Evidently Channel Nine is hoping to create another star-studded drama serial that they won't be able to show in Victoria, so they can spend a few more dollars on court costs, because network head honcho David Gyngell has given the "make rocket go now" nod to an Underbelly "prequel" series.

Provided it involves lots more swearing/killing/punching on/boobs, we're happy!

Speaking exclusively to Confidential yesterday, the ironically media-shy boss said that he was "really excited" about the 13-episode series scheduled to begin production in September.

"The best television drama always warrants a second season and Underbelly is no exception," he said.

"It was the best television many of us have seen in a very long time."

Involving most of the stellar cast from the first gangland epic series - with a heavy focus on Vince Colosimo's character Alphonse Gangitano - the prequel will converge on building the background to the colourful characters.

And it will show their involvement in the Melbourne underworld before the arrest of Carl Williams in 2004.

But will the real life Carl Williams write sooky letters to his mother from jail about how this one makes him look like a "dickhead"? Will Roberta Williams take her top off again? Will we still enjoy mimicking Vince Colosimo's hilarious Lygon Street twang as we yell "I'M ALPHONSE GANGITANO!" at no one in particular?

Only time will tell!

It's been quite a while since we've had reason to check in with Channel Nine's continued Underbelly woes, though it's always a pleasure to do so - and so I can't say I was disappointed to read that Nine has been ordered to pay the legal costs following part of their legal battle to get Underbelly screened in Victoria.

Wow, two-thousand-and-great just gets greater and greater, doesn't it, Team Nine?

A spokesman for the Office of Public Prosecutions yesterday confirmed Nine's failed appeal against Underbelly's ban in Victoria cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Nine has been hit with the expensive bill after already losing million of dollars of advertising revenue and wasted marketing when the 13-part crime drama - starring Kat Stewart and Gyton Grantley as Roberta and Carl Williams - was banned by a Supreme Court judge.

Nine's legal team clashed with the state's Director of Public Prosecutions Jeremy Rapke, QC, during an urgent appeal hearing in March.

The life and times of Nine - once the most impressive ratings beast in Australian network television - becomes more and more farcical every day. At this rate Chris Lilley's next show may as well be called Still The One; he wouldn't even have to write a word - it's all there for him!

Things are looking up for the producers of Channel Nine's gangland drama series Underbelly: not only does Chopper reckon there should be "more shooting less rooting" on the show, now Carl Williams has announced he's unhappy with the way the series has portrayed him!

Writing to his mum, from Barwon Prison where he is serving three life sentences, Williams complained that the show had painted him out as an idiot.

"I don't mind them telling the truth about me, but telling lies and painting me out like some kind of d**khead who is brain dead - well that's just bulls**t," he stormed.

Read More »

If there's one person in the world that you probably don't want to get on the bad side of, it's Mark "Chopper" Read, ex-con, hitman, rapper and artist (in roughly that order).

Not that we're suggesting Chopper's planning to take a shotgun over to Channel Nine because he didn't think much of Underbelly, but still - wouldn't you rather he really, really liked the drama? Actually, maybe not.

We're scared, hold us.

"I'm enjoying it, but there should definitely be more shooting and less rooting," he told the mag.

Read More »

Oh, we love this.

Despite still being very much banned from Victorian screens thanks to Justice Betty King's court ruling, Underbelly has been aired in Victoria - and not even because of the internet; thanks to an odd meteorological occurrence - seriously, you couldn't make this shit up:

Warm weather has made a mockery of a suppression order banning the program's free-to-air broadcast in Victoria, with atmospheric interference allowing the $13-million production to beam into the town via Tasmania's WIN TV frequency, the Geelong Advertiser reported.

Television technicians believe current weather and subsequent changes in the atmosphere are responsible for the relayed signal.

One technician described the interference as fortuitous viewing, a phenomenon where outside signals can be broadcast into foreign areas under certain conditions.

He said the large body of water from Tasmania to the Victorian coast had also allowed the frequency waves to travel further.

We'd like to see the courts or Channel 9 get upset about some wind and clouds. What are they going to do, sue the sky? Claiming that their jurisdiction not only encompasses Victoria's width, but its airspace as well?

Do your worst, fun-spoiling moral guardians! Geelong and the weather gods laugh in your face! Ha, ha, ha! (Etc.)

We're not usually prone to repeating titles in full, but there was something about the phrase "Nine probes Underbelly leaks", combined with a rather unpleasant photo of the real Carl Williams, that just had us thinking about bottoms and fingers and god knows what else happening in the back rooms of Nine.

