There seems to be a misconception that the ABC’s Q&A program is engaging and rewarding television. It’s not. In actual fact, it is vaudeville bullshit.
In more recent times and with the advent of the twitter machine, this misconception has only grown. Many observing the twitter hashtag on a Thursday evening (AEST) see #qanda become a “trending topic” and start to get giddy, thinking “Our ABC has really made it on the world stage now”. Unfortunately this popularity spike occurs all too frequently and I hate to spoil things but it’s actually our communist Asian neighbours mistyping their lovable bamboo eating mascot.
As you may not know, ABC star employee contracts frequently stipulate that as soon as the first Christmas decorations appear in shops, programs must begin to wind up or cease to broadcast for the year. Not much happens in November and almost nothing in December, so the view is that little should keep the ABC luminaries away from Paris in winter or the sanctity of Pearl Beach. In keeping with this, Q&A has already packed up for the year and it is a good time to reflect on what could have been.
The worst part of Q&A is how unbearably predictable it all is. Watching the self-righteousness of David Marr with that smug grin and all knowing whine or Sophie Mirabella. Well, two words are enough to describe her.
In fact the only participant that I honestly enjoyed watching was Janet Albrechtsen. Seriously. She knows what she thinks and she just says it. No façade, no sensitivity or groupthink (if you can excuse the irony there). Sure, the underlying sado-masochistic, power suit/corporate lawyer look is pretty stale but as a form of political entertainment, I think she is a star.
I rarely read her column in the Oz because it is predictable and equivalent to unpacking seventeen gaffa taped boxes to find little inside, but on TV she is great. She is so great that I think she should have her own ABC program. Before the wowsers start wailing about ABC Board members being ‘impartial’ – what about Quentin Dempster, he somehow manages to walk the impartial tight rope? I’m sure Janet can too. Instead of the conservatives constantly complaining about Left wing bias or the lack of conservatives on the ABC, why shouldn’t Janet have the chance to have a chat with those forgotten people ignored by our Leftist media!
The other thing that has become apparent is the complete lack of engaging female conservatives. Besides Ms Mirabella, Helen Coonan, Julie Bishop or Bettina ‘Blackshirt’ Arndt, there isn’t a lot of media talent. Poor old Miranda Devine belts out columns but she hasn’t got it for TV. Mind you, she’d be great to play Scrabble with, “Hey MD, can I borrow an UM?”
As an interim measure, I suggest Mark Scott punts Tony Jones into a new show where he can truly blossom, reading his own poetry. I think Q&A in 2010, hosted by Janet Albrechtsen would be compulsory television.
#1 by Mr Pastry on 13 November 2009 - 11:16 am
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At last, someones who knows and tells it as it should be – it is gaffa tape and not duct tape – halleluyah.
I thought Q&A stood for Qunts and Arses as there was a little shit in the middle.
#2 by reb on 13 November 2009 - 12:00 pm
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Q&A is a load of shite!
#3 by Mac Yourselfathome on 13 November 2009 - 1:09 pm
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If Twitter didn’t exist, QandA would be a total snooze-fest.
It’s the wags in the Twitterverse that make it interesting. Otherwise it’s just: You there, geeky guy in the audience, you have a question?
Geeky guy in the audience: I have a question. My question is that global warming is really really bad.
(Yes I am aware I stole the line from First dog)
#4 by Kate on 13 November 2009 - 1:10 pm
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Here here Bob, damn it, I want Janet too. She couldn’t care two hoots about what those around the infamous Q&A set think, she just says it as she sees it and I so admire her for that. I worked behind the scenes at the ABC Melbourne (Ripponlea) many moons ago, I think that ‘even in those days’ I was the only Liberal person on the Staff. I will never forget the 11th November, 1975, we were all crowded around a B & W TV watching the dismissal unfold, I made one remark and basically sealed my fate there and then.
Evidently at one time ‘creepy’ David Marr, said that Janet was a “sloppy journalist” and that Janet had been critical of the ABC prior to her appointment to its Board … (cant stand that man)
I say, give Janet her own Show where she gets to choose the Guests.
#5 by Bob Dumpling on 13 November 2009 - 2:58 pm
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So relieved you said that Kate. It’s like no one blows the reality trumpet anymore.
I think many people would be pleasantly surprised with the quality of the debate and her choice of guests. But we’ll never know, ABC staff would probably would off the job like the babies they are.
#6 by Toaf on 13 November 2009 - 5:00 pm
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CONTROVERSIAL!!1!
#7 by Idlaviv on 13 November 2009 - 11:31 pm
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If I can see that Janet can actually move her limbs or even twist that mysterious neck of hers then, yes, give her her own show. Actually, thinking of it, she should get the Bolta on as a sidekick. There ain’t yet been a Q&A panelist that’s matched his record-breaking shaking of the head.
#8 by couchy on 16 November 2009 - 9:51 am
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Drunk John Elliot vs drunk Catherine Deveney also deserve their own show.