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"TV NOW" MAGAZINE: SUN HERALD (SYDNEY)
Here is a strange but true story. A game show with an arbitrary scoring system and no prizes starts on the ABC, looks doomed for the budget- driven chop, is reinstated last minute, becomes a ratings success for the national broadcaster and attracts marquee name guests. That show is Good News Week, the satirical panel program which won a stay of execution last year after a public outcry.
That loyalty is evident the night TV NOW attends a live recording of the show at the ABC's Gore Hill headquarters. The studio is packed with about 200 people from students to the more traditional grey-haired ABC viewers, all of whom seem to be enjoying the show in equal measures. Host Paul McDermott, in a sharp suit to match his razor wit, abuses them good- naturedly and they abuse him back. Team leader Mikey Robins is less cutting in his approach, using his generously-proportioned body to great effect as a sight gag. The other team leader, Julie McCrossin, greets the audience like old friends, blowing kisses and waving to regulars.
This was not always
the way, according to McDermott, formerly of comedy trio The Doug
Anthony All Stars, now working both ends of the day on GNW and
Triple J's breakfast program with Robins. GNW 's troubles started
because viewers simply didn't get the format, comprising two
panels trying to outwit each other in their analysis of the
week's events.
"A lot of people asked, 'How do you have a game show with no
prizes? What's the point?'", McDermott says, sitting in
Triple J's garishly decorated conference room, having just
finished his radio show. "Viewers were grappling with that
because we've been spoon-fed these afternoon programs where if
you get a question right, you get a prize. So it's like Pavlov's
dog situation. You salivate as soon as you see the kitchenware.
We don't have that, it's a bit different."
Once viewers were familiar with the show, fans came out in force. So devoted is the audience, members snap up tickets as soon as they become available as well as sending in contributions for Magazine Mastermind (where players read an obscure magazine and are tested on how much they have absorbed) and Strange But True (where players use props to guess a story from that week's newspapers).
The GNW of 1997 is
quite different from the Damocles' Sword version of 1996. For a
start, there is a real set, as opposed to what McDermott
describes as "three bits of plywood stapled together".
"There is a sense of permanence about it," the
34-year-old says. And, like many employees of the budget-stricken
ABC, McDermott is trying to cement that permanence. Using Bananas
In Pyjamas as his economic model, he and his colleagues are
planning a merchandising-driven campaign to stay on air.
"The socks, the slippers, the soft toys the pyjama holders
are all coming out this year," he promises.
The next stage of
this two-pronged attack is to get Federal Communications Minister
Richard Alston on as a guest to convince him of the program's
worth.
"There is an open invitation to Richard," McDermott
reveals. "He hasn't actually responded in a positive way, as
far as I'm aware. Hopefully, he'll be coming on. Richard's a good
speaker, great raconteur, has a great sense of humour too."
Strange, yes. But true? Maybe not.
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