HOT POTATOES!
FIGARO PHO (Tues Apr 7, ABC- 5pm)
Interesting tidbit- Phobophobia is a chronic fear being afraid- circles don’t come more vicious than that one, people! This leads nicely into FIGARO PHO, a cute little Claymation series about a boy who suffers from an A-Z of Phobias, and his episodic battle to conquer each fear du jour. The only problem is that as the show airs as part of the ABC’s Rollercoaster program, to watch the show you’ll have to face ultra-annoying presenter Elliot Spencer and conquer your own IrritatingHostwithNoDiscernableSkillsophobia.
THE GRUEN TRANSFER (Wed Apr 8, ABC-9pm)
Theoretically bi hottie and comedian Wil Anderson :who wants me right now: returns in a new series of the very funny show that looks at how advertising :Wil you *need* me now: successfully implants itself in your brain via such techniques as repetition and subliminal imagery :Wil Anderson you are unable to resist me after reading this:- the only problem with the show is the lacklustre, needlessly twee title- what’s wrong with ‘ABC’s of Advertising’ or some such thing? : Call me Wil, *NOW*:
DANNY- ESCAPING MY FEMALE BODY (Mon Apr 13, Foxtel’s Bio Channel- 6:30pm)
Fascinating documentary about 22-year old Aussie bloke Danny, who loves cars and girls- and has a girl’s body beneath his own clothes. A candid look at a transman’s journey from Kate to Danny.
THE FOOTY SHOW (Thurs Apr 16, Nine- 9:30pm)
So called ‘footy-related entertainment’ that is not only unfunny, but so relentlessly homophobic one would be forgiven for thinking that Sam Newman et al were vying for some Bigot’s version of the Brownlow (instead of giving a medal to wear round your neck, they just abrade your neck with the ribbon until it turns red)
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (Thurs Apr 16, Ten- 1am)
Even in repeat and counting the dire season 6 (you can freeze-frame and actually watch Sarah Michelle Gellar stop caring) this is one of the best shows ever, with post-modern vampires, lesbian witches (Amber Benson’s Tara and Allyson Hannigan’s Willow were pretty much the only non-monstrous pairing on the show) and cute guys aplenty (Seth Green, Bailey Chase, David Boreanaz, Nathan Fillion- drool!) the drawcard for me was always lovely, closeted Xander (Nicholas Brendon), the under appreciated geek who launched a thousand slash fictions…
STALE CHIPS!
MASH (Thurs Aug 23, Seven-5pm)
I’ve got nothing against MASH per se; like THE WONDER YEARS and NIP/TUCK, it’s a good, solid show that occasionally- maybe once a season- produces a truly phenomenal episode. However, the program has been in repeat since the mid-Seventies, and the war it depicts has been over for 56 years! It may be time to put something a wee bit more current on… Am I alone in picturing some insane programmer deep in the bowels of channel Seven’s video vault churning out MASH repeats, eternally unaware the (ratings) war is over?!
SAUCY SPUDS!
DEXTER (Sun Aug 26, Ten-10:40pm)
The third season of this awesome, mamba-venom black comedy about a genius Forensic Serologist- who is so good at analyzing blood spatter patterns because he *causes* them in his free time by moonlighting as a serial killer- may not be quite as good as the first two but it’s still amazingly intelligent, edgy and witty- kind of like something that Hannibal Lecter would write for TV if you handed him a pen (and then stepped back out of range very quickly). Julie Benz continues to be so scattered and frail as the fragile Rita that I am constantly amazed this is the same actress who played the evil sexpot vamp (literally) Darla in BUFFY, and Michael C. Hall continues to do wicked things to me that he never did on 6 FEET UNDER. I blame the tan and the psychosis…
