This is due to start next week, so I thought I'd make a thread, albeit in nervous anticipation as a result of this...

Lawyers may scratch Underbelly
Steve Butcher
February 8, 2008

The graphic television dramatisation of Melbourne's underworld war that Channel Nine hopes will resurrect its rating slump faces a possible ban in Victoria after a courtroom stand-off between a Supreme Court judge and lawyers for the station.

Due to start next week, Underbelly is under threat after Justice Betty King ordered Nine to provide copies of the 13-part blockbuster to lawyers acting in a forthcoming murder trial. She had warned lawyers for Nine, which opposed releasing the series, that she had, but was reluctant to use, the power to prohibit the airing of it in Victoria.

"This is the last thing I want to do," she told Brendan Murphy, QC, for Nine. But she said she was prepared to act to ensure the accused man got a fair trial and that it was not delayed.

After being accused of not co-operating during the hearing - called by the Office of Public Prosecutions over concerns how Underbelly would depict the shooting of a prominent victim of the war - Nine backed down yesterday and offered to provide episodes one and two to the prosecution and defence teams.

Mr Murphy said those episodes had been edited by Nine for Victorian viewers, but episodes three to 13 were still undergoing extensive editing.

Geoffrey Horgan, SC, said the Director of Public Prosecutions, Jeremy Rapke, QC, was reluctant to prevent Underbelly's showing delaying it or ensuing public debate, but he could not assess his position until the series was seen by his office. Mr Horgan, an experienced gangland trial prosecutor, told Justice King he had seen parts of episodes one, three and five and described Underbelly as a graphic and powerful drama.

"I would be astonished if viewers weren't strongly attracted to it," he said, which included potential jurors.

Justice King said one of the problems she had with the series was that it was a dramatisation based on real events with fictional conversations which would give the trial jury an inaccurate background that might fill in the gaps the prosecution might otherwise be unable to do.

Nine has planned its entire year around the series and anything which blocked it airing would have a huge impact on the network's success, said Harold Mitchell, the executive chairman of the Mitchell Communication Group. He said Underbelly had been widely and expensively, promoted by the network.

The case resumes on Monday...

http://www.smh.com.au/news/tv--radio/lawyers-may-scratch-underbelly/2008/02/08/1202234077137.html

I read they are betting on how many millions will tune in! They are expecting over two million or something, which is very impressive! So I bet Nine are doing EVERYTHING they can to make sure it airs. You'd think they would have explored the whole legal thing before investing $15 million into making the show?

Yeah apparently betting has opened and they are expecting something like 2.5 - 2.6 million viewers. This was a publication by ninemsn though and they are clearly blowing smoke up their own a**. I think that is a little optimistic considering its lead in......The Chopping Block. I do think it could get between 1.7 and 2 mill for the first ep, I will switch and see what it's like.

I'm rather looking forward to it.  All the hype better be worth it, or I'll be picketting 9.  ;D :P

Won't watch it, not interested. Gangsters in Australia do not appeal to me. The Underworld in Australia does not fascinate me. Not on my ‘must see list’. ??)

I'll be watching to see our gangsters make the US gangsters look like little girls :P Agree with Morgan though about the media spin..wouldn't surprise me if it were all engineered. Recent news suggests Underbelly will be aired in Victoria :o :D

Apparently channel nine thought the launch of this show deserved airtime in their National News  ??) Ive heard of cross promotion but that is just tacky.

I hope it lives up to the hype as well, I am looking forward to this show , I assume that its only has about 6 to 8 eps , does anyone know ?

Just read that it has been banned from airing in Victoria until after somebody's trial!!!

Channel 9 will be shattered.

Nah I doubt that's real, apparently there was speculation that might happen but channel nine have been blowing up to be bigger than it actually is. I think there are about 13 episodes, butI might be mixing that up with the $13 million price tag

TV's graphic new Underbelly sparks outrage

IT has a violent bashing, a sex scene, liberal use of the "F" word and a graphic shooting in cold blood - and that's the first 20 minutes.

Family groups are screaming blue murder about the new Channel 9 crime drama Underbelly.
It is set to premiere at 8.30pm tomorrow, well within reach of children.

The Nine Network set its own classification for the program - which is based on Melbourne's gangland war spanning 1995 to 2004 - under the accepted rules of the Australian Commercial Television Code of Conduct.

The Australian Family Association (AFA) yesterday threatened to take the matter to Communications Minister Stephen Conroy if the content of the show was anything near that of an unauthorised promotional clip leaked from Nine's production department.

The rogue video clip, circulated via a viral email, contains sensationalised footage of graphic violence, near-pornographic sex scenes including topless shots of women and men's buttocks, and a tag line of "Bang, Bang, You're F. . . . d".

