Boxcutters

Ep 341: Whitlam, Leongatha

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Wed, 15 May 2013 06:59:35 PDT

Another documentary about Whitlam? You might be shocked to discover they’re not as common as Mad As Hell would have us believe. Penny Robins tells us about creating the new doco for the ABC.

Shane Dunlop is the writer/director of new community television comedy series Leongatha. He tells us about making TV location-based narrative comedy on the thinnest of shoestrings.

For those who demand more Courteney Hocking, she’s our co-host this week.

Notes

We tried to find clips of Women Behind the Men Behind the Dismissal but were at a loss. Sorry.

Whitlam: The Power and the Passion airs 7:30pm 26 May and 2 June on ABC1.

You can currently see Leongatha in Victoria on Channel 31, 10pm Thursday nights.

Ep 340: In The Flesh, Sweet & Sour

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Wed, 08 May 2013 01:10:28 PDT

Are you sick of films and tv shows about zombies? Then listen to this discussion of In The Flesh, a three part drama from BBC Three.

Also, John reaches into the past for a Things You May Have Missed about rock’n'roll and the 80s.

Notes

Watch this space.

Ep 339: Sabour Bradley’s Head First

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Wed, 01 May 2013 11:24:39 PDT

Sabour Bradley is the writer, director and host of the new ABC2 factual series, Head First, but can it be called documentary? He takes us through the mind of a daredevil in search of the truth.

Also, splendid chap and Graeme Garden impersonator, Ben McKenzie comes on board with a slew of facts to be checked and man of passion, Glenn Peters expresses his unchecked opinions on the Checkout.

Notes

The Checkout has links to all of the reports and videos Glenn talked about in his bit.

Here’s a screengrab of a terrible photocopy of that British comedy family tree Ben was talking about.

Read about the useless ban on live odds during sport and why people are calling for a ban on booze ads during the footy.

Or you can actually read the proposed document itself.

Ep 338: Mr Selfridge, Chris Rankine

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:05:52 PDT

Mr Selfridge is a period drama starring Jeremy Piven and a bunch of English people. We reach deep into our reviewing hole to investigate a show that has no urgent shouting nor any blood splatter.

Chris Rankine is an advertising creative who worked at Campaign Palace in the 70s and 80s and was adamant that a sheep dog not be in a commercial for paint. He talks to us about how things have changed.

Hear the magic that makes us one of Time Out‘s top 10 podcasts.

Notes

See the "Sic ‘em Rex" ad.
If anyone is able to find the Dulux ad Chris describes, please share it.

Nelly Thomas presents Story Time for Grown-Ups

All proceeds go to the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation and is bound to be a great night involving stories, wine and maybe some cheese.

Wednesday, 8th May with tickets available from $8.

Other Podcasts in the Top 10

Hear Josh talk serious design business on The Nudge.

John and Ben McKenzie have huge guests and bigger fun talking about Doctor Who.

Important Podcasts not in the Top 10

Ep 337: Utopia and Sketch Comedy

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 17:18:36 PDT

There’s a UK show from Channel 4 that aired earlier this year called Utopia. We review it at the risk of being discovered and chased through England.

Also, is sketch comedy still as relevant as it used to be? We make a clumsy attempt to answer that question.

Notes

Did we miss something?

News

We almost never link to the news of the week. We should. Here’s what we covered this week:

Starz to trial audio-syncing second screen app
Nepalese presenter has longest on-air talk show (sorry but the ABC link for this article stopped working.)
Channel 9 dumps Days of our Lives

And if you’re interested in watching Da Vinci’s Demons, it’s currently on Foxtel a lot!

Ep 336: Top of the Lake, Logies

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 09:54:18 PDT

A co-production between three countries about a small town in New Zealand that first airs on US television? It’s not some make-believe parallel universe. It’s Top of the Lake, the new TV show by Jane Campion and friends.

Also, are the Logies now just the blood stains on the handkerchief that betray Australian television’s consumption? Come with us as we discuss it all and play some Devil’s Avocado.

Notes

Listen to Splendid Chaps, a podcast about Doctor Who. And buy tickets to their live show during Melbourne Comedy Festival. It’s John Richards and Ben McKenzie. What’s not to like?
If you’re interested in the world of design, you’ll love The Nudge—a podcast about becoming better designers.
For some reason Brett mentioned this episode of Bullseye with Jesse Thorn
And here’s that thing about the Kitten Bowl.

