Something rich and strange...

This'n that - the page for miscellaneous things that don't fit in anywhere else
(last updated 7 November 1999)

Articles

New Idea, 21 August 1999: Article on William McInnes - reviewed by Koala
New Idea, 21 August 1999: Get the SeaChange look - reviewed by Koala
Transcript from ABC's PM, Tues, August 17, 1999 6:49: "Changes planned for TV ratings system" - from Lyn, reviewed by Koala
Links to a transcript of an article about William McInnes - linked by Koala
The "real" Pearl Bay
TV Week, June 26-July 2, 'Cool Change': SeaChange feature article - thanks Lyn
Optus to show SeaChange
SeaChange, Northern Exposure, Ballykissangel
TV Week, September 11 - September 17 'SeaChange: Will they won't they?'
Article in the Age "Why SeaChange Needs to take an extended holiday"

Rants 'n Raves, musings and "other" stuff

Diver Dan: you thought you knew him, but you really don't. .. - by Lyn
What's in a name? Diver, Max, and Laura - by Lyn
What's your ideal Seachange Soundtrack? - by Koala
Lyn's Conspiracy Theories about Mitzi the Cat
Read Lyn's Spiel at Yahoo! about Sergeant Grey - the real spunk of SeaChange
Koala's rant about Season 3
Koala's review of William McInnes as Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice

New Idea, 21 August 1999: Article on William McInnes

Ordinarily I wouldn't buy New Idea, but as it had an article on our favourite jaded ex-foreign correspondent - how could I resist? The New Idea article on page 7 describes McInnes as having "natural charm, and tomfool humour". An interesting observation is where he says: "I never expected it to be so successful, so that's been a bit of a shock. I took the role to steer away from the mainstream success I'd seen with Blue Heelers, but that hasn't happened".

The article reveals that he's 35 and a "big boofhead from Queensland". As Lyn will know, I'm somewhat boggled by the following bold statement: "The departure of former Seachange icon, Diver Dan left audiences wondering whether the top-rating show would be as good. But since stepping into the role of Max Connors, a burnt-out journalist who returns to Pearl Bay to escape his frantic life, William has developed a devout following to equal Diver Dan's". I'd like to know where this devout following is, where it's been meeting and what the secret handshake is, because it seems to me to have been an underground movement until now. I'm intrigued that he is to play the part of Mr Darcy in a Melbourne production of Pride and Prejudice. I assume another devoted fan will blithely reproduce the article so I will provide the link when I find it.

New Idea, 21 August 1999: Get the SeaChange look

Ay carumbah is all I can say as I am advised to fill my house with a white and blue lighthouse, an ornamental lifeboat with oars and make jolly jelly with a fabric flag on the top. Being the least domestic person I know, I'm afraid all the sage words of wisdom on how to turn my home into a SeaChange-esque domicile are lost on me.

Transcript from ABC's PM, Tuesday, August 17, 1999 6:49: "Changes planned for TV ratings system"

Lyn who is fast becoming co-webmistress of this site was kind enough to send me a transcript of the above item from PM. According to the report, "ABC executives are quietly exultant at the moment because, according to the ratings its Aunty, not one of the commercials, that has Australia's highest rating TV programme. The Sunday night drama SeaChange is now attracting more than 2 million viewers each week." Good news for all SeaChange fans. Now if only they would do a "Making of SeaChange" video or a "Behind the Scenes", I would be a happy koala. Even a book would be good. *grin*

Diver Dan: you thought you knew him, but you really don't. ..

Just how old is Diver?

Diver's mother left when he was seven (Balls and Friggin' Good Luck). We can thus be relatively certain that Diver himself is at least eight. A little more helpful than this is the bit of information that Dan left home at fourteen (A Matter of Taste). More interesting still, was Dan's advice on how to get proficient at Scrabble: 'when you've spent ten years of your life in the Merchant Navy, believe you me, you know every bloody word in the dictionary.' (Love Me or Leave Me) Assuming that Dan went straight from leaving home to joining the Merchant Navy, this would mean that the earliest he could have left the navy is aged twenty-four. Further light is shed by a comment of Meredith: 'Dan, I've watched your every move for the last twelve years.' (The Accidental Activist) Hmmm. If this means that Dan has been living in Pearl Bay for twelve years after his jaunts overseas, the youngest he can be is thirty-six. But even though this is possible, it's far more likely that he joined the merchant navy aged sixteen, which would put him at thirty-eight. This is pretty consistent with everything, since as far as Laura's aware, he's younger than her (The Fellowship of the Suit), and she's approximately thirty-nine during the first series. The annoying thing about all this is that I was convinced the writers had screwed up their figures, and I could prove Diver was forty-eight. But they've been quite careful with all their references. Damnit!

