Mercado on TV: Blow-Up (Seven), the new reality show about “balloon modelling”, has been dumped to 7flix after its second episode got beaten by all other primary FTA channels. This should come as no surprise, so the question to be asked now is why was it even made?
Every network has had its share of notorious reality duds. Nine always gets a giggle out of Karl Stefanovic in lycra for Torvill and Dean’s Dancing On Ice (2006). Not so funny, though, is their search for an ongoing cooking show, after copycat flops like The Hotplate (2015), Family Food Fight (2017) and the just-cancelled Snackmasters.
10 will never live down Yasmin’s Getting Married (2006), but their real horror year was 2012, thanks to The Shire, Being Lara Bingle, Everybody Dance Now and I Will Survive. Having survived that, they followed up a decade later with their 2022 trifecta of tripe, namely The Traitors, The Challenge and The Real Love Boat.
Remember The Real Love Boat?
Before Blow-Up blew up, Seven had managed to partially offset the failures of Yummy Mummies (2017), Zumbo’s Just Desserts (2016) and Pooch Perfect (2020) thanks to a co-production deal with Netflix. Yummy Mummies and Zumbo inexplicably made new episodes for streaming, while Rebel Wilson’s dog show got two international adaptations, but no second seasons.
There is no such silver lining for Blow-Up and given only Germany and Australia have bought into the Dutch format, the balloons have been left well and truly deflated. Perhaps then its only purpose was to erode the ongoing success of Lego Masters (Nine). After all, Seven’s Australian Spartan may have flopped in 2018, but Nine’s Australian Ninja Warrior (Nine) lost a chunk of its audience in the aftermath.
Blow-Up will now slink away to be a punchline whenever anybody mentions bad Aussie TV. This is where it works out well for comedians turned presenters Stephen Curry and Becky Lucas, because they can just make jokes about it all. In fact, there is probably a stand-up special to be made about the making of such an obvious disaster.
Becky Lucas, whose website spookily predicted Blow-Up as a “one-of-a-kind competition”, can return unscathed to her regular appearances on The Hundred With Andy Lee (Nine). She is also a writer, having penned scripts for shows like Please Like Me and The Other Guy (Stan).
Jai Courtney hosting The Summit
Actor Stephen Curry is currently delivering a superb performance in Ten Pound Poms (Stan) where, once again, he has a knack for bringing a sly comic edge to darker moments. So don’t feel bad for him, or Jai Courtney now hosting The Summit (Nine) to similarly disappointing audiences. Their acting careers continue with hosting reality TV a lucrative side hustle.
Read more Mercado on TV here.
Welcome to TV Gold: The all-new weekly TV podcast
Well, the name is new! So is the email address asking for feedback and question – [email protected].
Listen now on your favourite podcast platform for 30 minutes of TV reviews and recommendations every week from Mediaweek’s Andrew Mercado and James Manning.
This week on TV Gold: Bupkis, In Limbo, Silo, Air and High Desert
There are a few thumbs up, a definite thumbs down and a couple of maybes in this week’s program list. The new episodes include Pete Davidson’s life exposed in Bupkis (Foxtel/Binge). The new Australian series In Limbo (ABC/iview) balances comedy and the sorrow of loss. High Desert and Silo are both biggish budget productions on AppleTV+ with one more successful than the other. Finally, we look at Air (Prime Video), the drama about Nike signing Michael Jordan that reunites Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Don’t miss the journey the hosts travelled to find the program of the week.
Give us your thoughts about these and other programs. Email the hosts: [email protected]
Listen online here, on the LiSTNR app or on your favourite podcast platform.