Episode 335: Songs with TV, The Americans

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 17:28:54 PDT

Everybody’s favourite human, Ben McKenzie talks to us about songs, singles and albums tied to television shows. Then we review the FX show, The Americans.

Also, Dave Lawson continues to be hilarious.

Notes

New Notes 8 April 2013

Ben McKenzie has shared these links for your own investigation into songs and TV shows.

Original notes with the show release

See John Richards and Ben McKenzie talk about Doctor Who live on stage in Splendid Chaps.
Hear Father Abraham sing with the Smurfs.
Watch the Goodies on Top of the Pops doing the funky gibbon.
Finally, here’s the ethically questionable Leonard Nimoy song ‘Highly Illogical’.

Ep 334: The Following, Big Reunion

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 13:47:45 PDT

Look, I won’t lie to you. This episode might be a bit messy. We make some great points about the Kevin Bacon series created by Kevin Williamson, The Following, but they might not all be in the right order. And we say good-bye to Brenna. Sad face.

Notes

Glenn spoke about this article from Mess and Noise about the girl group, Girlfriend.
And Brenna spoke about Big Reunion, which you can watch in the window below:

Ep 333: Kirsten Drysdale, Steele Saunders, Derek

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 04:21:48 PDT

Guests and controversial discussion: that’s what you get from this episode. Kirsten Drysdale is part of the new ABC TV show The Checkout, Steele Saunders is the host of the I Love Green Guide Letters podcast and we review the Ricky Gervais series, Derek.

Notes

Plugs

See Steele Saunders and guests live during the Comedy Festival.

John Richards will appear at ACMI on 23 March at midday. Get your tickets.

Ep 332: Con Frantzeskos, House of Cards

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 12:45:30 PDT

You’ve heard a lot about House of Cards but you haven’t heard it from us. So put your little earbuddies in and check it out.

Also, Con Frantzeskos of the Penso Agency tells us all about how TV advertising works, how networks can best use the concept of the second screen and what everyone is getting wrong.

Glenn Peters and Brenna Courtney Glazebrooke fill out the panel and a good time is had by all.

Notes

Here’s a bit more about Aspray from Brenna.

Ep 331: Girls, Reducta

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 03:34:19 PST

Sure, we’re looking at Girls for the second week in a row. Maybe because we think the show is worth it or maybe it’s because we’re all out of ideas. You decide. We’re too busy concentrating on what makes good TV. Meanwhile there’s also terrible ads to talk about and letters to read out. That’s alright, you sit right there, we’ll do everything. Courteney Hocking is in this episode. You like her.

Notes

See John Richards at ACMI on Saturday 23 March, 2013 at 12pm—LIVE IN THE STUDIO: QUEERING THE SMALL SCREEN… PART II
Here’s that Reducta ad we talked about.

One Thing

Mr and Mrs Murder, Ten, 8:30 Wednesday
Steam Punks! 4:35pm Saturday ABC3

Ep 330: MKR vs. MasterChef

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 20:43:09 PDT

In our remarkable return from the fight at Reichenbach Falls, we begin, once again, to investigate the world of television and what it’s good for.

We cover the way Girls has been covered in the media. Nelly Thomas tells us all about My Kitchen Rules and MasterChef: The Professionals. Also, in our news we spend a bit more time seeing the dinosaurs cough some of their last breaths as we look at Channel Ten and the relaunch of SBS 2.

Strap in because there’s some bumps ahead.

Notes

Nelly Thomas has gigs coming up but also check her out during Comedy Festival.
This is Bob Ellis’s review of Girls that John spoke about.
Help save community radio in Australia by making your voice heard.
Someone mentioned a Vulture article about Lena Dunham. It’s called "Don’t Call Lena Dunham Brave".

Ep 329: Women and 2nd Screens

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 21:01:08 PDT

Look. We’re not going to lie to you. This is the last episode of Boxcutters for the year. For the rest of the year you will have to busy yourself by playing this episode over and over again.

We have a little look at the concept of the second screen and try to evaluate its worth.

Also, Courteney looks at women in the workplace on TV and asks if they’re being portrayed honestly.

Listen and enjoy:

Notes

One Thing

There’s all this stuff to watch while the sunshine is burning all those fools who dare to venture outside. Take your pick. Catch up on some series. Feel free to ask us for tips or to help you make you choose.

