RODGER CORSER - THE FLOOR - CHANNEL NINE

It's in the news today, but it was actually on TV Reload, the podcast last week Their Life. Hey guys, welcome back to TV Reload. My name is Benjamin Norris and I want to thank you for clicking on my podcast today where I go behind the scenes with the biggest players in Australian television. This week, I'm joined by the one and only Roger Corser, a name you would definitely recognize from say Doctor, Doctor, Underbelly and pretty much every major Australian drama that has been made over the

Benjamin, Hi, mate, how are you very good?

I'm in my son's room and it's away from the school holidays, you see, so there's there's a ruckus downstairs. So I thought I'd find a corner of the house that might be a little bit more quiet.

I remember once Hughesy was doing one of these chats and he had the kids home from school holidays. But he had to run away because there was an incident and it turned out one of his kids had put the toaster in the kitchen underneath like a shelf, which had basically set to his kitchen.

And he continued to the interview.

He stayed doing the interview because I mean, you've would have met Dave hughes over the years. I mean, he's committed. He will give you the content, you know what I mean. So he's he's sitting there rabbiting on about I don't know what shoul it was. It was Hughesy, we have a problem, yeah, rat choe, but yeah he was his house. Now he burned down, and he let it happen just to talk.

I mean, I'd probably say can I call you back? That my kids, my kids might be slightly threatened. But I'll tell you what. He's committed to promoting a show, isn't he? Yeah.

Absolutely, I'm so excited to have this chat with you because I am so invested in this show. I watched it with my best friend and we became so competitive because this show is so interactive, like nothing we've ever seen before. Talk to me about how this came across your desk.

I'd actually heard about it coming out through my publicist actually, and you know, she'd heard about the US version the robb Blow hosts, and she actually gave me a heads up and said, why didn't you see who's doing it?

We didn't even know that Nima was doing it, so we made I made some inquiries through my agent and they asked me questions and we.

Found out so we actually, I want to say it wasn't chasing, but it was just like, oh that could be interesting because I think after doing you know, doing The Traders, and I mean it was nine that first got me onto just a feeling today extra, which was sort of you know, sort of got me into oh, okay, maybe I can do something.

It's different to acting on the Telly.

So so yeah, it's just a bit more open to maybe presenting shows.

You know, some of the acting work was getting a little slower.

And still, I mean, I'm just in a different category now that I'm over fifty, so you know that work is in, you know, there's not as much of it right now for me at the moment, so you just sort of open up and look at look a different thing.

Their information excel as well.

Any any sort of walk of life can find their category that they're good at.

But sometimes you hear oh, you see a category coming up, and you go, oh, I can't wait for eighties movies, and you think, yeah, that's what I'm going to be really good at. But I found that some of the categories that I thought I'd have absolutely no shot whatsoever, I would beat my best mate, who is the smartest person I know. She's a female engineer. I've never been smarter in a room with her ever, except some categories of the floor.

You're welcome, you know what I mean.

I thought we're here to boost people's ego, make them, you know, walk away from the show and go I feel a little better about myself, you know.

But it's great. It's a great leveler. I've said this before about the show.

We had the periodic table on as one of our categories, and people avoided it, like the play was so scared of it. And we were saying in production that, well, you know, we're not going to be asking really the super you know, in depth questions about period of table. I think, just go and basically learn learn the period of table, which is finite.

It's finite. It's basically if you could just go in in one night or two nights kind of learn eighty percent of it.

You probably do pretty well as opposed to the person who is very science based knowing nothing about pop culture.

And then where do you start with the celebrity.

Couples if you have no prior prior knowledge, I mean, where do you start?

Where do you end?

Like I think that's a harder thing if you have no sort of pop culture references. Where you start is harder learn than some of the other ones. And the one let's just go and do you know this for dummies? You know, you go and pick up the Geography for Dummies or something like that and go, well, I could probably do a lot. You do do a lot to do it at least help myself, you know, in one night with capital cities or something like that, because you're going to know a.