© 1999 Lyn

What's in a name? Diver, Max, and Laura.

How long does it take Diver to address Laura by name? What I mean by this question, is how often Dan calls her 'Laura' to her face. I'm sure I'm the only person who could answer this straight away (and god knows why I noticed), but I believe the first moment is in One of the Gang (episode six of season one). Right at the end of the episode, after Laura's ranting about how they've never had a straight conversation, she turns to leave, but Dan stands and says, 'Laura . . . I quite like the way you dress.' And yes, there's a context to that which makes it a more intelligent comment than it sounds, but that's not important right now. The interesting thing is that it takes so long for Diver to say Laura's name, and even after this point he certainly doesn't use her name very often. I'm pretty sure the only times he says her name are when he's drunk in the bar (Balls and Friggin' Good Luck), when he makes an announcement over the loudspeaker to say that he's glad Laura's staying in town (second last episode?), and when he says 'Laura, you're hyperventilating' right before their first passionate embrace (Sex, Death and Bridges).

Now this is just bizarre. Before anyone suggests that this is how he has conversations with everyone, that just isn't the case: he addresses Meredith and Angus by name in almost every scene he has with them. And even though I haven't described the contexts very well, it's pretty clear that Diver only uses Laura's name at important moments: when he's either admitting a closeness to her, and which the viewer is supposed to notice.

By contrast, Max can't seem to stop saying Laura's name. From the first episode in which they met, (??????) Laura's name was a bit of an issue between them, as Laura asked Max if Dan had mentioned her, and Max replied that he had never mentioned her name. We later discover that Dan did talk about Laura, but referred to her as 'his judge'. But from the moment that Max says 'he never called you Laura', he can't seem to stop doing precisely that. Not only does he frequently greet Laura by name, he often puts her name in the middle of a sentence: (ie: 'you're right, Laura, there's something else at stake here rather than printers': Head for Water).

Why is this important? Well, I would argue this has an interesting effect. For starters, it puts Dan and Max's relations with Laura on different frames of reference, even just linguistically. It gives the impression that from the very beginning, there's far more directness to Max's relationship with Laura than there ever was with Diver. Max seems constantly aware and up-front of how he relates to Laura, whereas Dan's more laid-back conversations with Laura tended towards the evasive. I don't want to take this too far, but it's a very interesting way in which the writers have made Laura's relationship with these guys quite different, to the extent that they write differently for both.

© 1999 Lyn

Links to an article about William McInnes at Yahoo! Clubs Seachange

Mini Presto posted an article at Yahoo Clubs SeaChange from Brisbane's TV Scene called "Screen Larrikin laps it up". It's in two parts. Just follow the link to read! Part 1 and Part 2. An interesting quotes was: "I don't think I'd like to be in a long series again. Let's face it, in Heelers I wore a uniform longer than most of the blokes in World War II".

I've read interviews where he described himself as an overpaid extra or desk. There was also an article at one point that said that Nick Schultze was the policeman that most people felt was the closest to being like a "real" policeman. McInnes does have that somewhat grim, angular look about him. The article then goes on to say:

"He has spent much of that time working on a reality-based film, The Drover's Boy, and while shooting will not be finished
until early next year, the actor has high hopes for its success. "It's a good look at the history of black-white relations in this country, without shoving things down people's throats."

Even more interesting is the fact that he will be playing Mr Darcy in a production of Pride and Prejudice, which begins a six-week run at Melbourne's Arts Centre at the end of this month. Melbourne? *sigh* If it was in Sydney, I'd be thee watching it. Maybe we should do a Melbourne McInnes Field Trip. *grin*

The "real" Pearl Bay

You probably know that SeaChange is filmed in Barwon Heads and in Melbourne. Recently, there was an uproar from Barwon Heads' residents as Diver Dan's boat shed was going to be destroyed so that a restarant can be built. According to Derek, the Pub (which is used for Meredith's pub scenes) is to be revamped and undergo significant changes. How annoying is that?

TV Week, June 26-July 2, 'Cool Change': SeaChange feature article.

