Wild Boys

Sonia Kruger co-hosted Dancing With The Stars Australia since the very beginning; from the first season in 2004 right through to the most recent eleventh season in 2011. In 2012, she will not be returning.

As this hostess, who has gained mixed criticism for her role on the show, moves on to host the Nine Network’s reboot of Big Brother, a massive void has been created that needs to be filled.

As much as I didn’t personally like her; her departure presents the same problem to Dancing with the Stars as Mike Goldman does to Big Brother- she is a common factor throughout the entire franchise. Daryl Somers was just this before he quit in 2007 but with Sonia staying on, there was at least one other familiar face staying on to pass the torch.

Helen Richie and Todd McKenney are also stalwarts, but their profiles on the show are not nearly as big as Krugers was, despite any controversies surrounding the judging table.

But needless to say; this show has survived many high profile exits. Those of Daryl Somers, Paul Mercurio and Mark Wilson did little to dent the show (well, Daryl’s exit was certainly poison for the show’s eighth season) and I have little doubt that with the talent Seven has, there is any immediate threat to the show as a result to her departure.

But who would be best?

Names thrown forward already include X Factor judge Natalie Bassingthwaighte. Model Rachel Finch is also being considered.

Out of these two, Natalie seems like the more perfect decision. She has proven herself as a formidable host and on a dance show as well; hosting all three seasons of TEN’s So You Think You Can Dance Australia from 2008- 2010.

But adding Rachel Finch will ensure that Seven isn’t saturating their talent in any way. Having Natalie on X Factor as well as Dancing will mean she will be on a Seven talent show for more than half the year. Home and Away stars may get away with over exposure, but Kyle Sandiland’s stints on both Australia’s Got Talent and X Factor drew some criticism which may be heightened for Natalie.

Rachel Finch however may be Seven’s perfect counter attack to Nine’s decision to appoint model Jesinta Campbell as a personality. But can she host? Hmm…

There are also other options. Why not utilise Zoe Ventura? Her and Dan presenting together may give Wild Boys fans a bit of salvage. Plus it isn’t as if she’s doing anything abroad?

Esther Anderson is another option. Either she is leaving Home and Away or she has considered it, if rumours are to be believed. Either way, she may be looking for a bit more work before trying her luck overseas. This would be a perfect opportunity for her to improve her resume.

Or how about Jackie O?…Nobody, no, not a good idea? OK.

Who do you think should co-host this show? Should Seven pull a Nine and steal a personality elsewhere?

New Idea Test Kitchen, 7TWO, 6.30pm
New. See the cookery and craft of New Idea magazine come to life with inspirational recipes, seasonal food selection, easy tips from cooking professionals and brilliant ideas to help out with entertaining. Road test kitchen gadgets, gather tips and information about fresh produce and watch a different celebrity shop for ingredients and whip up one of their favourite meals.

Wild Boys. Seven, 7.30pm
Final episode ever. Ruby is murdered and it seems it all has to do with the Old East Road. It’s not clear if she was killed by her ‘lover’ Fuller or mistaken for Catherine who inherited the property of Old George.

Sunday Best: The Most Danergous Man In America, ABC2, 8.30pm
The Academy Award-nominated documentary in which a former war planner risks life in prison by leaking 7000 pages of a top secret Pentagon report to the New York Times to help stop the Vietnam War.

HD
Movie: Mona Lisa Smile, GEM, 8.30pm
At an all-female college in 1953, the student population may constitute the smartest and the brightest, but they’re still measured by how well they marry.

Movie: The Transporter, ONE, 8.30pm
Frank Martin is an ex US Special Forces operative now making a lucrative living as a no questions asked courier in France. Complications arise when he he opens one of the packages.

Movie: The Transporter, 7mate, 9.30pm
Tina, Christie, Kasumi and Helena are an impressive quartet of female skilled martial artists whose outwardly sexy appearances betray their true lethal natures. When the fearsome females each receive an invitation to take part in an illegal martial arts competition to be staged on a remote Asian island, the prospect of a $10 million top prize is only sweetened by the fact that they will be facing off against some of the toughest fighters on the planet. Jaime Pressly, Devon Aoki, Holly Valance, Sarah Carter, Natassia Malthe, Kane Kosugi, Matthew Marsden, Eric Roberts, Steve Howey

Seven’s drama Wild Boys will has not been renewed for a second season.

