WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.540 You know how today you could be sitting on the 00:00:03.540 --> 00:00:05.580 couch right next to someone and you're both just 00:00:05.580 --> 00:00:07.790 staring at your phone? Oh yeah. Like, totally, 00:00:07.790 --> 00:00:10.349 completely zoned out. Right. And you are experiencing, 00:00:10.349 --> 00:00:13.050 like, completely different realities. Your algorithm 00:00:13.050 --> 00:00:15.830 is feeding you this one highly customized timeline, 00:00:16.269 --> 00:00:18.289 and their algorithm is feeding them something, 00:00:18.289 --> 00:00:21.170 you know, entirely different. Yeah. We are all 00:00:21.170 --> 00:00:23.649 just stuck in our own little digital silos at 00:00:23.649 --> 00:00:27.350 this point. Exactly. The whole concept of a shared 00:00:27.350 --> 00:00:30.469 national town square, like a single pop culture 00:00:30.469 --> 00:00:32.729 moment that everyone in the country is experiencing 00:00:32.729 --> 00:00:35.619 at the exact same time. It feels almost extinct 00:00:35.619 --> 00:00:38.840 now. It really does. I mean, that unified water 00:00:38.840 --> 00:00:42.119 cooler moment is just incredibly rare today. 00:00:42.520 --> 00:00:44.340 We've essentially traded the town square for 00:00:44.340 --> 00:00:47.460 these personalized infinitely scrolling feeds. 00:00:47.700 --> 00:00:49.979 Which is exactly why today's deep dive feels 00:00:49.979 --> 00:00:52.439 like, well, a dispatch from another dimension. 00:00:52.579 --> 00:00:54.719 So welcome to the deep dive, everyone. Today 00:00:54.719 --> 00:00:57.000 we're opening up this massive stack of notes 00:00:57.000 --> 00:00:59.420 sourced straight from the comprehensive Wikipedia 00:00:59.420 --> 00:01:01.880 archive of the Australian television variety 00:01:01.880 --> 00:01:06.120 show. Rove. Yeah, Rove. It's such a wild topic 00:01:06.120 --> 00:01:09.620 to get into. It really is. It ran from 1999 to 00:01:09.620 --> 00:01:11.980 2009, and looking back at it now, it's almost 00:01:11.980 --> 00:01:14.719 hard to believe a single show wielded this much 00:01:14.719 --> 00:01:16.980 cultural gravity. It is a fascinating archives 00:01:16.980 --> 00:01:20.439 to dig into. And for you listening right now, 00:01:20.519 --> 00:01:22.579 whether you're a media strategist or maybe someone 00:01:22.579 --> 00:01:24.680 prepping for a presentation on audience engagement, 00:01:25.019 --> 00:01:26.840 or even just a student of pop culture history, 00:01:27.540 --> 00:01:29.799 there is a very specific reason you should care 00:01:29.799 --> 00:01:32.739 about this show. Oh, absolutely. Because in today's... 00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:35.480 deeply fragmented media landscape that we were 00:01:35.480 --> 00:01:37.739 just talking about looking at the evolution of 00:01:37.739 --> 00:01:42.260 Rove offers this absolute master class in How 00:01:42.260 --> 00:01:45.000 to build a fiercely loyal community and really 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:47.640 how to command a unified cultural moment practically 00:01:47.640 --> 00:01:50.079 from thin air Okay, let's unpack this because 00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:53.680 I mean, how does a humble community access television 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:56.659 show evolve into an 11 season juggernaut? Right, 00:01:56.760 --> 00:01:58.620 it's not a normal trajectory at all. No, not 00:01:58.620 --> 00:02:00.719 at all. We're talking about a show that won five 00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:02.859 Logie Awards for most popular light entertainment 00:02:02.859 --> 00:02:06.180 launched like actual A .R .I .A. charting music 00:02:06.180 --> 00:02:08.699 albums and basically dictated what Australian 00:02:08.699 --> 00:02:10.620 Sunday Nights look like for an entire decade. 00:02:10.860 --> 00:02:12.780 Yeah, to understand the heights it eventually 00:02:12.780 --> 00:02:15.159 reached, we really have to look at the mechanics 00:02:15.159 --> 00:02:19.599 of its rather humble and actually... quite resilient 00:02:19.599 --> 00:02:22.479 origins because the format they ended up perfecting 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:24.879 was born out of pure necessity. Right. It didn't 00:02:24.879 --> 00:02:27.639 start with, you know, prime time budgets or massive 00:02:27.639 --> 00:02:29.960 celebrity guest lists. It started as a show called 00:02:29.960 --> 00:02:33.659 The Loft Live. Loft Live. Yeah. On C -31 Melbourne. 00:02:33.960 --> 00:02:37.259 Exactly. C -31 Melbourne, which is a community 00:02:37.259 --> 00:02:40.280 access television station. And I mean, typically 00:02:40.280 --> 00:02:43.460 community television is known for a very Well, 00:02:43.460 --> 00:02:45.840 let's call it a DIY aesthetic. Oh, for sure. 