Ep 328: Death and Horror

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 03:35:51 PST

You want the laughs and good joy times? Well, we have an episode all about death and horror to knock that smile and cheer right off your face. Take that, Happy Pants.

John takes you through death affected tv shows while Josh tries to look at the difficulties of horror on the small screen or something.

Notes

As requested by a number of listeners, episodes will go live at 6am (UTC+11) on Thursday mornings.

Ep 327: Looking back at Europe

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 00:28:06 PST

We take a look back at the last couple of years and give little updates on how shows have behaved since we first cast our eyes upon them.

Glenn posits that Europe is beating HBO’s pants, Brett fails to understand how calendars work and Brenna brings back some Australian classics.

Listen to it or be shamed in the face of your peers.

Notes

One Thing

Parking Wars: 7mate, 6:30pm, Saturday
America in Primetime ‘The Misfit’ on SBS On Demand
Cricket on Glenn’s phone.

Ep 326: The Mindy Project

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 05:14:50 PST

Mindy Kaling left The Office at the end of last season and created her own show. It forces us to think about the nature of the modern sitcom as a whole and leads to a really interesting discussion.

John brings us a bit of missable delight with another Just Don’t Bother.

There’s also some letters and we each have one thing.

Notes

One Thing

Problems – 9pm Wednesdays, ABC1
Jack Dee: Live at the Apollo – 10:25pm Friday, ABC2

See John and Outland in LA

Bent-Con
4pm Sunday 2nd November
Burback Marriott
Los Angeles

Ep 325: Marngrook Footy Show

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 03:50:14 PST

In news that is sure to raise many more questions about ratings and the ABC’s responsibility to the community, The Marngrook Footy Show was axed this week. We interview executive producer Grant Hansen about the future of what is arguably the best sports show on television.

Also, Brett has some more juicy bits from The Vault and there are some Letters to Boxcutters.

Notes

One Thing

House of Lies, ONE, 9.30pm Mon
America in Primetime, SBS ONE, 8:30pm Tue

Ep 324: Cuckoo

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 04:07:13 PST

Sometimes a show comes along that seems simple on the surface but really requires a lot more investigation. Cuckoo is a show exactly like that. Luckily, we’re reviewing it this week.

We take a look at the highlights of the US election coverage, cover the BBC controversies and receive some emails from General Petraeus or something.

Have a listen, if you dare:

Notes

One Thing

A Moody Christmas, ABC1 Wednesday night
Moone Boy, Friday 8pm ABC1
Al Jazeera News, SBS, 3:30pm weekdays

Ep 323: Arrow, Kate Pappas & Ben Eriksen

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 20:08:32 PST

It’s always exciting to have new TV makers in the studio and Kate Pappas and Ben Eriksen are the perfect people to be excited about. They’ve made a doco called Future Radicals that appears on ABC 2 as part of the Opening Shot series.

Then there’s a review of Arrow and we try to help you work out if you’ll like it or if you will do something else.

Notes

One Thing

Meatwork – 8:30pm Sunday 11 November, ABC2

Guest Donor

John Mizzi was our guest donor. You might know him better as Liyster.

He hooked us up with some news about Arrow that might please Doctor Who fans.

Cherry on Top

Brenna filled us in on some fun web stuff like the Dwight Schrute meme and a list of the 10 lamest superheroes ever.

Dave’s Famous Photos: EXCLUSIVE

Here is the photo Dave Lawson took while acting on Lowdown. We can’t wait for the spin-off series.

Ep 322: Go On, Lewis Hamilton

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 21:29:08 PDT

Go On is a new sitcom with some surprises in store for our panel of television experts who watch tv shows especially to tell you good folk what to expect from them. The last thing they want is for you to be disappointed.

Josh goes head-to-head with Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton and Brett sticks his arm deep into The Vault.

Notes

One Thing

Dating The H-Bomb – 9.30pm 4 November, ABC2
Dinner for Schmucks – 8.30pm 2 November, Channel 10
Buck Rogers In The 25th Century ‘Planet of Amazon Women’ – 2:00am 2 November, 7mate

The Vault

You can see a lot of Brett’s gems from The Vault on his YouTube page including the SBS classic below.

