Vega you have been handed a lifeline - grab it NOW!

The most enthusiastic, over-researched and funniest radio show on air Get This with Tony Martin, Ed Kavalee and Rishard Marsland has just been axed by Triple M. As suggested just TWO DAYS AGO PEOPLE, Vega should snap them up.

This is the opportunity to realunch Vega and actually offer something different for an intelligent audience who want a bit of popular culture mixed in with a liberal serve of juvenile humour. Vega will have to relaunch their breakfast show (I'm telling you folks the Dave O'Neil/Chris Hatzis team WILL work)* so why not give the whole station a going over and a bit of energy.

It will be interesting to see how Triple M fare next year with Peter Helliar and Myf Warhurst serving up the 6-9am froot loops instead of the tired Cage team. If Wil and Lehmo survive with their weak ratings and sexist promotional stunts then Triple M is seriously more rooted** than we thought.

In other news do watch Denton tonight to see the wonderful Colin Hay being interviewed. This interview has been in the can for some time and I have been waiting for it to actually be played but he kept being bumped for sports stars or visiting artists. Anyway watch it, he is a very entertaining man.

And if you haven't already caught up on your Newstopia watching grab it here for the next 48 hours.

* Producer available - contact me
**You won't read that in the Green Guide

Weekend Wrap Up

The end-of-season radio moves are on, like a jigsaw where the pieces are being rearranged to fit back together, we are seeing some personalities slide over to another station and others hanging up the headphones for other reasons.

Triple M's Melbourne breakfast radio team The Cage is retiring And is to be replaced by ruddy-faced Fat Controller Peter Helliar. Triple J breakfast co-host and Spicks and Specks team leader Myf Warhurst is to join Helliar. Rumours of who would share space with Helliar were wafting around the ether for the last few weeks and the names Petty, Zemiro and Bickmore were bandied around. One thing was always going to be certain - Helliar would not be sharing the airspace with any female who got more laughs than him. Is Helliar the new Daryl Somers of Australian entertainment? You decide?

It was interesting to note that Helliar is looking "forward to putting together a great team over the coming months..." so don't get ahead of yourself Myf - this is Pete's gig and you'll be joining him and Strauchnie for the ride. What will the show be called?

"I plan to call it Peter Helliar's Breakfast Bonanza, Myf's name will appear on the website and of course listeners will hear her voice, most likely cracking up over my jokes." Peter Helliar*

Over at Vega Denise Scott and Shaun Micallef are heading off to pursue other interests. The always likable and versatile Scott has a book deal and Micallef will concentrate on his very promising new satirical television show Newstopia. Unbelievably there have been reports that Grubby and DeeDee are rumoured to slip over to Vega. The sound of another nail is heard being banged into Vega's coffin.

Vega was a great idea that never took off and instead of nurturing it management clipped its wings and tried to make it look like every other oldies hits of the 80s, 90s and now station. I had visions of a Triple J morning show circa early 90s with Angela Catterns: weekly regular guests talking dream analysis, television, naturopathy and more I cannot exactly recall. Instead we got a cobbled together breakfast team that were given no direction and a short-lived shot at an alternative talk radio format. Now it's a backannouncer's barnyard with Elton John, Billy Joel and Robbie Williams.

If Vega want to lift their fortunes they should:**

• Hang on to Dave O'Neil and give him a bit of licence to put together his own team. O'Neil has a huge portfolio of Melbourne radio experience including years at Triple R (Cat Corner anyone?), he has loyal fans and doesn't mind acting the dag. If Chris Hatzis could be enticed to join him Vega would be on a definite winner.


• Poach the Martin/Kavalee/Marsland winner Get This from Triple M. Give them three hours from 9-12 and a very loose leash. Martin appears to despise the Triple M playlist so let him pick his own four songs per hour.


• I don't know about the afternoons yet but leave it with me.

In Nation-Watch, Mick Molloy and his show disappeared without a trace. No press releases, no media coverage, it just disappeared. Anthony LaPaglia and his team have been hired to track the shows final movements, when found all episodes will be buried in a time capsule next to the dog-poop zone at the nearest park.

*The recordings were muffled maybe these aren't the EXACT quotes.

**I don't like giving advice all the time.

Weekend Wrap-Up coming up...

I think it has become obvious that my blog posts are dwindling. I blame work, and a bad cold and you know, facebook and stuff.

Anyway, I still intend to post occasionally and comment often. I am thinking of a week-end wrap up...coming soon.

Political satire with a girly chaser...

I have previously made my feelings known about The Chaser team on this here blog. Recently I discussed the television show at a work meeting, my colleagues were aghast - it was if I had said, "Four Corners is gutter journalism at its finest". The only person who shared my view was my ridicuously hysterical workmate who is addicted to rsvp.com and carries a perky leather manbag. He is bang up for a bit of lady action but is frequently mistaken for a lesbian - go figure.

