Mercado on TV: Can Tiny Oz stand up to The Voice, Lego Masters & MasterChef?

Next week, it’s all about The Voice (Seven) versus Lego Masters (Nine) versus MasterChef (10). This network battle is getting very predictable, which makes Tiny Oz (Tuesday on ABC) all the more delightful because here is a new show that isn’t about who has the biggest prize money or the most contestants who can cry on cue.

The coaches on Seven's The Voice

Tiny Oz is about craft artists recreating miniature tableaus of long-forgotten histories and is very different to The Voice and the other returning franchises. The first episode deals with transporting zoo animals across Sydney Harbour to their new digs in Taronga Zoo, and future episodes go to Adelaide and Broome.

Tiny Oz is a documentary series with a twist, and it certainly makes Australian history more palatable for younger viewers. They will already be onboard watching the host, charming Jimmy Rees, who makes an effortless move from children’s TV to primetime.

Tiny Oz: Comedian Jimmy Rees and miniature artist JoAnne Bouzianis-Sellick

There is a real network synergy to The Thing About Pam (Tuesday and Wednesday on Nine) given it is an NBC drama, based on a Dateline NBC segment, which itself was based on a podcast of the same name. It’s all so similar, it even uses the same “legendary” true crime narrator, Keith Morrison.

This is the first project from Renee Zellweger since she won the Best Actress Oscar for playing Judy Garland. She may not win any acting awards for this one though, because there is an odd tone to The Thing About Pam, especially given it is about a gruesome murder and a grieving family.

Americans are so desensitised to TV violence, that it’s no surprise that The Thing About Pam is being presented to them as a comedy. Compare that to Four Lives (SBS On Demand), a UK drama that is also a true story. Here though, none of it is played for laughs, because murder is horrible, especially when it’s compounded by a police force not doing its job properly.

Sheridan Smith in Four Lives

Four Lives features a creepy turn from Stephen Merchant, a comedic actor who plays it completely straight here. It’s also good to see the excellent Sheridan Smith again, especially after that cop-out ending in her last series, The Teacher (iview).

Fans are also unimpressed by the Killing Eve (iview and Sunday on ABC) finale. Given this show jumped the shark years ago, is it really a surprise that they couldn’t come up with a decent ending?

The second scintillating season of Gentleman Jack (Tuesday April 27 on Showcase) popped up unexpectedly on Foxtel this week and what a welcome surprise that was. It now appears that Foxtel is going to use their streaming services to fast track shows even faster, just like iView does.

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