It was good to see some personality – manufactured or otherwise – come out today. Both Kochie and Karlos got their angry on, although one was legitimate and the other a bit of a beat up.

Producing 3-3.5 hours of breakfast television a day, 5 days a week must really hurt. There are some real high points throughout both shows, but when it hits a low it’s a crashing low. It all smooths out in the overall pace of the show and would be difference to the pace of a 60 minute program, but there are things both shows could tweak.

The interaction between Ben Fordham & Karl Stefanovic just before the 6:30am news is priceless. I went to exactly the same place they both did and couldn’t keep a straight face either. Ben was totally responsible for egging Karl on and I LOVED it. 

The Today Show (Ch9) – Thursday 17/02/11 

Two days to go...

Hosts: Karl Stefanovic, Lisa Wilkinson
News: Georgie Gardner
Sport: Ben Fordham
Weather: Steven Jacobs
Entertainment reporting: Richard Wilkins/Richard Reid 

• Day 2 with the A team, and I feel like I’m starting to get to know their roles a little.
• Cyclone, Insurance, Gold Coast fisherman, win cash.
• A dog show interview with a dog? Well, it is 5:40am.
• The contrast between the newspapers when all you see is the front page is so very telling.
• There’s a distinct chocolate theme in this morning’s show already.
• Is Richard Reid parodying himself now without knowing it?
• The 6am newsbreak was decidedly different to the first 30minutes.
• Stevie & the dolphins, live from Sea World. He’s wearing shorts. That’s almost too casual.
• I’m expecting many more Cyclone Carlos/Karl gags.
• If you missed the conversation about the “long, stabby thing” from Karl and “whacking someone off from a distance” from Ben that happened at 6:28am, it’s worth a watch. Check it here.
• Ali Fletcher’s interview with the Gold Coast fisherman in the sea overnight will be interesting (sizzle).
• Ita from the block?!
• The 6:40 and 7:40am slots are easy to fill – it’s just the same content!
• I have zero time for the Sea Shepherd organisation. I understand what they are trying to achieve, however it’s a little too close to an accidental death.
• It’s interesting – Karl and Lisa do a lot of one-on-one live interviews – very few joint ones.
• Karl sticks it to “the man” from the Insurance Council of Australia. Nice work.
• Insurance companies hiring hydrologists to weasel out of insurance payouts is awful.
• The guy called Karl “Stan”. Oops much? And this is Angry Karl.
• “I’ve been up to Ipswich too and faced some very disgruntled customers.” Disgruntled would be an understatement.
• Karl softened nicely towards the end. Perhaps he thought about his insurance policies.
• I want Peter Stefanovic to say “Ruby the heartbreaker” more often.
• Bunga Bunga.
• When will we see the Stefanovic family review?
• Can they give away $15,000? YES! Congratulations Susan.
• “Uncle Bill”. Shakespeare would be spinning in his grave had Richard Wilkins not pronounced him death in a tragic skiing accident in New Zealand…
• They’ve crossed to Eddie in the Triple M studios in Melbourne? This is a regular thing? Still better than Andrew Bolt.
• I’m offering $500 to the first person to punch Richard Reid in the face live on air.
• In breakfast television terms, “very shortly” means about 24 minutes.
• Good to see that Peter Costello has interited/developed the same irrelevancy of all retired Australian politicians.
• Oh, it wasn’t an interview with Ali Fletcher. It was a live cross with Lisa.
• Don’t know why Lisa didn’t ask the rescued boatie why he didn’t register his trip before he left. Stupid idiot.
• My First Vegemite segment with Georgie, Karl, Lisa and Ben. No Kraft rep.
• Karl and Ben bounce off each other very well. In a way not designed for a breakfast timeslot.
• Hang-over free wine is simple: don’t over-indulge.
• Alix has her best school presentation voice on, but doing a good job.
• Karl is very interested in this hangover-free wine.
• Hang on – “if you drink too much of it you’ll get a hangover”. It’s not hangover-free wine, it’s preservative-free wine. I guess the latter doesn’t have as much sizzle. Poor form.
• “Good on ya, darling”??? Sometimes so good, then sometimes so bad…
• Do we trust eBay auctions any more, after the Andrew Bogut & Tim Cahill fundraiser debacles?
• Can they give away $5,000? NO! Sorry Stan.
• Do we really need to give Paris Hilton ANY more air time? If she’s “over”, why are we profiling her for her 30th birthday? Oh. Em. Gee.
• Karl & Lisa on the couch – bye!