Nine's chief classifying officer Richard Lyle denied the clip was a publicity stunt. He said he was "annoyed" the footage had been leaked because while all of the scenes in the clip belonged to the show, not all of them made the final cut.

He defended his decision to give the series an M rating, allowing screening at 8.30pm. "It's when the family viewing hour is ending," he said.

"Some episodes of CSI aren't fit for teenagers and that program is in the same time slot. We will screen all the consumer warnings to guide parents before the program about frequent use of course language and strong violence and sex scenes."

AFA's Angela Conway described the classification as contemptuous.

"The programmers are showing contempt for children and their parents," she said. "There will be a lot of teenagers still hanging around when the program starts and Nine is only making parents' jobs harder.

Nine is hoping the series is a ratings winner - not a flop, like its revered Sunday program, which scored its worst audience in 26 years at the weekend after being moved to a 7.30am start.

The result took the gloss off embattled Nine's win in the first official ratings night of the year.

The Australia/India one-day cricket match, running from 6.30pm-10pm in prime time with a 1.51 million audience, propelled Nine to a win over Ten and third placed Seven - although all networks had solid audiences.

Family groups screaming blue murder

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23199886-2,00.html?from=public_rss

Quoted from @1

I hope it lives up to the hype as well, I am looking forward to this show , I assume that its only has about 6 to 8 eps , does anyone know ?

It actually has 13 one hour episodes - banning the show in Victoria will not work - people will get hold of DVD/tape copy of it somehow or they will just download it from the Internet. Channel 9 must have known the show may been banned with the underworld trials still going on and with the Tony Mokbel trials still to come. However I fail see how a show like this can influence a member of a jury - members of a jury base their decisions on the evidence/facts presented to them in the trial. They have probably heard all the scenarios and stories presented in Underbelly through the news media anyway.

just to give a source about it being banned from VIC:

CONTROVERSIAL crime drama Underbelly has been banned from airing in Victoria until after the trial of a man accused of murdering a gangland figure.

source: http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/story/0,26278,23200416-10388,00.html

also, according to that article it's 13 eps.

Yep, just saw a channel nine news update. It's been banned in Victoria but will air in other states. The judge says the conversations in the drama would largely be "a figment of someone's imagination". and that "It will be difficult for the viewing public to sift through what is factual material and what is fictional.

source: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=378603

Do they really think banning it in Vic is going to stop them from watching it? Anyone can put their hand up online and say 'Yep, I'll have a copy of each weekly show, here's my address!'

I'm sure it will end up on the net anyway so the ban won't achieve anything. But I can't understand why Nine don't wait until Seven start airing the second season of City Homicide (I read somewhere it will start in June) and put underbelly up as competition. The court case would probably be over then and there would be no problem.    

Nine are appealing that decision - like we're surprised? LOL

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/02/12/2160907.htm

Quoted Text

Justice Betty King has also ordered the removal of all excerpts from Underbelly from the internet.

I don't like her chances on that one.   ::)

So what did all us non-Victorians think of it? I thought it was alright, infact it was pretty good. I dont know how the hell it got an 8.30 timeslot though - remember the uproar at Californication which was on at 9.30 at night. Californication seemed pretty tame compared to this too - sex scenes, nudity, violence and f*** this, f*** that, f*** you.

Anyway will watch again next week, if it's still on

Yer i thought it was pretty good. Will watch again next week. And the acting was pretty good too!!!

I taped it and watched Lewis but am glad to see it was good.  I'm not so pleased about the swearing which, frankly, is unnecessary (I hear enough at work  ::)).

Interesting news about Underbelly downloads:
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=379647

I just finished watching it (I taped it).  Vince Colosimo was superb.  Did anyone pick Gerard Kennedy?  Talk about blast from the past!

I read this week where Roger Rogerson (ex cop) said Gerard Kennedy did a superb job of playing his character 100% spot on! I am still not watching it ;)

Quoted from Paula

I just finished watching it (I taped it).  Vince Colosimo was superb.  Did anyone pick Gerard Kennedy?  Talk about blast from the past!

I'm sorry but Vincent was simply doing a bad impersonation of Eric Bana's impersonation of chopper

The swearing and the violence that the public are complaining about?  These are not nice people they are portraying, it is not the Love boat...

I thought it was very very good, a lot of others at work thought so as well they all raved about it and so do I  :)

The first season DVD has been rated MA15+ for "Strong violence, Strong sex scenes, Strong drug use". You'd think that Nine would play a show of this nature in a post 8.30pm timeslot. ::)

I just had a revalation. Now we all know that it was stupid of 9 network to allow other states to watch Underbelly, but they only would had seen so far the first 3 eps if it wernt for a leaking of the original 13 eps straight from the network. Now, once it becomes apparent that every1 in Vic will see this no matter what any judge says, the judge may say that ALL viewing of the show has to be stopped NATION WIDE to stop any more from being shown.
BUT WAIT! what about those leaked 13 eps? Surely they would become downloaded just as fast as the recorded eps in no time at all, and then every1 would had seen ALL of the eps, rendering the court order useless and in the judges eyes, quite possibly rendering the jury prejudiced. Now if somone had the forsight to see this senario, and the intention of this guy not going in for murrder, he might just have leaked the 13  eps himself.

