Fresh and Exciting

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

By many standards, Australians are a bit quirky, and among Australians, Tasmanians are even more quirky. This assessment is from someone who lived there for 5 years and loved the place and the people. Nowhere have I seen this quirkiness captured better than in this series. The characterizations are so good that they are sometimes painful, but you get pain when you get so close to the truth. If you like the first episode, then stay with it because it gets better.

I was never even going to bother with Rosehaven. My immediate thoughts were that it would be another poor Australian comedy, so why bother. I could not have been more wrong. It is easily on par with another ABC comedy yardstick, Utopia, but it is much more. Set in a fictional Tasmanian town with glorious scenery and a charming cast of quirky characters, it is difficult not to love this show. Emma and Daniel, the purely platonic couple that are the main characters, absolutely shine. Dan's mother, Barbara, is easily my new favourite TV mum. Apart from the pilot, the plot is a little thin at times, but the show is character driven and exceeds all expectations. I was fortunate to the watch the first series of eight episodes over two nights but I have watched the second series every week since it started and it's nearly over. Therein lies my only disappointment - not enough episodes. So I encourage you to sit back and watch possibly the most heart-warming little gem of a comedy that I have seen for quite some time.

The kind of best friend I would love to have would be Emma Dawes. The character has such loving exuberance. I love hers and Daniels friendship. They fight and then it's done. That is how all friendship should be like.The humor is quiet and understated which is the kind of humor I love. I am so disappointed I have just watched all of season 1 in the last week and there is only one more to watch (so far) of season 2. I think my husband is wondering what has happened to me. I am feeling so playful, thanks to this lovely script.

Hard not to make comparisons to Utopia, but the important thing is that the lead performances in Rosehaven add more direct/obvious humour. Even the delivery from the supporting cast make for great foils for the jokes (mainly wordplay and puns.) There is more deliberate humour (than Utopia) so this is where the comparisons break down. It is what it is. It is not a vehicle for characters from another show, and in being that it reaches -different- heights. It puts a different spin on what has become an almost formulaic approach to 'cringe-worthy' humour. The low episode count enhances the mood and themes of the show, rather from detracting from it. I ended up longing for a second season, but guiltily hoping they never do one... I hope they prove me wrong... or not...