Bingles

I can't find anyone else who's heard of this show. I watched it on PBS when they showed the whole series back in '97. It's pretty typical fare looking back on it, but at the time I enjoyed it because it was the first Australian TV I'd ever seen. It centers on an auto repair shop and the wisecracking Barry, the very dumb Tony ("We were like two sheeps passing in the night"), and the owner's daughter, Stacy, all mechanics. There's also the loud and gossipy secretary/receptionist, the crazy lunatic, the geeky accountant, and a few other stereotypes.

Things go downhill toward the end of the series as Stacy becomes involved with Tony (why? it's not clear.) and then leaves for the Outback. She's replaced by some sort of efficiency expert in the cast, the plot device being that the shop needs to streamline to keep from going under. By now, the series has lost what steam it had. There wasn't much to it, so it's no wonder it didn't last a long time.

Watch "Frontline" to see the best of what Australia's got to offer TV land.

I found this to be a great show. With down to earth humour, and characters that are generally very likable.

Shane Bourne was particularly good-and you must see MDA (Medical Deference Attorney) on TV Channel 2 2004 & 5 & hopefully longer).

Tammy McIntosh (as Stacey) was in almost her first TV /Acting role and not only was she super pretty then, she has become a great actor over time.

Australian sitcoms of the early 1990's-All Together Now; Hey Dad; Newlyweds (or something like that with Annie Jones) were beautiful-nice , funny, likable characters.

Now almost all Australian humour based on so called stand-up comedians telling rude jokes or using swear words...or a series of skits.

Sitcom& Drama v Reality TV

The thing about what actors like Shane & Tammy do is that they are part of sitcoms & dramas that are not just consumed for the 30 minutes to hour, but can be replayed time andagain. In 20 years time Bingles (may) but MDA certainly will, beshowing up on TV somewhere in the world-no-one will replay Aust or American Idol, Big Brother 2005. Those shows are like junk food, once you eat it your hungry again, as nothing of substance consumed.

Frontline & The Games I agree about Frontline great series-now that is good satire. I would also recommend The Games, a satire on the organising committee leading up to the 2000 Olympics.

Australia ( & give credit to John Clarke (The Games) a NZer ) are quite gifted and can produce great material.

Please fund our actors & crews to continue to produce great material. What would be a good theme to do a TV comedy series? (The trouble is political correctness means that you almost can't be truly funny without saying a joke at someone else's expense.) Seinfeld's humour was the 'taking the mickey' out of themselves and others. George's self-loathing for example.