Ep 321: Last Resort

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 00:15:41 PDT

Why is Glenn so Angry? Why does Josh keep laughing? Does Brett still have a stash of VHS tapes to watch? What’s Brenna’s big secret? Why did John cut out one of the best jokes of the show?

These questions might be answered on this episode.

PLUS: We look at Last Resort, a show that may, or may not, be really excellent.

There are also some Letters to Boxcutters and our special guest donor brings us some fascinating stories.

Notes

One Thing

Amazing Race, 10:45pm Monday, Channel 7
Last Resort, 8pm Thursday, ABC (in the USA)
The Thick of It, 9:55pm Saturday, BBC2 (in the UK)

Ep 320: Revolution, Bechdel Test

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 17:56:57 PDT

There is so much to talk about that we struggle to fit it all into one episode.

We review the new show from NBC in the US (and it appears on Fox 8 in Australia), Revolution. The second "o" is supposed to be an on/off symbol but that’s too hard to do.

Also, we look through all the TV shows we’ve dealt with this year, so far, and see how they stack up in the Bechdel Test.

There are a few surprises as well so listen carefully.

Notes

One Thing

Baseball Post-season games – Fox Sport and One
Black Mirror – Monday 9:30pm, SBS
30 Rock – Thursday 8pm, NBC (that’s in America!)

Some News

Sony Pictures is pitching a remake of ABC’s Rake.
The ACMA says that more people watch TV online
Seven is not allowed to buy Consolidated Media, which puts Murdoch in the catbird seat.

Some links

Find out more about Tracey Lea from her about.me page.
Meanwhile, our new fact-checker, Brenna Courtney Glazebrooke, does this tumblog thing.

Errata

20 October 2012

Just realised, listening back to this episode, that Jon Favreau only wrote Swingers. Doug Liman, of course, was the director of that film.
Sorry. —Josh.

Ep 319: Channel 4 Comedy Fortnight

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 01:25:21 PDT

In the lead-up to the Paralympics, the UK’s Channel 4 presented a fortnight of comedy including some one-offs, some brand new work from geniuses you might be familiar with and some fantastic older comedy from their collection. We take a look at everything we can possibly think of to do with this.

Also, are you sick of us talking about The Newswroom? No? Excellent. Because there’s more of that.

Notes

Watch this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udLReT048X4

One Thing

Rake on iView
Would I Lie to You?, 9:40pm Wednesday, ABC1

Ep 318: Breaking Bad & Mad Men

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 00:36:34 PDT

Courteney takes a post modern look at Breaking Bad, Mad Men with a little bit of Dexter thrown in. It becomes a fascinating discussion of the journey of men in current American TV. Fascinating!

Notes

If you’re here early, sorry. We’ll regather our notes in a day or so.

Ep 317: Bobby Flynn’s Reality

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 18:37:34 PDT

Bobby Flynn was a contestant on Australian Idol in 2006. Last week we lost a game show about rewarding group talent (Everybody Dance Now). We talk to Bobby about the value of such talent shows and what happens to the people we loved for those moments.

Notes

One Thing

You know, we recorded this so long ago, I don’t even think the One Things are valid anymore. Sorry.

Ep 316: Paul Verhoeven, Kids’ Gameshows

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 17:38:35 PDT

The very excited Paul Verhoeven has just spent a month hosting a children’s TV game show that he happily tells us all about. It’s fascinating. Really.

Brett has an I Don’t Buy It that brings to light many economic decisions.

Also there are jokes.

Notes

One Thing

Howzat!: Kerry Packer’s War 8:30pm Sunday, Nine
In the episode we say that Eleven is showing new episodes of Futurama. Last week that seemed to be true. This week it is not. Sorry.

Dave’s Shed Show

Ep 315: Secret Doctor Who Animation Project

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 17:22:29 PDT

We have a guest donor in the house, Danny Oz, who brings us a story of a BBC-led Doctor Who animation project.

In an I Don’t Buy It as large as a tauntaun, John brings us advertisements from the Star Wars Holiday Special.

If we didn’t cover science fiction so often we could say it’s a science fiction special.

Notes

One Thing

Kane and Disabled, 7:25pm Weeknights, ABC2
Howzat! Kerry Packer’s War, 8:30pm Sunday, Nine

Ep 314: The 30th Olympiad

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 18:39:05 PDT

Have you noticed that the Olympics is on television? It’s probably the most important time in television. Every four years we get to play with new technologies and see what’s in store for viewers. We talk about all of that and some of the advertising around this year’s Olympics coverage.