Few just to sort of top up. Because the X factor here is that you.

Could have two people that it isn't there that the category has been passed down because you know, someone lost it. You know it's been passed down, and so you've got two people it's not their number one choice.

So you're equally got like novices at it. So a little bit of study. You know you can you can get on, you can get on quite well.

I started screaming about like pick the ones that are left of center, like do you know what I mean? Like pick the ones that are like babies, because they're really basic. Like you started off thinking I don't want to do babies. I don't even have any children, So I was like, I can't do that one. But then babies was a category that I could actually do. It was bizarre.

Yeah, we at the kitchen draw was the one that when I saw that, I thought that was absolutely anything.

You know, they just throw absolutely anything in there.

I mean, and the pressure of having to do it up there, you know, under all the studio lights, and we've got you know, eighty one contestants.

When we start, We've got a studio audience as well.

Some people who you know probably spoke, you talked a good game, you know. I want to chat to everyone on the floor, you know, and not all that made that and made it. But I'm to the final cut, but I'm having the conversations in between and getting to know people, and they certain amounts of that. Some people were super confident, super cocky, I mean, perhaps to try and throw people off and intimidate other people and did they get up there?

And you know, basically think about our game.

If you don't know what passed straight away, you know and gone to something else. But people forget that one thing and well I'm and r for ten plus seconds just draining there.

Why it's just doesn't matter how much you know you did.

We've hit the one you know, the one spot, you know, blind spot in your knowledge of this category. And because you're desperate to get the right answer out, you won't pass quickly. And then some people let fifteen seconds go past and then they're shot.

You like, why would you do that to yourself? Did you watch the Rob Low version? Because you know what I did was that I watched the Roger cors version first, and then I went to the Rob Low version, which I think will be strange for people to hear. But because I wasn't really that, I wasn't as drawn to this idea and this concept as much. When I liked this Australian version, I needed to go and see the Rob Loan version.

Yeah.

Well, I mean, you know, hit the job and I mean, I tell you what, he's a very attractive sixty year old man you got to say.

I mean, I'm tend almost a decade behind him, and.

Roger, you sound a bit like him. This is going to sound strange because he's obviously a really accent, but there's times of your intonation of your voice where I'm like, that's kind of because Rob Low, you can't help a kind of you know, we've been watching him in movies for years. I'm forty five, so like he kind of has this way of talking. Anyway, I started looking at it and being like, I think Roger Corsa is one hundred percent the Australian version of Rob Low.

Well, you know, you know, he's had a great career. I like that half of his career, but thank you, but he does a great job.

We had we look, we had some We have one of the same producers on.

The show can come over and help help us out.

Just with the format, it's a pretty fast paced sort of show with lots of moving parts and lots of people.

Game show kind of format. But I enjoyed it.

I enjoyed it in the end, and I definitely sort of warmed into feeling more comfortable on stage. I sort of just you know, by about halfway through is I started to just really sort of find my feet.

I just love it when they get they can't guess the answers that you are the answer. It's always funny because I always think, you know, like under Belly, this is a promo, so like, forgive me channel nine. I'm not giving this away, but I think it's it's on TV at the moment. But someone under Belly wrong. Oh my, that show is so goddamn iconic. Like one that doesn't get that show needs to be immediately eliminated because that's.

You just dropped your right.

You're forty five and fifty two, and you know, I've got I've got a twenty two year old daughter and a fifteen year old son, and you know, at thirteen and down to nine, but you know, for the twenty two year old under it was eighteen years ago, there were four you know, so I mean for anyone between maybe twenty and thirty, a big chunk of television viewers or you know, people who were watching media in some form,

You know that we made so.

Then and there would have been released reruns of that on a Telly where I don't know, you know, well, I suppose Underbelly is available to stream, but where the people are drawn to do that. But for a different generation like your own, it was big because it was an Underbelly was a time where I think we were used to watching a lot of overseas shows and someone swung back to some Aussie content. I think Underbelly was a big part of that.

