By Travis Johnson
Between free to air broadcast, pay TV, streaming, web series, cinema, and even good old fashioned physical media, the modern media landscape can be a bewildering place. How do we keep up? How does an everyday Jo(e) figure out what to watch, where to watch it, and whether they’ll even dig it?
Well, apart from the obvious answer – read FilmInk, team, you know it – from October 17 you can tune into Screen Time on the ABC and iview. A brand spankin’ new panel show hosted by Chris Taylor (The Chaser’s War on Everything, The Hamster Wheel, etc etc), Screen Time promises “…cut a path through the jungle of content and help each of us answer the burning questions ‘What should I watch next?’ ‘Where can I find that clip that’s gone viral?’ and ‘Is that hit show really all it is cracked up to be?'”
Taylor will be joined by a panel of media experts and personalities, including writer, journalist and editor Sophie Black; comedian and author Sami Shah; comedian, actor, writer, improviser Susie Youssef; comedy legend and sardonic superstar Judith Lucy; triple j Mornings host Zan Rowe; Director of the Wheeler Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas, Michael Williams; writer and comedian Benjamin Law; writer and actor Nakkiah Lui; and that movie guy, Marc Fennell. But not all at once.
This sounds like a no-brainer for those passionate about screen art and stories, although we are promised that it’s “…not a show solely for film buffs or critics. It is for each and every one of us – everyday viewers (and let’s face it we all watch a lot of screen content) who love to have their finger on the cultural pulse. Entertaining, but rooted in cultural critique and analysis, Screen Time will be the go to show for anyone who likes to watch, well……just about anything!” Still, hopefully it’s more art and culture, and less cat videos and memes.