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:48.460 Cardboard sets, shaky cameras, the works. Yeah. 00:02:48.900 --> 00:02:51.060 But the Loft Live, which was hosted by comedian 00:02:51.060 --> 00:02:53.900 Rove McManus, was noted for having these unusually 00:02:53.900 --> 00:02:56.300 high production values for that space. Like, 00:02:56.319 --> 00:02:58.879 it already had the architectural bones of a classic 00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:00.919 Tonight Show. It really did. It had the comic 00:03:00.919 --> 00:03:03.939 monologue, the prerecorded skits, the desk interviews. 00:03:04.039 --> 00:03:06.740 It looked like a real show. And, you know, in 00:03:06.740 --> 00:03:09.099 the television industry, execution is literally 00:03:09.099 --> 00:03:11.819 everything. Those high production values on a 00:03:11.819 --> 00:03:14.300 community channel caught the eye of the major 00:03:14.300 --> 00:03:18.159 commercial players. So in 1999, the Nine Network 00:03:18.159 --> 00:03:20.479 decides to just absorb the show into a commercial 00:03:20.479 --> 00:03:22.780 production. Wow, so they just scooped it right 00:03:22.780 --> 00:03:24.979 up. Yeah, they retitled it simply Rove, they 00:03:24.979 --> 00:03:26.840 give us a late night time slot, and they shoot 00:03:26.840 --> 00:03:30.159 a 10 episode run. And it features Rove and three 00:03:30.159 --> 00:03:32.360 co -hosts he called The Kids on the Couch. Right, 00:03:32.360 --> 00:03:34.180 The Kids on the Couch. That was Peter Hellier, 00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:37.159 Corinne Grant, and Dave Callan. Exactly. So they 00:03:37.159 --> 00:03:39.389 shoot these 10 episodes for Nine. and then Nine 00:03:39.389 --> 00:03:41.770 just cancels it. They just decide, eh, we're 00:03:41.770 --> 00:03:44.389 not gonna renew the program. Oh man, it's the 00:03:44.389 --> 00:03:46.509 classic entertainment industry heartbreak. It's 00:03:46.509 --> 00:03:49.409 like your local garage band, you finally get 00:03:49.409 --> 00:03:51.830 signed to a major label, you put out your first 00:03:51.830 --> 00:03:55.750 EP, and the label unceremoniously drops you before 00:03:55.750 --> 00:03:58.270 you even go on tour. That is the perfect analogy 00:03:58.270 --> 00:04:00.830 for it. But instead of breaking up, Rove and 00:04:00.830 --> 00:04:03.090 his production team pull off this incredible 00:04:03.090 --> 00:04:05.610 pivot. They immediately bounce back, they take 00:04:05.610 --> 00:04:08.819 the exact same creative energy to a rival label 00:04:08.819 --> 00:04:11.300 Network 10, in this case, rebrand as Rove Live, 00:04:11.900 --> 00:04:15.039 the very next year in 2000, and just immediately 00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:18.000 go multi -platinum. It's such a remarkable recovery. 00:04:18.100 --> 00:04:20.579 But let's dig into why this format works so exceptionally 00:04:20.579 --> 00:04:23.379 well upon its revival at Network 10. Because 00:04:23.379 --> 00:04:26.199 traditional late night television... especially 00:04:26.199 --> 00:04:28.699 the dominant models in the U .S. and the U .K., 00:04:28.699 --> 00:04:31.660 usually features a solitary host behind a desk 00:04:31.660 --> 00:04:34.160 projecting authority out to the audience. Right, 00:04:34.220 --> 00:04:36.420 like a traditional monologue. Yeah, exactly. 00:04:36.519 --> 00:04:39.560 It's a performance. But Rove actively subverted 00:04:39.560 --> 00:04:42.480 that model by heavily featuring that kids on 00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:44.819 the couch dynamic with Peter, Kareen, and Dave. 00:04:45.480 --> 00:04:47.879 It wasn't a performance anymore. It was a hangout. 00:04:48.160 --> 00:04:50.639 Yes. It was like a psychological pressure valve. 00:04:50.920 --> 00:04:52.600 Think about it in a standard late night show. 00:04:52.899 --> 00:04:55.620 The host is essentially a solo tightrope walker. 00:04:55.720 --> 00:04:58.579 If a joke fails, they fall. And it's just awkward 00:04:58.579 --> 00:05:00.600 for everyone watching at home. Oh, terribly awkward. 00:05:00.839 --> 00:05:03.740 But Rove built a safety net. By putting three 00:05:03.740 --> 00:05:06.360 comedians on a couch, a failed joke just becomes 00:05:06.360 --> 00:05:08.939 fodder for the friends to mock each other. The 00:05:08.939 --> 00:05:11.180 failure itself actually becomes the entertainment. 00:05:11.899 --> 00:05:13.920 That is exactly the mechanism at play there. 00:05:14.199 --> 00:05:16.680 It lowered the barrier between the broadcaster 00:05:16.680 --> 00:05:20.300 and you, the viewer. The solitary host format 00:05:20.300 --> 00:05:22.860 basically says, sit back and watch me perform. 