If you understood any of that, you are either a genius or as deranged as me, so i will cap it all up here.

I believe that it is feasible that either the guy on trail or one of his associates may have arranged for the full 13 eps to be released  just in case there was a Nation wide ban. This allows him to make the case that the jury and all of Australia is prejudiced against him and a mistrial is called. TOO EASY!

P.S. apparently my family knew some Morrans a long time back (20 years). would laugh if they were even related to these guys.

Roberta Williams on her character in Underbelly
March 08, 2008 04:00pm

ROBERTA Williams wanted to knock Kat Stewart's lights out when she first saw her portrayal on Underbelly, but now just feels sorry for her.

And she said the underworld drama _ banned in Victoria but a ratings hit in WA and other states _ should have found a better-looking baby to portray her beautiful daughter.

Ms Williams, whose former husband, Carl, is in Victoria's Barwon Prison until 2042 for three killings, said she initially saw red about the over-the-top shrill portrayal of her.

But now, she said: ``My sympathies go out to you, Kat, because you've made a fool of yourself.''

Read more here and take a look at the photo gallery.  Many of the characters actually do physically resemble the real people.

http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,23341527-948,00.html

Quoted from MorganPym

... she claims the rampant nudity is unwarranted

I agree with her.  It is unwarranted, as are the sex scenes and the over the top swearing.  I tape it these days and fast forward those bits.  :P :B

Im with you on this Morgan , yes it may be "uncalled for" but I do think it would come with being that "type" , And  I am still loving this show , I do think we do these type of shows better that the yanks.

The un-named biker with a red beard was a very poor portrayal of Troy Mercanti.

Quoted from lefty1

The un-named biker with a red beard was a very poor portrayal of Troy Mercanti.

especially as he can be found in high-fashion rather than leather

How bad is the nudity on the show? (the DVD is rated MA15+, and nudity isn't mentioned, presumably due to the fact that only breasts are shown)

Still don't get why Nine won't play it at 9pm or later. To give a show of this nature an M rating is just ridiculous IMO (I haven't watched it yet, but from what i hear, it definately deserves a higher rating).

^^
There's nothing wrong with Family Guy being on at 9pm since the show is M rated (heck, Seven is playing the watered-down FOX versions of the show, as opposed to the cruder Adult Swim airings which are the episodes you see on DVD with all the swearing/sex references and the like).

Speaking of ratings, TEN has a habit of playing R18+ movies in watershed timeslots with M ratings. ::) (And the cut scenes are usually quite obvious)...
American Psycho
Basic Instinct
The Godfather (which will go to air sometime next week)

Quoted from MorganPym

what intellectual would separate two animation television programs, by the same creator and production group, with a complex drama?

The programming masterminds at Seven. Sam Newman is right they are a station run by meercats.

It wouldn't be adult Australian drama without the swearing and nudity. It's almost an unrwritten law.  ;)

Does anyone from Perth know why Underbelly is not currently showing on Channel 9 tonight (in it's normal timeslot), and does not appeared to be scheduled to be shown anytime between now and next Tuesday?

Has it been pulled?  Were channel nine planning on telling anyone? when?  Not happy Jan!(angry)

AFL Footy Show was on here in SA instead.  >:(

Underbelly is off for the 2 week non ratings period.

Quoted from Mr Couch Potato

It wouldn't be adult Australian drama without the swearing and nudity. It's almost an unrwritten law.  ;)

Everybody misses "Chances" and I'm too young to have seen "Number 96".

yeah bring back "Chances"

Quoted from MorganPym

whilst I thoroughly enjoyed this series... the benchmark?  The Best drama series of all time?  Am I alone in thinking, not quite but a good effort anyway?

Now they are making a series...

Raises an interesting question as to what one considers the best Drama series of all time.. Guess it comes down to personal taste.. For me the best drama series (Australian) was Against the Wind.. Might be worth opening a new thread/poll as to what viewers think...

Quoted from MorganPym

whilst I thoroughly enjoyed this series... the benchmark?  The Best drama series of all time?  Am I alone in thinking, not quite but a good effort anyway?

