by Halliwell Hannah
The debut of McFeast Live (16/3) on the ABC got off to a controversial start when Elle McFeast's first guest appeared on the show drunk.
Mark "Chopper" Reed, an infamous criminal and author of about seven books on the Australian crime scene, appeared bleary eyed and spoke with a slur. The glare of television lights seemed to bother him as he struggled to answer McFeast's questions about toe-cutting and other sordid criminal activities.
Finally he admitted the obvious and slurred....
"You've had me stuck in your b$##@% Green Room drinking Melbourne Bitter. I've just done six cans. Then you bring me on as p%$$#@ as a parrot and ask me in-depth questions. I'm obviously drunk. I'm no use to anybody. It's not fair".
At one stage he took out his false teeth and announced with pride...
"These are the James Bond, the carte blanche, the rolls royce of false teeth and I'd like you to pay some form of b$##@% respect to these false teeth"
After oggling McFeast's cleavage and mumbling some incoherent
answers, the Earless One was lead off to a corner of the set by the cheeky host, and left there to quietly booze on for the remainder of the show.
A further lowlight of the debut show was McFeast's tasteless
interview with two female forensic death scene cleaners. The attempt to make light banter about decomposing bodies at crime scenes hit a sour note early on, and never recovered. However, the two women seemed to have a ball.
The show's one highlight was Tina Arena's performance of If I Didn't Love You. Accompanied only by a pianist, her blistering performance once again proved that she is Australia's leading pop vocalist.
McFeast Live will definately become a program to watch in 1998.
McFeast's quirky and confronting approach to issues, and her cosy rapport with her guests, promises to bring the edge back to live TV (even if it is at the expense of good taste).