00:05:23.379 --> 00:05:26.259 The ensemble couch based format says, hey, pull 00:05:26.259 --> 00:05:28.199 up a chair and hang out with us. And even though 00:05:28.199 --> 00:05:31.339 Dave Callan leaves after the first year to pursue 00:05:31.339 --> 00:05:34.720 standup, that core dynamic really remains the 00:05:34.720 --> 00:05:36.800 lifeblood of the show. Because they built this 00:05:36.800 --> 00:05:39.300 living room environment, the traditional highly 00:05:39.300 --> 00:05:42.139 structured celebrity interview felt way too stiff 00:05:42.139 --> 00:05:43.879 for them. Yeah, they didn't fit the vibe at all. 00:05:44.019 --> 00:05:46.519 Right. So they had to invent a new currency for 00:05:46.519 --> 00:05:49.160 the show. meant turning the audience into the 00:05:49.160 --> 00:05:53.040 punchline. It was so pioneering in how it weaponized 00:05:53.040 --> 00:05:55.339 audience interactivity. They weren't just taking 00:05:55.339 --> 00:05:57.459 callers on a phone line, like a morning radio 00:05:57.459 --> 00:06:00.100 show. They were actively tuning the viewers into 00:06:00.100 --> 00:06:02.939 the unpredictable co -stars of a live broadcast. 00:06:03.399 --> 00:06:05.300 OK, let's talk about the mechanics of how they 00:06:05.300 --> 00:06:07.540 actually did that. Because reading through this 00:06:07.540 --> 00:06:10.360 Wikipedia archive, the stunts they pulled off 00:06:10.360 --> 00:06:13.240 on live television are genuinely mind -boggling. 00:06:13.360 --> 00:06:16.060 Oh, absolutely unhinged in the best way. Let's 00:06:16.060 --> 00:06:18.040 start with a segment called Flick Your Switch. 00:06:18.420 --> 00:06:22.420 Yes, a perfect example of totally obliterating 00:06:22.420 --> 00:06:24.319 the fourth wall. So imagine you're sitting at 00:06:24.319 --> 00:06:27.199 home on a Sunday night, right? The premise is 00:06:27.199 --> 00:06:29.899 they broadcast a live video shot of a neighborhood 00:06:29.899 --> 00:06:33.199 somewhere in an Australian city, and Rove asks 00:06:33.199 --> 00:06:35.620 the residents watching to flick their house lights 00:06:35.620 --> 00:06:37.980 on and off to answer questions. Like yes or no 00:06:37.980 --> 00:06:40.389 questions? Yeah. If you look out your window 00:06:40.389 --> 00:06:42.730 and see a giant television camera on a crane 00:06:42.730 --> 00:06:44.870 pointing at your street, you flick your lights. 00:06:45.629 --> 00:06:49.670 Simple, brilliant engagement. But in 2004, the 00:06:49.670 --> 00:06:52.209 show decides to test the absolute limits of this. 00:06:52.699 --> 00:06:55.720 Rove aims a camera directly at Kira Billy House. 00:06:55.980 --> 00:06:58.079 Which is a huge deal. Right, because that's the 00:06:58.079 --> 00:06:59.899 official Sydney residence of the Prime Minister 00:06:59.899 --> 00:07:02.160 of Australia, who at the time was John Howard. 00:07:02.699 --> 00:07:05.819 And Rove, on live TV, just asks the Prime Minister 00:07:05.819 --> 00:07:07.660 to flick his lights to agree to an interview. 00:07:08.060 --> 00:07:10.519 And when that doesn't immediately yield a result, 00:07:10.699 --> 00:07:13.180 they don't just back down, they escalate. Oh, 00:07:13.220 --> 00:07:16.269 they escalate to an absurd degree. The very next 00:07:16.269 --> 00:07:19.610 year, in 2005, they actually charter a special 00:07:19.610 --> 00:07:22.430 ferry on Sydney Harbor. They fill it with fans 00:07:22.430 --> 00:07:24.410 who had entered a dress -up competition for the 00:07:24.410 --> 00:07:28.350 show, and they park this giant party boat right 00:07:28.350 --> 00:07:30.269 outside the Prime Minister's house with all the 00:07:30.269 --> 00:07:34.250 passengers chanting, flick your switch, on live 00:07:34.250 --> 00:07:36.509 national television. That's just brilliant television. 00:07:36.750 --> 00:07:39.339 And incredibly, someone inside the house actually 00:07:39.339 --> 00:07:41.879 flicks the lights. Now the notes do clarify it 00:07:41.879 --> 00:07:44.000 wasn't the prime minister or his wife. Apparently 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:45.620 they're overseas at the time so it was likely 00:07:45.620 --> 00:07:49.139 an aide or a family member. But still the visual 00:07:49.139 --> 00:07:51.540 of a comedy show commanding the prime minister's 00:07:51.540 --> 00:07:54.680 residence to flash its lights on live TV is phenomenal. 00:07:54.879 --> 00:07:57.160 It really demonstrates a level of cultural audacity 00:07:57.160 --> 00:07:59.759 that you rarely see in light entertainment. I 00:07:59.759 --> 00:08:02.000 mean they were blending mild political provocation 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:04.500 with a giant neighborhood block party. But wait 00:08:04.500 --> 00:08:06.319 I have to push back a little here. Think about 00:08:06.319 --> 00:08:09.079 the logistics of this. Okay, sure. Pulling stunts 00:08:09.079 --> 00:08:12.240 outside the Prime Minister's house or having 00:08:12.240 --> 00:08:14.879 a segment like the Live List where viewers register 00:08:14.879 --> 00:08:17.240 online and then suddenly a camera crew ambushes 00:08:17.240 --> 00:08:19.459 their house on live TV. Yeah, the Live List was 00:08:19.459 --> 00:08:21.980 wild. Sometimes they'd just do a quick interview, 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:24.360 but other times they'd send the viewer to Fiji 