In any case, Channel Nine are - a little after the eight ball - investigating their own ranks after copies of Underbelly were distributed to people involved in the Melbourne gangland strife, which could lead to contempt of court issues if said people end up in the trial that led to the Victorian banning of the series in the first place.

The Daily Telegraph has been told network bosses in Melbourne want to know how episodes of the 13-part series got into the hands of some of the underworld players portrayed in the series and the general public.

...

A spokeswoman for the station said two people had been questioned and denied making any copies available.

She said only those involved in programming or selling the series were entitled to view episodes in a "controlled environment" and the network was not fearful of contempt charges.

"No (we're not fearful), but whoever is operating a black market should be. Nine continues to abide by the court order," she said.

Roberta Williams, the former wife of gangland kingpin Carl Williams, said she received nine episodes of the series complete with Underbelly promotional labels before it was aired interstate.

You hear that, pirates? Nine says you should be FEARFUL! We bet whichever shady type has been diligently operating this black market Video Ezy is right now quaking in their boots.

Although, perhaps they would be, if Nine threatened to re-launch Monster House and throw 'persons of interest' into a "hilarious" hidden camera routine with Rebel Wilson.

We wanted Cashmere Mafia to blow us away with wit and brilliance, truly we did. There's nothing we like better at the beginning of the year than discovering a gem of a show we can get obsessive about, leading us to cancel important social engagements in order to ensure we're sitting in front of the small screen at the same time each week, desperately craving another hit from the televisual bong.

After learning of Cashmere Mafia last year (a result of our incredibly pointless search for Frances O'Connor), we did express some reservations about the show's name, muttering in a concerned manner "We're glad to see two charming Australian actresses have been gainfully employed, but... Cashmere Mafia? Why not just call the show Labia and get it over with?"

Read More »

When Underbelly premiered everywhere but Victoria on Wednesday night, Defamer Australia's interstate pals were sending frenzied texts and emails saying things like, "You know how they said it would save Nine? It will".

Well, in the eyes of the rest of the country Nine may have at least lifted their game in terms of backing locally-produced, quality drama, but the fallout for the network has been greater than just worrying about whether the AFA will get the sooks or if a few pirates will P2P the hell out of the show.

The aftermath of Justice Betty King's ruling continues, and Nine is being hit below the belt in every possible way - in the ratings war, advertising revenue, and slightly more intangible areas such as the network's already shaky reputation as a serious contender in terms of content.

As Nine today launches its appeal against the ban, read on for our in-depth coverage (we always wanted to say "in-depth") of the effect the ruling has had on the beleaguered network.

Read More »

In the biggest "well duh" news since Shane Warne admitted he had a problem keeping it in his dacks, Justice Betty King's Victorian ban of Underbelly has been "ignored" by those meddling web pirates, who are busy cruisin ur P2P networks, downloadin ur superior local drama.

The gangland series premiered last night everywhere but Victoria and our helpful interstate pals shameless copyright infringement fans wasted no time in uploading the goods.

By midnight Victorians were rushing to file sharing sites such as mininova and torrents2hell to download the first episode.

This morning over 600 people were already downloading the show from one site, but some users reported slow speeds due to the rush of people trying to obtain the file at the same time.

Some Victorian bars defied the ban in other ways by screening Underbelly via a satellite feed beamed from another state, risking being found in contempt of court.

It goes without saying, naturally, that we will be staying well clear of these "file-sharing sites" the youth of today frequent.

Anyway, we're still trying to get used to having electricity and running hot water in our houses - when we were young, we had to lick road clean with tongue and work down t' pit.

That were luxury!

While we're still sulking about the fact that Underbelly has been banned from airing in Victoria (harrumph, thanks a lot, Justice Betty King, whoever YOU think you are, etc), we a) naturally thought "Oh well, time to hop on the P2P networks get our friends in Sydney to tape it for us" and thus, b) were mightily amused by this chilling News Ltd mock-up of what might happen in this heady technological era where banning a television show is NO OBSTACLE to people on the internets (click for full size):

We're particularly amused by the portentous caption, "BitTorrent..." - that ellipsis says so much - "almost certainly undermine", etc. Just imagine it being read out by a Fox News announcer with all the relevant (i.e. irrelevant) emphasis on certain words, or perhaps in the same tone as the old Grim Reaper campaign. And why only "63%"? Is it a coded message? WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

Even the headline of the story is over the top: "Underbelly ban useless in file-sharing era".

USELESS!
WATCH OUT FOR YOUR PASSWORDS!
EPIC LULZ, NEWS LTD D00DZ!