Know Your Current Events

There’s probably only one other journalist out there who rivals Michael Dwyer in terms of being reliably sour, holier-than-thou, contrary and pompous. But I have to admit, in his article on Monday, Jim Schembri hit the nail on the head. He was talking generally about the late night/early morning programming on Channel 9, in particular, how shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Late Show With David Letterman have been pushed into more and more ridiculous time-slots to make way for some really dubious alternatives.

I think I started watching Dave Letterman about three years ago. Without it, I might have never found out about the existence of Norah Jones or Martha Wainwright, or been alerted to the observation that Donald Trump’s hairdo resembles that of a Wookie (it’s true!). I also wouldn’t have gone out of my way to catch Fiddler On The Roof when I was in New York City last year. What I love about David Letterman is that no matter how crap my day has been, all he has to do is walk onto the floor, his ankle-freezing trousers revealing stark white socks, gangly arms and legs flapping around with his usual goofy grin, and through heavy-lidded eyes, I’ll still manage a chuckle. As I’ve said to my mum (who’s an even bigger fan than me), a lot of the show is all fluff and no substance, but it’s still a whole lot of fun to watch.


Letterman could never be accused of taking himself too seriously, with Top Ten topics ranging from “Top Ten Things About Turning 58” (aired on his birthday in April last year) to “Top Ten Signs You’ve Hired A Bad Easter Bunny”. Nothing (and no one) is sacred, with regular mileage obtained from poking fun at George W. Bush and um, most other influential people in America, as well as whoever happens to be making news that day.

Sadly though, as Jim Schembri points out, Dave is only on about two nights a week these days. And even worse, he’s made way for Quizmania – which I haven’t watched, but it sounds a lot like that other show on Channel 10, the Up Late Game Show. Except apparently Quizmania sounds like some sort of marathon, lasting not one or two, but three whole hours. Surely, whoever’s doing the programming at Channel 9 can find an hour to spare to somehow slot Dave in? Other really good shows have in the past fallen victim to gradually worse and worse time slots, until they’re gone altogether. Most recently, the very last episode EVER of Six Feet Under went to air at 12 am. Not so recently, I remember when Andrew Denton’s show on Channel 7 eventually went belly-up after getting shunted from an initially reasonable time (about 9.30 pm) and finished up at around 10.30 or 11 pm. Unfortunately, the fate of TV shows does ultimately depend on programmer’s decision-making.

I hate to quote Jim Schembri, but as he suggests, us Dave fans will probably have to acquire some “provincial friends” (such as people in regional areas who haven’t fallen victim to Quizmania). Otherwise, as he rightly says, “get that crap off the TV”.