★★★★★ 0/5

I Am Roxy

Sydney PR director is self-made but this TV observational isn't made of enough of enough humility.

30
Leave a comment

Another observational / reality offering in 10’s Pilot Week (there are a lot of them) is I Am Roxy, a half hour of television which centre around Sydney public relations director, Roxy Jacenko.

Jacenko, who has previously featured on Celebrity Apprentice and is a brand ambassador for Stan (I didn’t hear any plugs), owns Sweaty Betty PR and is wife to convicted former investment banker Oliver Curtis. Between them they generate an inordinate amount of column inches, at least in Sydney press.

This TV indulgence is not far removed from similar genres outings on Lara Bingle and Brynne Edelsten. It follows its title character at home and work with varying amounts of conflict and vanity.

As if to bring some gravitas, this is actually narrated by Barrie Cassidy, and the soundtrack draws upon classical music.

All of the conflict comes from Jacenko being unhappy or frustrated, and reminding us she is a perfectionist. She complains about renovations of a $6.6m house in scenes that could be straight out of The Block, moans to staff and an intern at a meeting, and expresses guilt over not being present enough to her two children, Pixie and Hunter.

The kids are ferried off to school with mocha lattes, driven in an SUV by their nanny.

“Being tough is the name of the game,” she insists.

“I don’t care about criticism, I have to be tough.”

Such scenes make her unsympathetic to viewers without necessarily being interesting.

After several of these scenes I couldn’t help but wonder, is she always looking for failure in order to call it out? She sure talks a lot.

“She has a very aggressive way of communication… she’s got no filter,” Curtis explains.

For whatever criticisms one has (boredom being chief amongst them) Jacenko is self-made as far as I can tell, so credit where it is due. But I question the appeal of this as a series, lacking humility and a trajectory. Perhaps if it had been filmed when Curtis went to prison and Jacenko faced a cancer battle it may have been more unique.

Right now it feels like privileged white folk given too much oxygen.

I Am Roxy airs 8:40pm Wednesday on 10.

30 Responses

  1. I wish one if the pilots would have been a sale of the century reboot if it had gone to series maybe try it at 7pm I would have watched it unless grant was the host

  5. Pilot Week is a brilliant idea for showcasing all kinds of programming and talent. But it needs to be a variety of genres and styles to work. Sounds like Ten has a solid imbalance going on here. Why haven’t they got the message that people are sick and tired of reality tv? I think they are in a bubble.

    1. Looking at the ratings each day……. people aren’t sick of reality that’s the thing. People on sites like this just like to complain about it.
      Reality has its place…. this show really doesn’t tho. Lazy programming

  6. Pilot week has so much potential to platform actual acting talent, of which there is plenty in this country, and they have chosen what sound like horrendous reality vehicles. You would think someone should get a smack for being so lazy and uninspiring in their job. Pilot week is such a good opportunity missed.

  8. I have never understood any appeal with this character. I just recall her on Celebrity Apprentice yelling a lot and fighting a lot. I think Roxy should stay where she belongs – among the items on the Daily Mail site.

  10. She only known to people outside Sydney at best because she was behind the botched David Warner apology/press conference after the ball tampering scandal from about 18 months ago.

  11. Nope. Pass. Not doing it.
    Don’t want to see some Vaucluse upper class woman’s day to day life. So vacuous.
    Barry Cassidy and classical music will not give it depth.

  13. It’s really disappointing that Ten is trialling this kind of show as a pilot. The kind of trash we already have and have seen so often before. Shouldn’t pilot week be about trying out fresh ideas and formats?

  18. Another piece of fluff nobody will watch. Unlikeable self obsessed characters, privileged Eastern Suburbs couple, and I do wonder if anyone outside Sydney has even heard of Roxy ? Good bit of research there, eh?
    Again if these Pilots are the best Ten programmers can come up with then I wonder how long their CBS masters will let them play with the piggybank and waste their money.

Leave a Reply