Monday, February 7 - Critic's view
The Age
Thursday February 3, 2011
My Kitchen RulesChannel Seven, 7.30pmTHE great pantomime that is My Kitchen Rules has returned, complete with heroes, villains, the Greek chorus, the regular urging to shout "Look! Behind you!" and just a little bit of magic. The desperate attempts to create tension (from the timpani and minor-key strings to the overwrought narration: "Tonight! The claws come out!") can be a bit tiring. But fortunately, tonight's chefs South Australia's Donna and Reade are completely loveable, nothing actually goes hideously wrong and most of the other combatants seem like thoroughly nice types. Indeed, this series is actually most enjoyable when everyone's having a good time. Certainly, our designated Evil Couple Melanie and James, from Tasmania quickly become tiresome. Still, it'll be their turn to take the punishment later this week and we'll all get the chance to boo and hiss to our heart's content.Undercover BossChannel Ten, 8.30pmAN ABSOLUTE cracker of an episode tonight, partly thanks to the boss and partly to his underlings. Don Fertman, chief development officer with the Subway sandwich chain, is a terrific character in his own right a former rocker who accidentally became an executive, then an alcoholic, then an executive again. But he's never actually practised as a sandwich artist (as the whole company refers to the frontliners, with no apparent embarrassment). So off he goes, to learn what Subway is really all about and discovers (a) that he's totally useless at making sandwiches and (b) his company employs some real spitfires. As Don bumbles his way from one store to the next, his "employers" become increasingly impatient and disrespectful. With good reason. But the man takes it all humbly in his stride and when the time comes to reward those who've been dissing him, the packages are a well-thought-out mix of frivolous luxury, personal development and good business. It's all thoroughly satisfying (and we love discovering just why Buffalo, New York, has a Subway in a local church).$#*! My Dad SaysChannel Nine, 8pmIT'S A funny old world, isn't it? We're obliged to refer to this series as Bleep! My Dad Says. Yet in a scant half-hour we're bombarded with off-colour jokes about masturbation, fungal infections, boobs, "weiners" and droopy bare bums. Sides do not split. The first episode was not actually as terrible as expected but here, at episode two, things have deteriorated from a pretty low base. William Shatner in the title role is, as always, delightful and trying his hardest but he has absolutely nothing to work with. Neither does his likeable co-star Jonathan Sadowski, as the adult son returned to the nest. We were always dubious about a sitcom based on a series of tweets. And those doubts were well-founded. This really is $#*!.Dr OzChannel Seven, 2pmIS ANYONE else irresistibly reminded of a character from The Simpsons by Dr Mehmet Oz? Not any particular character. There's just something about his style, his manner, his slightly plasticky face that's decidedly cartoonish. And there's something decidedly uneasy-making about some of the pseudo and half-baked science he regularly dishes up, which today includes the advice to order an African chewing stick on the internet (like that'll get you the real deal) and an explanation of why women are bad at science (something that would no doubt surprise Nobel laureates from Marie Curie to Elizabeth Blackburn). Still, people love the Oprah protege. No issue is too large or too small (how to improve your sex life, how to minimise bickering with your spouse, how to care for ageing toenails). And, on the whole, the hour is generally cheerful, lightweight, mostly harmless, rarely prurient and, maybe, sometimes even helpful.
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