Opinion: Packed to the Rafters... With Men

What on earth was the deal with Packed to the Rafters last night?

In the Seven drama's first post-Rachel episode (Jessica Marais departed the show to pursue other avenues overseas, hence her character left the sunny borough for greener pastures in the big Apple), the show was remarkably heavy on male characters.

Whether this was a concerted effort or not, it would still be mildly disconcerting for any Rafters fan.

Let's give the show the benefit of the doubt for a second; maybe the show wanted to have an episode that was more heavily male-influence in order to establish the core cast of characters- let's face it, it didn't have a great deal f female characters to start with.

And given the show centered around Dave's relationship with his estranged father, it kind of makes sense to place an emphasis on the men.

However, even a show about male relationships needs to feature women in some worthwhile capacity...

And last night's show didn't exactly do that.

Last night, the men in the show were Dave and his father; Coby and Jake; Carbo, Ben and Nathan; and Michael Caton's Ted. Oh, and in case that wasn't enough, we also had Jake's brother who has cerebral palsy literally drop in.

Amongst that, we had - count them - two female characters: Julie Rafter and "Retta". Neither of them had any real bearing on the plot; Julie was being a "worry wart" at the beginning and Retta said something to someone at one stage.

And symbolic of the dearth of female presence in the show, there was actually a pink balloon with a picture of Rachel's face taped on to it floating around. The question had to be asked: why wouldn't the show just replace the existing characters with balloons, and maybe introduce a few more to address the balance.

All attempted humour aside, hopefully the show can not only introduce some substantial female characters soon (a couple of actresses have been hired, apparently), but also give its existing characters some decent storylines (next week Julie looks to have a decent enough storyline, so we'll see how that goes). It also needs to give Retta some personality so that she doesn't just have to act as the foil to Carbo (come on, her name literally complements his- Carbo-Retta, etc.).

In a nutshell, the show has not coped, or even attempted to deal with the absence of female characters; first it was Sammy who left, then it was Mel, now Rachel. Other strong-ish characters like Chrissy and "Chel" are nowhere to be seen.

It simply has never recovered.

If it can do address this imbalance, the show's prospects look good- and will show that the show can survive the loss of key cast members, but if it can't, I'd be very worried for its future (at least creatively).

Winners and Losers S01E01 Review

I normally approach a new Australian drama or comedy with trepidation. As do most people. And who would disagree? It's true that as of late, the track-record for Australian dramas and comedies hasn't exactly been that shabby.

Rake? Tick!

Packed to the Rafters? Tick!

Rush? Tick!

Offspring? Tick!

The Librarians? Tick!

And so on...

However, when Australian shows fail, they fail badly. Think Canal Road, The Strip, Cops LAC...

But this new offering from Seven was interesting for a number of reasons...

1. Packed to the Rafters has been a monumental success, how would Winners and Losers fare (ratings and quality-wise)?

2. Would Seven commission a carbon copy of Packed to the Rafters?

Before I answer these questions, let's take a look at the superficial aspect of the show.

It is interesting to observe any pilot, mainly for the techniques it employs to grab the viewers' increasingly fleeting and fickle attention.

In this case, the lives of the four main characters were shown to us. And the character-types are fairly stock-standard, so not much exposition is needed. There's the flirty (or slutty, depending on your point-of-view) one, Melanie Vallejo as Sophie, the nerdy one, Melissa Bergland as Jenny,  Zoe Tuckwell-Smith as Rebecca, the career-driven one [SHE WORKS SO HARD SHE FALLS ASLEEP AT HER DESK], Virginia Gay as Frances James, and Zoe Tuckwell-Smith as Rebecca Gilbert, seemingly the one in a stable relationship.

Probably the most recognisable of the bunch would be Virginia Gay, of All Saints fame. And I guess observant viewers would recognise Vallejo as home-wrecker Mel from Packed to the Rafters.

