If you can’t say something…

You know us, we’re not scared to pre-judge, so welcome to the third blog we’ve devoted to Myf Warhurst’s Nice, an upcoming series about nostalgia and pop culture presented by everyone’s favourite female member of the Spicks & Specks team.

In our first blog on this topic we took a look at the initial press release and concluded that Nice…

…looks set to be a fatuous meander around a topic that’s basically irrelevant to everything…

In our second blog we had not just a press release to get annoyed at but this preview video featuring Warhurst singing “Islands in the Stream” with Wa Wa Nee’s Paul Gray:

Islands in the Stream

Our reaction was:

…what exactly was the point of all that? It’s basically a straight, not-all-that-good duet between Myf and some guy almost no-one remembers. Presumably the idea is that we’ll be super happy and excited for Myf as she gets to sing with one of her heroes, but for that to work we have to be so amazingly focused on how awesomely great Myf is that we simply don’t give a shit that what we’re actually seeing contains no real entertainment value whatsoever.

Not that anyone down at the ABC listens to us, because in yesterday’s Switched On e-newsletter there was more…

What happens when Myf Warhurst dons some stonewash denim and teams up with Craig McLachlan to perform his 80s hit, ‘Mona’? Take a look. http://www.abc.net.au/tv/watchnow/?play=/tv/streams/promos/NICE-Monclip_hi.flv

And while that’s a pretty good shot-for-shot recreation of the original video clip, we make the point again: why bother? Because unless this piece of footage sits within a funny, interesting context – and it isn’t funny or interesting enough to work well on its own – then it’s 100% self-indulgence.

We’re perfectly happy to accept that this video could be funny if small bits of it are used in the show with an amusing narration over the top, or as part of a sketch or dream sequence – or maybe it’s something the production team cut together as a DVD extra and thought we’d all enjoy seeing now? – but that seems kinda unlikely. Especially when you go back to those press releases we blogged about previously and remind yourself of this…

Myf will take viewers on a cultural crusade exploring some of the favourite things from her youth.

…and this..

“I’m digging out the bedazzler, putting on my oversized koala wool knit jumper, and travelling the country to rediscover some of my favourite things, and meet some of my teenage heroes along the way,” says Myf.

and also…

The series will take viewers on a cultural crusade to explore some of Myf’s favourite things from her youth in music, food, fashion, photography, art and design.

To be fair, one of them also said…

The series embraces cultural icons of the past and takes a closer look at what surrounds us – the stuff you’d find in your own living room rather than in a gallery or museum. It’s a celebration of all the things that are just, well… ‘nice’.

…which suggests they’ll be some purpose to the series, but as that line’s followed immediately by this…

Like all of us, the fabric of Myf’s youth has gone on to shape her tastes today.

…then we can probably rule out the idea that this show is going to be about anything other than Myf Warhurst living out her teenage fantasies. And call us out for prejudging if you want, but that doesn’t sound like great TV.