Just don't ask how I got a copy. Anyway, the cover is of Sigrid and David (or Laura and Dan?) looking very formal. Actually, as he's wearing a tie, not a handkerchief, I think it's probably more accurate to say David. As SeaChange was the alleged cover story, there are a lot more photos inside, which is good, as the content is more questionable. Suffice it to say that the most interesting insight offered by the article is that David Wenham turned up on time for the interview.

The article largely concerns the different careers of both actors. It talks about the public profiles that SeaChange has given both of them (well, David at least - I think Sigrid was kind of known before that point!). Sigrid is very insightful: on David as an actor, she comments that playing Diver was a significant change for him: 'he crossed over from the character roles he'd been doing for some years to a romantic figure and a leading man'. I have to confess to not having seen much of David's other work, but certainly his role in Cosi as the resident pyromaniac was a rather unusual turn. Sigrid also makes an interesting call on Diver's personality: 'He's a fairly impossible figure, not a realistic person at all. Really, I mean he's not someone you'd meet on the street. That's why Dan is so attractive - he's a kind of fantasy.' By contrast, David's comments indicate a quite different opinion on why Dan's attractive: 'he's human. He has his faults - like that bit of cloth he wears around his neck!' Personally, I side with Sigrid: the faults they give Diver pre-departure are pretty trivial. And when you think about it, the linguistically apt, philosophical, loner-with-a-past fisherman is a little unusual!

Actually, to be fair to TV Week, the main article by Belinda Young isn't bad, as she makes the interesting observation that neither David, nor Sigrid, were forced into acting by family pressure: it's a choice both made at a young age. So there goes that excuse that the only reason you're not in Hollywood is because you had non-assertive parents.

Optus to show SeaChange

In The Australian, on 3 September 1999 there was an article saying that Optus has outbid Foxtel for the rights to SeaChange for quite a considerable sum, with a sweetener as well (believed to be $500,000) for future productions. Apparently SeaChange will be a main program on the new entertainment channel.

Northern Exposure, SeaChange, Ballykissangel

There are definite parallels. Urbanite ends up in quirky, small town. I haven't found all the corresponding characters yet.

TV Week, September 11 - September 17 'SeaChange: Will they won't they?'

I know, I know - TV Week??? I have to admit to actually buying it just because it mentioned SeaChange. I'm hopeless. On page 12 of the issue, the sub-headline is "It's topping the ratings and making a sex symbol out of William McInnes but SeaChange creator and co-writer Deb Cox wants the next series to be the last". How tragic is that? The tantalising introduction discusses what is to come in the second season finale - a traumatic marriage proposal (whose??), a madman with a gun (there are photographs, obviously there's some sort of hostage situation) and pure unbridled passion (as I doubt it's Max and Laura, I can only assume it will be Meredith/Harold or Kevin/Phrani). For some reason, I didn't expect the season finale to be a hostage story - I thought it was supposed to be about the threatened closure of the courthouse.

The article is quite an interesting one, offering an insight into Deb Cox's views on SeaChange's popularity. For season three, I'm happy to say that the article says that "scripting for a new series is under way and with Sigrid Thornton and William McInnes firmly on board to pick up the bubbling cauldron of Laura and Max's love match, the seaside drama is on a roll". Deb Cox says: "I would like major things to happen between Max and Laura in the third series", indicating that by the close of the first season, we're still going to be confronted with the tantalising banter that the two exchange. She also says that season three will probably be the last season. I agree that three seasons is probably enough - there's something quite painful about seeing a show taken past its logical conclusion.

I liked how she described the contrasts between Diver and Max: "Diver Dan was very laid-back and uninvolved. Max is a rabblerouser, a dangerous and confronting character for Laura. He's more active than Diver Dan - someone who's been out in the world and brings a much more worldly-wise attitude to Pearl Bay".

The article then goes on to describe how Deb Cox liked William McInnes' "wryness". I think wryness is the right word. At first I thought it was dryness, but he does have a wry, self-deprecating sort of manner about him, especially when he's trying very hard not to look as if he cares.

"There are lots of different levels and subtleties to his performance. He slips and slides around the character but, when he's grounded, like when his wife dies and he's full of pain, we feel it all the more strongly". This is very true. I think I spent most of "Head for water" with a big lump in my throat, especially when he made the comment about howling at the moon. The article then goes on to describe Max as lanky, TV's latest sex symbol and mischievous. Did I mention that there's a lot about Max in this article?

