Underbelly

[JHyde]

(JHyde mounts her proverbial hobby horse.)

It wasn't a mini series, it ran as full length series of about the same length as an HBO series.

I have significant problems with this show, the first of which is that it told the stories of several criminals in organized crime who were at that very point on trial for the same crimes explored in the show. I think this is wrong, and is an attack on any fair judicial process.

Then there's that fact that it really did set up the people involved to be heroes and glamourised it in a way that Channel Nine (the broadcaster who paid for the show) is notorious for doing.

I have no problem with shows or movies about organized crime. I watched the Sopranos and I like Goodfellas. The difference is that the first was fictional and the second was about crimes that had already been prosecuted with time served.

Finally, and most importantly, the show really sucked. It's probably the most successful home grown drama the country's had in nearly 10 years, but I really had to force myself to watch the DVDs (I won them, I didn't pay for them.) I genuinely found the way they went about creating the narrative tedious, and even the great cast couldn't make up for it.

That's the first series. The second series was about the growth of the family the 70s and I haven't seen it, but it does have people in it I want to see. I just think on principle and on content, it's not worth your time bertowud. But ratings and many critics disagree with me.