I know friends that had Underbelly parties during COVID and they would watch the first series. Oh wow, it was like it had a second coming, like hearing that with people were like they were ordering in Italian food like mobster style, and we're rewatching this show. And the weird thing about it was when I heard that. I went back to watch it as well, and it still stands

Well, I think it was. I mean everything about IP.

You look a look at Hollywood and everyone, you know, the top of ten grossing films over the last couple of years, they're mounted them that.

Have you know, pre existing IP.

They're either a sequel so it's their own IP, or it's Barbie, or it's you know, it's based on something else where. So true true crime has a version of that because you're familiar with the people and the stories and the headlines, so the audience you're not sort of having to explain, you know, from ground zero, exactly what it is. And with Underbelly, in one way, it was

I don't even remember what we were banned.

My mum is a primary school teacher and she was making I shouldn't say this, my mom's going to come for me now, I copy. He was making pirated copies at school and handing them out to the teachers.

People were driving up to the border, yes Aubury Ordonga, passing it.

Over and passing it over, and like people going up and getting their DVD burnt copies.

Which is the irony of someone different black market, you know, sort of on a bunch of show about gangsters.

And your kids.

Would think that he's so bizarre telling them about the floppy disk and the hard disk, you know what, they're like, Oh my god. Anyway, we're going off on a tangent. I need to ask you about the rationale as to why a show like this, because it would have been expensive to fly everyone overseas, so far away? Why are you shooting so far away? It certainly wasn't to keep it under wraps because most of the cast ended up blabbing about being on the show anyway, so we found

Yeah, it's just in my contract. I just I just needed it to be in you know good. Yeah.

Now, look, yes, it is expensive for a cast to come over, but a lot were sourced from Europe, so expats in the UK and the Netherlands and you know, adjoining European countries where you know, I suppose it's a one hundred and fifty pounds easy jet flight and you know it's only we shot it in the weeks weeks accommodation and some people were flying from Australia because I

Groups and everything.

So some people were flown from Australia, but I think that was only probably ten to fifteen percent.

Actually, okay, well that's because the set is huge.

I mean, the things as big as a basketball court. That the screen, that the floor they're standing on. You know, that's not something you're just you know, putting you you know, in your ludgage and sent back over to Australia. It's a big bit of kit. And it's nine episodes. So look, if we were a five times a week game show, thirty five forty weeks the year, maybe that's worth building

So we hit the ground running. So yes, I'm sure it's expensive.

To do it over there, but the amount of time we spent there, it was a well oiled machine and we sort of get in and get out.

It's something about the way in which the production of this show shows contestants on a game show that we've never seen before. Like I can't even explain this to you, and I don't know whether or not you and the accountless interviews you've done have been able to do it. But we get to know these people in a way that I don't think has ever been done. Like Deal or Nodeal Grant Dania. He might ask them one question, but for some reason we are connecting through to these

Well, that's the thing about you for and what why foremots some work and some don't. And it's a magic source, isn't it? And I think you know you've got some great elements put together.

And the things you really like about a game.

Show like Quick Essentially it's an easy to get battle when we have our duel, you know, to break it down to it, it's visual and it's a one on one take turns and basically you can just yell out at the screen. And that's why it's so great to play at home. Getting to know our contestants, our characters. Over nine episodes is a longer run than even a the classic carryover champ a thirteenth century or something. Five nights was at the top there. But we're also getting

So we can see.

Their personality where you know, I mean hard PiZZ Sometimes there's a bit of trash talk, but mostly from the from the host, but you know, there's a little bit from.

The contestants there.

But we get our contestants, you know, they're interacting with each other as well, so we get a little bit of bravado and some other people keeping their cards close to their chest. Some people are just telling absolute untrues about themselves to try and throw people off about it. I love what they know or may not know about a category they want people they're sort of bluffing about. Oh, I'm so glad I inherited that category because I you know, I was once some nuclear scientist or something.

