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Why? Australian TV has been travelling on a steady
downward spiral for a long time, with very few shows even being made -
let alone any of them being any good. And the idea that "The Guy who
made The Comedy Company" and "The Guy who was in Fast Forward" teaming up for a show "That is like Little Britain"
- while fooling many as a great idea - just didn't inspire me at all.
Let's face it, it's dated humour. Comedy has come a long way in recent
years - anyone who saw the debacle that was Let Loose Live will know that Fast Forwards humour has long since disappeared with the likes of John Hewson and 'The Fat kid from Hey Dad!'.
When I sat down to watch The Wedge
when it premiered to almost 1.5 million viewers across Australia, I was
dumbfounded. I hated it. Why? I just did. Luckily hindsight is a
fantastic thing - as is the invention of DVD - that I can now take a
closer look at the show without prejudice.
We're Moving
encompasses the first six episodes of the hit show, and admittedly it
does get off to a bit of a wonky start. But having recently looked back
on some of the early Full Frontal episodes,
it dawned on me that even some of my favourite programs took a few
years before they really hit their stride. And perhaps that's the
problem with TV at the moment, very few shows are given the chance to
progress and advance - with most comedy shows (Hamish & Andy, Let Loose Live to
name a few) getting the chop after a few weeks. Barely enough time to
work out a direction for the show let alone find an audience. But
that's the way it is, it's Quizmania or nothing it seems.
But to my dismay, The Wedge
does get better. The characters become more familiar, the performances
more honed and the overall production just seems to become much, much
slicker. The obvious standout is the apologising sportsman Mark Warey,
whose sexual exploits are well worth a belly laugh, while Lucy (the
cyber stalking schoolgirl) is a real find.
While not every character works - Sherinne and
Leanne (the pokie girls with the irritating and overall forced
catchphrase "Luuckyy!") do tend to get on your nerves - there are some
corkers. Dalian Evans (Most famous for his own short lived series Eagle & Evans) is brilliant and it soon becomes apparent that he is the captain of The Wedge ship, taking on most of the roles on offer throughout the series.
Channel Ten must be congratulated for going
against the grain of current TV, having put a lot of faith and support
time behind shows such as The Wedge, The Ronnie Johns Half Hour
(although their time may be running out - you can't rely on an
imitation of an imitation of Chopper Reed in the final five minutes to
make up for 20 minutes of dud viewing for more than two series), Real Stories, David Tench Tonight and even the ailing Rove [Live]. All those shows need some work, but thankfully, they are being given the support and time in which to do so.
It's early days for The Wedge gang, with future episodes getting better each week (thanks to a hefty team of writers which includes former Hey Hey It's Saturday comedian, Russell Gilbert).
We may very well look back on this first DVD release as the beginning
of one of Australia's greatest comedy shows of the new millennium.
EXTRAS
Not much in the way in extras. There is a good
little option which allows you to watch all the skits of your favourite
characters back to back. Meaning we can happily skip past Art Cooney
the School Teacher and the "Luuckkyyy!" girls. Fantastic for fans.
Conclusion:
Movie 65% Extras: 30%
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