Oh lord won't you buy me a colour T.V....and put something decent on it.

Whilst I am proud to be an Australian, I cannot say that I have been as proud of Australian T.V.

Over years gone by, there has been an apparent lack of original Australian drama and comedy being screened on commercial television. A failure to attract ratings against the American and British counterparts has left many commericial television sations seeking to invest their money internationally, rather than locally, leaving no room for new Australian content.

Much of what has been splayed on the screen have been Australian versions of American and British reality television shows that are sure to be a ratings winner. What has this left the consumer and avid viewer with? A lack of diversity.

Channel 10s line up has for the past 5 years consisted of American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, and the Biggest Loser in the summer, followed by Australian Idol, So You Think You Can Dance Australia and the Biggest Loser Australia in the winter months. Channel 7 and Channel 9 have the news and the odd gameshow as their Australian content fix in between the new episodes and re-runs of the same old American crime drama, with the ABC slowly, but surely, becoming the BBC in between showcasing great shows like Spicks and Specks and the Gruen Transfer.

Growing up, Australian television had a distinct identity. I mainly attriubute this to the Australian satirical and cynical sense of humour that we were once so well known for. In the late 80s and early 90s, there was no lack of creativity when in came to the humble sketch show. Fast Forward, Full Frontal, and The D Generation are just some of the shows that defined my young adulthood, as well as typified the Australian sense of humour and rebellion. Tounge in cheek shows such as Frontline, Good News Week, and The Panel where just a handful of the shows worth switching the box on for.

But somewhere down the line, something went wrong.

The phenomenon of reality television provided production companies a source of cheap entertainment. Tapping into the perverse voyerism embedded in the viewers human nature was a sure way of not only achieving high ratings, but also garuntee more bang for the television station's buck.

The Free Trade Agreement saw more and more American shows and concepts infiltrating our screens in more ways than ever before. Suddenly, the Australian market was in more competition, trying to assimilate to the more dominant industry than keeping true to what made their industry so unique and attractive in the first place.

Recently, there has been a shift, perhaps for the better, however I fear that this is for the worst.

The 51st Annual TV Week Logie Awards is a demonstrated example of this shift in Australian creativity. There has been a rise in Australian drama with the introduction of such shows as Packed to the Rafters, Bed of Roses, and the recent phenomenon to hit the screen, Underbelly. There was an apparent energy in the air. This Logies felt like none other. There was something to be proud by being there, and by watching it. The obligatory international guest talent, for the first time in a long time, were not the main focus of the night. The focus was on the quality of the original Australian content, that, also for the first time in a long time, did not soley come from Working Dog productions. Finally, the American 'Days of our Lives' "talent" where viewed as what they were meant to be; guests, and not the main event, and with the exception of Annie Lennox, the night was supremely ours.

Upon winning his Silver Logie for Most Outstanding Male Actor in a Television Series, Gyton Grantley expressed his positivity towards the Australian Televsion Instudry that seemed to have been shared by everyone in the room. "We make good stuff, and a show like this being watched by Australian's means that we like our stuff...let's make more of it."

Indeed! Anything which supports the production of new and original Australian creativity is a must. The Australian Arts have a lot to offer to this country, and to the world, and we should be nothing more than proud and eager to see more of it.

However, here is my reservation of how this is interpreted, and unfortunately this may look like a bit of a jab at Channel 9, however the example which I use here is one which we all can learn from.

With Underbelly has come Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities, and then shortly after that Bob Trimbole: The real Underbelly.

Do you see where I'm going here?

This is where the problem is. It's not that there is a lack of Australian stories to be told, it's just that it's so damn hard to get it told when you don't seem to fit into the "successful formula of the day." Televsion production, along with a lot of other creative industries (however broad you may believe this term to be) has become incredibly lazy, and scared.

For the past decade, the methodology has been: find something that brings in the money, and capitalize on it until we bleed it dry.

Productions stick with the same formula until it no longer works, and whilst this prooves lucrative in the short term, it provides no long term stability for Australian television and performing arts. Indeed, what the industry has become is a factory of some sorts, pumping out the same thing over and over again in a bid to sell and survive, and no aforethought behind it.

Where's the future in that?

I'm not quite sure if there's a golden answer to this question, and I'm not sure if there ever will be. Someone wonderful once told me that if you do find the golden answer, you've probably made a mistake.

I suppose what I'm trying to raise awareness to here is that there is a lack of risk taking where the Television and Perfroming Arts industry is concerned. No one wants to take a chance on something new, everyone feels more secure in playing it safe.

If taking a risk is too much perharps start with baby steps and make an adaption to the formula. Lets continue with the Underbelly example here for a moment. If anything, Underbelly showed that not only did Australian audiences have a fascination with Australia's criminal underworld history, they were also taken in by the fact that this was all based on true events. What happened on the screen in front of them actually once took place. It's something that is very real to them, and in turn they find something in it which they individually can relate too.

Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities was marketed as "the time Australia lost its innocence". This captured people's attention, and there was also a morbid fascination into the corruption of something pure.

If this is what makes a good Australian story, for now, perhaps we should tell yet another one? There are plenty. The Stolen Genertaion, the rise and fall of One Nation, the Bali 9, hell, I think we can make a mini series on the life and times of Paul Hogan or even Bob Hawke! And that's just for starters.

More can be said for the lack of quality in Australian comedy, but until someone convinces some top knotch exec that Shaun Micallef should have his own show yet again until the day he dies, we'll have to be tied over with Kath and Kim, Spicks and Specks and Thank God You Here.

But this is an exciting time in Australian Television indeed, it's just a matter of where it's taken to from here.