Kate Constable's Blog

TV For People Who Don't Like TV

A friend of mine has suggested that I should blog about television shows for people who don't like watching television (like him). I think he was joking, but hey, I'm going to do it anyway.

These are the must-watch shows at our house at the moment:

Monday
Mythbusters (SBS1, 7.30)
Inscrutable Jamie and over-excitable Adam put "myths" to the test eg is it possible to find a needle in a haystack? Could a man survive a fall from a skyscraper using a sheet of plyboard as a parachute? Along the way, a surprising amount of science is imparted to an unsuspecting audience which has tuned in to enjoy the explosions, car crashes and general mayhem.

Tuesday
QI (ABC1, 9.30)
Stephen Fry hosts a panel show like no other, where the bizarre trivia invariably outshines the efforts of the guests to be hilarious. Guaranteed to teach you something fascinating you didn't already know.

Wednesday
Top Design (Gem, 8.30)
Contestants vie in weekly design challenges eg transform a caravan, build a rooftop garden. Alice and Evie both want to star in "Kids Top Design," which must surely be forthcoming. We specially love cute Rob the architect and clever Dee.
The Gruen Transfer (ABC1, 9.00)
Witty and enlightening dissection of the advertising industry, hosted by Wil Anderson.
Judith Lucy's Spiritual Journey (ABC1, 9.30)
I feel as if I know Judith Lucy because we once attended the same party. I love her. Her meandering search for meaning has been very personal, thoughtful, funny and sometimes cringe-making. I wish they'd give her an interview show. She takes self-deprecating to a whole new level of pain.

Thursday
Supersizers Go... (SBS1, 8.30)
Unpromising title, but this show is a gem. Food critic Giles Coren and comedian Sue Perkins undertake to eat the food and live the lifestyle of a particular historical period for a week, with medical checks before and after to see what effect it has on their health. A couple of weeks ago they reeled beneath a Restoration diet of meat and claret (no water, and no vegies - those Restoration types thought they were dirty and unhealthy). Not for the squeamish - they often consume things like boiled calf's heads, fish head pie or stuffed dormouse. This week: the seventies.

Saturday
Before The Game (Ch 10, 6.30)
Our favourite show about the footy, because it doesn't take the game too seriously and there's a chick on the panel. Almost free of the weighty blokes-only atmosphere that spoils most other football shows for the female fan. 

Sunday
Grand Designs (ABC1, 7.30)
Kevin McLeod hosts this long-running UK programme which follows the building of a house from design to completion. Usually the projects are ambitious - in past years, they've often been huge, glass-walled monstrosities, but lately the houses have tended to be clever and sustainable. Everything I know about architecture (not that much!) I've learned from this show.