[Just a side note, for fans of the US version of The Office and Parks and Recreation, Vallejo has kind of done a "Rashida Jones" here, if you get my drift]

I had a tiny problem with the way their names were plastered on screen as they went about their everyday business. It isn't a big deal, and most likely will seem to be a novel way of introducing characters, but really it is just laziness.

Anyway, on to the meatier scenes... so to speak.

In relation to the question about being a copy of the Rafters, well... it ain't.

This was pretty evident from the opening scenes- and it's clear the writers wanted us to know.

Cue Melanie Vallejo... er, riding a bloke.

Then um, Melissa Bergland is cleaning up a woman's lower regions...

Throughout the course of the episode we are also treated with an F-bomb, and a "BS".

This isn't a criticism, but it is certainly a touch surprising, as you'd imagine that families with children under 16 expecting another family-friendly dramedy like the Rafters would find this a squirmy experience, to say the least.

I'm surprised that Seven risked alienating a large proportion of Rafters viewers by airing such risqué scenes, yet it rated well (1.6m), so who am I to criticise?

This is not to say it's Australia's answer to Californication, or even as saucy as Underbelly, but I can say that we aren't in Kansas anymore.

Another obvious difference to Packed to the Rafters was the amount of bloody characters (or actors) introduced in episode 1 compared to Packed to the Rafters. Now, I know that many extras pop up in TV shows, but when you have such recognisable faces as Scott McGregor (from Neighbours, Temptation), it implicitly demands viewers to sit up and take notice of them. Aside from Scott, there's also

(Temptation)

Francis Greenslade

But despite all the differences, it seems as if the show will be somewhat centred around a family... that of Jenny Gross. However, with the dynamic of the four girls, it will be interesting to see which group will be the central, or base one.

Most likely it will be the four girls, yet I thought that Denise Scott and Francis Greenslade were particularly good as the Jenny's parents.

So let's have a look at all the characters introduced, and you can place your bets on who will stick around, and who won't.

So there's the four main actors;

Virginia Gay

Zoe Tuckwell-Smith

Melissa Bergland

Melanie Vallejo

their partners and family, played by;

Francis Greenslade

Jack Pearson (Jenny's brother)

Sarah Grace (Jenny's sister)

Denise Scott

Blair McDonough

friends:

Damien Bodie (Frances' assistant)

Tom Wren

the antagonist

Michala Banas

... and once I work out who everyone else is they will be added too...

like Lawrence Mooney, who for some reason was in the show. Hopefully we see more of him but there isn't a character page for him on the official site so who knows?

There has also been a lot of discussion about it being labelled by Seven as a comedy. Yes, it is true that there aren't a great deal of gags, and some fairly weighty issues are brought up, such as bullying (which, incidentally, was a very prominent issue in the week), so a "dramedy" would be most fitting. SMH refers to it as a "light drama", which is also not a bad little label.

Overall, would I watch it next week? Yes.

Is it as good as Packed to the Rafters? No, but no-one expected it to be (yet), surely.

Will it match this week's ratings of 1.6m? No, because it isn't Packed to the Rafters... yet.

Will it ever match Packed to the Rafters in terms of ratings? Probably not, but it is a worthy effort. For a first episode of an Australian show (well any show, these days), it is an achievement in itself to have dialogue which is natural and lines which don't clunk, and it certainly did that.

As long as it keeps it natural; the characters and issues relatable, and the plots interesting, I will keep watching. But the real question is, will you?

"Rafters" replaced by "Losers": What are Seven thinking?

Packed to the Rafters, now in its fourth season, has been killing it in the ratings. As usual.

Here are its ratings for its first five episodes of its fourth season.

Week 1: 1,943,000

Week 2: 1,815,000

Week 3: 1,796,000

Week 4: 1,748,000

Week 5: 1,806,000

So obviously many people are watching it.

However, Seven have made the bold move to replace it with new Australian drama Winners and Losers.

This has obviously been a planned strategy, as there's no way Packed to the Rafters has been replaced for ratings reasons.

Seven has begun the year with a bang, with six strong episodes of Rafters, and hopes that by replacing it with another drama which is similar in tone, the audience will stick around to get their Tuesday night feel-good hit.

