Popeye on~the~box

Once upon a time the NZBC, wishing to get a little professionalism info their productions, brought into this country a well-known actor who was once a native of this fair land, and put him in the starring role of a series about the probation service. Unfortunately the well-known actor had a past (or as Oscar Wilde would say, several of them). He was a carrier of that dread disease, boredom, contracted while serving a term on that hellshole called "The Revenue Men". He quickly passed this affliction on to the scriptwriters (though one must admit their natural resistance was very low) and to the producer, with the only ones spared from this horrible disease, even including the actors from Hire Pool, being the two probation officers, who made a valiant effort to hold back the plague of dullness and incompetence manifested so far in this horren dous series.

Television watchers, if any still exist, may remember an almost morbid preoccupation by the media about two months ago with Disney On Parade. Together, with an incredible number of commercial spots for this overpriced show, were advertisements, cunningly (for the NZBC) disguised as fillers, news items, etc. Readers who may be interested in the answer to this boring question need go no further. It is not unconnected with fact that NZBC was offered a percentage of the profits of the show if it did the publicity. Readers are warned that similar ventures are on the way, and their standard may be judged by the current Miss Wellington competition, which has Miss Mastercut Meat, Miss Wrangler, and so on, warbling on about their respective virtues on our screens. (I am reliably informed that there was a Miss Easy lay Tiles until someone whispered to the eunuchs responsible that It May Be Misunderstood.)

As my concession to balance in this column, I offer the following recommendations. Golden Silents on Tuesday evenings is good value, and it doesn't have that nauseous commentary that ruined the previous American series on the same topic. And if you have an interest in rather strange cartoons, Looney Tunes on Thursday afternoon is worth watching.