This Afternoon Has Been Cancelled… Does Anyone Care?
Yesterday it was announced that brand new Channel Nine show ‘THIS Afternoon’ has been cancelled after less than a month on air. I didn’t see it so I can’t comment on the quality of the show, but I was mildly repulsed by its shouty title so I can’t say I was rooting for it.
THIS Afternoon! It’s like they’re screaming at their viewers “Not TOMORROW afternoon, you notoriously thick bastards, not YESTERDAY afternoon, WE WANNA TALK ABOUT THINGS THAT HAPPENED TODAY! THIS AFTERNOON!” I prefer my TV shows to not have anger management problems or assume that I have suffered several blows to the head recently. That last reason is also why I don’t watch Two And A Half Men.
Channel Nine has boned ‘This Afternoon’ after less than a month on-air. The panel show had struggled with its news anchor, Mark Ferguson, announcing he was moving to arch-rival Channel Seven, and general awkward banter between the hosts Andrew Daddo and Katrina Blowers.
“While this is regrettable, our attitude is that it is better to have given it a shot,” Nine Network Director of News, Mark Calvert. “In the short time it was on air the team worked hard, but it was clear the program was struggling to attract a sizeable audience. It is vital that we recognise this and act swiftly. Our absolute focus remains on placing news and current affairs at the very heart of the network and its resurgence.”
You may be wondering just how many panel shows featuring celebrity allsorts explaining the news of the day to us our society actually needs. The answer is… there is no limit! As long as there are remotely stupid people out there in TV land, there’s someone who is going to need Dave Hughes explaining why Mark Webber’s recent win on the track is a special occasion. More panel shows, I say! I want Maria Venuti explaining the confusing world of finance to me – someone make it happen!
Comments
Boned Blowers.
This just goes to show that the demographic which chooses to watch daytime/afternoontime television isn’t of the type that has a particular affinity to keeping abreast with television news and current affairs spoonfed by a twittering pair of halfwits.
Perhaps in this day and age the true news junkie is more likely to be following events on the internet.
I’m holding my breath that a late-night, guffawing dissection of the day’s international trade movements will eventually appear on some obscure digitla channel – preferably hosted as awkwardly as possible by a panel of Ian Turpie, Anne-Maree Biggar, Marty from Big Brother, Julia Morris and Vince Sorrenti.
I was recently home early enough to catch ‘THIS Afternoon’ and I have to say that the reason that nobody watched was because the show was completely and utterly boring. There was no chemistry between the panelists and the pace was incredibly slow. Let’s see how the 7pm Project goes on 10. Fingers crossed.