After consulting a ouija board to cobble together its 2012 programming schedule notable for the ritual sacrifice of former programming chief David Mott, the despair of euthanizing its babies behind the programming shed, and the exploitation of an entire Sydney geographic region, Ten have acknowledged that human beings have brains (and remotes!) and unveiled nine new local programs as part of its 2013 programming schedule. The embattled network’s 2013 schedule was unveiled today in Sydney and includes returning local programs such as MasterChef Australia, The Biggest Loser, The Project, Offspring, Can of Worms and a renewed second season of Puberty Blues.
Awesome, but what about the rest mole?
Returning international programs include flagship Emmy winners Modern Family and Homeland, as well as the less important non-Emmy winners NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, The Good Wife, Glee, New Girl, Law & Order: SVU, Merlin and The Graham Norton Show.
American Idol (now with Voice defector Keith Urban and the constant threat of death to Mariah Carey) headlines the international additions alongside Elementary, an American Sherlock Holmes re-imagining which can’t possibly be as boss or as compelling as the recent BBC version, Jack the Ripper procedural Ripper Street and a drama about “Russian spies living in the US during the 1980s”, The Americans.
The nine new local additions include MasterChef: The Professionals, a product of its fifty-year blood oath with the ratings god/devil to explore every conceivable permutation of the MasterChef franchise (coming in 2014 – MasterChef: Pets? That one’s free you guys), elaborate Woolsworth advertisement Recipe to Riches, Shaun Micallef murder mystery series Mr and Mrs Murder, “major television event” Batavia based on the ship and Peter Fitzsimons book of the same name, Aussie dramedy Wonderland from Winners & Losers/Packed To The Rafters writer/producer Jo Porter, psychological thriller Secret & Lies: The Track, family friendly Lisa McCune vehicle Reef Doctors, interactive tonight show Shock Of The Now and an immersive “Bear Grylls-style” news program, The Truth Is.
What do you think, Michelle?
Read the synopses for the nine new locals programs below…
MasterChef: The Professionals: Hosted by Marco Pierre White – the man widely regarded as the best chef in the world – and esteemed food critic and MasterChef Australia judge Matt Preston, this new series takes 18 working chefs and puts them in the toughest cooking competition in Australia. The prize? The chance to turn their culinary dreams and ambitions into reality, under the direction of a legendary chef.
Recipe to Riches: Recipe to Riches gives everyday Australians the chance to share their home-cooked dishes with millions of people, by turning them into mouth-watering products on the shelves of Woolworths supermarkets. Viewers vote in the most authentic way: the day after each episode goes to air, they can walk into a supermarket and buy the featured products.
Mr and Mrs Murder: Shaun Micallef (Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation, Newstopia, Mad As Hell) and Kat Stewart (Offspring, Underbelly, Tangle) star is this new murder-mystery series. Industrial cleaners by day and amateur sleuths every other second, this happily married couple solve the crimes that leave the police baffled. Mr and Mrs Murder is a FremantleMedia Australia production of a Bravado drama.
BataviaThe best-selling book by Peter Fitzsimons is set to become a major television event on TEN. This eight-part series tells the remarkable true tale of the shipwrecking of the Batavia on her maiden voyage and the shocking events that followed. The story of the Batavia is being brought to life by Screentime (Underbelly, Bikie Wars: Brothers In Arms, Mary Bryant) as a co-production with networks in the US and Europe.
Wonderland: From FremantleMedia Austalia’s Jo Porter, a producer of Packed To The Rafters and one of the writers of Winners & Losers, comes a new contemporary romantic comedic drama. Wonderland is a
series that will engage viewers with beautifully rich, relatable and moving stories, and will deliver the emotional highs and lows of drama and comedy, with an edge.
Secret & Lies: The Track: This innovative new series is a taut psychological thriller. Ben is an innocent man who finds the body of a young boy and quickly becomes the prime murder suspect. Secrets & Lies: The Track comes to TEN from the BAFTA and Emmy® Award-winning production company Hoodlum.
Reef Doctors: Gold Logie Award-winning actor Lisa McCune (Blue Heelers, Sea Patrol, The Potato Factory) stars in and co-produces this engaging family adventures series. Set on the picturesque Great Barrier Brief, Reef Doctors centres on Sam Stewart, an accomplished doctor who runs the remote Hope Island
Clinic. Co-produced by Jonathan M. Shiff Productions, Reef Doctors also stars Matt Day (Rake, Tangle, Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo) and Richard Brancatisano (Underbelly: Razor, Bait, Home and Away).
Shock of the Now: TEN will add to its factual program line-up in 2013 with Shock of the Now, a smart, unpredictable live show that explains our connected world. This is not a gadget show: think of it as a state-of-the-art tonight show that allows viewers to interact directly with what is happening on their television
screens. Shock of the Now is produced by Cordell Jigsaw Zapruder.
The Truth Is: TEN’s award-winning reporter Hamish Macdonald brings his unique style to The Truth Is, a bold, new way of exploring the world’s most dangerous, difficult and downright jaw-dropping news
stories. This series sees journalism meet Bear Grylls-style television in an exciting collision of reportage and experience.
