*Overly-critical blind judgments welcome, preferably from application rejects.

already hate it and all i've read is the title of the thread and your line in italics.

how'd i go?

I was hoping for a rating on a scale of The Big Gig to Live and Kicking.

starts tonight!

Hungry Beast
ABC1, 9pm

EXECUTIVE producer Andrew Denton has referred to this as the 7.15 Reject — somewhere between The 7.30 Report and The 7pm Project. The idea is to recruit a bunch of folk from the ''next generation'' (under 30) to bring a fresh perspective to news and current affairs with this — a weekly TV show — and a more comprehensive online component.

And with the tag ''tell us something we don't know'', the bar's been set awfully high. If there's one near-impossible task in life generally, and TV in particular, it's to be genuinely original.

That said, if anyone can do it, Mr Denton can. It's hard to think of a project he's sponsored that hasn't flourished. And at a time when the majority of our TV current affairs feels increasingly moribund (whether that's the pap of ACA and Today Tonight, or the political fixations of the 7.30 Report) there's something incredibly invigorating about the mere thought of fresh faces, fresh voices, fresh perspectives. Our one worry is the title.

Surely it ranks, along with East West 101, as one of the most ''rubbish names for a great show'' of all time. But perhaps that's more an indication of the understandable terror the team is feeling, rather than any lack of imagination.

Media Watch scooped these guys on Monday..

MW made me disinclined to watch this one.

Disinclined why?

Just turned it off. Thought the survey stunt was interesting but not for any other reason than it was a great promo tool to get viewers. Other than that though, garbage.

So, anyone else? Was it shithouse?
I was turned off by the YouTube promos. But wasn't home anyway.

it was alright. elmo keep was good. the blokes were slightly smarmy

it's kind of a weird mix of zany skits, really serious stuff about war widows and Chaser-y provocation.

keep watching i say

Ugh, ''zany''. Was it also ''wacky'' or perhaps ''madcap''? Were there ''hijinks''?

no, it was a weird mix. there was this skit about a cat who moved in next door, and then went back to its home, and the neighbours sued each other (or something) - it was done in a Today Tonight style. that was rubbish.

then this really serious interview with the widow and mother of one of the australian soldiers killed in afghanistan, which was very well done.

then a silly skit about why panda should be left to extinction as they are so lazy. or are they too cute to let die????

er...

Sounds like hard work to watch.

It was.

Hm, not sure I could handle it.

Disinclined why?

Because even the MW thing stunk of promo - it wouldn't surprise me if the ''viewer'' who reported it was another Zapruder's Other Films person, you know? Especially given the presence on their website of an interview with the person - seems all a little pat to me.

It seems to have all the smugness of the newly-blooded enthusiast, too.

I saw up to the end of the ''let's yell at a cat for two minutes'' skit then turned it off.

Lame.

Also, if they're all meant to be industry newbies, how come Elmo Keep's on it? She's been writing for ages, hasn't she?

Interesting post by a user on their site re: survey scam, which I tend to agree with.

Using this case, to generalise the entire process of media release/report/survey-based journalism and to make the assumption all such media releases are treated this way is down-right wrong and facile.

This ''Gullible Cities'' report was a soft story but an entertaining yarn. It in no way would be linked with a political agenda.

Therefore, as a news agency, with fast filing and tight deadlines, this could be handled easily with a quick phone (which was covered by a fake spokeswoman), written easily and filed quickly.

The truth of the matter, is most media releases which come through journalist's email accounts are discarded just as quickly.

The majority of them which make it through and whether or not they appear to have any relation to a political agenda or issue, are followed thoroughly with phone calls, not only to the initial organisation but other sources for comment.

This was a clever hoax and full credit to Hungry Beast for taking advantage of a busy, under-pressure, agency journalist but it should not be used to generalise the entire process and make inaccurate assumptions.

urgh, watched about ten minutes of this last night. the original thing they did on 'testing whether reputable media check their sources' was done by crikey a while ago, and better. am pretty sure it's been done by others before too. found the presenters kinda annoying too.

I thought it wasn't too bad. Uneven is the important word though.

It made me cringe, and not in a good Ricky Gervais way.

Back on the teev this wednesday at 9:30pm on ABC1.

This is such a shit show

Correct. I thought it had been axed until the other day. Turn it off, k2.

will do pops.

I really like it.

i like it. it has its charms.

Having a theme each episode has certainly given the show a great deal more focus. I'm probably not the target audience, but even if it's just aimed at teenagers and recent school-leavers I'd rather they have a show like this to watch than nothing at all.

Sidenote: I'm no longer the youth.

This Gina Rinehart clip last night deserves a wider audience.

BTN2 - ELECTRIC BOOGLALOO

This Gina Rinehart clip last night deserves a wider audience.

Jeez, that 7-point-plan for Australia sounds an awful lot like the 7-point plan for Gina.

I didn't realise she was such a nutter until I saw that last night.

i don't understand all the negativity ... this is a great show.

i like it.

It's getting much better. The graphics are fantastic.

Whoever decided the best thing to do was theme the episodes deserves a pat on the back, it provides a far better experience.

Someone compared it to the daily show, in a good way, its somewhat valid now.

Here's the Gina Rinehart clip on youtube, seeings that other link seems to be dead now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-02rSjE9618

as someone who is a graphics nerd, i have to say this is so awesome - seeing how they interpret all the info. this should be taught at uni - instead of shit like photoshop filters.

I normally find that kinetic typography sort of stuff a bit overdone, a bit cliche now, but I did really like that Gina Rinehart one, very creative and good use of the technique. Rather than just going ''Look what I can do with Helvetica!''

Not as annoying as I remember at least.

Shit! Good for viewers who have a short attention span and well marketed towards 16 - 20 years olds who can watch the odd grab here and there when they aren't updating their Fartbook status.

I really enjoyed this season. I hope the ABC bring it back for a third season in its current format.