Notes

One Thing

No Reservations on Gem in the week after the Olympics
Archer 11:08pm Friday on ABC2 (also Tuesday at 9pm)

Videos for I Don’t Buy It

Swisse

Cadel Evans

Elizabeth Cambage

Commbank

You might be able to see the terrorist ad at Mumbrella but this is the one they actually had on air.

http://youtu.be/4gjWYYlWehk

Telstra

McDonald’s

Coles

Qantas

The Campaign Brief ranking article

And here’s the article from Campaign Brief, ranking all the ads.

Ep 313: The Newsroom

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 05:47:30 PDT

This week we take a special look at the new Aaron Sorkin show, The Newsroom. Passions fly and loyalty is laid on the line. We lined up some experts from both sides of the Sorkin fence to investigate exactly what it is that makes this show so loved and hated.

Notes

You can check out Emily Nussbaum’s excellent review from The New Yorker.
This is an article in Variety about Aaron Sorkin answering some of his critics.

(also, I know the levels are all over the place but I ran out of editing time. Sorry – ed.)

Updated

2pm 2 August: Updated to fix some audio and include a bit more clarity. Enjoy.

Ep 312: John Clarke

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 01:37:28 PDT

John Clarke is, without hyperbole, one of the most important figures in Australian TV comedy.

His latest project was a documentary series about Australia’s great sporting history called Sporting Nation, which appeared on ABC1 as a lead-up to the Olympics to which the ABC doesn’t have rights.

He tells us all about The Games, Farnarkelling, and how he manages to get TV shows to actually go to air.

Disclaimer

Princess Pictures, which produced Sporting Nation also produced John Richards’s program, Outland.

Ep 311: Continuum and Singing

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 19:05:40 PDT

Continuum is a future-cop procedural from Canada. We pull it to pieces to work out if it’s genius or horrendous.

Then we take a trip into the mind of a Bollywood Star contestant in Quotes.

Also, there’s a bunch of news and stuff.

Notes

One Thing

Sporting Nation – 7:30pm Sunday, ABC1

References

The ACMA report about Australian content compliance in 2011

Ep 310: Myf Warhurst’s Nice

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 02:57:50 PDT

Myf Warhurst is famous from the television. That’s why we’re speaking to her. She has a new show called Nice and it’s kind of like her first solo album. We speak to her about the emotional journey.

And we look at the ridiculousness of FTA commercial news in Raywatch.

There are some great letters to Boxcutters, too.

Notes

One Thing

Josh: Bollywood Star, 8:30pm Thursday, SBS 2
Brett: Life’s Too Short – ABC1, Wednesday 9.05pm – 9.35pm
Glenn: Prima Donna: The Story Of Rufus Wainwright’s Debut Opera (iView)

Ep 309: All SciFi TV is Rubbish

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 20:34:53 PDT

This is a very special episode of Boxcutters, recorded in front of a live audience at the 51st Annual National SF Convention. John Richards and Josh Kinal had a debate (aka a word fight) with the topic “That All Science Fiction Television is Rubbish.”

Josh took the affirmative and John the negative. Gasp and be shocked to learn the secrets behind genre television and its merits.

Notes

Videos

Ordinarily we would put up the video clips we use on YouTube. But they’ve been taking a lot of our videos off recently and we’re looking into it.

Ep 308: Animaniacs and The Voice

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 17:25:46 PDT

We won’t lie to you. This is one of the best episodes we’ve done*.

In Things We May Have Missed we look at the cartoon series Animaniacs and there’s a special Crap TV that no self-respecting Boxcutters listener should miss.

Toby Halligan is in with Places We Have Strayed and John Richards brings his usual level of delight.

Notes

News

One Thing

Bob’s Burgers – 7:30pm Saturday, Comedy Channel
Mabo – 8:30pm Sunday, ABC1
Girls – 8:30pm Monday, Showcase

*in the last couple of weeks.

Ep 307: Lilyhammer, Eurovision

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Tue, 29 May 2012 23:01:24 PDT

Warning: This one is a bit sweary.

Lilyhammer is a fish-out-of-water story starring Steven Van Zandt as a gangster turned rat. We review the hell out of it.

Then we dissect the coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest and go home.

Josh’s voice sounds like a dying fish and that’s a noise that should be avoided.