00:08:24.360 --> 00:08:26.839 or New York City right then and there. Or even 00:08:26.839 --> 00:08:28.759 the Hang Up, Don't Hang Up segment where they 00:08:28.759 --> 00:08:31.759 call an audience member's actual landline, make 00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:34.580 them say random words like bucket, and then just 00:08:34.580 --> 00:08:37.379 hang up on the mid -sentence. Right, right. From 00:08:37.379 --> 00:08:40.720 a production standpoint, wasn't this an absolute 00:08:40.720 --> 00:08:44.340 logistical nightmare for a live broadcast? How 00:08:44.340 --> 00:08:46.980 does a network, which is notorious for being 00:08:46.980 --> 00:08:49.820 risk -averse, sign off on that much liability 00:08:49.820 --> 00:08:52.379 and potential dead air? What's fascinating here 00:08:52.379 --> 00:08:54.759 is that the logistical nightmare wasn't a flaw 00:08:54.759 --> 00:08:58.259 in the design. It was the actual product. The 00:08:58.259 --> 00:09:00.460 psychological brilliance of these segments relies 00:09:00.460 --> 00:09:03.509 entirely on the threat of failure. When you make 00:09:03.509 --> 00:09:05.710 the audience the unpredictable co -stars, it 00:09:05.710 --> 00:09:08.250 creates what the industry calls appointment viewing. 00:09:08.450 --> 00:09:10.750 I see. Because if you just record it and watch 00:09:10.750 --> 00:09:14.090 it the next day, all the tension is gone. Precisely. 00:09:14.590 --> 00:09:16.889 The tension comes from knowing that the live 00:09:16.889 --> 00:09:19.610 cross to a viewer's house in the suburbs could 00:09:19.610 --> 00:09:22.470 completely fail. Or a prankster could derail 00:09:22.470 --> 00:09:24.889 an interview. Or a neighborhood might not flick 00:09:24.889 --> 00:09:26.549 their lights and just leave the host hanging 00:09:26.549 --> 00:09:29.940 there. The chaos is the currency. They were selling 00:09:29.940 --> 00:09:33.200 the adrenaline spike of live, unscripted human 00:09:33.200 --> 00:09:36.360 behavior. Wow, yeah. And that desire to shatter 00:09:36.360 --> 00:09:38.720 the script really bled into the celebrity interviews, 00:09:39.039 --> 00:09:41.539 too. Take the segment, 20 bucks in 20 seconds. 00:09:41.720 --> 00:09:44.120 Oh, a classic. At the end of an interview, Rove 00:09:44.120 --> 00:09:46.580 would fire off these rapid questions for 20 seconds, 00:09:46.879 --> 00:09:48.899 always ending with the exact same prompt, who 00:09:48.899 --> 00:09:51.559 would you turn gay for? Or straightforward, depending 00:09:51.559 --> 00:09:53.740 on the guest. It became a massive running joke 00:09:53.740 --> 00:09:56.299 on the show. Because it's the perfect trap. If 00:09:56.299 --> 00:09:58.720 a celebrity gives a safe PR -approved answer, 00:09:59.059 --> 00:10:02.220 it's boring. So the popular easy deflection for 00:10:02.220 --> 00:10:04.639 any celebrity was just to smile and say, I turned 00:10:04.639 --> 00:10:06.700 gay for you, Rove. It was safe. It was funny. 00:10:06.820 --> 00:10:08.860 It kept all the publicists happy. Until Chaz 00:10:08.860 --> 00:10:12.860 Liciardello shows up. Yes. Chaz Liciardello from 00:10:12.860 --> 00:10:15.039 the satirical group The Chaser comes on the show. 00:10:15.139 --> 00:10:18.179 And Chaz is a known provocateur, right? He gets 00:10:18.179 --> 00:10:19.740 annoyed that everyone gives this fake answer, 00:10:19.779 --> 00:10:22.059 but no one ever actually follows through. So 00:10:22.059 --> 00:10:24.120 on live television, when asked the question, 00:10:24.299 --> 00:10:27.580 He literally leaps over the desk onto Rove and 00:10:27.580 --> 00:10:30.240 French kisses him. Which completely shatters 00:10:30.240 --> 00:10:33.240 that PR mold. It perfectly illustrates the environment 00:10:33.240 --> 00:10:35.659 the show fostered. Even the highly structured 00:10:35.659 --> 00:10:38.779 segmented interview blocks were explicitly designed 00:10:38.779 --> 00:10:41.159 to spontaneously combust. And it wasn't just 00:10:41.159 --> 00:10:43.740 the explosive moments either. Even the smaller 00:10:43.740 --> 00:10:46.899 recurring bits had this unpolished, deeply authentic 00:10:46.899 --> 00:10:49.960 charm that just celebrated the mundane. You had 00:10:49.960 --> 00:10:52.000 words that sound better when said by Dave, where 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:54.200 Dave Callan would just lean into his thick Irish 00:10:54.200 --> 00:10:56.740 accent to make boring words like haberdashery 00:10:56.740 --> 00:10:58.799 or manboob sound hilarious. Yeah, making the 00:10:58.799 --> 00:11:01.000 ordinary extraordinary. And then there was Ron's 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:04.500 review. Yes, Ron Stewart, a 78 year old man who 00:11:04.500 --> 00:11:06.460 they brought on to review movies. And the running 00:11:06.460 --> 00:11:08.399 joke was that no matter what the movie was, no 00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:10.799 matter if it was a cinematic masterpiece or absolute 00:11:10.799 --> 00:11:13.519 garbage, Ron almost always gave it exactly three 00:11:13.519 --> 00:11:16.500 point five out of five stars. He was so great. 