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? […]
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. [audio:http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/media.boxcutters.net/BCep335.mp3|titles=Episode 335|artists=Boxcutters] Notes New Notes 8 April 2013 Ben McKenzie has shared these links for your own investigation into songs and TV shows. […]
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. [audio:http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/media.boxcutters.net/BCep334.mp3|titles=Episode 334|artists=Boxcutters] Notes Glenn spoke about this article […]
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. [audio:http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/media.boxcutters.net/BCep333.mp3|titles=Episode 333|artists=Boxcutters] Notes Plugs See Steele Saunders and guests live during […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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! [audio:http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/media.boxcutters.net/BCep318.mp3|titles=Episode 318|artists=Boxcutters] Notes If you’re here early, sorry. We’ll regather our notes in a day or so.
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. [audio:http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/media.boxcutters.net/BCep317.mp3|titles=Episode 317|artists=Boxcutters] Notes One Thing You know, we recorded […]
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. [audio:http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/media.boxcutters.net/BCep316.mp3|titles=Episode 316|artists=Boxcutters] Notes One Thing Howzat!: Kerry Packer’s War 8:30pm Sunday, […]
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 […]
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. [audio:http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/media.boxcutters.net/BCep314.mp3|titles=Episode 314|artists=Boxcutters] Notes One Thing […]
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. [audio:http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/media.boxcutters.net/BCep313b.mp3|titles=Episode 313|artists=Boxcutters] Notes You can […]
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, […]
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. [audio:http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/media.boxcutters.net/BCep311.mp3|titles=Episode 311|artists=Boxcutters] Notes One Thing Sporting Nation – 7:30pm Sunday, ABC1 References […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