Notes

News

Here’s an article about the whole video recording thing.

Read Kyle Killen’s answers to some burning questions about Awake.

One Thing

Amazing Race Australia – Wednesday 30 May 9pm, Channel 7
Laid – Wednesday 30 May 9:30pm, ABC1

Ep 306: Girls and Maid Marian

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Tue, 22 May 2012 19:37:11 PDT

We’ve been waiting for a show that created some controversy and passion in the studio. From the media that’s been going around HBO’s Girls, we thought we found just the thing. Have we?

Also, everybody’s favourite Ben McKenzie comes in to talk about a very merry Things You May Have Missed (pssst! It’s Maid Marian and her Merry Men)

Notes

Guest Donor

The extraordinary Jade Gulliver is our guest in the studio this week. She’s wonderful and you can check out her breakfasty goodness every Thursday on Diff’rent Strokes on Joy 94.9FM.

One Thing

Agony Aunts – 9:30pm Wednesday, ABC1
The Road To Eurovision with Julia Zemiro – 7:30pm Friday, SBSONE
Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell – 8pm Friday, ABC1

Review

Girls will air in Australia on Showcase beginning Monday 28th May. It currently can be seen in the US on HBO at 10:30pm Sundays.

Ep 305: Public Television Conferences and Homosexuality

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:28:00 PDT

John Richards has been to Sydney to present Outland at Input, an international public television conference.

Also, the New York Times says that homosexuality is a lot more acceptable on television than it was 10 years ago. We try to see if that’s true the world over.

Notes

One Thing

Outland – 10pm Sunday night, Choice TV in New Zealand

Ep 304: Why Big Brother Returns

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Tue, 08 May 2012 16:18:27 PDT

Creepy stories, trashy TV and the need for a new season of Big Brother are all covered in this special episode of Boxcutters that no parent should miss.

Notes

One Thing

Laid – 9pm Wednesday night, ABC1
Mark Zuckerberg: Inside Facebook – 9:30pm Thursday, ABC1
Insight: ‘Generation XXX’ – 8:30pm Tuesday, SBSONE

Ep 303: Unsupervised, Optus, The Voice

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Tue, 01 May 2012 04:03:12 PDT

Remember that whole Optus vs Telstra, AFL and NFL case that was either going to mean the end of sport forever or the death of the internet? Well, Optus lost last week and we speak to to Lucy Battersby from The Age to find out what the judgement means.

Glenn Peters has been watching The Voice and he tells us why he loves it so much.

Unsupervised is an animated show from FX in the US. Is it good or bad? Will you like it? Who knows? We try to help you make a choice by discussing it at length.

Notes

One Thing

Dave In The Life ‘Of a Pensioner’ – 1:15 am, Friday 4 May SBSOne
Veep – 10pm Sunday, HBO (in the US)

Ep 302: Spike TV and Nielson Ratings explained

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 01:48:39 PDT

Christine Lawrence has made a career out of analysing what people love and hate about television shows, how they work and how they can be better. She used to work for the Nielson company in their TV ratings department.

When Josh spoke to her in December she was a Senior Analyst in Programming Research at Spike TV. Together we look at how statistics can change TV shows.

We are touched in the emotions by some Letters to Boxcutters as well as our second in-studio guest donor, Nichole O’Duffy. If you meet her, tell her how wonderful she is.

One Thing

Can Change Your Mind About Climate, ABC1 8:30 Thursday 26 April
Prophets Of Science Fiction ‘Philip K. Dick’, SBS ONE 8:30 Sunday 29 April
Mad Men, AMC (in USA) 10pm Sunday 29 April

Ep 301: House of Lies, Yodelling

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 02:20:52 PDT

House of Lies airs on Showtime in the US and stars Don Cheadle, Kristen Bell and Dave Lawson’s brother, Josh. We review and try to work out why some people might not like it.

There’s an ad that involves some kind of yodelling. Brett takes a look at that in I Don’t Buy It and then there’s also a Crap TV.

That should be enough for you.

Notes

John Richards Live

See John Richards at your local library, if you live in Brunswick. He’ll be speaking about how he turned a $500 short film into a television series.

Thursday, 19th of April at 7.45pm

Brunswick Library

233 Sydney Road (enter from Dawson Street)

Brunswick 3056

Dave’s Shed Show

You should totally watch this:

Ep 300: Kyle Killen, Live in Texas

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 19:09:03 PDT

We went all the way to Texas and recorded a show live at SXSW Interactive.