There get opened. They're not, but they're I think, I think one.

Person, I don't want to say much category, but there's a there's a category where someone is just bluffed the category. The absolutely nothing about it. Yeah, people stayed away from it for a long time.

I just am excited to see people engage with something that's so new, you know what I mean. Like a lot of these TV shows, like it was almost like what you were saying about films, where we're like we only get sequels and Marvel and Barbie and brands, you know, and it's like we're not stepping outside of the circle and looking at taking a chance on something that's completely new. So when you see Channel nine say we're going to put this sort of a game show for nine episodes,

I think that's what you know.

I feel that nine are really back, and you can tell when you can a network really supports the show. You can see it on screen. I'm worried about people could be sick in my face before they even see the show because I'm like, oh, there's so many primos.

Think about it, like Rob Low, You're the attractive bloke that we get to see. And what's so smart about this decision with you this time is Roger, we do get to know you a little bit better because with the Traders, I felt like they gave you a caricature to sort of play, which worked and it didn't work at times. Where with this show, you know, I've met

That was probably my I think I pushed the character in the Trader is a bit too much problem, probably because I was scared of being because I'm used to keeping a little bit separate like you in interviews. I don't try and sort of hide too much. But you know, if people someone doesn't like show you do, you can go, well, that's that's a character, you know what I mean.

You put yourself out there as yourself and I just I don't like that. Host No, there's no other version of yourself is there?

So well that's the life, isn't it. The actor can say that, you know, like when you are doing that, and I guess it is taking away a net from underneath you. I remember sitting next to you at a film premiere once years ago. It was The Square I think was the name of the film, was a Joel Legit in film they did at the Nova, and I remember thinking, wow, Roger Cours is really shy compared to what I thought you were going to be. I was

I think a lot of people in who actors or have you know you got you get one or two gigs under your But this is what I say to other actors.

We laugh at you know, we'll go to an award ceremony and they'll be.

This year's in a reality TV contestants I mean from a certain type of show, usually not not all of them, And how confident they are strutting down a red carpet when they've you know, I don't know that it's because of social media now and people are out there and more confident where it took a long time, and I'm sure for.

A lot of other actors.

Until you get what you feel like is a body of work under your belt, that you feel that you're accepted, or that you deserve to be at a premiere or a red carpet or at an industry event or anything like that, you know, it takes a while. Man.

Maybe that's just my generation that you have so to had to earn your strips.

Where I think anyone that suddenly gets you know, name the number of followers, what you know.

You see is making fifty one hundred and ten thousand. I don't know that all of a sudden, there's.

A I'm here, I've arrived, and it's a it's just a different.

But everyone's out there, everyone's presenting themselves in a way that only people in music and entertainment had to do.

Twenty years ago. You know, your local tradesmen didn't have to turn a camera around on them and look good and present and go, you know, this is what I do, and you know, tell themselves yeah with me.

Yeah, but you know I have to tell you that those people that now are drawn to reality this is now a different podcast. But I'm very fascinated by unpacking a little bit of this. But like I think people who want to go on reality TV are drawn to the fame of it, of the red carpet. They've been preparing that for that their whole life. Where I know my friends who actors, and there's this sort of nature of the work, you know, and wanting to be good

Yeah, You've got a difference between loving the craft that you're doing.

Whether you're a musician, you just love playing the guitar, the piano or whatever that is.

And you know, people have ambition. I'm going to say that.

You know there is a healthy ego either that comes along along with that. But it's not just the desire to be the under the lights for the applause. I mean it's a good it's a nice rush with you. You know, you do a stage show or back when I was some rock bands and you know, you get a big crowd and they're.

Applauding and going off is a great rush.

So the adulation in a crowd sense is great, but purely just being recognized or that kind of thing is purely being that being the motivation. It just seems a bit foreign to me, you know, multiple time the reality of stars. Do they love the craft of getting on a show and being the bitchy one or like, like is that what they enjoy?

