Too much vaudeville and faffing about for me I’m afraid. Did Rockwiz book all the good Australian music guests first? Here are some questions I have:
1. Peter Garrett? – yes I know he is an Australian “music legend” but now he is a politician. Neither did he crack many good jokes and frequently looked a bit bored.
2. Jarvis Cocker – ? Not particularly funny, frequently looked like he didn’t know why he had said yes to being on the show?
3.Denise “Ding Dong” Drysdale – Was this an attempt to attract an older demographic? She’s mildly entertaining, but really.
4. Hamish Blake – I know he frequently appears to be a smug little bastard but he’s very good value on the Spicks and Specks panel and here he was relegated to a bit part playing Jesus. He made the most of it but it wasn’t enough for this viewer who has a slightly embarrassing TV crush on young Hamish.
5. Molly Meldrum as a Xmas tree? Nuff said.
6. Brian Mannix as a Gladiator? Nuff said. Except to say that are these ye olde Australian music celebrities so hard up for some publicity that will take 2 minutes on a Christmas special. Answer: It seems yes.
7.What was with the Nativity themed decor? I’m not religious but I liked Rockwiz’s broader take on the Christmas theme in terms of audience appeal.
8.Throwing fruit is at celebrities is a game now? At least it wasn’t as terrible they made guests throw televisions through a hole in the wall. (If my memory serves me correctly)
8. Why weren’t the guy from Tripod and the guy from the Scared Weird Little guys allowed to be on the panel. They’re actually musically talented and sometimes funny.
9. We Three Kings as the final song?
10. Why did I frequently have the impulse to change the channel and/or get up and check my emails/facebook/twitter etc? Because sadly for this quite loyal viewer of Spicks and Specks the Christmas special proved the Good News Week theory of television. That is, making a comedy panel program longer doesn’t automatically lead to more funny. It can frequently lead to just more flapping about and filler which isn’t that funny.
Rockwiz you win this year. Bring on 2010.