00:11:16.539 --> 00:11:19.879 He wasn't a comedian. He was just a genuine The 00:11:19.879 --> 00:11:22.639 audience loved him so much that in 2006 they 00:11:22.639 --> 00:11:24.820 actually ran a campaign to get him nominated 00:11:24.820 --> 00:11:28.120 for a Best Newcomer Logie Award. But here's the 00:11:28.120 --> 00:11:31.149 friction. When a live show relies this heavily 00:11:31.149 --> 00:11:34.669 on unpredictability and championing the everyman, 00:11:34.850 --> 00:11:37.330 and as the show grows to attract these global 00:11:37.330 --> 00:11:40.889 A -list stars, it inevitably collides with corporate 00:11:40.889 --> 00:11:43.649 standards, network sensors, and the bizarre, 00:11:44.009 --> 00:11:46.669 often contradictory metrics of television ratings. 00:11:46.929 --> 00:11:49.129 Which brings us to some really strange anomalies 00:11:49.129 --> 00:11:51.009 in the data, because if we look at the ratings 00:11:51.009 --> 00:11:53.809 history of Rove, it completely defies traditional 00:11:53.809 --> 00:11:56.730 television logic. It really does. It's baffling 00:11:56.730 --> 00:11:58.570 if you just look at the numbers. And let's look 00:11:58.570 --> 00:12:02.009 at the 2005 season finale. By all standard broadcasting 00:12:02.009 --> 00:12:04.470 metrics, this episode should be an unstoppable 00:12:04.470 --> 00:12:07.230 juggernaut. They give away six cars. The guest 00:12:07.230 --> 00:12:10.250 list features absolute media titans, Jerry Seinfeld, 00:12:10.429 --> 00:12:12.409 Burt Newton, and the stars of the massive hit 00:12:12.409 --> 00:12:15.570 sitcom, Kath and Kim. It is curated, expensive 00:12:15.570 --> 00:12:17.909 perfection. And it absolutely tanks. It tanks. 00:12:18.029 --> 00:12:21.830 Only 797 ,000 viewers nationwide. You're ranked 00:12:21.830 --> 00:12:27.580 19th for the day. But then, conversely, we look 00:12:27.580 --> 00:12:31.259 at an episode from May 2006. The ratings suddenly 00:12:31.259 --> 00:12:33.419 spike to over a million viewers for the first 00:12:33.419 --> 00:12:36.779 time since 2002. And why? Not because of Hollywood 00:12:36.779 --> 00:12:39.519 royalty. It spikes simply because an intruder 00:12:39.519 --> 00:12:41.620 ran into the Big Brother house live during that 00:12:41.620 --> 00:12:44.080 broadcast, and people immediately tuned in to 00:12:44.080 --> 00:12:45.940 Rove to see the reaction. Yeah, they wanted to 00:12:45.940 --> 00:12:47.700 see the fallout. Here's where it gets really 00:12:47.700 --> 00:12:50.659 interesting. Why did the audience reject Seinfeld 00:12:50.659 --> 00:12:53.039 but completely flock to The Big Brother Intruder? 00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:55.679 Well, because it exposes the core utility of 00:12:55.679 --> 00:12:59.279 the show. The 2005 finale alienated the audience 00:12:59.279 --> 00:13:01.500 because it traded its accessible garage band 00:13:01.500 --> 00:13:04.580 roots for polished Hollywood elitism. You don't 00:13:04.580 --> 00:13:06.919 tune into a hangout show to watch a highly manicured 00:13:06.919 --> 00:13:09.019 Hollywood press junket. Right, that completely 00:13:09.019 --> 00:13:12.929 makes sense. But, The Big Brother Intruder. That 00:13:12.929 --> 00:13:17.269 is pure, chaotic, shared cultural context. Imagine 00:13:17.269 --> 00:13:19.529 it's a random Tuesday night, a national reality 00:13:19.529 --> 00:13:21.710 show gets breached, the feed cuts. What do you 00:13:21.710 --> 00:13:23.649 do? You don't wait for the morning paper. You 00:13:23.649 --> 00:13:25.610 flip to Rove because you want to see how your 00:13:25.610 --> 00:13:27.750 trusted proxy friends Peter Hellier and Dave 00:13:27.750 --> 00:13:30.990 Hughes are reacting to the exact same crazy national 00:13:30.990 --> 00:13:33.730 news you just watched. It was basically the human 00:13:33.730 --> 00:13:36.169 equivalent of a Twitter trending topic years 00:13:36.169 --> 00:13:38.909 before Twitter even existed. Wow. They didn't 00:13:38.909 --> 00:13:41.250 want imported celebrity. They wanted shared experience. 00:13:41.370 --> 00:13:44.269 Exactly. But that deep, almost parasocial connection 00:13:44.269 --> 00:13:46.690 with the audience also meant navigating profound 00:13:46.690 --> 00:13:49.909 personal tragedy on a very public stage. In November 00:13:49.909 --> 00:13:52.529 2006, the show was suspended until further notice. 00:13:53.049 --> 00:13:55.190 And this wasn't a planned hiatus or some contract 00:13:55.190 --> 00:13:57.649 dispute. It was due to the tragic death of Rove's 00:13:57.649 --> 00:13:59.870 wife, Belinda Emmett, after a long battle with 00:13:59.870 --> 00:14:02.419 cancer. Rove just wrote a personal message to 00:14:02.419 --> 00:14:04.360 the fans on the website stating it was a difficult 00:14:04.360 --> 00:14:06.799 period and he needed time away. Yeah, and it 00:14:06.799 --> 00:14:09.419 really highlights the intense vulnerability of 00:14:09.419 --> 00:14:12.000 hosting a personality driven show that relies 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:14.860 on intimacy. The audience feels like they are 00:14:14.860 --> 00:14:17.539 your close friends, which is incredibly powerful 00:14:17.539 --> 00:14:19.919 for building a loyal community and driving ratings. 