Frontline

"Frontline" is an amazing show. It combines actual current events (Pauline Hanson, the Gulf War, etc.) with a funny and thought-provoking analysis of topics such as how the media treats people and events, and how people are stereotyped. Laugh at Mike Moore and crew as they battle the odds, the rival networks and each other in search of good television... or is it good ratings?

Favorite Moment: When Mike goes on Burke's Backyard and proves himself as a complete idiot.

Frontline is the best, most intelligent series to have come out of Australia. It is as insightful as it is funny. For anyone who believes in the validity of what you watch on current affairs television, this show is for you.

Rob, Santo, Tom, and Jane (the creators, and producers) should have kept making these episodes, television is worse off without them. They did go on to great things though, and their same brand of humour is evident. These people, are the creators of the brilliant Australian movies "The Castle", and "The Dish", and you would enjoy this series if you liked those movies.

This series is made up of a host of hilarious characters who help to expose aspects of journalists that we all can identify with, like the huge egos, (Brooke van den Burg), the stupidity and lack of talent accept as an actor pretending to be serious and intelligent (Mike Moore - the classic anchorman), and the drive for ratings (executive producer Brian Thompson was the best of the three - R.I.P Brian).

"Frontline" was an apt satire that exposed current affairs television for the uncaring, sexist, ratings-grabbing, irresponsible shows they are.

What's more, the show is hilarious! Funny in an intelligent way.

9 out of 10

Mike Moore is the well groomed host of Frontline, a current affairs show that presents "the stories behind the stories". Just like any other current affairs programme on commercial television, it has its share of sensationalism, controversy, and cynical manipulation of the truth. All in the pursuit of ratings.

There are good days and bad days for the Frontline team. On a good day there are hard-hitting stories like the gun siege, where Mike becomes an impromptu negotiator speaking to a gun-man's children over the phone. On other occasions, when the show needs to spice things up a bit, there are stories about tabletop dancers or the lesbian netball team.

In an industry without ethics, Mike is an idealist who really cares about the show. But every now and then he needs reassurance, whether it be from the unctuous E.P, the enthusiastic weatherman, the fawning secretary, or the fan mail. (Unknown to Mike the hate mail addressed to him ends up in the shredder before he gets to see it.)

Needless to say, Mike's presentation of the show is all mapped out with precision. Without even watching the stories he can react with a deeply concerned "Mmmm", or put on a fake chuckle at the Friday night funnyman. (Mike has tried to get the funnyman axed on more than one occasion.) Sometimes the production team slip up and let Mike do a studio interview live. On each occasion the result has been a fiasco.

Frontline is an astute look at the unscrupulous manipulation that goes on in the high-pressure world of T.V. journalism. Some of the episodes are based on events from "real" current affairs shows, such as the three unemployed teenagers who turned down jobs at a holiday resort, the feeding frenzy over a grieving widow, or the time when Mike Willisee was drunk on air. The "big villains" who come under the spotlight are usually shonky repairmen, dodgy mechanics, and illiterate kids who don't want to work. The team at Frontline know their stories have to appeal to a vapid blue collar audience, because that's where the ratings come from. As Sam Murphy once said: "Why would anyone with brains or money be sitting round a telly at 6.30 each night?"

There have been many guest celebrities on Frontline, such as Jon English, who was used in a Frontline charity special: the challenge to build a playground for needy kids within 24 hours.

I think Series 3 was the funniest of the lot. We see a lot more of Mike's extravagant lifestyle while the E.P. vainly tries to sell Mike as a man of the people. One of the funniest moments is when Mike goes on "This Is Your Life".

Frontline has got to be the most credible of Australia's current affairs shows. It's the only one I take seriously.

This show came to Canada via PBS in the mid 90s and I really, really loved it then. Even 10 yrs later watching the various news networks, I cant help but think of the cynical manipulation that goes on in the name of ratings and the various "show ponies" we all see on TV as depicted in various Frontline episodes. The scripts are tightly written and the actors all have impeccable comic timing and none of it is encumbered by an idiotic laugh track. There is a lot of funny material here really well executed and we don't need to be told when to laugh and what to laugh at. I don't understand why this show never took off in North America as its truly a gem! I was really excited to see the DVDs available, even though they are PAL format. I figured I would rip them to my computer and then watch the converted files. I took a chance and ordered it from ABC… 6 to 8 weeks later, I had all 3 seasons. Even better it worked on my NTSC DVD player. I suspect any player bought in the past 2 yrs that does xvid/divx will play them. Great stuff! 10 yrs later the episodes all hold up really well! You don't need to know anything about Australian politics to get the humor as it will all be familiar to western audiences. My wife and I had a 10 day Frontline fest and are still chuckling weeks later after watching all 39 episodes

As I am so far the only non-Australian to post a comment, I'll assume no-one in the UK knows much about this gem of a show. In fact I happened to catch it when I was on holiday and haven't seen it anywhere in Britain, whether it be on Sky or terrestrial TV.

Anyway, to get a flavour, it is 'The Larry Sanders Show' crossed with 'Drop The Dead Donkey'. It doesn't have a laughter track but unlike 'DTDD', there is no attempt to make it topical ('DTDD' had segments that were filmed the day before to get a current, satirical comment in the script).

The real star of this show was Bruno Lawrence (such a shame to hear he died in 1995), who was simply hysterical as the Executive Producer Brian Thompson. He was the first person I saw as EP and so far (I've only seen him and Sam Murphy) the best by far.

The script is tight, although sometimes, albeit very occasionally, it does decend into pure sit-com territory. While this does not prevent the show from being funny, I feel that the show succeeds more as a satire.

I feel that it could work in Britain as the humour is very similar to British humour, although we do not have these daily tabloid current affairs programmes that seem so popular in the USA and Australia. So assuming no-one in the UK has bought it already, SOMEONE GET THE RIGHTS AND SHOW THIS DAMN FUNNY COMEDY! NOW!!!

Now I'm off to watch 'The Castle'. I'll let you know...