Kyle Killen is the creator of the new NBC drama Awake. He took time out of his weekend to sit with us and talk about what it takes to make a series in the US and why it seems so difficult to make something good.

Awake airs 9:30pm, April 11 on W in Australia.

Did we mention it’s our 300th episode? As you’d expect, there are some very special guest appearances on this show as well.

Thanks

This special episode of Boxcutters would not have been possible without the help of:

Floate Design Partners
Crumpler
Kosdown Printing
3RRR
Lyndal McIlwaine
Hugh Forrest at SXSW
Kyle Killen
Update 3 April 2012: Jeremy Fuksa whose excellent camera skills will be seen in the video version in a few weeks.
The wonderful people of Austin, Texas
And all the very generous people who donated money to help us get from Melbourne to Austin. You swell our hearts.

Ep 299: Marieke Hardy, Comedy Festival

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 19:53:06 PDT

Marieke Hardy teaches us all about finishing a series with a cliffhanger and how it has nothing to do with tricking the network into a second series.

Courteney Hocking looks at the difference between the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in real life and how it’s portrayed on television.

In news we discuss Mark Scott’s direction to ABC reporters and how Foxtel is merging with Austar and what it means for nothing.

Notes

One Thing

Danger 5: 9:30pm Monday, SBSONE
Lewis Black’s Root of all Evil: 10:23pm Tuesday, ABC2
Q&A: 9:30pm Monday, ABC1

Ep 298: Menage a Teev

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 11:49:21 PDT

Till Death Do Us Part, All in the Family and Kingswood Country were all the same show in three different nations. We take a look at the similarities between them and try to work out what they say about the different countries at the times they were made.

There’s an I Don’t Buy It and a discussion on Sherlock.

John was sick when he recorded the bits that we weren’t there for, so please excuse his raspy tones.

We’re sorry for the delay on getting this episode to you. Really. It turns out that Austin is quite the town for distractions and slow internet connections. Or no internet connection at all.

Ep 297: Texting and Twitter

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 22:01:28 PST

This week we look at a new development in television. It’s part of the whole grammar of drama thing and it’s a fascinating discussion that we don’t want to spoil for you (although the title of the episode will give it away, maybe).

Then, following up from last week’s discussion of ABC’s special set-top box that recreates a Twitter-like experience on your television, we chat to John about how he feels about potential distractions and enhancements to the TV watching experience.

Notes

One Thing

Boxcutters Episode 300: Sunday 11 March, 12:30pm at Driskill Hotel in Austin
Outland: Wednesday 9:30pm ABC1

Tweeting while Watching

Here’s an article from the New York Times that relates to the discussion on tweets and other social media while watching TV shows.

Ep 296: Luck and Luther

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 22:27:11 PST

Luck is a new show on HBO in the US. It’s created by David Milch so we know from the start that there’s a lot to love and a lot to hate. We try to look at it all.

Courteney Hocking’s been looking at the UK series Luther and gives us a rundown on what she’s discovered.

We answer some Letters to Boxcutters and Toby Halligan has a lot of Places We Have Strayed.

Notes

One Thing

Onion News Network: around 9:15pm weeknights, ABC2
Revenge: 8:40pm Monday, Channel 7
Awake: 10pm (9pm Central) Thursday, NBC in the USA

SXSW Sponsors

helping us get to SXSW in Austin, Texas and specialising in fresh cut fries accompanied by a variety of internationally inspired sauces.

Ep 295: Episodic Television & Nerds on TV

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 23:26:20 PST

Ben McKenzie is a bonafide nerd who takes the label to an almost professional level. He talks to us about how the nerd is culturally represented on television with a particular focus on The Big Bang Theory.

TV ads are upsetting and confusing as we discover in I Don’t Buy It.

Then we have a discussion about the death of episodic television. Does everything have to be a long story? Whatever happened to just having everything wrapped up in a nice hour of television? We get to the bottom of it.

Notes

One Thing

Outland: 10:30pm Thursday 23 February on ABC2
The Amazing Race: 9:40pm Wednesday 22 February on Seven
Woodley: 8:00pm Wednesday 22 February on ABC1

Live at ACMI

John and Josh will discuss sex and violence on television with Djoymi Baker and Emily Maguire. Thursday 23 February is this week. Get your tickets!