00:14:20.580 --> 00:14:22.480 But it also means there is absolutely no place 00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:25.679 to hide when real life shatters the format. Yeah, 00:14:25.799 --> 00:14:27.919 the hangout illusion just drops and the human 00:14:27.919 --> 00:14:30.539 reality takes over. Exactly. Yet the immense 00:14:30.539 --> 00:14:32.659 resilience we saw back in the Channel 9 days 00:14:32.659 --> 00:14:37.019 returns again. In 2007, the show makes a triumphant 00:14:37.019 --> 00:14:39.440 comeback. It's entirely revamped. They drop the 00:14:39.440 --> 00:14:42.379 word live and just call it Rove. They move out 00:14:42.379 --> 00:14:44.080 of their old facility to South Melbourne, and 00:14:44.080 --> 00:14:47.200 importantly, they secure the premium 8 .30 p 00:14:47.200 --> 00:14:49.639 .m. Sunday night time slot. Which is a much more 00:14:49.639 --> 00:14:52.100 prestigious, yet vastly more demanding position 00:14:52.100 --> 00:14:54.440 on the schedule. I mean, you are no longer alternative 00:14:54.440 --> 00:14:56.559 late night viewing. You are the main event. And 00:14:56.559 --> 00:14:58.899 they bolster the ensemble to match that weight. 00:14:59.320 --> 00:15:02.059 Peter Hellier is back. Carrie Bickmore's role 00:15:02.059 --> 00:15:04.419 increases significantly with her parody news 00:15:04.419 --> 00:15:08.159 segment. And they add comedian Dave Hughes. Plus, 00:15:08.460 --> 00:15:10.779 a young comedy duo named Hamish and Andy start 00:15:10.779 --> 00:15:13.240 appearing every second week, along with Ryan 00:15:13.240 --> 00:15:16.139 Shelton. And this revamped premiere, it pulls 00:15:16.139 --> 00:15:20.419 a massive 1 .69 million viewers. It's the highest 00:15:20.419 --> 00:15:22.759 rated program of the day. They successfully transitioned 00:15:22.759 --> 00:15:25.379 from a late night hangout to a primetime institution. 00:15:25.820 --> 00:15:28.429 But, you know, with primetime visibility comes 00:15:28.429 --> 00:15:30.690 intense primetime scrutiny. Oh, for sure. Which 00:15:30.690 --> 00:15:33.269 leads us to one of the most revealing media controversies 00:15:33.269 --> 00:15:36.610 in the entire archive. Ah, yes, the 2009 Bruno 00:15:36.610 --> 00:15:39.409 incident. So Sacha Baron Cohen comes on the show 00:15:39.409 --> 00:15:42.029 fully in character as his flamboyant fashion 00:15:42.029 --> 00:15:44.149 journalist Bruno. And as you'd expect, he is 00:15:44.149 --> 00:15:45.889 actively trying to push every boundary possible. 00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:48.299 During the interview, Bruno makes a joke referencing 00:15:48.299 --> 00:15:51.059 longtime tabloid rumors about Tom Cruise, stating 00:15:51.059 --> 00:15:53.379 that he hears Tom's wife gets less sex than Katie 00:15:53.379 --> 00:15:55.700 Holmes. A deeply provocative joke for commercial 00:15:55.700 --> 00:15:58.519 network television to navigate. Right. And when 00:15:58.519 --> 00:16:00.799 the episode is televised, the network heavily 00:16:00.799 --> 00:16:04.019 censors it. They specifically cut the words Katie 00:16:04.019 --> 00:16:06.940 Holmes out of the broadcast and entirely cut 00:16:06.940 --> 00:16:08.740 a further joke about her later in the interview. 00:16:09.399 --> 00:16:12.539 But, and here is the absolute kicker, throughout 00:16:12.539 --> 00:16:15.590 that exact same interview. Bruno makes numerous 00:16:15.590 --> 00:16:18.230 jokes at the expense of the actual sitting Prime 00:16:18.230 --> 00:16:20.690 Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd. And those 00:16:20.690 --> 00:16:24.210 jokes? Left completely uncensored. Broadcast 00:16:24.210 --> 00:16:26.690 to the entire nation without a second thought. 00:16:26.909 --> 00:16:29.009 This raises an important question, and it's one 00:16:29.009 --> 00:16:31.350 we can examine purely from the perspective of 00:16:31.350 --> 00:16:33.809 media mechanics without taking any political 00:16:33.809 --> 00:16:35.750 stance on the content of the jokes themselves 00:16:35.750 --> 00:16:37.889 or the figures involved. Exactly. We're just 00:16:37.889 --> 00:16:39.629 looking at the network's reaction here. Right. 