By Mark HadleyTuesday 13 Apr 2010TV and StreamingReading Time: 2 minutes
Carla Cametti PD
RATING: M
DISTRIBUTOR: SBS One
RELEASE DATE: Wednesday, 8:30 PM
Sometimes it’s a pleasure to see a schedule filled with re-runs. SBS has brought back this slick 2009 production that mixes a strong family drama with a twisting who dunnit.
Staring Diana Glenn and Vince Colosimo, Carla Cametti PD is the story of a female private investigator with strong links to her Melbourne suburb, including family ties to the mob.
I prefer this above many of the crime dramas available because, though many address the vulnerability of their detectives, few acknowledge their culpability. There is something to be said for a key character who is struggling to do what is right, even while they realise that they are hopelessly compromised.
Clearly the closer Carla comes to her ideal of good, the more she will have to separate herself from the practices that have been generally accepted by those around her. Fail to do so, and she will lose all credibility with clients and the audience. There’s a moral in there somewhere, I’m sure.
Scrubs
RATING: PG
DISTRIBUTOR: The Seven Network
RELEASE DATE: Sundays, 10:30 PM
This spoof on the classic medical drama follows the hilarious trials and tribulations of three medical interns at Sacred Heart Hospital on their path to doctor-hood. It’s hard to know who to laugh at most – the uncomfortably sensitive JD and his almost clichéd African American friend Turk, or the surrounding cast of janitors, nurses and administrative assistants.
Seven is currently airing season 5, though you needn’t worry if you haven’t seen an episode before. Though Scrubs has on-going storylines it’s as easy to slip into as an episode of MASH. More importantly Scrubs is the comedy that picks up where Aesop’s fables left off. Each fictional episode is organised around a real life-truth that one of the characters learns, stretching from the importance of family to the frailty of human life. And though the topics are often addressed in the most irreverent manner, the lessons don’t seem to be cheapened by the process. Good humour salted with good advice.