5 posts tagged “ride with the devil”

Ride with the Devil gets two snaps from me: a good series première, nice pace, darned good acting (from even the cast members that I do not know) and a multicultural cast that resembles something you might see on the rice burner scene.
   Down side: the thing is over in half an hour, just when you are getting in to it. ‘Next week’ comes up far too early and surprisingly. And need I mention the time slot? Grrr. Even Throng thinks it’s too late.
   At least the Listener had the good sense to call Andy Wong ‘Chinese’ rather than ‘Asian’.

The Irish newspaper, The New Zealand Herald, has finally posted a preview of the new series Ride with the Devil, premièring Tuesday, TV2, at 11 p.m. Its star, Andy Wong, put it on to the show’s Facebook group.
   Though it gets me all the time: what are ‘Asians’? I saw this term all over the article.
   Kazakhs are Asians. Indians are Asians. Eastern Russians are Asians. If they mean ‘Chinese’, then they should say it. We’re not ashamed of our heritage.
   What are New Zealanders? Shall we say ‘Australasians’ from now on?

Further to my moan about Ride with the Devil’s timeslot when, say, Friends re-runs enjoy a better one, why is Serial Killers, starring Robyn Malcolm, on at 11.30 p.m. on TV One? I catch it occasionally and find it quite a fun satire on the TV business—and the occasional revelation about the BS of mass media.
   Patriotism can’t be in that short a supply, surely?
   I then Googled the series and discovered it aired in 2004 and that the ones shown now are re-runs. That explains one thing, but it raises another issue. I have never heard of it—which might suggest a lack of confidence in promoting the series the first time round.
   Google does show, in its cache, a New Zealand Herald report which states that the series aired at 9.30 p.m. on TV One—yes, this is more acceptable, but how come regular Joes like me are only discovering it now?
   The report itself doesn’t have great things to say about the state of affairs of our networks. It opens, ‘Commercial fear and a gutless Government funding agency are behind the dearth of major local productions on TVNZ, says actor Robyn Malcolm.’
   It continues, ‘She won the best female performance award at the New Zealand Screen Awards last month for her part in Serial Killers, a show she claimed was effectively killed by the state broadcaster.’
   But wait, there’s more.

   “[NZ On Air] paid all this money and then watched as [TVNZ] killed it,” said Malcolm. “If you put that much time and money into a piece of work, why not place it in a slot at the pinnacle? Surely you want it to succeed?”
   The former Shortland Street stalwart said the broadcaster was more interested in maintaining revenue than helping to build a local production industry.
   “It’s always cheaper to buy [a US comedy like] Friends than to fund another series of Serial Killers.”
   Malcolm was equally critical of the support offered to the drama Mercy Peak, another show that features on her acting CV.
   “It went off air last year after three series and I thought that was a terrible shame. The third series was getting extremely good, it should have been something [TVNZ] should have shown confidence in. But it was like the better it got, the worse the timeslot it was given.” 

   To be fair, the Herald does give TVNZ’s defence: that Serial Killers was commissioned for a 9.30 p.m. slot (still doesn’t answer my promotional criticism) and Mercy Peak was shifted to avoid a clash with a rival domestic series. 
   I still argue that it is 2007: our programmes are not miles behind foreign stuff. Yes, I do not have great things to say about Close to Home or Country GP or even the non-Ian Mune-directed Letter to Blanchys. But when we churn out things such as Doves of War, The Market, The Insiders’ Guide to Love, Street Legal and others, haven’t our lads and lasses proved themselves worthy of broadcast in their own country at a decent timeslot?
   Is TVNZ’s best defence to this criticism that at least Karaoke High enjoyed a decent scheduling?
   Go to most European countries and they are happy to put their own programmes on during prime-time; ditto many parts of Asia. Anyone been in a hotel room in Japan when they are showing the umpteenth part of a badly filmed, studio-shot period drama, or in France where there is some godawful talk show?
   It may be junk, but at least their broadcasters aren’t apeing the United States. With respect to the many American readers of this blog, I am simply saying that New Zealanders enjoy seeing New Zealand programmes on their TV sets, just as Americans enjoy seeing American programmes. But if you look at our TV-land, you will think that somewhere along the line, we became the 51st state.

[Cross-posted] During my last trip to Auckland, I was telling a lot of people this: Ride with the Devil, premières TV2, September 4, 11 p.m.
   This is a new TV show that stars my friend Caleigh Cheung, an occasional correspondent with Lucire. It’s her first major role in a networked drama, I believe, but with this desire of New Zealanders to see themselves on screen in decent locally made dramas, why the heck is this scheduled at 11 p.m.? And what is on in prime time? My House My Castle? Fear Factor?
   I am finally allowed to talk about the show and it is very indicative of modern New Zealand. Directly from the release (please excuse the strange capitalization of the title that seems to vary):

Ride With The Devil, (screening Tuesday nights, 11pm on TV2 from Sep 4th) is based around new-Asian youth Lin Jin (Andy Wong, Shortland Street) and the friendship he forms with bad-boy racer Kurt Williams (Xavier Horan, The Market). Written and directed by Murray Keane (Shortland Street, Outrageous Fortune) and produced by Rachel Jean (The Market) for Isola Productions, Ride with the Devil was made with money from the New Zealand On Air Innovation Initiative.

   From a race point of view, it is the first time that Chinese New Zealanders have been shown as regular Kiwis in principal roles. Even the United States has not managed to give the Chinese people that—the nearest it got was Margaret Cho’s sitcom about being Korean–American. The only other way Korean–Americans can get in to US media with any regularity is when a judge sues them for losing his pants.
   There is some adult material, which does explain the later timeslot, but I understand that even 7 p.m. soaps like Shortland Street shows characters in sex scenes now. So why not 9 p.m. or 9.30 p.m.? Perhaps TVNZ will care to explain, but as an outsider (phew) I can say that it is once again symptomatic of the lazy and unimaginative management that is driving this country on to the rocks. Hang on—that was from another car thing.
   Keane promises verisimilitude and that the stories have been taken from real life. Caleigh had shown me some of the pics taken on set (including her stuntmen—yes, men) and it does show they have the rice burners properly souped up.
   It also sees the return of Shortland Street’s Angela Bloomfield.
   I do hope this gets renewed for a second season even if it sounds like it mixes suburban Auckland with The Fast and the Furious, for it really does seem like a drama that will strike a chord in New Zealand. And my radar with trends is seldom wrong. I just tend to be ahead.
   And if that still doesn’t work in getting viewers, I think the men and some women in this country will be rather impressed with our Cal, who tells me her character is rather chameleon-like. That is an euphemism for sexy.

This has been a great day for celebrities. I started it in loco parentis for Laural and Sharaine Barrett (Miss Universe New Zealand 2007 and her twin sister, who was runner-up in 2006), escorting them safely from airport to TV studio and back (nice that the regular crew had a bit of fun with me on a day I wasn’t scheduled to appear), and finished it watching Topol in Fiddler on the Roof at the St James Theatre. My friend and colleague Caleigh Cheung, who stars in the upcoming TV2 series Ride with the Devil, sent me a digital photo of the two of us, taken by her friend Alastair Kwun. Sadly, Cal cannot comment on her new series but I think she is on the verge of something big. And I am usually right about these things.
   Meanwhile, Lucire’s online edition is running a story on Eva La Rue of CSI: Miami (from an earlier print story), just as news of her romance with star David Caruso is becoming better known.
   It has been a very interesting and varied day, but I got too little work done.