00:16:39.720 --> 00:16:42.320 It reveals a fascinating double standard in corporate 00:16:42.320 --> 00:16:45.840 television compliance. Why does a network reflexively 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:48.639 censor a joke to protect the PR image of an American 00:16:48.639 --> 00:16:51.259 Hollywood actor, yet feel perfectly comfortable 00:16:51.259 --> 00:16:53.639 broadcasting jokes that mock the leader of their 00:16:53.639 --> 00:16:56.669 own country? It's a wild juxtaposition. It's 00:16:56.669 --> 00:16:59.750 like the network executives are absolutely terrified 00:16:59.750 --> 00:17:01.909 of Hollywood publicists and the threat of losing 00:17:01.909 --> 00:17:04.690 access to future American A -listers, but they 00:17:04.690 --> 00:17:07.349 view their own national government as completely 00:17:07.349 --> 00:17:10.549 fair game for a comedy roast. It speaks volumes 00:17:10.549 --> 00:17:13.130 to where the true power centers lie in global 00:17:13.130 --> 00:17:15.690 entertainment. Corporate media risk management 00:17:15.690 --> 00:17:18.630 dictated that offending Tom Cruise's PR machine 00:17:18.630 --> 00:17:21.150 carried a higher structural cost to the network 00:17:21.150 --> 00:17:24.349 than offending domestic political figures. Navigating 00:17:24.349 --> 00:17:27.109 all of these bizarre ratings expectations where 00:17:27.109 --> 00:17:30.230 a reality TV intruder beats Jerry Seinfeld, dealing 00:17:30.230 --> 00:17:32.490 with corporate censors who protect Hollywood 00:17:32.490 --> 00:17:35.109 royalty over prime ministers, all while trying 00:17:35.109 --> 00:17:37.390 to maintain that effortless, we're just hanging 00:17:37.390 --> 00:17:39.910 out energy, it had to be a relentless ground. 00:17:40.009 --> 00:17:42.470 Oh, exhausting, without a doubt. And ultimately, 00:17:42.589 --> 00:17:45.089 it forced a definitive choice about the show's 00:17:45.089 --> 00:17:48.390 future. As we move into 2009, rumors start swirling. 00:17:48.569 --> 00:17:50.470 There's talk that the show might return in 2010 00:17:50.470 --> 00:17:52.670 with a totally new format, maybe something akin 00:17:52.670 --> 00:17:55.549 to the classic, older variety show, hey, it's 00:17:55.549 --> 00:17:57.710 Saturday. There are leaks to the press that staff 00:17:57.710 --> 00:17:59.950 have been told to look for other work. And Network 00:17:59.950 --> 00:18:02.230 10's publicity department officially denies it 00:18:02.230 --> 00:18:05.250 all, of course. Naturally, right. But then, on 00:18:05.250 --> 00:18:08.789 the finale on November 15, 2009, Rove himself 00:18:08.789 --> 00:18:11.170 looks directly at the camera and confirms it. 00:18:11.470 --> 00:18:14.369 The show is ending. He tells the audience, it's 00:18:14.369 --> 00:18:17.049 purely my decision. It's not one I've made lightly 00:18:17.049 --> 00:18:19.890 or flippantly. The timing was right to stop, 00:18:20.230 --> 00:18:22.900 stand back, and see what happens next. It is 00:18:22.900 --> 00:18:25.539 framed as a really rare instance of a television 00:18:25.539 --> 00:18:28.160 juggernaut choosing to bow out on its own terms 00:18:28.160 --> 00:18:30.400 rather than waiting for the network to eventually 00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:32.559 pull the plug as ratings inevitably decline. 00:18:32.859 --> 00:18:34.319 But, you know, I have to play devil's advocate 00:18:34.319 --> 00:18:37.720 here. Look at the timeline. It's late 2009. This 00:18:37.720 --> 00:18:40.160 is the exact moment when YouTube is exploding. 00:18:40.440 --> 00:18:42.940 Facebook is becoming ubiquitous and Twitter is 00:18:42.940 --> 00:18:44.500 taking off. Well, that's true. The whole landscape 00:18:44.500 --> 00:18:46.980 was shifting. Right. The Internet is democratizing 00:18:46.980 --> 00:18:49.299 that shared cultural context we talked about. 00:18:49.559 --> 00:18:51.359 You no longer needed to wait for Sunday night 00:18:51.359 --> 00:18:53.450 to see people. react to a pop culture moment, 00:18:53.809 --> 00:18:55.829 you could see a million reactions instantly on 00:18:55.829 --> 00:18:58.329 your phone. Did Rove jump on his own terms or 00:18:58.329 --> 00:19:00.130 was he pushed by the reality that the internet 00:19:00.130 --> 00:19:02.829 was actively killing the live water cooler television 00:19:02.829 --> 00:19:05.750 format? That is a brilliant point of friction. 00:19:06.509 --> 00:19:09.049 The technology that simulated the hangout vibe 00:19:09.049 --> 00:19:11.589 was being replaced by technology that actually 00:19:11.589 --> 00:19:14.650 provided it globally. The monopoly on the national 00:19:14.650 --> 00:19:17.460 conversation was fracturing. Regardless of what 00:19:17.460 --> 00:19:20.000 forced the end, the legacy they left behind is 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:22.380 staggering, not just in television, but across 00:19:22.380 --> 00:19:24.980 multiple mediums. For instance, the music industry. 