However, in this case, it is the wrong way to go about it.

Any Australian drama automatically begins with its back against the wall. Before it has even aired. Viewers have always been skeptical of new Australian drama, especially when compared to their shiny US counterparts.

In this case, it is a big ask from Seven to ask viewers to commit to a new drama, especially when they are so invested in the trials and tribulations of the Rafters.

It's difficult to say it was a wrong decision to commission with the same sort of warm yet quirky undertones.

However, will people make the big switch next week when 8:30 comes around?

Will people turn off because it will be viewed as an imitation of Packed to the Rafters? Probably not, as it is on the same channel.

However, what did Seven think the media would say about this?

Take a look at these recent articles, trying to whip people up into a frenzy over their beloved Rafters being yanked, pulled and shoved off air.

Seven to replace Packed to the Rafters with new drama Winners & Losers

"Australia's favourite drama is being pulled off air for at least the next three months."

Packed to the Rafters season cut short

Packed away for now

Rafters' cut halfway through series

Ouch.

Colin Vickery even states it has "little chance of getting the whopping (ratings)" of Packed to the Rafters. Well maybe, but this kind of prediction could lead viewers to switch off. Who wants to watch an unpopular show? Again, this is Seven's fault.

Is it succeeding, though? Well, it certainly has the potential to.

Here are some select quotes from commenters on the Herald Sun article.

Amy of Melbourne Posted at 3:59 PM March 09, 2011

This sucks

Comment 2 of 57

Sandra Barratt of Hampton park Posted at 4:16 PM March 09, 2011

I give it 3 episodes before it gets the chop and Rafters is back on!

Comment 5 of 57

nicole Posted at 4:17 PM March 09, 2011

Why can't they just put it on another night when there is nothing on don't take Rafters off ......

Comment 6 of 57

noni from country Vic Posted at 4:29 PM March 09, 2011

Why!

Comment 9 of 57

Em of Melbourne Posted at 4:30 PM March 09, 2011

This little David will flop because of the Goliath of a show it's replacing. It cannot ride the coattails of PttR. Viewers will switch off in droves after the 2nd episode, when they realise it's not the show they thought they were going to watch.

Comment 10 of 57

Lisa of Tas Posted at 4:31 PM March 09, 2011

Why cant channel 7 choose another time slot and just kick b*m with 2 good shows, why get rid of packed!!! Unbelievable.

Comment 12 of 57

Bring back PTTR of Melbourne Posted at 4:41 PM March 09, 2011

I was planning on watching Winners & Losers but now I won't be. Channel 7 what are you thinking??

Comment 19 of 57

Always Right of West Melbourne Posted at 4:40 PM March 09, 2011

What a pack of dumbys! Im not watching the new show out of protest.

Comment 15 of 57

For a show with quite a lot going for it, in terms of bright and bubbly cast, different focus and decidedly different plot, it has generated a lot of negative publicity- and of no fault of the show's writing or acting.

Obviously "Bring back PTTR" and "Always Right" are the most stinging of all the comments.

Unfortunately for Seven, not many media outlets have reported the fact that Rafters has not actually had many more episodes filmed, so even if they wanted to screen more episodes, there might only be a couple more in the can.

The other problem is, is that these articles keep referring to Rafters as being pulled off air, instead of being replaced in a deliberate strategy. "Pulled" connotes a rash decision, while Seven have probably had this up their sleeves for a while.

As for the fact that Seven didn't tell anyone until recently, well they wouldn't have exactly wanted to advertise Packed to the Rafters as being "Back for a (six episode) fourth season!", would they? Why get viewers riled up then and risk losing the Rafters audience- they're instead risking not getting a big audience for Winners and Losers.

All I'm saying is that Seven knew the papers would become so alarmist, so why create this opportunity?

Is it the most important issue facing the premiere of this new show? Probably not. Wait for the first newspaper reviews to come out. However, having people looking upon this show as the "show that forced the Rafters off the air" isn't the best label you want for a new show. Especially when its an Australian show.