Sex, Lies and Television Screens, Live in the Studio at ACMI

SXSW Sponsors

helping us get to SXSW in Austin, Texas and specialising in fresh cut fries accompanied by a variety of internationally inspired sauces.

Ep 294: Frank Woodley, Spiral vs The Killing

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:37:35 PST

Frank Woodley comes in to talk to us about doing physical comedy on Australian television and how it really hasn’t been done before. He has a new show starting on ABC1 on Wednesday 22 Feb.

Then, Glenn Peters has seen two foreign language series, Spiral and The Killing. He sets them head to head in the BoxcuttersDome.

There’s a great Letter to Boxcutters from a famous person who’s been on the tele.

Notes

One Thing

Sherlock – Wed 15 Feb, 8:30pm, Channel 9
Men of a Certain Age – Tue 14 Feb, 11:35pm, Channel 9

SXSW Sponsors

helping us get to SXSW in Austin, Texas and specialising in fresh cut fries accompanied by a variety of internationally inspired sauces.

Slap Yourself Into Laughter

Ep 293: Paul Ireland, Excess Baggage

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 03:33:37 PST

It’s guestarama this week with Nelly Thomas in to talk about Excess Baggage and how it compares to The Biggest Loser.

Paul Ireland talks to us about being a young actor in The Bill and an older actor in Outland.

There’s One Thing and Pork and News and what else do you need to know?

Notes

One Thing

Outland: 9:30pm, Wednesday 8 Feb, 2012 on ABC1
Outland: 10:30pm, Thursday 9 Feb, 2012 on ABC2
Outland: ABC iView.

Our SXSW Fund

Go to our Pozible page. There are still Crumpler bags and other goodies to be found. Donate and help us show the world how great Australian podcasting can be.

Ep 292: Penny Chapman, Grimm vs Once Upon A Time

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:58:18 PST

We talk to Penny Chapman, the producer of the new ABC1 series, The Straits. There’s a review of Grimm vs Once Upon a Time and a Raywatch about Channel 9′s coverage of Australia Day protests.

Notes

One Thing

The Straits: 8:30pm Thursday, ABC1
The Office – BBC version: DVD

Raywatch

You can play along at home with these videos:

Ep 291: Toby Truslove from Outland

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:39:17 PST

Toby Truslove is an actor. You’ll know him from Laid and the soon to premier Outland. He talks to us about the plight of the Australian actor and what he looks for in a role.

There’s a whole heap of news and some great Trotters thanks to Toby Halligan.

Don’t forget there are still Crumpler bags and other rewards up for grabs by supporting our SXSW efforts on Pozible.

Notes

One Thing

The Office – Tuesday 9pm on Eleven

So here’s a funny thing. We recorded a One Thing for you all to enjoy but it somehow fell out of the episode. Still, there it is, just above us, for you to see and watch or not.

See John Richards Live!

Talking Outland

Friday January 27th 8:00pm
Melbourne Science Fiction Club
St. David‘s Uniting Church Hall
74 Melville Road, West Brunswick

Queer Nerd – Spoken Word

Thursday February 2nd 7.30pm
Bar Nancy
61 High St, Northcote

Sex, Lies and Television Screens: Live in the Studio

Australian Centre for the Moving Image
Thursday February 23rd, 7pm

Ep 290: American Horror Story

hooray@boxcutters.net (Boxcutters) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:49:12 PST

American Horror Story was created by the people who brought us Glee but there’s no singing and dancing, just murder, insanity and old-fashioned haunting. Is it as good as everybody thinks? Is it as bad as everybody thinks?

Also, Josh spent some time in New York and discovered just how intrusive television can be in daily life.

Courteney Hocking is our co-host for this one and Brett uses his best reading voice for news and letters.

Notes

Errata

There’s a point, during “If You Watch One Thing”, in which we discuss the new series of Absolutely Fabulous and talk about it like that’s the one that’s on Wednesday nights on ABC1. It’s not. Those are repeats.

The new 20th anniversary episodes of Absolutely Fabulous will air on ABC1 in February.

One Thing

The Thick of It Season 3 – 9pm Wednesday, ABC1
Nigella’s Kitchen – 8pm Tuesday, ABC1
Movie: Coffee and Cigarettes – 11:05pm Wednesday, SBS One/SBS HD