pleasantly surprised

Gosh I love it when commercial TV does OK. This time, I'm delighted to announce that the pilot of Modern Families narrowly avoided the offensiveness hinted at in its trailers (thanks Channel 10, your inability to pick appropriate highlights astounds me yet again).

The first episode was exactly how I like my TV: wacky but tight (incidentally, this is also how I like men, RAWR). It spanned the whole gamut of lolz, from the most outrageously amusing (The Lion King tribute springs to mind) to the more subtly hilarious (mistaking 'Phil' for 'feel'). And, despite leaning on those tired-but-true mockumentary stylings, I think there's enough original thinking here to help this one get by. For starters, it isn't set a work place. Points for that.

I think also it helps that I'm addicted to stories about dysfunctional but well-meaning families. Though I guess the good news is that if this show does OK there might still be hope for "Woz Woz World" after all.

xxx

feeling miserable, but loving it

This arvo I had to do a little presentation for my Scriptwriting for TV unit - and chose to focus on one of my favourite TV shows of all time, Love My Way. That means that I spent basically the whole weekend re-watching old episodes and over-dosing on a hell of a lot of emotion. I don't want to be no spoiler queen (as I have been in the past), but something pretty awful happens in episode 8 of this series, and basically my poor heart breaks a little every time I watch it. WORST. But also: BEST, as I shall proceed to explain.

For the presentation's sake, I had to really figure out what makes this series so unique, and why I am so strongly drawn to it. I have concluded that, unlike any other Australian drama, this is a series takes risks. By which I do not only mean sex/drugs/artistic type risks, but also, more pertitently, emotional risks. It's a show based essentially around a deep family sadness, and around heavy, heavy, heavy themes. And I can see how that is perhaps not such an appealing premise, on a face value.

A lot of its strength lies in its characters, I suppose. Personally, I feel as if I know all these people, as if they were actually a part of my life, or my family, - and this is precisely why the series succeeds in exploring themes of death, grieving and loss in a much more intimate and genuinely affecting way than any other TV show I've seen (and that includes Six Feet - as Sasha pointed out). But, beyond that, the show succeeds because it is absolutely fearless. It is unafraid to take us deep into personal, internal experiences - and to admit when there is absolutely no glimmer of happiness. So, when hope does (eventually) spring, it is all the more moving and profound.

None of that would have worked if the show had been half-arsed about its darkness. It had to jump all the way into that sadness in order to emerge from it with something truly meaningful. And I am happy to say that that is exactly what it did. In the end, all I can do is apply those learned words: "emotionally debilitating, yet deeply life affirming" - because for once they are actually appropriate.

What a show. It comes highly recommended.

xxx magda