a song I loved as a teen. But what was even better than PB was Class Of… afterwards. What a compelling gem! Reminded me of that great Conviction Kitchen that was on Seven (I think) a year of so ago. If Class Of.. was on Seven, it would be in an 8.30pm timeslot and probably do close to 1M. Seven publicise these shows better and know how to build hype for their reality offerings.

  24. It has to be ‘The Bold and the Beautiful’, most people watch but won’t admit. This is TEN’s longest running show (25yrs), and good on them for dedication (I just wish they wouldn’t edit the show so much).

  25. I would add “The Devil Wears Prada”

    on another note how good was Ten’s overall graphic designs? all fresh and young unlike other network

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