Don't mind them. You can't blame the FTA networks for indulging in a bit of self-promotion every now and then. :P

I've watched the finale last night and I thought it was horribly boring. If I had known that all of the major characters were already dead I wouldn't have bothered watching. :P

Yeh i watched the finale too...and it was pretty boring compared to the other episodes. But overall i thought the series was pretty good.

Anyone watch / watching the premiere of season 2.

I'm finding it hard to concentrate, pretty boring IMO.

Wasn't half as good as the first one; also jumped around to much, Griffith - melbourne - sydney couldn't keep up with everyone that was involved

Was good but not great. Will of course keep watching as hopefully it will get much darker and better.

Quoted from bigange

Will of course keep watching as hopefully it will get much darker and better.

That's my hope  :P

From what I saw it seemed to be, well bad.  The acting was wooden and they big mafia guy in Griffith is a Kiwi actor and all I could think of was his previous stuff.

I suppose poor 9 needs this though so maybe it was sympathy that got the high ratings

I couldn't stop thinking that the actor that played Tromboni was in the Continental ad recently and also in an episode of Two Twisted with Sam Neill.  He played too nice I reckon.  

I thought they were flaunting the nudity aspect a little much too.  Yes lets do the blokes toes without a top on.  

The first Underbelly was enjoyable to watch because the actors were young and unknowns but this one I don't know maybe because it is set in the 70's also????

The girls in it are covered head to toe in heavy wool clothing all the time, even in the sex scenes.  I didn't really see the need for it.

Quoted from MeanDean

The girls in it are covered head to toe in heavy wool clothing all the time, even in the sex scenes.  I didn't really see the need for it.

mmm...heavy wool clothing eh  ...sounds good for the kiwi market  ;)

Oh man that's a bad joke ;D   It works since you're from there though.

I watched the first half of this, and really liked it.  I never saw the first season because I missed out and hadn't known about it until the plot was underway, at which point it looked like an Aussie ego show.  I'm guessing now that I was wrong after reading that the first season was better.  I downloaded the first ep from ninemsn... bastards have it all scrambled and with big annoying watermark to download a codec to play it.  All the codec does is skips empty parts, plays the video in the right order, and removes the watermark... that isn't a codec, it's copy protection so it can only be viewed by players that don't in turn save to disk, or so I think that's the purpose.  It makes me have to fire up Windows in a Virtual machine, which is fine but still annoying to have to do so.

Back to point I got distracted from... I guess I'll be watching the rest of it on the computer so I can follow it this time.
But Damnit, it is actually a DVD quality looking thing, if not a little better, and I would have liked to watch it on the television screen.

Im enjoying it, and I think it will get better and better

hahahahaha write to the censors and ask them to put a warning that Matthew Newton will be seen  :P

Does anyone know what the catchy song was in last week's episode?

Got the episode's music listing. Now I just need to find out which song it was.

By David Knox
03/12/09 10:28 PM

Nine is moving swiftly on plans for another season of its hit crime drama before the second has even finished airing.

Anna Hutchison as Alison Dine in Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities.

And who can blame them? The series has scored over 2.2 million across the five weeks it was aired. Those kind of figures blow Packed to the Rafters out of the ball park (it now averages around 1.8 million).

The network was quick to green light a second series when it was evident Australia was mesmerised by series one. Producers flashed back from 1995 to 1976 and shifted the focus from Melbourne to Sydney. Decked out with brown suit cops, marijuana crops and King's Cross strip bars it's been a gaudy, often saucy, look at the underworld.

There is talk that a third series would fill in the gaps between where series two ends and series one starts: 1985-1997. Could the story also shift from crims to cops?

During that time Russell Street police headquarters was bombed in Melbourne while the NSW police force was the subject of the Wood Royal Commission.

The ABC's acclaimed Blue Murder series looked at corruption in the police force when it premiered in 1995 -- but in what could become more than a coincidence, was banned in the state of New South Wales. Victoria has still only legally seen five episodes of the first Underbelly series, and with pixellation!

The remaining episodes of the current series will see the emergence of the Australian Federal Police and an even greater role in events for the character played by NZ actress Anna Hutchison.

http://www.TV.com

I hope the third series is more like the original than A Tale of Two Cities, the best part about it at the moment is how real life the NSW police farce is; either corrupt or stupid!!

Not sure you have a monopoly on that.  We have improved crime figures just by a wave of a wand (sorry, pen).

Quoted from SBro

Not sure you have a monopoly on that.  We have improved crime figures just by a wave of a wand (sorry, pen).

you people have nothing on us, here in the West

We let people fight the police & claim self-defence, which lets a jury of imbeciles find them not guilty

Underbelly Uncut is on as I type.  I have work to do so won't be able to watch it.  Anyone care to comment?

from what I've heard there is about 5 minutes of extra footage, and a few different takes on shots. Calling a TV series "Uncut" is pretty much the same as a directors cut of a movie