Aussie TV

Since arriving in Australia, John Paul and I challenged ourselves to go “cable-free” for a few months to see if we were happy without it. Like everything else in AU, the installation costs were astronomical and they wanted to lock you into a 24 month contract. For the most part we’ve been fine with the fifteen or so ‘free to view’ channels. Typically ‘the cricket’ or ‘footy’ is on at least 3 channels, while the same show will be playing on 2 or 3 channels in a row. I know this might sound terrible, but you really do get use to it. We still get the good shows that come on during the weeknights….Grey’s Anatomy, CSI, Desperate Housewives, etc. There are a fair amount of Australian shows and at times, they will take you by surprise. There are no regulations on showing full nudity or saying the “F” word (No, Mom, I don’t mean fart). The only problem that I have with Australian sitcoms is that they are an absolute trainwreck. “Home and Away” and “Neighbours” are the two shows that are well known and have been on the air forever. To sum it up - the acting chops of the get-along gang they have working on these shows is comparable to my performance as Abe Lincoln in my 2nd grade school play. The only show that is worth noting is Underbelly (which is based loosely on real life events of Australian gangs in the 80’s). The only other time that I look forward to Australian based TV is on the weekend. Every Saturday morning John Paul and I will wake up, make coffee and watch Australian music videos. This topic really deserves its own blog entry – so I’m just going to stop here. Check out the talent from down under on my next post.