New thread about Oz-please contribute and assist my therapy

[n111kkx]

we recently did a reccie to Geelong as that is where we were going to head once the visa comes through. I have to say that 6 hours was enough for us!!! now need to look for a plan B!!!

[Guest itskaren]

well, you asked. And there's plenty more bile! some points that need further explanation....

 

AUSTRALIAN TV:

No I couldn't mention this subject without a 'special mention' of Channels 7, 9 and 10 (or 'The Monkey Channels' as I call them) a source of muchos bile. If you've not witnessed them for yourself (you lucky git), try to imagine ITV...but aimed at people with (even worse) amnesia. Why else would there be adverts every 2 minutes or so (which last 5-10 minutes), not only that but they repeat the SAME ONES (often in THE SAME AD BREAK) every time. Why else would said adverts consist of some bloke with a speech impediment (sorry Australian) shouting at you to come to a book sale in HOPPERS CROSSING!!!! where they're literally throwing books at customers they're so ****.

Aside from the dodgy adverts in the breaks, many shows are just long commercials themselves eg Good Morning Australia. How the presenters can look interested as they chat to some fitness psycho whilst in the background ridiculously buff men and women gyrate on machines which would cripple an average (lard-arse) Australian in minutes....I suppose they just think of the cash.

Once you have battled (that's where the term 'Aussie battler' comes from!) past daytime TV, then you have a diet of bland homogenised american drama or comedy shows to contend with.

My all time favourite (though I've never watched it) is 'the Mentalist', as I like to think that it stars Alan Partridge.

 

Oh, and ABC/SBS don't escape scott free either.

 

The main reasons these channels are palatable is the lack of adverts (or relative lack with SBS), and the high percentage of BBC content. When they have a go (fair go, MATE!) at making home-grown programs, they often miss the mark, and look v amateurish. Eg HUNGRY BEAST which is a confusing and frankly irritating mix of comedy sketches and serious 'hard-hitting' reportage, without the slightest hint of self consciousness. utter crap

 

AUSTRALIAN MEN:

Another of their problems is that they do not possess a self deprecating gene. Australian boys are bred to be tough and not to be cry babies. An interesting insight into this is the way Nutrigrain is marketed in Australia vs UK. Here, it is aimed at boys wanting to be iron men and banging on about the protein content. In the UK its just marketed as a normal (very sweet) cereal. The result of all this toughening up is that they have beaten out of them at a very early age the ability to laugh at themselves..rather try and continue looking tough, whatever. Hence not much of a sense of humour, unless you regard Benny Hill as funny.

It is probably the main reason for the pommeling (no pun intended) we have had in the Ashes until 2005. Australian men are tough nuts alright, just don't expect them to be much of a laugh

 

 

 

Another very entertaining post! So very true. Our first Christmas here in 2008 we opened a bottle of wine and beers etc. We thought it would be good on TV. As we were in a rental all we had was the TV. We thought it would be at least James Bond, Miss Marple, The Sound of Music..... no it was ""The Best of Benny Hill"":yes:

 

It was dire. We should have know then. And of course, if there is a film that you might find mildly interesting, you need a can of red bull to stay awake because it usually startsaat 7pm but finished at midnight due to all of the repeated same dull adverts!!:arghh:

[Guest guest36762]

we recently did a reccie to Geelong as that is where we were going to head once the visa comes through. I have to say that 6 hours was enough for us!!! now need to look for a plan B!!!

 

Where next then? Colac, Werribee, Hoppers Crossing?

Seriously though, you could consider plan C-stay put.

[Guest JulieW]

Australians always criticise the British for watching too much TV - it all adds to the myth of the Australian outdoor lifestyle compared to all the British huddled indoors unable to get out - but we watch more TV because TV in Britain is GOOD.

 

I wonder if the advertisers think they sell more by repeating the same ad every five minutes for two hours? I just decide NEVER to buy the product because Im so sick of hearing about it.