"And if you think the mischievous Max looks in better shape than Sgt Nick Schultz ever used to, that's because actor William was sent to the gym for a spot of bodybuilding in preparation for his new role. According to Deb, William's newly developed chest muscles are purely in the interest of character portrayal and were never intended to set viewers' pulses racing."

That makes me laugh, especially in the context of Lyn's observations on the subject. I'm not crazy about Max in a wetsuit myself - he gets a weird shuffle. Kind of like chow dog - not very sexy at all. He looks better in his jeans and that flowing blue shirt he likes to wear. Anyway, TV Week described William as the "thinking woman's crumpet". I guess that's like a stud muffin? Notice that even in writing I've got the upward, Aussie intonation-thing going.

Deb Cox's rejoinder to the "Another Shot of Max's Bare Chest" Brigade is as follows: "A lot has been made of William constantly showing his bare chest...Initially I wanted to make Max a long-distance swimmer so that unlike Diver Dan who never went into the water, he was quite a physical character. So we have him in wetsuits in and out of the water. It's as simple as that".

In terms of Max's character: "Sex symbol or not, Max Connors is intended to be a romantic figure, and the sexual chemistry between him and Laura despite Max's playful goading, is a major driving force in the drama." Deb Cox describes it as "..much more a meeting of minds, than lusting after each other". At the end of series two, the two are still "dancing around each other", so I assume this means that all those people on the Yahoo SeaChange Club are going to be much disappointed in relation to their much anticipated Max/Laura kiss.

Deb Cox best sums it up when she says: "Without letting it get out of hand and too outlandish, as many series do when they know they're coming to an end, there's a lot we need to sort out..Like Laura and Max, Karen and Angus, Kevin and Phrania and, of course, Bob and Heather". The photographs accompanying the article are very interesting:

- Laura and Meredith looking surprised
- Max blowing a kiss while Griff and some guy stare at him in puzzlement;
- Max and Laura standing side by side looking very grim/serious
- Carmen and Griff comforting some woman who is standing behind a police cordon
- Bob being forcibly restrained by Sergeant Grey
- a pregnant Trudi
- a frightened, dishevelled looking crowd: Angus and Karen holding hands, Harold with his arm around a tousle-haired Meredith, Max and Laura holding hands and staring at each other and someone and Kevin. I think they're being held up.
- Max standing grimly while a gunman points a gun at him
- a big happy group shot of the whole gang - everyone's smiling except Max who looks kind of grim again
- Max climbing out of Laura's window.

Article from the Age, 21 August 1999 by Robyn Usher: "Why SeaChange needs to take an extended holiday"

The article in question can be found here. In view of the fact that online newspaper articles have a bad habit of being unreliable links, I'm going to quote rather lavishly from the article. Note - I am not copying, I am not mirroring but I will be extracting from the article.

The article starts out well enough:

SEACHANGE, a joint production between the ABC
and Artist Services, has achieved the near impossible -
becoming the most popular show in the country,
surpassing even Blue Heelers with its pulling power and
attracting more than two million viewers a week.

Then we discover that Usher is a David Williamson fan:

Perhaps everyone is working so hard they need to be
reminded what a holiday is like by watching SeaChange
or the new ABC series on Monday nights, Dog's Head
Bay, written by David Williamson and his wife, Kristin.

The article then goes on to discuss whether it's wise to have a third season. I want there to be a third season, but I guess I reluctantly agree with the last sentence of the following paragraph:

Given SeaChange's outstanding success, and the fact that
the current, second series still has many weeks to run, it
might seem absurd to ask if a third series is a good idea.
Yet the longer SeaChange continues, the more the
characters are shrinking before our eyes, losing many of
the complexities that made them attractive in the first
place.

The next comment though makes me wonder if Usher is just one of those elitist snobs who prefers to like things that nobody else likes. That's right, you're special because you like something that no one else likes. I don't agree that the second season is more populist than the first. It's different but it had to be different - it if followed the same formula as season 1, there would be no point in having a new season.

This might be partly why the second series has found a
mass market, while the original programs, which dared to
break new ground instead of relying on simple romantic
entanglements, had a more select following. When
SeaChange began, Laura Gibson, played by Sigrid
Thornton, took her family to Pearl Bay after her marriage
break up, giving up a successful legal career in
Melbourne.

