Naked ambition may look good but it's Howard's end
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday July 21, 2009
THE 7PM PROJECT 3.30pm and (not surprisingly), 7pm, Ten: Viewers experiencing a touch of the Rip Van Winkles can catch up with yesterday's news mid-afternoon and then, to fill the enormous hole left in the nation's collective sensibility by the conclusion of MasterChef Australia, check out the lighter side of the day's events in this new program featuring Dave Hughes, Charlie Pickering, Ruby Rose, James Mathison and Carrie Bickmore. Is there a lighter side to the somewhat frothy 5pm Eyewitness bulletin with its spray-on bonhomie and mixture of forced charisma and gravitas? We shall see. Ten won't be expecting millions of ABC News viewers to desert Juanita Phillips and slide across for some vigorous pisstaking but, acutely conscious of the huge ratings figures it has pulled with Biggest Loser and MasterChef,it will be hoping to springboard their audience straight into Talkin' Bout Your Generation with acomfortable segue.LIBERAL RULE: CYCLES OF POWER 8.30pm, SBS1: After The Howard Years? More of the Howard years. It wasn't so very long ago, but a lot of blood has flowed under the bridge since John Howard was blindsided by the sort of bulletproof arrogance and, shall we say, "modest" vanity more commonly associated with Labor prime ministers. He lost it with good grace but spectacularly. The first instalment of this three-part series establishes the big picture of his ascent and descent. It's sobering to see the sincere but callow junior minister cutting his teeth under Malcolm Fraser looking more like the Herald's esteemed turf tipster Bruce Sessle than George Bush's Wonder Boy aka Man of Steel. The series combines reminiscence and retrospection, blended with old footage, to tell the story. So what's new? It offers an overview of an ideology, ponders the need to clearly articulate a vision and questions the "born-to-rule" mindset of a stumbling party waiting for its next messiah to stride across Lake Burley Griffin, seize the reins of power and gallop like Ben Hur into the new Age of Incentivisation. The program suggests the Liberals handle Opposition badly because they cannot accept not being in power. Joh pokes his head into the scrum briefly, Kerry O'Brien is visibleat about the nine-minute markand the cyclic nature of recent Australian politics emerges10 years of Labor, 11 years of the Conservatives. Pivotal elements include the reshaping of the public service, the arrival and departure of Alexander Downer, John Hewson and Andrew Peacock, the resources boom, the household-debt binge and the tendency to privatise profits and socialise debt. Pauline Hanson is bound to flutter into the frame eventually for a spot of toe-the-party line dancing. Until then we must be content with Howard's remark when he reflects on efforts to rein in debt and spending: "We tried very hard to spread the pain around and I think we succeeded." No wonder The Chaser still gets up early to go for a run.HOW TO LOOK GOOD NAKED midnight, Ten: Viewers of a certain vintage will recall old adverts for Charles Atlas bodybuilding gear that, years ago, appeared on the back covers of comic books. A beaming Atlas, bristling with "dynamic tension", posed in leopardskin trunks a bent iron bar evidence of his phenomenal physical strength. A scrawny runt, in badly cut Speedos, emphasised the benefits of a macho demeanour by retaliating against a bully who made him look puny by kicking sand in his face. "Before you go to bed tonight" read the blurb, "strip down to your birthday suit and take a look in the mirror. What do you see? A miserable specimen of failed manhood or a magnificent He-man physique rippling with strength and vitality ... legs like pillars of oak, a barrel chest ... girls tearing their clothes off and fighting like scorpions for a glimpse of the mutton dagger ..." or words to that effect. Come the bewitching hour tonight, time dissolves as Ten invites viewers to get nude and take a good hard look at themselves. Unmissable!
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald
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