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TEN’s Reef Doctors delayed to 2013

New TEN drama Reef Doctors starring Lisa McCune has been pushed back to 2013.

New TEN drama Reef Doctors starring Lisa McCune has been pushed back to 2013.

The family based Queensland drama, produced by Jonathan M. Shiff Productions, was due to launch later this month but will now screen early next year.

TEN denies the move is related to recent magazine headlines about McCune’s private life, and says the  beach-themed show was more suited to a summer time slot.

The move may also be part of a plan to try and give the new drama a longer life. Launching now while the network is under-performing could mean the show may struggle to reach a second season.

Aside from Come Date with Me and the anticipated telemovie Underground: The Julian Assange Story, TEN now has few local titles it is yet to premiere in 2012.

Reef Doctors is now expected in February.

Source: Herald Sun

18 Responses

  1. I think this a wise move for 10, hopefully next year Reef Doctors will be a mild hit. I was just wondering are 10 still going to screen the drama with Shaun Micallef and Kat Stewart, has it been made?? Maybe 10 should try and get the rights to screen Foxtels new Aussie womens prison drama Wentworth! Or just bring Prisoner back in repeats and put it on at 8.30 every night!! Also bring back Neighbours to the main channel, then they’ll have some drama points.

  2. Good move by TEN.. definitely no point launching a new drama now when they’re in such trouble for viewer numbers. Best for them to kick off the new year with the first of a strong succession of Australian dramas.. start with Reef Doctors, then Offspring, followed by a second season of Puberty Blues. And they should keep them on Wednesdays at 8.30.. TEN’s ‘home’ for Australian drama series.

  3. The advertisers will not be happy. Basically you’re saying to them that we have nothing we are confident enough to launch this year. In fact it is the Australian drama on Ten that has done relatively well for them this year, though still way below the numbers of Aussie dramas on Nine and Seven. Reef Doctors is a show with two masters, one in Germany and one in Australia. They have different needs and while such a formula can succeed with children’s drama this is an extremely high risk strategy for prime time adult drama. Ten would be far better placed to get it to air, see how it goes and if it fails not renew and get on with creating a number of new Aussie dramas. In other words wipe the slate clean and move on. This must happen as a matter of urgency for Ten.

  4. I reckon this was their intention all along there was never any advertising….Still bummed though really looking forward to Lisa McCune on our screen again….oh well I guess I have something to look forward to

  5. It will bomb or It will do ok (like rush) but there will be to many changes and people will slowly loose interest. that’s if channel 10 doesn’t go belly up before then. the network has really stuffed up and I think they need to go back to scratch and start over. they need to stop trying to find the next big thing and stick with people are watching.

    It surprises me that the people running the FTA networks haven’t learnt by now, if something is working, even if it isn’t rating all that strong, if it has loyal viewers, don’t change it.

    the only reason Today and Sunrise are doing so well is because the Today show was a lone horse for a long time, channel seven launched Sunrise it failed, they tried again and It worked, only then did the Today show get an overhaul, it took some time but it got there. The same needs to happen with breakfast, they expect it to work straight away, it will take time, what they need to remember is the viewers they are getting have switched from the other 2 networks,

    network 10 has became a network not worth watching, I do enjoy Breakfast, there long weather report is a little annoying, and the project is good to watch until neighbours at 630. then its back to foxtel.

  6. Along with Mr J, I’m also curious how this will affect Ten’s drama points for the year. David, do you know if they’ll reach their quota without Reef Doctors or is it too early to say? They have season 2 of The Almighty Johnsons up their sleeves and possibly more NZ content.

  7. Good decision. I hope if it a good series the delay doesn’t put it in jeopardy. With it being Jonathan M. Shiff Production I suspect it might be. Good luck Ten if that isn’t considered bad luck.

  8. I think it’s a good move. Ten is so on the nose now that good programming would and is struggling.

    Maybe the launch next year with a rebranded network might just help.

    I think they will just go through the motions for the rest of the year.

    The living Room and Puberty Blues are their current highlights, and I hope they make it through to their 2013 re-launch.

  9. this finished filming at the start of this year so it will be a very long turnover, which usually means it will not be renewed. by the time season 2 discussions come up the cast & crew have moved on and have lost interest.

    so it seems ten are holding ammunition and giving up on 2012 for an big load in 2013, a smart move IMO. they should also hold off underground and air it in feb to help lauch a new lineup. anything they launch now will just be wasted infront of a 300k audience. and no ten, not up against the men’s tennis final.

    could this be a hint that they are finally moving neighbours back to ten? i highly doubt they can reach their drama quota otherwise.

  10. Come date with me? WTF is that?

    Sounds like the latest in a huge list of colossal flops on Ten. Nobody wants to watch crap like Don’t Tell The Bride, I Will Survive, The Shire, or any of these trashy reality shows. If they keep commissioning trash like that they’ll come 4th behind the ABC for a long while yet.

    Reef Doctors sounds like a weird hybrid of Sea Patrol and Canal Road, I will not be watching

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