Fries with that, mate?

I’ve noticed that Australian TV is just like US TV, only two weeks behind. A good number of the major shows (Two and a Half Men, Modern Family, Survivor, American Idol, and yes, even NCIS and every spin off that has been created off that show) are airing relatively recent episodes. With the way internet works down here (paying for a certain amount of data per month), it’s good to know that I won’t have to stream it all through Hulu (unless of course the iPad Hulu app turns out to be pretty slick).

Most of the times I’ve laughed out loud have been at the commercials. There’s nothing stranger than watching a McDonald’s add than to have Ronald make an appearance with a thick Aussie accent. Even though all the other actors are locals, I wasn’t expecting Ronald to have the accent. It was nice to see that he was teaching fire safety to the kids instead of pushing french fries though.

Another commercial that I hadn’t seen in the US was for the Duvet Suit. Sure, the US has its Snuggie, but the Aussies have taken this to a whole new level. The Duvet Suit (www.lazypatch.com) is a full on suit (pants and coat) with boots, if you want, made out of a comforter. Not only can you answer the phone without the free and unobstructed arms, you also don’t need anything else to fall asleep with in the winter (which only gets down to the 30s here, by the way).

The Aussie TV shows are pretty entertaining to. They have a show about Kings Cross during the mob years of the late 80s and 90s. I walked past Kings Cross this past weekend leaving a bar to see what it was all about. And it was everything that everyone warned me about. From what I saw, it looked like a street full of bars that were packed with every single study abroad student treating every weekend like it’s spring break in Cancun. It was entertaining to see, but probably only because I kept my distance.

There is also a show here called Master Chef which is a competition for amateur cooks. I think it’s coming to the states soon and judged by Graham Elliott and Gordon Ramsey. The basic premise is there are 50 cooks who make some type of dish (Barbeque, regional, etc). The bottom 10 have to cook a specific dish with a provided recipe and the 5 worst are sent home. After seeing last night’s episode, I know why Gordon Ramsey wanted to be involved (other than the paycheck to help his empire that is going straight down the financial drain). The top 10 were chosen to cook for two spots in the final 24 all based on their ability to cook (if you’ve watched Hell’s Kitchen you probably have an idea of what they had to make) Beef Wellington. The best part was half the people on the Aussie show had no idea what it was. Beef Wellington, for those that don’t watch Hell’s Kitchen, is apparently the hardest thing that Gordon Ramsey thinks someone can cook and just about everyone seems to fail making it on his show. Outside of the entertainment factor (one guy’s nerves made him slice the tips of two of his fingers in the first episode), the complete over-the-top judges makes it worth watching. Everything comes across as maybe the worst thing in the world until all of a sudden, he says that it’s the best ever. Definitely a little contrived, but entertaining none the less. Now I just have to figure out how casting works for next season.