EVERYTHING OLD WAS NEW AGAIN
Seven rebooted Big Brother and Farmer Wants a Wife and announced it was also using the defibrillator paddles on Australian Idol, Australia’s Got Talent and Dancing with the Stars in 2021. Netflix breathed new life into The Babysitter’s Club book series and Cobra Kai based on the Karate Kid films, while Foxtel resurrected Perry Mason. The Crown rekindled the world’s love affair with Princess Diana while dampening affection for Prince Charles and Camilla.
UNDERDOGS TRIUMPHED
After being all but ignored for most of its six-year run, cult favourite Schitt’s Creek went out with a bang, winning every single Emmy award for comedy in its final season. It was the year when newcomers such as Anya Taylor-Joy (Queen’s Gambit), Shira Haas (Unorthodox), Emma Corrin (The Crown) and Paul Mescal (Normal People) rather than the big stars who got critics talking. And Aussie cartoon Bluey (ABC) was hailed as one of the best shows of 2020 by both the New York Times and Rolling Stone magazine.
FAMOUS FACES SURPRISED
After decades of playing loveable nice guys, Hugh Grant embraced his dark side playing a devilish doctor in The Undoing (Foxtel). Journalist Ray Martin showed us his comedy skills in At Home Together (ABC). The most shocking character departure of all, however, came when Ellen DeGeneres – whose motto is “be kind” – was accused of bullying staff and fostering a toxic workplace.
AXINGS, EXITS AND FAREWELLS
Pete Evans became the shortest-serving camper in the history of I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here when he was axed from the series before eating a single creepy crawly. The controversial chef was booted for posting a neo-Nazi symbol. Evans wasn’t the only star given his marching orders. Breakfast news program Studio 10 became the news when TV legend Kerri-Anne Kennerley and newsreader Natarsha Belling were made redundant. Long-serving weathermen Tim Bailey and Mike Larkin were also sent packing. Aussie Ruby Rose raised eyebrows when she quit Batwoman after just one season, leaving producers scrambling to find a new caped crusader. And while Baby Yoda said goodbye to the Mandalorian, his departure also marked the return of the Jedi. Luke Skywalker (played by Mark Hamill with some impressive computer wizardry) emerged in the show’s final moments.
REAL LIFE DRAMA WAS TOPS
For weeks it was impossible to go anywhere without hearing people talk about zookeeper Joe Exotic and his feud with conservationist Carole Baskin in the documentary Tiger King. A star-studded cast of Cate Blanchett, Dominic West and Yvonne Strahovski told the remarkable true story of a mentally ill Australian woman who ended up in a detention centre in Stateless (ABC).
TURKEYS BIGGER THAN CATS
James Corden followed-up his woeful performance in the movie Cats with the new Netflix film The Prom. Viewers were angry that Corden, a heterosexual, had been cast as a gay Broadway actor. His performance was also described as “homophobic”, “aggressively flamboyant” and “stereotypical”. Closer to home, Seven’s new cooking format, Plate Of Origin, failed to tickle tastes while Between Two Worlds was a dud and banished to a late-night slot. Channel 10 discovered that casting two Bachelorettes doesn’t equate to twice the fun or twice the ratings. Sisters Becky and Elly Miles didn’t win viewers’ hearts, who branded their quest for love boring and awkward.
THE SHOW GOES ON (IN A COVID-SAFE FASHION)
After a season of eerily silent games played in empty stadiums, footy fans were able to attend the AFL Grand Final at night in Brisbane. Christian Wilkins’ didn’t let his father Richard’s COVID diagnosis stop him from putting his best foot forward on Dancing With the Stars. Forced into quarantine, Wilkins performed on his apartment block rooftop instead of in the studio with the other couples. The ladies were also sent packing from The Bachelor mansion as the pandemic took hold, leaving Bachelor Locky Gilbert to woo them online instead of with sunset helicopter rides and candlelit dinners.
AUSSIES MADE THEIR MARK
Rose Byrne and Cate Blanchett gave career-best performances in Foxtel’s Mrs America. While Melbourne’s own Elizabeth Debicki was announced as The Crown’s next Princess Diana. Debicki takes over the role from Emma Corrin, who received widespread acclaim as the young Diana struggling with new fame and an unhappy marriage. Debicki will play her in the decade before her tragic death.
REALITY BITES (AGAIN)
Just when we thought we had seen it all in The Bachelor mansion came Zoe Clare McDonald – aka The Ginger Whinger. McDonald’s time in the mansion was short-lived but her furious tirade on night one that she was being victimised for her red hair ensured she became a Twitter sensation. Shane Warne’s son Jackson also gave viewers food for thought when he revealed on SAS Australia that he’d eaten only 10 foods in his life – not one a vegetable. He named eight: eggs, bacon, toast, cereal, burgers, nachos, chips and apples.
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
Sometimes the shows that get the most critical acclaim don’t live up to the hype (I’m looking at you Lovecraft Country, Living With Yourself and I Know This Much Is True). Ditto those series that cop hatred online aren’t always as bad as they sound. Francophiles were quick and vocal in their contempt for Darren Starr’s Emily In Paris, which stars Emily Collins (daughter of pop star Phil) as an eager-to-please American living in Paris. Was it cliched? Oui. But was it also enjoyable escapism? Bien sur!
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