[Guest proud2beaussie]

TV in Britain is GOOD.

Not in my opinion it isn't,the UK lives on a diet of Eastenders,Coronation Street,Holby City,The Bill,and Top Gear,I mean top gear is a good show but I can only take so much of May,Hammond and Clarkson behaving like idiots and it's a shame that the aussies decided to copy it,there are good shows from the UK but it's nowhere near as good as most Brits would have you believe.

[Conniebygaslight]

Australians always criticise the British for watching too much TV - it all adds to the myth of the Australian outdoor lifestyle compared to all the British huddled indoors unable to get out - but we watch more TV because TV in Britain is GOOD.

 

I wonder if the advertisers think they sell more by repeating the same ad every five minutes for two hours? I just decide NEVER to buy the product because Im so sick of hearing about it.

 

 

I think the Aussies spend more time indoors than the Brits do anyway. In 4 months here I've never seen anyone in our street r the othe surrounding streets unless they are on their ride on mowers. Never see anyone in the gradens that our house backs on to- have o idea who our neighbours are. It's all a bit like the Trueman show for me to be honest.....

[Guest itskaren]

I think the Aussies spend more time indoors than the Brits do anyway. In 4 months here I've never seen anyone in our street r the othe surrounding streets unless they are on their ride on mowers. Never see anyone in the gradens that our house backs on to- have o idea who our neighbours are. It's all a bit like the Trueman show for me to be honest.....

 

I agree 100%

[byrned]

Not in my opinion it isn't,the UK lives on a diet of Eastenders,Coronation Street,Holby City,The Bill,and Top Gear,I mean top gear is a good show but I can only take so much of May,Hammond and Clarkson behaving like idiots and it's a shame that the aussies decided to copy it,there are good shows from the UK but it's nowhere near as good as most Brits would have you believe.

 

How do you know what uk people live on regarding tv, to make a statement like that you should have the facts, tv in uk is not just about the above shows, they have the best drama's modern and period, documentarys, some of the best writers, actors in the world, even the advertisments are better, most game shows they create are sold round the world, even the presenters, people who read the news, just a different class, this is not a competition against aus tv and uk, its just a fact UK wins hands down.

[Conniebygaslight]

I agree 100%

 

We have MyStar with Austar- on Weds eve we watched he final of American Idol and my husband said "well that's that then" we now have nothing to watch. We turn it off every single night because it's so dire and Idol was the only thing we looked forward to. Don't get me started on the crass radio!

 

Its raining here today- what to do when it rains in Oz..... or when it's sunny and you've exhausted all the parks....?

 

'Welcome to the Hotel California'

[Guest proud2beaussie]

How do you know what uk people live on regarding tv

Well I have friends and family who live there that's how!and I have stayed with them and seen what they watch.

As for saying

its just a fact UK wins hands down.

well there you go confusing FACTS with YOUR OPINION,now MY opinion is that I disagree.

And fancy saying that

even the advertisments are better

believe me when you have seen one stupid ad for Churchill insurance after another you know that ad's in the UK are just as crap as ads in Australia.

[Guest guest30038]

 

Its raining here today- what to do when it rains in Oz..... or when it's sunny and you've exhausted all the parks....?

 

 

 

Sit under the pergola, avoiding both, and play monopoly or scrabble with the kids. Have a glass or two of chateaux de cardboard box and talk about how little room you had in your UK lounge to engage in said activities with your kids :yes: When you're bored with that, have a pea shooter contest trying to knock the gheko's off yer pergola ceiling :biglaugh: Then strike up the barbie, have more plonk, and only find the need to step indoors to fetch out the huge T Bones that you could never afford back in the UK.