Will you be watching Winners and Losers? And if not, will your decision in any way be based on this move?

Packed to the Rafters: S04E02 Review

The episode begins in a fairly conventional way- Rachel decides to clean up Jake and Coby's pad- because, you know, men are messy and women love to clean. However, she does discover that Coby is actually a
- gasp! - closet painter. Obviously an attempt to add another layer to his character. Not a bad one, but I'd rather see layers added by actions (such as Rachel's boyfriend's quite noble ones).

Nathan is also back from wherever he was.

Carbo's mother is also living with Carbo and Retta, so it'll be awkward situations ahoy. The kind not seen since Seasons 1, 2 and 3 of Rafters.

It's always interesting to see a bit of tension between siblings, particularly between Nathan and Ben.

There's also the added edge of having Ben with a beard, and the intrigue of Ben having spent a month away from Nathan.

It is clear to everyone that there is lingering resentment between the pair, and scars that still haven't healed. It then becomes clear that Ben still hasn't recovered from Mel's death- and why wouldn't he have? It turns out he had put his own life in danger by jumping off a cliff into water and needing to be brought into hospital.

It is a novel way to structure an episode, with the main focus being on the aftermath of the event, with only a quick flashback to the precarious moment. Normally, Ben jumping off a cliff would be the climax of an episode (and the promos certainly framed it that way), yet the climax was instead Ben almost being hit by a car trying to run away from 'fessing up. It was a nice little metaphor which still proves that Ben still has a bit to work through.

I wonder how the show's writers will resolve his grief, as opposed to his father's depression issues. After all, this was meant to be a happier season.

Well, at least we're guaranteed to see at least a few different plot-lines involving Ben chasing tail of various kinds, with a fling with a mystery woman signalling a new "beginning" for him.

But certainly the best storyline involved Coby and. After a boozy night in which Coby loses a girl he was interested in to another group of blokes, Jake then wakes up in the middle of the night to them "partying" quite hard with this girl.

There are some obvious signs of these guys taking advantage of this obviously liquored-up girl.

This is where Rafters really comes into its own- putting real societal issues on screen. And this week it's obviously the question: Would you intervene if you saw someone who was off their face being taken advantage of? Even if they said "yes" to going back to the room?

Especially if you are putting yourself in harm's way, or, in this episode's case, make the girl think it is you who is indeed the perpetrator.

In the end, it was certainly a more enriching plotline, and one which will have dramatic ramifications in the coming weeks, than the Ben-Nathan one, which was seemingly resolved with some cardboard-box jumping.

At least for the moment, it doesn't quite seem that the show is shark-jumping.

Trouble at the Rafters'

In a year that was meant to be a happier year for the Rafters mob after the tragic death of Melissa Rafter (and the earlier exit of Sammy Rafter) in 2010, there is to be at least one Rafters leaving the fold in 2011.

Jessica Marais, who plays Rachel Rafter in Seven's astronomically popular Packed to the Rafters, has signalled her intention to leave the show to try her luck in the US.

And who can really blame her, with Zoe Ventoura and Jessica McNamee leaving to do the same. It also seems to be as good a time as ever for Aussies to audition in the US, just take a look at this incomplete list of the current crop of young Aussies kicking big goals at the moment.

However, the team at Channel Seven must be getting slightly concerned at these exits.

Let's compare Packed to the Rafters with McLeods Daughters for a second.

McLeod's Daughters, like Packed to the Rafters, based itself around a family. It began with Lisa Chappell (who played Claire McLeod) and Bride Carter (as Tess McLeod) as the two "daughters". They shared the same father, but not the same mother.

However, at the end of Season 3, Claire died in a car accident, however , her baby daughter, Charlotte, was left behind with Tess, technically still making the title true.

Then followed a number of exits including Tess herself, as well as a number of "daughters" seemingly appearing out of nowhere. For example, Jodi Fountain, the daughter of Meg Rivers-Dodge, Jack McLeod's Housekeeper, later became Jodi Fountain-McLeod after discovering that her mother had a relationship with Jack. (She even later became Jodi Fountain McLeod-Bosnich).

