Could be subtitled: "Fings aren't what they used to be" for this is Stone's lament on the travails of Channel Nine over the past few years. Because its Stone it is very entertainingly written and bangs along, a real page turner.
But it's incomplete and comes with this agenda to bag the Alexander administration. To be fair Alexander seems to have made a hash of things - but that's what happens in the last days of a dictator. Sometimes you do need to break eggs to make an omelet (I'm thinking when Fred Silverman axed much of CBS's top rating line up in 1971 - and it worked).
And although Stone frequently halls back to the good old days - the good old days are gone, its not just Alexander, there's no way they're coming back with internet and pay TV. Stone admits this but points to Channel Seven - but surely Channel Seven have kind of fluked their rise in ratings, due to a combination of getting two miracle shows (Desperate Housewives, Lost), the highly popular Dancing with the Stars and Today Tonight benefiting from A Current Affair's midlife crisis and the news benefiting from Brian Henderson's retirement.
Seven made plenty of gaffs themselves - luring over Dicko, anyone? My Restaurant Rules? Perfect Match? Popstars? Reading this one is struck how in the noughties execs went for people who'd worked in the past - Ian Ross to read Sydney news, Ray Martin to do A Current Affair, Jana Wendt back for Sunday, Leckie to run Seven, Sam Chisolm to run Nine, Meakin to run Seven news, Stephens to program Seven. Maybe this had something to do with the fall in television ratings as well?
Stone doesn't seem too keen to bag his old mates (I mean, is Leckie worth his massive salary either?? Didn't he inherit a healthy Nine from Sam Chisolm?).
It's especially problematic when many of the successes of the new century seem to be due to new up and comers - the producers of The Block, Sunrise, McLeod's - but when Nine brings in Mark Ferguson to read Sydney news, Stone accuses them of thinking short term... whereas surely Ferguson is the longer term option rather than Jim Whaley?
And Stone is weak on the chapter on Channel Nine drama - he talks about the duel between Posie Graeme Evans and Susan Bower to get the job of head of drama (gripping reading), but does little on what Posie did once she got there (it wouldn't have been hard to find out). Didn't The Alice and Twisted Tales rate lowly? And what about Nine's dabble in the filmmaking world? (Dirty Deeds, but also You and Your Stupid Mate, Under the Radar). He doesn't mention the role Young Lions played in Kris Noble's demise - he doesn't mention the show at all.
Many of Stone's criticisms do strike home, such as Alexander and his cohorts looking down on television, and while it was admirable they tried to do some decent stories on A Current Affair they probably would have been better off strengthening Sunday and A Current Affair instead. Once again, the best lines and moments come from Kerry Packer, though Eddie McGuire offers some gold (Footy Show being a worldwide hit, indeed)
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