They have done some great work over the years and they never serve up lazy television. The show has a great pace and honestly any team that can come up with the idea of dressing Lawrence Leung as the gay Tellytubby and trying to get into The Peel is clever. Like you, and the other 2.3 million Australians I watched the show last week. I have never said these guys aren't talented and funny and their APEC stunt was very interesting to watch. I don't think they ever imagined they would have been permitted to advance so far. But one thing really bothers me - the way women are represented on their show.

Even though the sketch is a parody of Channel Ten's Californication, it still featured two women dressed as nuns almost-pashing. Even if you splash KEVIN 07 across the front of their outfits, include it in a Led Zepplin parody and pretend you are making a statement on Kev's girly-bar experience, you still have corset-clad babes closing the show.

So I am wondering, even if you present some intelligent political satire, pull some audacious stunts and pad out the show with some mediocre sketches - how is The Chaser team better or different in its treatment of women than say...The Footy Show? Isn't this just the Sydney grammar school version of the boys club but with politics instead of sport? You know none of it would bother me if this was balanced with some other representation of women other than slaggy nuns and girly props. But apart from a member of the production team in a vet sketch and the bewildered receptionist at the Chinese embassy, these were the only females on show.

Why does it bug me so much? Am I being over-sensitive or doesn't anyone else notice?

Vinegar Hits

We interrupt this temporary break in transmission to bring you a little feast for your ears and eyes. Check out the fantastic Skipping Girl Vinegar (if you don't appreciate that name then you are deliciously young and should immerse yourself in researching Australian icons) and their new song "One Chance".

The song is smoking (to quote from the press release) but the clip is even better. Check it out below and check them out at the best Melbourne venue since The Continental, the gorgeous Toff in Town on Saturday 22 September in Melbourne.

Remember me?

Hi there readers, friends, Nation-watchers and surfers looking for "nikki osborne + boobs"

I haven't abandoned you.

However I have been on temporary leave for a myriad of reasons. These include: holidays, special projects, study, extra work and a really annoying problem with my router that has me currently stretching a 20 metre cable through my house. I almost forgot that I haven't had much to say either.

Re:soundings will have new posts from next week.

But before I go...

WTF happened to Nikki? She has just slipped from our screens without a word.

Yours
L
x x

Mick Celebrates Nine Shows with Nothing New

I know, what would this blog be if it weren't for Mick Molloy and his shambolic show The Nation to write about?

But stuff it, it's my blog and if I choose to dissect his latest foray into late, or should I say late-late night television, I will.

With a brief shift into half-decent entertainment last week, The Nation slipped firmly back into mediocrity last night. You probably missed it so I'll give you the juice here:

• Secret Women's Business returned with Amanda Keller and Julia Zemiro. I love Julia Zemiro - she's a sharp cool/daggy mix all bundled up into an extremely appealing package. Amanda Keller has quite a few fans, she can think on her feet and brandishes a whip-smart motormouth, she's not my cup of ginger zinger with a dash of honey but she knows how to work it. Unfortunately these two couldn't save Mick's show. What is it with the whole 'Secret Women's Business' angle and the kitschy graphic of 1950's housewives anyway?
• Last week Kate Langbroek appeared in a sketch and later as a guest. Even though she chatted with Mick about having three kids and putting her rock and liquor-loving husband on a curfew - she didn't have to be introduced under the guise of revealing 'Secret Women's Business'. Mind you, she worked brilliantly with Mick, asking him about still being single and laughing good-naturedly at her own expense. It really drove home the two very important lessons that Mick and his brothers should learn - casting and chemistry.
• It appears that Akmal and Jackie O now alternate their spot at the desk each week. Hmmm one week vapid celeb goss (with credibility-raising laptop prop) at least two days past its use-by date and the next...current affairs with a comedic twist. Apparently you can see that connection from the moon.
• It seems that Nikki Osborne has left the building. No-one noticed. Maybe she's out trying to find a third k to put into her name? Will she reappear as one of the chicks on Aerobics Oz Style? Mick's already put it on record that nailing one of those beauties is one of his things to do before he dies.
• Dave O'Neil was a guest, talking up his new book 'Everything Tastes Better Crumbed' and appearing as a slobby Tour de France racer. I love Dave, and quite frankly I think he's onto something with his crumbing adventure. I mean even eggplant, which I despise, is edible once dipped in crumbs and dripping in saturated fat.
• Tiffany Cherry really is very good. But must we intersperse her sporting segments with pervy bikini shots from Natalie Gulbis' latest FHM spread?

It looks like The Nation is going to be allowed to see out its run of eleven or twelve shows. I doubt it will get renewed but it serves as a great case study into how to make good television.

I'm not going to bang on about casting, chemistry, instincts, forethought or good writing. I'm not going to waffle on about getting more funny women on our small screens. I'm not going to open the window and scream out "Mick you're not a host! Produce by all means, but don't make yourself a star." Why would I?