On the box
By Dave Riley
The drought may be over. In a week of transitions, we lost the Doug Anthony All Stars — and good riddance to them, I say. There is no pleasure in the nihilistic egotism of these boys left over from a brown shirt rally. Their relentless absurdity is a comic dead end, and may we never see another series of this indulgent undergraduate horseplay.
The surprise was that, in the flagging late evening time slot, the ABC could come up with some goodies. Instead of the locker room bull sessions that carried the Dougs through an evening, we get Kittson, Fahey: A Woman's View of the World.
Some pretence here. All those women's shows doing the rounds of the capitals now sneak into the set — feminist theory meets the square eye. Many critical eyes are upon Jean Kittson and Maryanne Fahey because they are emboldened to address joke to gender. Aside from the lacklustre work of the British comedy duo, French and Saunders, this is a new paddock ripe for heavy grazing.
Kittson is known for her TV work on The Big Gig and Let The Blood Run Free, while Fahey's alma mater is The Comedy Company. Neither is a slouch when it comes to chasing a laugh. The program rests largely on their own four shoulders — as well as performing, they write this stuff, along with Patrick Cook. That's a heavy weight to carry for a full half hour.
In the debut, trussed up like Guy Fawkes, men were being carted to the fire. If only Benny Hill were alive to see it. But not everything is played for laughs, and the frequent sardonic turn soon rests on the disquietingly serious remark.
If anything, A Woman's View of the World suffers from too many outlooks. It's packed and without respite. Instead of allowing viewers to savour the material, it is rushed before us with a speed and frequent garble that strains the attention. In a world of video clips and handycams, its verbal eloquence may take a bit of tuning; but persevere, this one is a gem.
Documentary Hot Line this week: The Cutting Edge (SBS, Tuesday, July 21) explores the complicity of the British government in supporting Franco's forces during the Spanish Civil War. Connections (SBS, Friday, July 24) focuses on the major criticisms of the IMF and the World Bank. A new two-part series (SBS, Monday, July 27) explores the life and influence of Josef Broz Tito.