An AD-free ABC

There are no ads on everyone’s ABC TV, thank goodness. That would be dreadful, and, well, too commercial. But how delightful to see, in between each and every show, those wonderful thirty second insights into ABC TV’s world-class, on-screen talent. They’re so good that, quite frankly, they should loop them together and run them as a show all in their own right, say at about 8pm Tuesday nights.

Drawing on their pool of ever-popular presenters, ABC 1, in an informal and yet imaginative, multi-media sort of way, lets viewers get a glimpse of the celebrity behind the celebrity.

So good are these mini, Dentonesque, none-on-ones, that I find it hard to pick between them.

Long-time ABC radio and TV semi-women’s-religion correspondent, Geraldine Doooogue, sets the general tone. Sitting at a table on her patio, staring blankly into the middle distance, she holds a pen over a notepad, waiting for the Muse, or maybe even Mr. Muse, to visit her. An audio thought-bubble then opens and she tells us something about being so something or other. Her message wistfully moves us thanks mostly to its diamond-etched clarity.

Then there’s Ms. Doooogie’s longtime colleague, Kerry O’Brien. He is a red head but he is not a woman. He asks the questions on The 7.30 Report. He’s been doing that job for yonks. Which might explain why he is not much good at giving answers. His thirty seconds feature him sitting at the 7.30 Report desk whilst the camera tries to find him through some TV studio equipment. He talks humbly of being so lucky to be so humble and that’s why he’s so humbled by his lucky job.

Another stand-out comes from the Australian cricket team’s vice-captain, Michael Clarke, who also has a job hosting ABC TV’s The Collectors. He is a TV natural as he has a fixed smile, which’s probably got something to do with being photographed alongside Lara Bingle all the time. In his ad – sorry, I mean personal insight – he tells us the secret behind being a good collector of things: “When I walk passed something I often pick it up. That’s when you know you’ve got a problem!”

A woman who is not linked to Michael Clarke, Myf Warhurst, energetically gives us thirty seconds of her time. Wrestling a couch and a coffee cup, Warhurst manages to think aloud about her unique qualifications to be on a TV music quiz show – “As a kid I didn’t listen or buy or have anything to do with popular music.” She does all of this with her mouth tightly closed, as if she’s just been caught by the camera after taking a long drag on a cigarette.

The only one in this Insight Series that I’ve got a small problem with is Peter Cundall’s – the former Director of Gardening. He tells us in a very Confucian manner that “everyday is a celebration of life”. Mmmm… Touching. But why did they have to put him into slo-mo in post-production? Old people move slowly enough, don’t they? Or are the test-driving some footage for their Vale Cundall special? I hope they broadcast the service.