00:19:25.119 --> 00:19:27.200 Yeah, this part is wild. We were talking about 00:19:27.200 --> 00:19:29.859 a television comedy show that spawned two Sony 00:19:29.859 --> 00:19:32.720 soundtrack albums, Rove Live, some music and 00:19:32.720 --> 00:19:35.380 Rove Live, some more music. And these weren't 00:19:35.380 --> 00:19:38.420 just novelty items or joke songs. Both albums 00:19:38.420 --> 00:19:41.380 hit the A .R .I .A. top 40 charts. Peaking at 00:19:41.380 --> 00:19:44.799 46 and 35, respectively. If you look at the track 00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:46.740 list in the archive, it's a perfect snapshot 00:19:46.740 --> 00:19:49.200 of the era's music industry. You have international 00:19:49.200 --> 00:19:51.839 acts like Moby, Destiny's Child, Anastasia, and 00:19:51.839 --> 00:19:53.940 Good Charlotte sitting right next to Australian 00:19:53.940 --> 00:19:56.640 icons like Paul Kelly, Silver Chair, Alex Lloyd, 00:19:56.779 --> 00:19:59.180 and Kasey Chambers. It's basically a talk show 00:19:59.180 --> 00:20:01.799 host playing A &R for the entire country. And 00:20:01.799 --> 00:20:05.079 then there's the television legacy. Roving Enterprises, 00:20:05.259 --> 00:20:07.279 the production company behind the show, didn't 00:20:07.279 --> 00:20:09.599 just fold when Rove ended. They went on to produce 00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:13.539 massive hits, most notably the 7 -P meter project, 00:20:13.599 --> 00:20:16.380 which later became The Project. Yeah, a massive 00:20:16.380 --> 00:20:18.759 staple of Australian TV. And who did they bring 00:20:18.759 --> 00:20:21.539 over to anchor it? Rove alumni Kerry Bickmore 00:20:21.539 --> 00:20:23.940 and Dave Hughes. They built the self -sustaining 00:20:23.940 --> 00:20:27.160 talent pipeline. The kids on the couch. basically 00:20:27.160 --> 00:20:29.599 graduated to become the foundational pillars 00:20:29.599 --> 00:20:32.039 of the next decade of Australian broadcast. It's 00:20:32.039 --> 00:20:33.859 incredible. So the final episode finished at 00:20:33.859 --> 00:20:36.700 exactly 11 Lavin PM. They played a montage of 00:20:36.700 --> 00:20:38.900 the season. The band Powder Finger performed 00:20:38.900 --> 00:20:42.079 live and Rove delivered a variation of his iconic 00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:45.099 sign off one last time. I'm Rove McManus. Say 00:20:45.099 --> 00:20:47.420 bye to your mom for me. A perfectly understated 00:20:47.420 --> 00:20:50.299 goodbye for a show that always prioritized that 00:20:50.299 --> 00:20:52.539 intimate conversational connection with the viewer 00:20:52.539 --> 00:20:55.759 over slick, manufactured perfection. So what 00:20:55.759 --> 00:20:59.019 does this all mean? Looking at this massive archive, 00:20:59.559 --> 00:21:01.779 it's clear that Rove wasn't just a talk show, 00:21:01.900 --> 00:21:05.579 it was a cultural incubator. It took raw comedians 00:21:05.579 --> 00:21:08.180 from community television and local radio people 00:21:08.180 --> 00:21:10.559 like Peter Hellier, Hamish and Andy, Kareem Grant, 00:21:10.859 --> 00:21:13.660 and gave them a massive national platform to 00:21:13.660 --> 00:21:16.140 fail, to experiment, and ultimately to define 00:21:16.140 --> 00:21:18.720 the comedic voice of an entire generation of 00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:21.720 Australians. It was a training ground that permanently 00:21:21.720 --> 00:21:24.420 altered the DNA of the country's media landscape. 00:21:25.380 --> 00:21:27.200 And it leaves you with a really fascinating thought 00:21:27.200 --> 00:21:30.000 to mull over. We talked about those ARIA charting 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:32.400 soundtrack albums, and you rightly called it 00:21:32.539 --> 00:21:35.240 playing A &R for the country. Think about the 00:21:35.240 --> 00:21:37.859 sheer cultural gravity required for a TV show 00:21:37.859 --> 00:21:40.599 to essentially dictate a nation's musical tastes 00:21:40.599 --> 00:21:43.079 just by deciding who played live in their studio 00:21:43.079 --> 00:21:44.880 on a Sunday night. Right. They weren't just reflecting 00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:46.950 the culture. They were actively creating the 00:21:46.950 --> 00:21:49.009 taste. Exactly. Now, circle back to where we 00:21:49.009 --> 00:21:51.769 started today, our highly personalized algorithm 00:21:51.769 --> 00:21:54.670 driven feeds. We have infinite choices now. You 00:21:54.670 --> 00:21:57.329 can listen to any song, watch any clip, anywhere 00:21:57.329 --> 00:21:59.809 in the world instantly. Which is great, but... 00:21:59.809 --> 00:22:02.549 But in gaining that infinite choice, we've lost 00:22:02.549 --> 00:22:05.289 that unified focal point. It begs the question, 00:22:05.750 --> 00:22:08.390 in our current era of digital silos, where everyone's 00:22:08.390 --> 00:22:10.470 pop culture diet is custom built for them alone 00:22:10.470 --> 00:22:13.069 by a machine, could a single television variety 00:22:13.069 --> 00:22:16.309 show ever possess the sheer unified power to 00:22:16.309 --> 00:22:18.390 command an entire nation's attention and affection 00:22:18.390 --> 00:22:20.930 the way Rove did? Or is the era of the National 00:22:20.930 --> 00:22:22.170 Town Square gone for good?