According to a tweet by Wild Boys star Daniel MacPherson, the show is not going on for a second series.

He says: “I’m officially an unemployed actor. #WildBoys will not be going to a second series. It was a load of fun, thanks for all your support ”

Wild Boys was billed as Seven’s next hit drama. While it debuted well in ratings, as the show went on, it settled around the 800-900,000 mark – well below the audience level of other Seven dramas like Packed to the Rafters and Winners & Losers.

Many suggested the timeslot of 7.30 Sunday was a poor choice, and that the show perhaps would have been better off in a weeknight 8.30 timeslot instead.

Wild Boys airs at 7.30pm Sunday on Seven, with the last episode ever to air 7.30pm Sunday November 21.

In the second loast week of 2011 ratings for Seven, The X Factor top 4 become the three that will perform in the following week’s Grand Final, while on Beauty and the Geek, the girls put on a fashion parade as that show moves towards its season finale.

Sunday November 13
6.30 Sunday Night
7.30 Wild Boys
8.30 Bones rpt
9.30 Castle rpt

Monday November 14
7.30 The X Factor – second last week – Top 4.
9.00 Body Of Proof new
10.00 Body of Proof rpt

Tuesday November 15
7.30 The X Factor – results show
8.30 Australia’s Got Amazing Talaent
9.30 Parenthood
10.30 Dinner Date UK

Wednesday November 16
7.30 The One – Australia’s Most Gifted Psychic
8.30 Criminal Minds rpt x 2
10.30 Great Escapes

Thursday November 17
7.30 Beauty and the Geek
8.30 The Amazing Race
9.30 How I Met Your Mother rpt x 2
10.30 Outsourced

Friday November 18
7.30 Better Homes and Gardens
9.00 Movie: TBA

Terra Nova, 8.30pm, TEN
In the year 2149 the world is dying. With no way to reverse the damage to the planet, a coalition of scientists has found a portal to a new world and a new start – 85 million years in the past.

Underbelly: Razor, 8.30pm, Nine
Frank Green sparks a deadly vendetta that will tear Kate Leigh’s gang apart. With Big Jim facing the noose over a murder charge, Tilly reveals she is pregnant.

Wild Boys, 7.30pm, Seven
Dan’s past comes back to haunt him when an old girlfriend convinces him to marry her. The Wild Boys are also being threatened by a new bushranger in town, who’s dangerous, eccentric and rather elusive.

Junior MasterChef, 7.30pm, TEN
Our top 50 young cooks face two last challenges to earn a place in the MasterChef kitchen. They need to cook the ultimate cake for the ultimate guest – the Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gillard!

Alessandro’s Italian Food Challenge, 6.35pm, SBS TWO
Italian chef Alessandro Borghese travels across regional Italy searching for the best in traditional dishes. At each visit, Alessandro studies a traditional local recipe before offering up his own contemporary re-interpretation.

Seven’s new Sunday night smash WILD BOYS can be seen again this week.

After debuting at Number One, with 1.674 million viewers, WILD BOYS will be encored across the country.

Melbourne – 10.45pm Friday, after the footy; and 1pm Sunday

Adelaide – 10.15pm Friday, after the footy; and 11.30am Sunday

Perth – 9.45pm Friday, after the footy; and 11am Sunday

Sydney and Brisbane – 10am Sunday

WILD BOYS will then continue Sunday at 7.30pm, for its explosive second episode.

WILD BOYS stars Daniel MacPherson, Michael Dorman, Zoe Ventoura, Nathaniel Dean, Jeremy Sims, David Field, Alexander England and Anna Hutchison.

Over the coming weeks, some of Australia’s top acting talent will join them in exciting guest roles, including Bridie Carter, Jeremy Lindsay Taylor, Tim McCunn, Josef Burr, Aaron Jeffery, Laura Brent and Mirrah Foulkes.

Wild Boys, Seven, 7.30pm
Premiere. Follow the lives of four men on the outside of the law in 1860′s outback Australia, as they come up against authority, the rich and greedy, and the weaknesses of their own hearts. After a month away from Hopetoun, Jack and Dan return home to find new Superintendent of Police, Fuller, arriving, causing their existence as bushrangers to come under threat. Jack rekindles his romance with pub owner, Mary, but any hope for a future with her is snuffed out when Fuller captures the Wild Boys.

Grand Designs, ABC1, 7.32pm
Kevin revisits a couple who built two timber houses in London on a long narrow site, overlooking and overlooked by 16 different neighbours, to see if they ended up with their urban oasis, mortgage-free dream.

Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation, Ten, 7.30pm
One of Ten’s many timeslot changes of recent times, this show now airs two times a week in the lead up to its perhaps premature season finale next week. Join Shaun Micallef, Amanda Keller, Charlie Pickering and Josh Thomas as they battle against each other in a war of the generations! Tonight’s guests include: Cornelia Frances, Jimeoin, Natalie Tran.

Castle, Seven. 9.30pm season finale
Kate Beckett’s investigation into her mother’s death is reactivated when Hal Lockwood a professional hitman with knowledge of Beckett’s mother’s murder stages a spectacular escape during a court hearing. As police launch a manhunt for Lockwood, Castle and the team uncover evidence of a deeper conspiracy involving a mysterious figure with law enforcement connections who is linked to both Lockwood’s escape and the killing of Johanna Beckett. The search for Lockwood and the quest to identify his co-conspirator leads to a shocking and deadly conclusion.

The Future of Food, SBS ONE, 10.30pm
Travelling to different parts of the globe, this two-part documentary unravels the complicated web of links that binds the world together and asks what needs to happen to avert a major global food crisis.

This article may contain SPOILERS – PLEASE DO NOT READ ON – but is a basic overview and does not give anything away.

Daniel MacPherson plays Jack Keenan. “He’s not reckless; he’s not going around shooting people for no reason. He’s got a good heart and a good moral structure.”

As the titles come up we are out in a very typical Aussie setting – spider and all, obviously designed to be exported!! The poverty of the bush rangers is suggested .

It’s looking very like the Heath Ledger vergion of Ned Kelly. Jeremy Sims character looks like a slime just by the glance of an eye!

An event happens in the first few minutes. Bad “guest actor” alert! Why does every show have an Aussie who over emphasises their accent with no timing?

There is an actor that we have seen in everything who plays John Hogan and is very good.

Ooo another event – this is within 6 minutes – I am in! The cinematography is spectacular, as are the sets!

MacPherson is looking rugged and the humour is abound and plenty. There is a Matthew Newton lookalike (Nathaniel Dean who plays policeman Mick Scanlon) – had to look twice – can’t act though! He really looks like him!

Sims is back and oooh soooo creepy. There is suggested violence yet nothing major. Daniel looks like being a take from the rich give to the poor yet not a thug.

Zoe’s character runs the pub and local brothel and comes across as tough but tender – she looks beautiful. No Mel from Rafters here. “She’s such a modern woman. I really like her. She’s great,” says Zoe Ventoura who plays Wild Boys’ heroine, Mary Barrett.

A simulated sex scene ensues – nothing little eyes haven’t seen before and is of no concern for parents. The story line seems quite simplistic so far and a bit obvious.

Sims is very good! I was right that he’s a bastard. But what the hell kind of accent he has is beyond me?

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More scenery and an “event” – ooo exciting bit about 25 mins in.

OK slow now – nothing really fantastic or captivating yet, just the Kelly story retold, without the spectacular that was the Kelly gang.

Not much character development yet either. The most interesting character is definately Sims. WOW nothing really happened there!

AD BREAK

Plot is getting a bit silly now. McGyver time! It picks the pace up though.

Now looking like Rescue Special OPS!

City Homicide reunion – David Field  as Captain Gunpowder is like a mad man – very wolf creek – he can act as always. Played against MacPherson in Homicide.

Hardly seeen Zoe Ventoura. There is forbidden love. Cliches are everywhere

AD BREAK

Cliffhanger with obvious outcome.

There is closure. But to me the episode was OK but a bit of a non event. Will definately win ratings timeslot unless 60 minutes has a major scoop.

Found it OK, not great. Can’t believe I am saying this but needs to be more like Underbelly. Especially for the era that had no restrictions. Watch it and judge for yourself.

Wild Boys airs at 7.30pm this Sunday on Seven.

Seven have made a number of schedule changes for next week, starting with the premiere of Wild Boys on Sunday September 4 at 7.30pm. Wild Boys replaces Highway Patrol and The Force that were airing at that time until last Sunday. Last night’s Highway Patrol even finished with “Next week on Highway Patrol…”.

The two shows have not been rescheduled at this stage,but are likely to turn up on one of the weekday 7.30pm timeslots left free when X Factor settles into a normal weekly routine. 

