Appreciating the ABC

Now that all of Sam's roses have been given away, you're probably like me and feeling some serious withdrawal. Fortunately there's the good ol' ABC. Their line up of brilliant, locally created content is definitely worth the switch. I’ve reviewed three of my favourites for you:

Upper Middle Bogan

Beth, Alessandra and I discovered Upper Middle Bogan late one night while on holiday. We loved it so much we made sure we had an early dinner the next day so we could run back to the hotel and polish off the rest of the first season. When Bess Denyer discovers she was adopted as a baby and sets out to find her birth parents, she learns their lifestyle couldn’t be further from her Upper Class upbringing. Over the course of the two seasons the Denyers and Wheelers come together to form a dysfunctional but very loveable family; and even if you don’t identify as an ‘Upper Middle Bogan’, anyone who lives in Melbourne will be able to relate to the show.

You can catch Upper Middle Bogan re-runs on the ABC on Wednesdays at 10:15pm. 

Gruen

Over the past seven years, advertising panel show Gruen Transfer / Nation / Sweat / Planet / Help me I can’t keep up, has covered just about everything. But Wednesday night it came back for its latest series – Gruen “spin free”. From so wrong they’re right political campaign videos to questionable celebrity endorsements, advertising executives Todd Sampson and Russell Howcroft, along with host, comedian Wil Anderson cover all advertising bases, the good, the bad, and the very ugly. If you want to learn all about the tricks advertisers use to sell you what you really don’t need, or just want a laugh, this is the show for you. 

Gruen is on the ABC each Wednesday at 8:30pm.

Utopia

Think of it as Australia's take on 'The Office'. Set in the completely dysfunctional office of the (fictional) National Building Authority; technology, politicians and over enthusiastic designers wreak havoc at every turn and the office managers just can't seem to get anything done. Utopia's got the perfect amount of satire and dry humour, and I can guarantee you'll be laughing and rolling your eyes along with them every time something gets in their way.

The ABC is currently showing season two episodes every Wednesday night at 9pm.

- Miriam

*Mosaik does not take credit for the images used in this article.