THE BATMAN (Sat Aug 30, Nine, 8:05am, 8:40pm, 9:20pm (repeats Mondays)
You know a series is bad when it tries to come at you from three different timeslots and wear you down with sheer persistence. Trying very, very hard to be the C21st version of the Emmy –award winning Nineties’ BATMAN- THE ANIMATED SERIES, The Batman has poor animation, awful and unnecessary re-designs of classic characters (the Joker looks like a muppet, and the only question the Riddler should ask is ‘why hasn’t Marilyn Manson sued me for stealing his outfit yet?’. The scripts are weak and kid-friendly, the Batman *whines* about his lot in life, and it’s a general bat-stuffup on all levels- except the voice acting, which has attracted some serious talent (Ron Pearlman as Clayface, Robert Englund as Riddler, Gina Gershon as Catwoman). Chalk this one up as Die Failed-Ermouse….
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MARK LOVES SHARON (Sat Aug 30, Ten- 10pm)
Hey, remember Mark Wary (Jason Gann), the ‘hilarious’ character spoofing both Shane Warne and Wayne Cary from the comedy sketch show THE WEDGE? No, neither do I, and I thought we were safe from the unfunny horrors of THE WEDGE forever, but now Ten has resurrected a one-joke character from a no-joke sketch show and given him his own series- This sets a frightening precedent- can a full-length buddy cop telemovie starring old-hat characters Percy Penguin and Mick Molloy be far behind?!