To cope with the exit of even Jodi, Regan McLeod (Zoe Naylor), Grace McLeod (Abi Tucker) and Jasmine McLeod (played by Anna Torv and Edwina Ritchard), all cousins of Tess McLeod.

However, with these introductions and exits, ratings declined- first a minimal decline after Claire's death, then a sharper drop after Season five, until it petered out in Seasons seven and eight.

Packed to the Rafters, similarly has had very strong ratings in its first three season with ratings rarely dropping blow 1.6 million viewers, and regularly hovering around the 1.8 million mark.

McLeod's ratings for its first three seasons stayed around 1.85 million, 1.84 million and 1.82 million.

Rafters have had to endure the losses of characters including Sammy Rafter and Melissa Rafter- both core characters there from episode 1. And, both Rafters.

Though, what makes Marais' exit all the more significant is that she is one of the three Rafters daughters.

And now just wait for the criticism to start.

And this season, and particularly some of last season, Rafters has suffered some less than positive reviews, or at least, less than what is was used to.

It has copped flak for its one-dimension character Nick "Carbo" Karandonis, played by George Houvardas, for its stereotypical portrait of a Greek man- the only ethnic character in the cast- by a mile.

Some have even expressed disappointment at its over-focus on more depressing storylines, namely, Dave Rafter's bout of depression, as well as Melissa's death.

Ryan Corr, who plays the rough-around-the-edges Coby Jennings, has joined the recurring cast this season, however, his character, while not terrible, has not exactly rejuvenated the show.

Then there's Loretta "Retta" Schembri, Carbo's girlfriend, who- perhaps fittingly - is as one-dimensional as Carbo.

John Howard's inclusion as the fierce Tom Jennings could be a great source of conflict- if he was released from jail.

However, back to Marais' exit. James Stewart, who plays her boyfriend, Jake Barton, has stated he will stay on the show. However, what they will do with his character is anyone's guess.

One would think the ideal situation is for the couple to ride off into the sunset after a 2 million viewer grabbing wedding, but it seems not to be the case.

And producers have stated that Marais' character will not be killed off, so either a nasty break-up is on the cards (unlikely, because why would Rachel leave her family and a similar exit was executed with Sammy Rafter) or Rachel gets a huge promotion- more likely, given that she is the high-flyer in the family.

Rebecca Gibney also may exit the show, what with her developing a show of her own. TV Tonight also states that it will "advance following a fifth series".

This would leave the Rafters' household very empty, and the media to keep thinking up headlines like "Not so Packed as Jess quits Rafters", which could lead viewers to switch off in droves- as we all know that viewers watch TV for the characters.

However, this is not to say that it is a bad show, or even a mediocre one, by any stretch. It still has quite intriguing storylines at times, and especially when it aims to combine many elements together.

Melissa's death was also well executed and very tactful, without being too soppy or over-the-top.

And Channel Seven isn't likely to axe it any time soon, especially with the ratings it is getting. It is now up to producers to keep the show interesting, and viewers watching.

Your Gen Returns for 2011

In a rarely seen occurence in modern day Australian TV, a non-Underbelly, non-Rafters program has returned for another season.

Yes, Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation has returned for 2011.

Tuesday night's episode returned with Leisel Jones, Julia Zemiro and Kevin Harrington in their respective generational teams.

Now in its 3rd season, it remains quirky quiz show which is, essentially, a vehicle for Shaun Micallef. And let's face it- and it's been said before- Josh is annoying in his ignorance and constant squirming, Charlie is annoying in his smugness and his eyeball-vessel bursting laughing at Shaun and Amanda, well, never comes across as side-splittingly funny.

But it's Australian after all, and still not a bad way to pass the time. However, as we all know, no Shaun = no show. Well, at least not a good show.

Well, after 44 episodes and a celebrity list boasting nearly every network personality (well, almost) and most B-grade Australian celebrities, what's changed?

Well, there's a new chair.



Yup, on with 2011.