What I’ve Been Watching: Mick Molloy

Ask Mick Molloy a silly question… get an even sillier answer.

The Front Bar star is a fan of The Crown, Bluey, Antiques Roadshow and AFL. Mostly AFL.

What shows are on your must-see TV list lately?
MM: I’ve been absolutely loving The Crown, though I don’t like this Camilla character – if she gets in between Charles and Diana I’ll be furious. Stranger Things is also a fave of mine because it takes you back to a better time as a teen in the ’80s. I used to love riding around on a dragstar with my mates. Sure, we never fought off any giant human-eating alien creatures from the underworld, but when we went yabbying we caught some pretty big ones that could give you a nasty pinch on the finger.

What’s your preferred genre to watch and which shows have been highlights?
MM: My favourite genre is AFL Grand Finals, and mostly I’ve been watching the 2017, 2019 and 2020 ones on repeat. Second to that my favourite genre would have to be ‘roadshow containing antiques’, and luckily there’s a show called Antiques Roadshow. People think it’s for fuddy-duddies, but I tell you what, when some idiot brings a Louis XV Floral Fabric Upholstered Solid Beech Timber Armchair with White Wash fabric that they’ve let their cat sleep on… well, as you could imagine, I can’t contain my rage.

Which guilty pleasure show are you reluctant to admit to watching?
MM: Bluey – and it’s not even because I have kids. I just love it. My favourite episode is when Bluey got an addiction after becoming a drug-sniffing dog at the airport. And I’ll admit I cried in that episode when someone backed over Bluey in their ute and she had to go to “the big farm in the sky”. Moving stuff. I may have slid into a couple of episodes of Selling Sunset. We can all identify with super rich real estate agents selling to other super rich people. One of the agents, Christine, got engaged and had a zebra just wandering around. Throw in a hippo and a giraffe and that’s my kinda party!

When you settle down for a night on the couch what are your ‘must-haves?’
MM: It’s like NASA ground control for a space shuttle mission when I settle in for the night. I have 15 kilos of various salted snacks scattered across the couch, three helmets that you put the beer cans on the side and drink from a straw [a back-up and a back-up back-up], and I ensure every device [phone, iPad, burner iPad] is fully charged so that there’s no chance I can miss out on Uber Eats.

What show would you secretly love to appear on?
MM: The Golden Girls. There were a lot of fights in that house and I really think I’d have been a calming influence. Although I wouldn’t want to be on the end of one of Sophia’s stinging barbs. Man could she cut you down! Or 7.30 with Leigh Sales. I think that show could really work as a two-hander. Leigh could be grilling someone on the vaccine rollout, and then I come over the top and ask, “McChicken or Whopper Junior?” Boom! They’re bamboozled and we’ve got them on the ropes. Although 7.30 is a bit early – I’m still at the pub. Do you think Leigh would do 2.30am?

With so many football panel shows what does The Front Bar do better than the rest, and what can we look forward to?
MM: There’s been a real gap in the market for comb-overs due to a lost bet, giant onions and unfit people in flannies, and I think we’ve just been lucky to fill that hole. Sure, no one knew they needed it filled, but we’re there. This year is still a work in progress. Trying to reshape the shemozzle that has been the last four years is going to take some time. Sam Pang is still a young kid with stars in his eyes and a dream in his heart, and we just need to find a way to harness that so that we can get the best out of him. Andy Maher has been a stalwart in the Australian sporting industry. But of late he is starting to think about his retirement and has really dropped the ball, which has left me to do all the heavy lifting on this show. Fingers crossed, we make it to the end of the year.

The Front Bar airs 8:30pm Thursdays on Seven (check local guides).