Joan, every decent Aussie thing on Aussie TV seems to have come through the ABC, including Frontline and Kath and Kim.
Kath and Kim (which has been shown in the UK) was an offshoot of the very ordinary Channel 7 sketch comedy show Big Girls Blouse, it was in fact the best thing on it.
This was my opinion when I came to Australia, I got to know two or three women called Kim and I often used Kath's (the mum) catch phrase "lok at moy, look at moy, Kimmoi" in conversation.
It got blank stares from the Kims and Aussies generally. They weren't aware of it.
Then the ABC bought the rights from the two actresses Jane Turner and Gina Riley (who play Kath and Kim - the Big Girls Blouse crew owned all the rights to the characters and concepts that they originated on that show).
It was the legendary Ted Emery (Micallef, Jimeoin) and the ABC who really created the phenomenal success that Kath and Kim became. The dumbarses at Channel Seven had not a clue what they had under their noses.
The ABC paid for and developed the Kath and Kim series as a standalone, and guess what? Everybody started going round saying "lok at moi, look at moi, Kimmoi".
Then the lure of the filthy dollar took hold and the useless articles at Channel Seven lured the Kath and Kim duo back. It became crap of course.
The tradition in the UK is different, but that's because many producers (in fact ALL of them in the early days of commercial TV) came through the Beeb. As TV inevitably becomes totally controlled and hamstrung by the desperation to secure advertising revenue and show profits to its shareholders, the standard of programmes will INEVITABLY decrease.
It's already happening. I was in the UK last year and I was dismayed to find out how much like Australian TV Britain's had become. You even have your own shock jock TV presenter, whose name escapes me, but he's a tool.
Keep the BBC licence fee. A well funded public broadcaster is absolutely fundamental to the nation's health, wellbeing, pride and a positive image of itself.
