Frontline

This series is just marvellous, another gem by the great team of Santo Cilauro, Rob Sitch, Tom Gleisner etc.

It is basically a satirical look at the ficticious current affairs program 'Fronline'. It has a great cast of characters including Mike Moore, the slightly naive host of the show.

Each episode revolves around a storyline, usually involving the team trying to chase a big story or, for example, their night at the Logie awards. Each episode is carried along brilliantly by it's humour, sometimes subtle but none-the-less excellent.

Definently a must see.

"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.

This series was the watershed of satirical description of TV current affairs. After the rubbish that the commercial stations dish up as current affairs it was at times hard to tell the difference between this and the real thing.

Our local public TV station showed this, though a change of title was necessary ("Frontline" is the title of a very serious investigative/documentary series produced by PBS). It didn't attract a lot of attention (and wasn't heavily promoted), but for those who caught it, many laughs were to be had. The satire was sharp and very funny, but perhaps the most surprising aspect of the show was that just about every character, from the pompously moronic host through the crew of pranksters to the earnest producer (and the Machiavellian Exec producers) managed to remain largely sympathetic. If this makes its way around again, I encourage all to watch it.

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