BALLS OF STEEL (Tues July 15, Nine – 9:30pm)
Alas this is not, as I thought, an intimate look down the red Y-fronts of SUPERMAN RETURNS star Brandon Routh, but instead a show in which people have malicious pranks played on them, often involving public nudity, judiciously applied arthropods or both.
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THE AMAZING RACE (Thurs July 17, Seven – 9:30pm)
This season’s pairings includes a lesbian couple, two best friend frat guys who obviously have an unrequited love thing happening, and reality TV’s first Goth couple, although they’re male and female.
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SKINS (Mon July 21, SBS – 10pm)
Amusingly, the BBC recently got rebuked by British censors for a poster advertising this show which featured the entire cast having an ‘orgy’. Of course, orgies in Britain should only take place in the Houses of Parliament. Or with at least one Royal and several dozen Beefeaters living up to their name…
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THE SIMPSONS (Tues July 22, Ten – 7:30pm)
Amazingly, Ten has started airing new episodes again, for maybe the third time in the past 10 years. Who rations them out, Monty Burns?!!
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CAVEMEN (Wed July 23, Seven – 11:30pm)
CAVEMEN deals with three Neanderthals who are alive and well and trying to get by in 21st century Los Angeles. Pretty clever and (blessedly) doesn’t feature that bane of the sitcom, the laugh track. My only quibble is that the Neanderthals are named Joel, Nick and Andy. Although I guess Ugg, Buhh and Maag are already taken by BIG BROTHER ‘contestants’.
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KIWIFRUIT (Wed July 23, Seven – 1:30am)
With a series title like this, you’d expect it to be some kind of show about a Maori drag queen – and, surprisingly, you’d be right! KIWIFRUIT is an entertaining magazine-style New Zealand show for up and coming (ahem) gay guys and features advice on everything from coming out to your parents to tackling your prom and dealing with hitirisixism…err…heterosexism in the work place. Fascinating stuff.