I think there is a bit of that, to be honest with you, because like it's now so many years gone from doing Big Brother, but I did enjoy I could have done that show as a social experiment, if that makes any sense, without cameras and it ever being played on TV. I was fascinated by the idea of Big Brother, and I really was there for ninety seven days with no phone, and it was a life changing experience, just the social experiment side of things, what it does

Actual experience, as opposed to always having that yeah, this is a publicity tool for me.

So I didn't do anything on Instagram for three months basically after I did Big Brother because I was scared of it. You know, I didn't like the people. I actually found it really uncomfortable. My whole life, I used to pretend to walking down the streets, what would be like to be PAPARAZZI thought that would be fun, and then I found that when I was in that experience,

You know, I've never had to really worry about any of that sort of thing.

And I think if you're a boring, relatively boring as in like nothing controversial. I mean, I'm married with you know, four kids of three kids that live at home with me. We often go out to things. It's not like you know who's he dating or who's you know what I mean.

So no, one really don't have to worry about any of that.

Yeah, is because there's no juice there. It's kind of boring, So so I don't. I'm out in the suburbs as well in Sydney.

I'm not in the inner city where you know, all the things are happening, so just it's just never. The only time I've been packed in my own suburb is because of other people. I mean, there was a controversial football figure around here that had.

Done it was, you know, in the courts for something, and I.

Went past the cafe and now I was sort of stalking his home, and they got me because I walked past and there was another another TV personality that was stalking them who look quite quite close to me, and try to trying to wait for them to, you know, to appear at home because they were in the media for various reasons. I happened to again walk past, so I think, like, oh, I suppose we've got to be option, you know, and.

That's the only two times that's it, because they was talking other people.

I want to go back to the original thing, which is that Roger, where we started this was about you worrying about, you know, letting us, letting a guide down, not being a character and showing us Roger Courser. It seemed to me like you were trying to say that you thought you were boring, where in actual fact, you know,

You know what. I warmed into this, and I was pushed by by our producers, you know that the voices in my head, in my ear and my sort of going ask the more like and I realized I was worried about getting this very correct live performance down, and they sort of said.

Look, yes, it's got a live feeld, but we can go back at any time. So you stuff something up, don't worry. It's don't be so worried.

Like, take some chances and you know, and if it's too much, it doesn't work, we will cut it out.

It's not live, live live, you know, it's heavily edited. Now all the.

Games aren't obviously they're they're run from start fities, but all the pattern in between, you know, because they I realized, they want four times the amount of powder with the contestants and then they'll pick and choose the best bit, you know. So as soon as I kind of understood that, then I relax. And when I try and crack a

To see these people shine up there. We want to see all those fun moments.

We want people that you can identify with, and we want people to have a gag and a laugh and and you know, give us some great light moments.

They'll follow you as well, you know, to finish off the chat, thank you for opening up and talking to me about And sometimes I feel like I start asking people questions and you're like, this is why really famous people don't do podcasts, because then they get one like me asking them questions that they.

Were very disarming like what Andrew Dentlem was, you know, maybe you can have your.

Own show, Like, Yeah, I sat next to him once on a plane and I couldn't speak to him because I just loved him on I loved his ability to unearthed conversation. Yeah, it's very incredible because he's the best questions. We're always something that came off, like the third question.

It was very disarming and an incredible, incredible show.

So good, and that's what people want at the end of the day, is they want to listen to conversation.

It's a hard job interviewing because I have to do it in small ways on the show. But I think if people are doing a lot of these things and they hear and it's the same and you think, oh right, well they're going to get that same question seventeen times, I'm probably going to get a very similar response to the prepared response as opposed to that question that's a little bit left us center.

