The Block, Crashburn & The Sopranos

I lived in Bondi for some years and during that time I saw many a friendship end in tears over Real Estate deals. Perhaps that is why the Bondi Porn of The Block (Sunday 6.30pm, Monday 7.30pm, Channel 9) really does it for me. It is a suburb that's as gorgeous to live in as it looks on the TV- thus the Real Estate frenzy it induces. Perhaps this is one reason (Jamie Dury would be another) why it has become Melbourne's show of choice on a Sunday night. The Block 2 is looming: look out St Kilda.

That said, after seventy something days, the Block's attraction are waning for me, as indeed they are for Gavin and Warren, who left last week, without farewelling anyone goodbye. And it's not just the fact they are grumpy that is making headlines - according to last weekend's papers, three out of four of the flats have broken a large number of Building Regulations. Gavin and Warren's tiled and bath-less bathroom floods, Fiona and Adam haven't screwed their oven to the wall and Amity and Phil have done something really weird with their drainage and sewerage system. You have to wonder just how many newly renovated houses go on the market with just as many problems as these DIY flats. (In case you are thinking of buying, Channel 9 has promised it will remedy any outstanding problems after the auction, which will definitely go ahead today.)

The flat that met almost all building codes was the one renovated by Kylie and Paul. Paul is the plumber whose flat flooded the boys' downstairs three times. His response to their fury? 'A typical over the top reaction from the two. . . ' he hesitates with a smirk, 'men downstairs.' Sometime before or after this he made a crack about them blow-drying their hair. We all know what Paul meant by men. Homosexuals. He also goes onto accuse them of cheating on their budget to produce their glamorous courtyard. If a Reality TV show had run similar rave about race, the media would have been all over it. Homophobia is more acceptable, it seems, or perhaps just invisible. But the guys know what's going on, and on the final day they leave the flat at 7.00a.m, thereby missing out on the hetero-blonde-couples group hug at 9.00am.

There were other, nicer surprises as well. Like growing to like Amity, who I first thought was vacuous, but now I think is sweet. That said, I never, never, will grow to like her song 'The Lighthouse'. Being made to listen to it twice an episode (not to mention on several other TV shows I've seen) does not make it any more palatable. Perhaps that is why she and Phil were nicer than the others in the end - they weren't in high competition mode like the other three couples: they've already won a singing career. So who's going to win? Well, it wont be Amity and Phil - but apart from that it's hard to say. Tune in, with millions of others, tomorrow night and find out.

This week a new series begins: Crash Burn (Channel 10, Monday, 8.30pm). It's a new one from Cox Knight productions (who bought you Sea Change and After the Deluge) and it's a ripper, with tight scripts and good acting. It stars Catherine McClements and Aaron Blabey as the couple whose ten-year relationship has ended in marriage counselling. She talks about where they started, and what went wrong then so does he, giving us both points of view. And, for the devoted, don't miss the final episode of The Sopranos (Monday, Channel 9, 10.45pm) in which Carmela finally does her block.

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