 

It's all good............if you're an uncultured, ignorant bogan such as me :biglaugh:

 

kev

[byrned]

:laugh::laugh:

[Conniebygaslight]

Sit under the pergola, avoiding both, and play monopoly or scrabble with the kids. Have a glass or two of chateaux de cardboard box and talk about how little room you had in your UK lounge to engage in said activities with your kids :yes: When you're bored with that, have a pea shooter contest trying to knock the gheko's off yer pergola ceiling :biglaugh: Then strike up the barbie, have more plonk, and only find the need to step indoors to fetch out the huge T Bones that you could never afford back in the UK.

 

It's all good............if you're an uncultured, ignorant bogan such as me :biglaugh:

 

kev

 

LOl, That's only ggod for so long though isn't it- we do play games with our kids and we did at home (and we had a huge house in UK) when you've exhausted everything there is little to do here in poor weather-just as the houses aren't equipped for the cold either.

[Guest proud2beaussie]

BTW the UK tv ratings for the period ending 16 may were:

1 BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT (SAT 2001) 10,604 2 CORONATION STREET (MON 2030) 9,947 3 CORONATION STREET (MON 1932) 9,735 4 CORONATION STREET (THU 2031) 8,600 5 CORONATION STREET (FRI 2029) 8,437 6 CORONATION STREET (FRI 1932) 8,388 7 EMMERDALE (THU 2000) 7,597 8 LEWIS (SUN 2003) 7,173 9 EMMERDALE (MON 1900) 7,073 10 EMMERDALE (THU 1900)

1 HESTON'S 80S FEAST (TUE 2102) 2,855 2 LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION (THU 1959) 2,779 3 COME DINE WITH ME (SUN 1959) 2,474 4 SHAMELESS (TUE 2204) 2,449 5 DERREN BROWN INVESTIGATES (MON 2202) 2,348 6 EMBARRASSING BODIES: KIDS (FRI 2100) 2,236 7 THE RESTORATION MAN (SUN 2102) 2,216 8 HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVE (THU 2102) 1,903 9 JAMIE DOES...THE FRENCH PYRENEES (WED 2101) 1,886 10 DEAL OR NO DEAL (TUE 1611)BBC1 was

1 EASTENDERS (MON 2000) 8,857 2 BBC NEWS SPECIAL (TUE 1916) 8,725 3 EASTENDERS (THU 1928) 8,473 4 EASTENDERS (FRI 2000) 8,468 5 EASTENDERS (WED 1929) 7,690 6 DOCTOR WHO (SAT 1824) 7,063 7 OUTNUMBERED (THU 2130) 6,751 8 TEN O'CLOCK NEWS (TUE 2200) 6,478 9 HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU (THU 2100) 6,218 10 CASUALTY (SAT 2102)

http://www.barb.co.uk/report/weeklyTopProgrammes

 

so if that's the ratings then that's what people are watching surely?

[Conniebygaslight]

Well I have friends and family who live there that's how!and I have stayed with them and seen what they watch.

As for saying well there you go confusing FACTS with YOUR OPINION,now MY opinion is that I disagree.

And fancy saying that believe me when you have seen one stupid ad for Churchill insurance after another you know that ad's in the UK are just as crap as ads in Australia.

 

The difference though Nigel is you are talking about 'family and friends lives in UK' we are talking about OUR lives here & UK.

 

I never watched soaps in the UK but was a sucker for a good quality drama.

 

It's funny though isn't it you don't see many quality actors from UK moving here do you. And ou dont see many aussie imports to UK either except a couple of soaps and the wiggles. The imports here are many-why is that exactly...?

[Guest itskaren]

The difference though Nigel is you are talking about 'family and friends lives in UK' we are talking about OUR lives here & UK.

 

I never watched soaps in the UK but was a sucker for a good quality drama.

 

It's funny though isn't it you don't see many quality actors from UK moving here do you. And ou dont see many aussie imports to UK either except a couple of soaps and the wiggles. The imports here are many-why is that exactly...?

 

I agree!

[Guest guest30038]

LOl, That's only ggod for so long though isn't it- we do play games with our kids and we did at home (and we had a huge house in UK) when you've exhausted everything there is little to do here in poor weather-just as the houses aren't equipped for the cold either.

