News: Wild Boys beats Underbelly in its premiere, but Australian drama the big winner!

Australian drama seems to be in the best shape it has been in in recent memory, with the top two shows on Sunday being Wild Boys and Underbelly.

Wild Boys pulled 1,674,000 for its premiere, topping the night, and giving Seven yet another hit Australian drama.

Its early time slot in 7:30pm didn't hurt it, and Nine didn't put up much opposition with a fairly weak 60 Minutes.

However, Nine wouldn't be too disappointed, with Underbelly:Razor grabbing 1,550,000 (though Seven still won the night).

But again, this is a huge vote of confidence in Australian dramas- and ones that are actually well-written, stylish and snappy at that.

For once, networks will now feel compelled to commission new dramas, rather than doing it out of obligation to fulfill drama point quotas.

Opinion: Can Nine Reclaim Some Glory?

Channel Nine is currently undergoing a resurgence of sorts, after a very lacklustre start to the year.

After heavily promoting the fourth series of The Block in its new 7PM timeslot, it has proven a decent new alternative in its first week on air.

Of course, its strong first week figures will be slightly inflated due to the massive publicity push, but it has arguably begun to turn around Nine's fortunes.

And let's face it, any old show that can pull half-decent figures for Nine (we're talking over a million) will be more than welcome on its schedule, as its first half of the year has certainly been one to forget for the network.

After starting the year touting itself as the "Home of Comedy" it put forth its first offering in the form of Ben Elton Live From Planet Earth. And we all know how that one ended:



Low ratings combined with the worst critical reception to a show in recent memory made for a genuine, out-and-out stinker of a show.

Faced with failure, Nine felt it had no choice but to flog the hell out of its imports in Two and a Half Men and Top Gear, two programs that had done very well for the network in 2010.

However, repeating these "hit shows" ad nauseam led to viewer fatigue, and pretty soon they began turning off in droves.

Today, Top Gear is nowhere to be seen on Nine's main channel, with Two and a Half Men pushed late into the night. You can find it now at 10:30PM on a Tuesday night.

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