This is what gave the show so much interest. The big-city
high-flyer had to adapt to the quirky mores of small-town
living, while still showing the determination to cope with
family conflict that she had in the city.

Then Usher gets even more harsh:

As the second series trudges on, all that is just a memory.
Now Thornton's character has become just another
unattached woman, eager to catch a man through her
culinary skills and even denigrating her own profession
when the dream male looks disapproving. As Laura
might say, there is not much to do around Pearl Bay
when you have done all your emoting.

I disagree with the following statement as well. Laura is an outsider and from all appearances - will always be an outsider to Pearl Bay. She doesn't quite understand them and they will never understand her:

There is no suggestion she might return to the city and the
series misses that tension. Laura has learned to swim with
the locals, losing many of the features that made her so
attractive.

Now my dander was well and truly riled when Usher started taking pot shots at my beloved William McInnes and saying that he demonstrated that inspiration was drying up!!!!

William McInnes, the new man Max, is another example
of inspiration drying up. He replaces David Wenham as
the show's desirable male but Wenham's portrayal of
Diver Dan was archetypal. Dan was a character of many
talents and deep hurts - the ultimate challenge for a
sensitive woman such as Laura. This was where the
theme of home cooking was first introduced. In a clever
role reversal, she responded to his culinary skills.

Max had to be different from Dan. I think that Usher is being a little bit ingenuous by saying that we'll have to wait until Pride and Prejudice to see if McInnes can act. It's clear he is an excellent actor - anguish over Elena, baiting Bob, getting serious with Laura - I think he's versatile. While he's a more conventional love interest than Diver - if they had another non-conformist, scruffy, kinda ugly hero, everyone would scream that Season 2 was copying season 1.

There is no doubt McInnes is a capable actor, but he has
yet to be asked to show how good he can be. It doesn't
require much skill to take off a wetsuit every week and
flick the hair out of your eyes. The ploy is obviously
working to arouse the enthusiasm of some female viewers
but it doesn't leave much for the rest of us. People might
have to wait until McInnes plays Mr Darcy in the MTC's
forthcoming adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and
Prejudice to see how well he can perform.

I like Carmen, I adore Max. Usher has thoroughly antagonised me by making disparaging comments about them both:

Max's responsibilities at Pearl Bay are restricted to
annoying Laura Gibson and running a beachside
publication with the help of a hippie New-Ager, played
by Alice Garner, an annoying character whose best
option might be a quick fade to oblivion if the writers
cannot give her lines that aren't cliches.

OK, there is a good comment about Elena - a character I liked a lot:

The correspondent was supposed to enliven the program
by opening a window on the outside world but, like
Thornton's magistrate, he has become a prisoner of the
local community. He brought with him the strongest
character yet seen in SeaChange - his wife, Elena, who
was quickly killed off. But in her short-lived appearances,
Elena brought with her too much of the real world,
bursting the fabric of romantic whimsy that SeaChange
has become so dependent on. Elena (Doris Younane),
was self-confident enough to challenge her husband
without threatening the relationship, something that does
not happen with the other couplings. Given the show's
depressing reliance on domestic issues, there does not
seem much room for development in a third series, unless
the creators are going to kill off more characters.

Again, I think Usher is being unfair. I think it's very natural and common that Laura is lonely and is longing for companionship. It's an age old wish - someone to love, someone to love you, someone to hold, someone to hold you. She's not indequate, she's just lonely.

Laura is yearning so strongly a man in her life that the
scripts now make her appear inadequate without one;
Harold and Meredith have become a definite couple;
Angus and Karen have been in a sexless relationship for
so long that it has become the norm; Bob Jelly and
Heather will always bicker but never separate; and
Phrani has moved into Kevin's caravan park. It seems
that if everyone has a good spouse then the world must
be OK.

Oh, and now Usher is criticising SeaChange because it's not realistic. I'm done with gritty reality. I live in it:

There is Indian mysticism, New-Age platitudes and an
all-wise Buddhist monk. Are seaside towns, with the
possible exception of Byron Bay, really like that?

Nothing can please Usher - after bagging SeaChange, Usher then goes on to bag Dog's Head Bay. But I'm not interested in that:

But if SeaChange is in the doldrums, it has at least
enjoyed critical and commercial success. Both are
unlikely for Dog's Head Bay. Its premiere this week
showed just how dated David Williamson's characters
can be.

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