 

OK, what did you do in the UK during bad weather?

 

Are you saying that there's less opportunities here (to do things) when the weather is bad? I can't say that I consider myself to have experienced any bad weather here (that prevented me from an activity) that even comes close to what I experienced in the UK?

 

kev

[Guest guest30038]

The imports here are many-why is that exactly...?

 

Because of the number of Poms here. Target audience. Just as SBS puts out Italian, Greek, and other foreign language programmes.

 

kev

[Guest proud2beaussie]

Conniebygaslight,

I have no problem with people expressing an opinion about Australian TV,what I do have a problem with is people who confuse their opinions with the facts,now I have never denied that the UK makes some good programs,in fact they make some great programs,but I don't agree that is is necessarily a FACT that the UK tv is better,and from my experiences of spending time in the UK then the sort of programs which are popular (based on the ratings) are not what I call quality,but that is just my OPINION,again the problem I have is people who like to state their opinions as facts.

I always try to distinguish between the two-and my OPINION is that British tv is not NECESSARILY better than Australian,I am not asking anyone to agree with me,just stating my views.

[Guest itskaren]

Conniebygaslight,

I have no problem with people expressing an opinion about Australian TV,what I do have a problem with is people who confuse their opinions with the facts,now I have never denied that the UK makes some good programs,in fact they make some great programs,but I don't agree that is is necessarily a FACT that the UK tv is better,and from my experiences of spending time in the UK then the sort of programs which are popular (based on the ratings) are not what I call quality,but that is just my OPINION,again the problem I have is people who like to state their opinions as facts.

I always try to distinguish between the two-and my OPINION is that British tv is not NECESSARILY better than Australian,I am not asking anyone to agree with me,just stating my views.

 

Nigel.. with all the respect in the world to you I honestly don't know how you come to the conclusion that Australian TV is ok???

[Conniebygaslight]

OK, what did you do in the UK during bad weather?

 

Are you saying that there's less opportunities here (to do things) when the weather is bad? I can't say that I consider myself to have experienced any bad weather here (that prevented me from an activity) that even comes close to what I experienced in the UK?

 

kev

 

Ooh let me see, we lived near york(come to think of it we lived near everywhere) so there were museums,dungeons,educational centres, reptile centres, the deep auqrium, the sealife centre huge indoor play centres, Indoor railway centre. All within 30/40 minutes

In sunshine- farms galore, adventurelands, historic houses,parks (I think Oz has the upperhand on parks) vibrant cities, cobbled streets, cafes bars diggerland,yorkshire moors. Cadburyland,Lego land.

The thing is when you have exhaused one city/town in he UK you can easily move on to another and the attractions just keep coming. we are happy just walking though and we loved going to the coast sunny or rainy.

 

I'm not a theme park person but my son is- how many are there in Oz- I think 2.

 

It depends on what you like- it is a fact that there is more to do in the UK and that things are much easier to get to. this is obviously due to the size of the country and the population.

[Guest proud2beaussie]

Well karen surely that's a matter for me?

I happen to watch a lot of current affairs shows like 7.30 Report,Four Corners,Foreign Correspondent etc,I also watch Catalyst ,Gardening Australia,The Insiders,Dateline etc,I consider them all quality programs.

[Guest itskaren]

Well karen surely that's a matter for me?

I happen to watch a lot of current affairs shows like 7.30 Report,Four Corners,Foreign Correspondent etc,I also watch Catalyst ,Gardening Australia,The Insiders,Dateline etc,I consider them all quality programs.

 

Sure.

 

You seem to get really irritated and annoyed Nigel at the slightest criticism of Australia!:mad:

[Guest proud2beaussie]

No Karen I get annoyed when people confuse facts with opinion.

[Guest itskaren]

No Karen I get annoyed when people confuse facts with opinion.

 

ummm ... look back on your posts and anything negative said you get annoyed! Opinion or not opinion..