I'd love to know. I always finished the podcast with what is something from behind the scenes? And it always stresses people actually think, fuck, I haven't had a chance to think about what's behind the scenes or a good answer to this question. But I was wondering if and if you feel comfortable answering this, because The Traders are so big around the world and people keep talking about it.

Plenty of people who could do it, of course.

And I was thinking about you. I was thinking you must have thought at some point, because The Traders is huge around the world, like it's so in the UK, like it's actually succeeded in every environment except Australia. At New Zealand it was huge, and so the idea that it didn't really work here means that people are going

I've got to say I probably I'm not thinking who should take that job that I lost?

Probably how would I get that job back? More than I wonder who ask could do a better job than me? You know, like a Ctelia Piccola or something like that would smash it. I think, you know, should be great something something like that.

Yeah, it'd be interesting to know whether it comes back.

I loved it, by the way, like I loved the Australian version. And you know what's really a really strange tidbit is Sam who I think one. I think he was the guy that was from Queensland. He was very attractive and more a cowboy hat. You know, it's a couple of years.

Well spoiler alert, he didn't win. I mean spoiler alert, but you.

Know, you know, we haven't one second series that was that was a twist, but he was kind of he was the puppet master all the way through and until it bit him.

On the bump.

That's right. He was the antagonist. But so I just wanted to tell you this that episode of my podcast, and this is episode five hundred and fifty. So, like I've done a lot of these, but I remember me chatting to him is my most downloaded podcast ever. Really, how weird is that is.

That because he's got a lot of it, because he's got a big social media following, isn't it.

I don't think so. I think that people were you know how sometimes people's personalities polarize and sort of penetrate an audience in a way that.

I saw some of the chat about about and people were infuriated by him.

But he should playing the game, you know to a point.

I think people were just up in arms that there was how dishonest he was.

And I was like, you know what the game's called, right, he just lets him to the brand being treacherous. Yeah, that's what he's that's what he's doing. But I suppose it's.

Sometimes people I would say, oh, it's the worst season ever, and people say it's the best season ever. I think because you were so frustrated by it, by the whole thing, because you wanted the Traders to be voted out and you know, for the facebo to get a win here and there. But they went totally against script and people were you know, pulling their hair out over it.

But also they couldn't look away to tune in the next week. You know, obviously not enough people because we were canned, but we go about behind the scenes or something different.

There was a little bit of tension when we finished that final night shoot. We had you know, we had the crew was packing up, but we you know, produce as an iron sort of final three contestants.

There was a few drinks.

That came out, you know, as people are sort of packing up and you know we clocked off.

There was definitely still a little bit of tension.

There's money involved, isn't there And people had already sort of been there in their own mind, spent that money, had it in the bank, and then it ripped away from him.

That wasn't like, oh, well, you know, it's the where it goes.

There was a little tens I think that then that dissipated, and you know, there was an initial kind of initial hour.

Or two I think after the after that result, they were.

Think we need to pitch the show back to Channel Line. You can stay there at nine. It's a great role to pay.

Look, I'm happy to have a second gig. That more money.

We'll set the traders, not in Australia, somewhere else. Do you want to go well, I mean the.

Show shot answerdam I remember the course.

I'm happy to you know, they shoot the American and the European version of that Scottish castle.

Why don't we just go and go and steal their set.

That's absolutely what we need to do. But for people listening to this podcast and who have been watching the ads of the Floor, I really need you to give the show a chance and bring your friends, bring your family in to watch it because it is something so fun which we rarely get to do. It kind of feels like appointment television, which we rarely can create anymore. And have a good time watching this show because watch.

It with people, watch it with people more people better.

You're all watching the same screen, which which is so foreign to anyone.

Kind of under twenty one, I know, but even under twenty five.

I think they ones use their own screens, their own ear pods and everything. Yeah, you can sit down and you get to have a collective experience.

Right you should want. Roger.

I have to say thank you so much for being so generous with your time and chatting with me today about the show I'd like to see. I can't wait to see what people's read.

Actually, Benjamin jeeus amazing