The Bikie Wars Project

In one of the most shameless but predictable self promotions of recent tv times, tonight The Project has dished up a 5 minute advertisement for Channels 10's Bikie Wars, masquerading it as a legitimate news story.

The 'news story' was all about the Bikie Gangs in Sydney, and repeatedly mentioned one of the gangs depicted in the upcoming show - there was even and interview with their bossman. Add to this the numerous mentions of street shootouts, turf wars and gang members switching clubs, and we were basically left with a synopsis of the plot of Bikie Wars. The article was even called Bikie Wars!

The next news story was about a neurotic Doctor who can't sort out her love life.

In a desperate stretch to make the promotion seem newsworthy and relevant, the thinly veiled story mentioned something about a law that didn't get passed last year that may have affected the Bikie Gangs. That being all their researcher could come up with, the rest of the story resembled a school project on Bikie Gangs, with gems of information such as "there are x number of Motorcycle Clubs in Australia, and a total of x number of members". They even had graphics to go with these insightful stats!

This self promo had all the subtlety of an ex Big Brother contestant trying to convince bouncers to let him into a nightclub at 3am. You could even see the panelists cringing while they betrayed their high-brow stances to pretend that this was news. You could just imagine Channel 10's Head of Programming typing up the teleprompters. In what I'd like to think was a protest against this cheap promo, Carrie even refused to finish the intro to the story. Career limiting move from Mother Bickmore!

The attempt at the 'bullshit cough' didn't go unnoticed by network management.

If tonight was any indication, I cannot wait to see The Project panelists when they are forced to promote some of the gems that Channel 10 has coming up like The Bingle Show and the Jersey Shore rip off!

Sons of Bikie Wars Anarchy

A new series of Masterchef, and a new advertising platform for channel 10 to canvass their new crop of tv shows. 

First up in the ads was ‘Bikie Wars – Brothers in Arms’

Proving that originality and Australian tv go together like HDTV and Aussie Sports, this show is an unashamed attempt at an Australianised version Sons of Anarchy. And Australianised means lower budget, recycled actors, and plenty of out of place swearing to add shock value. No word yet when the bare flesh of the girls will come out to boost the ratings, but you can bet your motorcycle on it.

Maybe no one will notice...

Bikie Wars has been advertised with the good old “Based on a True Story” tagline, which is up there in meaning and substance as when “World Premiere” is used to describe Aussie telemovies. That single word “BASED” is used as a free pass by writers to create what ever story they want, while at the same time trying to add a bit of edge to the plots by claiming they really happened.

And there are no better purveyors of the “Based on a True Story” than those essential documentary makers, the writers of Underbelly, who now bring us Bikie Wars. To them, “based on a true story” gives them creative license to conjure up the most unrealistic stories, or just copy stories from popular US shows, whack a few real names from history onto their characters, and call it true. Just as Underbelly Razor was based on the true story of Boardwalk Empire, so too will Bikie Wars be based on the true story of Sons of Anarchy.

Nickelback?

The realism we can expect in this show is aptly described in an interview with the main actor, where he details the depth of research he put into the role - watching Sons of Anarchy. This research is clearly evident when he says he envies the camaraderie in the gangs "You take your brother's side first and I think that would be a beautiful thing to experience." This would be deep if the show he is describing wasn’t centred around a split within a motor cycle gang that resulted in a shootout where 7 people were killed. Taking your brother's side first, and shooting them second? Truly a beautiful thing!! He goes on to say that “honouring the story and the relationships at the heart of the drama was a key to getting the story right”.  Whaaaaaat? Does he think he is on Packed to the Rafters? Does he also claim that all the violence was followed up by gentlemanly handshakes and a friendly beer? If that’s the subject knowledge the main actor has, I can’t wait to see his realistic portrayal of his character!

With no less than 5 credited cast members who are Underbelly alumni, including the well researched main character, the transition of those truth seeking Underbelly fans from channel 9 to channel 10 should be seamless. I suspect the only thing stopping Bikie Wars being called Underbelly Series 5 is the ownership of naming rights. None the less, Bikie Wars will have a ready made audience before the first hired Harley is ridden onto screen by a stunt double.

I wonder if channel 10 are going to conjure up some artificial news about bikies on their 5pm news or on The Project, in a sneaky-but-fool-no-one attempt to drum up some publicity for this show, Lara Bingle nude pictures style?