10’s Pilot Week led to series commissions for Kinne Tonight, Taboo with Harley Breen, Saturday Night Rove, Trial By Kyle, and Drunk History. This year it has been renamed Pilot Showcase, but the only place to see the new shows is on 10Play.
The good news is that the diverse 2022 Pilot Showcase line-up is better than excruciating pilots like I Am Roxy, and My 80 Year Old Flatmate. The bad news is not airing them on 10 sends the message that none of them are worthy. It’s not as if 10 doesn’t have a night these could have been screened on.
The best is Courtney’s Closet (10Play), as Courtney Act puts a celebrity into drag, while extracting childhood memories to create a perfect persona. Luke McGregor (above) is perfect as the first guest, let’s hope he’s not the last.
Abbie’s Chat (10Play) has Abbie Chatfield interviewing two sides of the coin – asexuals and porn stars. One guest is Angela White, the porn star who just appeared on You Can’t Ask That, and as an Aussie porn star who likes to chat, she may well soon have a pilot of her own.
Making Abbie’s Chat
Abbie Chatfield is a good interviewer, and her sense of fun works well in this format. More fun would be welcome on The Love Experiment (10Play) though, a dating show with its heart in the right place, but a bit too serious.
Narelda Jacobs was a welcome addition to Insiders (ABC) last week, and Dinner Guest (10Play) is more good conversation from her and some friends, but now with food porn. Slightly adjust the food delivery though, so it doesn’t interrupt serious conversations.
The Bush Blonde Vs The World (10Play) stars Nikki Osborne as a roving reporter. The comedy skits with Bev Killick and Stefan Dennis are funny, but the people on the street interviews are hit-and-miss.
Time To Die (10Play) is introduced as the unfunniest show on TV. And it is. Comedians write deliberately unfunny routines and then perform them to bemused audiences. The end.
The best part was when it finished, 10Play rolled into Educators (2012), a crazy NZ sitcom about high school teachers. One was played by Jackie van Beek, who stars in Nude Tuesday (Stan), the bonkers new movie with Damon Herriman and Jermaine Clement.
Stan’s Nude Tuesday
Spoken entirely in gibberish, Stan offers viewers the chance between two sets of subtitles, one from Aussies Celia Paquola and Ronnie Chieng, and a ruder option from UK comedy queen Julia Davis. Nude Tuesday is a true original, and a pleasure to see from an Aussie streaming service.