At 9.30pm on Sunday is the season 3 finale of Castle.

Moving to Monday (September 5), and Suits drops back to the later time of 10.30pm permanently, with a repeat of Castle airing at 9.30pm. Teen Wolf 11.30pm.

No changes for Tuesday, but on Wednesday September 7, Law & Order: LA finds a new night and time at 9.30pm. Criminal Minds: Suspect Behaviour continues at 8.30pm that night.

Over to Thursday September 8, and Law & Order: LA remains at 9.30pm. That is followed by new series The Truth Behind… at 10.30pm – the first episode looks at Noah’s ark. The series puts the world’s most iconic myths and peculair phenomena to the scientific tests of today. Off The Map remains at 11.30pm.

Sunday September 11, sees Bones air in a double episode with a very typical channel Seven compile where a new episode is followed by a repeat seamlessly joined together in the hope that noone will notice.

The X Factor for its thrid week remains on four nights a week Monday to Thursday 7.30pm. Monday night September 12 is the 3rd Boot Camp episode, then the remaining three nights are “home visits” during which the contesntants of the top 24 travel the world meeting the four judges. The top 24 will be cut down to the top 12.

On Tuesday September 13, Seven will air the 2011 Miss Universe Pageant, held in Sao Paula Brazil from 10.30pm.

Detroit 1-8-7 has its final from 11.30pm, Wednesday September 14. Seven have done well to persist with this series, which initially aired at 9.30pm to low ratings.

Thursday September 15 remains same as September 8.

More Tennis for Seven, with the network airing the Davis Cup live from 11am Friday September 16. And of course, on that night, is the AFL finals at this stage, scheduled for 8.30pm, after Better Homes and Gardens.Please – make it live Seven?

Wild Boys will premiere on our screens on Sunday, September 4th at 7.30pm.

In what was expected be a rival to Underbelly Razor, it will now go against 60 minutes and The Renovators.

This is a bold programming move by Seven, with the 7.30-8.30pm timeslot these days now dominated by reality, factuals, sitcoms and 60 Minutes on Sundays. Australian drama usually lands in an 8.30pm timeslot as many had tipped for this show.

Production on the series, shot at Windsor, Wilberforce and the Central Coast Hinterland, wrapped yesterday.

The cast includes apparent real life couple Daniel MacPherson and ex-Rafters Zoe Ventoura, as well as Jeremy Sims, Nathaniel Dean and Christopher Stollery.

Here is the Channel Seven summary:

In Hopetoun there are few rules… And even fewer willing to follow them.

In this town moral codes are muddied by circumstance and opportunity. There’s gold for the taking, cash being splashed and power wielded ruthlessly with little regard for right and wrong. It’s hard to know the good guys from the bad when guns, blades and fists speak louder than any law.

This is the world of the Wild Boys, a high-energy adventure series about a gang of bushrangers whose charisma is as captivating and entertaining as their extreme exploits in the Australian bush.

Set in 1860s NSW at the frontier – where gold has lured the opportunistic away from the still fledgling main colonies, – Wild Boys follows four men on the outside of the law as they come up against authority, the rich and greedy and the foibles of their own hearts.

Daniel MacPherson (City Homicide) and Zoe Ventoura (Packed to the Rafters) star alongside a stellar Australian cast that includes Michael Dorman, David Field, Jeremy Sims, Christopher Stollery, Nathaniel Dean, Anna Hutchison and newcomer Alexander England.

Jack, Dan, Conrad and Captain Gunpowder are the Wild Boys.

Jack wants enough gold to head west, buy land and settle down with Mary, Hopetoun’s publican, butcher and brothel owner.

Dan wants enough gold to head west and buy women (any women, really).

Captain Gunpowder just wants to have fun with Jack, Dan and his cache of explosives (and maybe win the heart of a certain school teacher).

And Conrad doesn’t really care about money; he just wants to elope with the mayor’s daughter Emilia.

The Wild Boys are making plans for the future, but for now they will have to make do with each other – staging hold-ups and keeping one step ahead of traps, trackers, and other outlaws.

The question is: Are they smart enough to stay ahead of Fuller, Fife and Scanlon (each of whom has a very good reason to want the Wild Boys dead)?

Wild Boys is a Southern Star Entertainment Production for Channel Seven produced in association with Screen Australia and Screen NSW. Julie McGauran and Sarah Smith (Southern Star) are producing, with Seven’s Head of Drama, John Holmes.