★★★★★ 0/5

2018: Dud year for new shows.

Thanks a bunch 2018. Let's not do that again.

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Let’s be real. 2018 was a stinker of a year for new local shows.

Amongst those that struggled to build audiences were Australian Spartan, Game of Games, Blind Date, Dance Boss, Street Smart, Everyone’s a Critic, Date Night, The Single Wives, Pointless, Dead Lucky and On the Ropes.

Will we remember Buying Blind, Bite Club, Pine Gap, The Mentor, Olivia, Back with the Ex, Think Tank, Tomorrow Tonight, Take Me Out?

Did anybody have a new hit?

Mystery Road has universal acclaim and consistent ratings. Congrats to Bunya Productions and ABC, you get the prize.

Honourable mentions to The Real Full Monty, Back in Time for Dinner, Ambulance Australia and Paramedics.

But readers are also making their picks of the Best New Show in the TV Tonight Awards.

Amongst the titles pulling votes from readers (in no particular order) are:

Harrow, Mystery Road, Hughesy We Have a Problem, Mr. Inbetween, Playing for Keeps and Ambulance Australia.

Do you agree or have something else to suggest?

Voting in the 2018 awards closes on Friday January 4th.

This is a detailed survey of over 30 questions and takes around 15 minutes to complete.

Voting closes Friday January 4th 2019, so you can vote later on shows still to come.

Vote here!

If you need some inspiration here are some links to recent awards.

17 Responses

  1. I hated all the reality shows listed-Take Me Out, Dance Boss…because they were basically the same and offered nothing new! I hated hated hated Take Me Out especially.

    Bite Club was a dud. I bored within fifteen minutes into the show. Even though Deborah Mailman is usually fantasic-Redfern Now anyone?

    I loved Paramedics. Much better than Ambulance by far. Hope they make new episodes next year. Got to love me some factual shows like these. I enjoy these far better than trashy reality tv.

  3. Then there is ‘Emergency Call’, a timeshifted emergency recording, trying to convince us that the emergency workers are actually talking live, despite my imaginations best attempts, it just doesn’t cut it.

    Never mind, MKR is sure to be a smash hit again, like who can resist a loving mother and son team (again), or the extraordinary scenario of two actual strangers forming a team, sure to be a blockbuster.

  4. I know I will most probably be the only one but I just have trouble remembering what I watched and liked or didn’t like. I really enjoy doing these surveys but I need a list to choose from. Sorry I know that would be take too long to do also.

    1. It’s a fair point which is why I provide some links to recent awards. I’m just reticent to offer a list and leave shows / people out. The other option is you just vote in categories that motivate you. They aren’t all compulsory.

      1. Oh good, I didn’t realise they weren’t all compulsory. I will take my time over the holidays and do some homework. Thank you for response David. Merry Christmas

  6. Enjoyed Mystery Road, just loved Mr Inbetween – didn’t see anything else except Jack Ryan which was pretty ordinary. SBS and Foxtel have so many great foreign series now that there’s not much time left for anything else!

  7. In my opinion the dramas I enjoyed the most were: Harrow and Playing for Keeps. Although I did enjoy Dead Lucky too and shame it missed viewers as I was hooked for every episode with a great cast.
    Some of the other dramas didn’t appeal, hence I didn’t watch. But agree there was too much reality, especially dating this year!

  9. Mr Inbetween was the only new Australian scripted show where I was looking forward the next episode and watched every one. And the only one I will be watching S2 of. Mystery Road has an IMDB rating of 7.7 so fans didn’t think it that wonderful. It was a pretty poor mystery, with Pederson just growling through every scene. Which is not a surprise because it’s a spin off of two mediocre films. It was made because it ticks the ABC’s boxes and the setting will generate OS sales.

  11. It seems a lot of money is being put into shows that blind freddy can see were never going to work. When I say ‘work’, i’m talking really high ratings, because we are seeing even above average rating shows being chopped. TBM. With viewers signing up and gone to streaming more every day, for FTA ratings surely the 500k rate will be the old 800k . When 7 chopped Blake ,it was my nudge to add Stan+disney to my netlix. 7 had me with Blake but told me to piss off to look elsewhere. gone.

  12. I really loved Bite Club, Dead Lucky, Pine Gap, Olivia & tomorrow tonight. Don’t know why they didn’t rate better. But that Pine Gap ending was really stupid. I still didn’t understand who the mole was. I hope there is another season. I also enjoyed Playing for Keeps, Harrow, Mystery Road, back in time for dinner, Hughsey we have a problem. I don’t consider any of them duds.

    1. The mole would be the person they arrested in the closing montage. There was one conversation in an elevator in the final episode that implied it was her, but most of the show had nothing to do with the story and could be skipped, since they just tacked an ending on in the last few minutes. I don’t see why it mattered, the mole achieved nothing since the Australian Government, ASIO and ASIS was all working for the Chinese anyway.

      1. Oh thanks for that. I had thought it was her too, then at the very end that young girl sat down next to the Chinese guy & I was confused & wondered if it was her. I would have liked to see them interrogate her & find out why she did it.

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