REALITY CHECK
ABC TV
Wednesday, 9pm
AUSTRALIANS are apparently the biggest consumers of reality TV in the world – we love a good fad – so what does a network that really doesn’t do reality TV do to stay hip?
Reality Check, hosted by Triple J darling Tom Ballard, that’s what.
This is the show that you have to poke fun at the genre or just talk about what works and what were the best for the week.
As Ballard says this is the show for people who really love reality TV or really hate it.
It’s half an hour of fun looking at the genre that most of the nation loves and some of us loath.
It’s also somewhat familiar in format and feel.
Just imagine if the much loved snarky and intelligent Gruen Transfer had a fun-loving and slightly funkier younger brother and you have Reality Check.
And while there is no Todd Sampson and Wil Anderson, there is still plenty to like about the show which gives insight to a genre that it looks like we are all stuck with.
Each week Tom Ballard plays ringmaster as a panel of three from reality TV (behind and in front of the cameras) dissects the week in the genre and looks at shows around the world (the Japanese grandma Michael Jackson from week one was worth watching the show for alone).
Ballard seems to have made a fairly seamless jump from radio to television (not always easy ask Jonno and Danno, Merrick and Russo and even Hamish and Andy) and kind of embodies this show – fun, likeable and kind of goofy.
And while this probably isn’t going to raise your IQ level or introduce you to anything terribly new – it is worth watching – and the best thing is that now you really don’t have to watch reality TV anymore because someone else has and has found the best bits for you. Can’t go past that really.
– Tania Phillips