Sunrise (Ch7) – Thursday 17/02/11 

"It's an ass-salt on Australian families..."

Hosts: Natalie Barr, David Koch
News: Samantha Armitage
Sport: Simon Reeves (Mark Baretta travelling back from V8 Supercars commitments in the Middle East)
Weather: Grant Denyer
Entertainment reporting: Nelson Aspen

• Jobs gone; a flood of questions; Cyclone chaos; Hurley home; Purse power. That hurts.
• Mel’s still sick. Kochie has a problem with the new NEW vegemite. This will not end well.
• “I say it’s an as-salt on Aussie families!” – Kochie. See, I told you this wouldn’t end well.
• Hello to Grant in a very wet Sunshine Coast hinterland.
• The clip of the handbag/bad guy beating granny being interviewed in the US wasn’t much – pretty dull.
• Ahh Kochie, you must test so well with the “namby pamby young mums”.
• A Bollywood cash cow? Isn’t it a beef korma curry yet?
• Borders – another victim of teh ebil internetz.
• Nat is usually quite strong with Kochie – she let him off light with his tirade over the new Vegemite.
• Logies voting reminder. Head to our website and we’ll redirect you to the TV Week website. Traffic whores.
• Suckfully wet day for a ride on a Harley through the hinterland, but it is a great ride.
• Ch7 are talking Paris’s birthday as well?! Fast forward… NOW.
• Nice work, hippy gardener man. Make all those inner-urban nasty people get a garden going.
• Nelson breaks the news of Jessica Alba’s 2nd pregnancy thanks to her tweet. No mention elsewhere.
• No skype cross for the Darwin Lord Mayor?
• Protecting Aussie jobs, talking to a poor Irish-accented Aussie owner of a tiling company (although the footage shows roof tilers – that’s not what this was about!). Fail.
• The TileCorp guy doesn’t want to talk to the camera either.
• From overseas tilers to overseas apples to overseas politicians (Bill Shorten).
• Kochie is playing nicely with the Kraft lady, compared to his earlier shouting about the new My First Vegemite. “It’s not that different!” he says. “Why bother?” he says. Not sure he read the show notes ahead of time.
• Kochie’s not convinced. This is a man who wants the original Vegemite heritage-listed, and then tells parents to stick with the original. Then Nat says it’s a conspiracy. Poor Kraft lady – WHO’S STILL ON SET WHILE YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT THIS!!!
• All the graphics and supers are crisp-as, and the ticker never – NEVER – stops.
• Grant’s gonna be one of those dads. A good one.
• Fifi’s back to talk about the Oscars effect. That’s what a Melbourne-stuck entertainment editor does.
• Time to talk with Neil Mitchell & Howard Sattler. Traffic chaos – Brisbane has it (2nd highest in the country). I know that first hand.
• I love it when white people Bollywood dance. Not.
• I want to go to Sydney just to interrupt a speech at the Sydney Institute. It seems to be the thing to do.
• Naughty Anthony Watmough. Jerk.
• Suck on Sunrise.
• “Superhero Gran” a great security guard, not a great interview.
• I shouldn’t be surprsied, but both Today and Sunrise repackage 60 Minutes and Sunday Night stories for their own use. A lot.
• Happy Birthday Aunty Miffy.
• The old “microphone wind sock is an animal” gag. Brekky TV gold, but you don’t have to dig hard.
• No phone call giveaway problems here – just a list of winners. Not as exciting, but practical.
• Do we really care about Liz Hurley? Ping Pong sure, but “our” Liz? Oh, it’s Kochie’s “Angels”.
• Good to hear Anthony Warlow is well. No one else seems to have mentioned it.
• Rehab relapse and more schadenfreude, coming up next.
• That was a heavy final segment.
• “What’s on tomorrow Nat?” “No idea.”
• Larry Emdur always wanted to be David Koch. Well, you have his paypacket now dude.