The Age of Commercialism

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Rove (or Rove Live as it was known until the recent renovation of the show) has become one of Australia's most successful talk shows, and is known for it's interviews and much unscripted action. Guests have included many celebrities from across the world and Rove has his own co-hosts, Carrie Bickmore and Peter Helliar. Together with a brilliant mix of light satire, good timed jokes and clever uses of technology (like the portals he creates with a television link to speak to someone in a remote location) and dares and all round fun, the show combines all the good elements of a talk show and all the good elements of a comedy. nine stars. Rove first appeared on Seven but is now shown on Channel Ten.

Alright it is not bad for an out of the box late night talk show, but it is not that good either. The problem is the lack of guests on this show. Not that Rove has no guests, it's more like he has no good guests. Being new and being in Australia Rove must stay alive by picking off the scraps, linking up with satellite to conduct interviews with anybody remotely famous. The guests he does manage to recruit off the street are unheard of, yet Rove manages to make you feel stupid for not having heard of them before. The skits while amusing at first have quickly become boring and dry and although its in its third year it has yet managed to produce high quality entertainment. Yet for some inexplicable reason I continue to watch this show, probably more out of a lack of alternatives than for any other reason. You see down here in Australia we don't have actors, we just have people who like to think they can act, and therefore we have little need for a show like Rove. Nevertheless, his titilising yet rare comic mischief is spontaneously refreshing and what the show lacks in depth it makes up in denial. Indeed some segments can, on a good night, be funny. Many viewers tune in simply to watch the so-called 'What-the' segment and switch the tele right off quick-smart. Quite to my displeasment the What-the's have lacked in clarity and humility over the past weeks. The guests and interview portion of the show does, however, need considerable attention and contemplation. I have often found myself actually feeling embarassed for Rove because his guests are so mundane and he is either unwilling or unable to use them effectively in his show. Alas Rove Live is an endearing program which appeals to the humoiderous sarmentum of the viewer's heart and attempts desperately to achieve audience oblection. To have a Roving time? I think not. 5.5/10

"Rove" is a wonderfully fresh and original talk show while it still stays true to the idea of all talk shows needing the 3 basic ingredients, clever hosts, good guests and a funny monologue. What makes Rove McManus's attempt at a talk show so much better than the competition is the new slant he puts on old ideas. I believe his presence on screen and when interviewing guests appears so new and fresh because of his experience on channel 31's "the loft", a much smaller show than "rove" but still funny and original. I strongly advise people to watch this show if you are lucky enough to catch it outside of Australia