At the risk of opening Pandoras Box I'm curious to hear what people think of the choice to replace Gary with a female host in Rebecca Maddern. 

Personally I haven't watched much of The Footy Show in the last 2 years because of work and also it's quite frankly become stale and repetitive. The format would go: off the top the breaking or big story, if it was racial, sexist, or a social commentary type issue Sam would have his two bobs worth while pointing his hand at the camera while he gets the applause from the masses. The panel would have their say, of which they would only say 10% of what they actually want to say for risk of getting fined or in general hot water, Shane or Billy would have their say and end with a weak attempt at a joke. That's segment 1 in a nutshell and it would take about an hour before they actually start to talk footy.

I feel like her inclusion could go either way. It could reinvigorate the show with fresh ideas and perhaps a wider audience, or it could turn away it's current audience looking for something just simply blokey to watch without a care in the world.

Personally I'll give it a go when I get the chance to watch, if nothing else just to see how Sam deals with it!

Edited March 30, 20169 yr by Pates

At risk of being shouted down, the whole thing is bread and circuses. 

It is the absolute pits and nothing can save it.

Having said that, it will completely change the character of the show. People who like watching pigs be pigs will turn it off if that's not what it is, and people who don't will be watching the multitude of more watchable football shows on the air.

Just my two cents.

What's a "the footy show"?

Your last line said it all for me. 

The show pretty much is Sam Newman. 

Damian Barrett breaks some decent but mostly questionable 'news' each week. Boring players and ex players form a panel and don't have much to say. They cobble together some segments that usually aren't all that exciting and they announce teams and tip as seemingly a formality.

Sam's street talk, mail bag and opinions are the majority of the show. 

I'm not a very politically correct person no do I have a high standard for what entertains me so I don't mind watching every now and then to see Sam's act but really I think he's past it. The show must rate enough to not change it much but I doubt a female host will make much of a difference. It's if and when they decide to move Sam on and shake up the format of the show that things will change significantly. Given how many other football shows in video and audio that are available I can understand why they really haven't changed much..

Care factor = ZER0, and before I get howled down as sexist it has nothing to do with her. TFS was, in the dim dark past, somewhat entertaining at times but ever since Newman had that disastrous face lift failure he has behaved even more like a bitter petulant has-been and I just cannot watch him.  

I have no idea who she is.

Almost certainly an improvement as a host.

But imagine the scale of change that show would need to progress as far as the mid-90s in professionalism, wit or etiquette. Never mind actually covering football effectively.

She's a hottie.

Still won't be enough to get me watching the crud show.

I don't see anything wrong with it. Hopefully they extend her role (on some network) to match day gigs. I've about had enough of the Hamish McLaughlin types.

I like the notion, but I don't know how well the "blokes" on the show will cope.  Will they give her enough space and airtime to be a serious part of the show or will she be relegated to the token female who gets talked over and largely ignored? 

As for the show as a whole, I can't believe I'm saying this but it's gone to hell since Eddie left.  I just can't be bothered with them anymore except to flip the channel and try to catch the Melbourne teams and predictions.  There's only so much you can take of toilet humour and juvenile pranks.  Which brings me back to the thing about introducing a woman into the Bloke's club... 

This show is like a rooster with its head chopped off, it was dead 10 years ago but it some how is still running around.

I have a great idea, why not get rid of the footy show and replace it with maybe a cooking show,or even better a house reno show, could even bring on a farmer wants type show. Give me a break ok it needs a polish, maybe Rebecca can give that, me for one waits all week to get a bit of a giggle fix. And a help for the show if Billy goes to the backbench oi

Each to their own  - I just can't afford another TV set so I stopped watching the footy shows years ago ( i had this reflex habit of throwing my shoe at the TV screen every time Sam Newman came on and attempted humor ..well I think that was what he was attempting... one can't be too sure)

It's a brilliant move, because there's only 2 possible outcomes:

1) It totally works and turns the show around, hopefully making it a bit more mature and actually about footy

2) It totally flops, Newman does what we all expect and it gets taken off the air

Win/win

It's a paradox. Without Sam Newman on the show it's unwatchable. With him there, it's unbearable. I will watch the footy show again, about a fortnight after hell  freezes over. Good luck to the girl though. It can't be worse than it currently is. 

12 minutes ago, stuie said:

It's a brilliant move, because there's only 2 possible outcomes:

1) It totally works and turns the show around, hopefully making it a bit more mature and actually about footy

2) It totally flops, Newman does what we all expect and it gets taken off the air

Win/win

3) They show Rebecca on a stretcher for a few giggles. Later in the show, they show it again. A bit later, they show it again. Then again. Then again. Then again. Next week, they show Rebecca on a stretcher for a few giggles. Later in the show, they show it again. A bit later, they show it again. Then again. Then again. Then again.

4 minutes ago, pineapple dee said:

It's a paradox. Without Sam Newman on the show it's unwatchable. With him there, it's unbearable. I will watch the footy show again, about a fortnight after hell  freezes over. Good luck to the girl though. It can't be worse than it currently is. 

Do what I do and don't watch it. In the few minutes of snippets I have seen in the last 10 years while at other people's houses, it has resembled an animated corpse or a trained parrot saying and doing the same old things over and over and over and over again. Entertainment value = zero.

2 minutes ago, Ted Fidge said:

3) They show Rebecca on a stretcher for a few giggles. Later in the show, they show it again. A bit later, they show it again. Then again. Then again. Then again. Next week, they show Rebecca on a stretcher for a few giggles. Later in the show, they show it again. A bit later, they show it again. Then again. Then again. Then again.

That would come under option 2....

 

Speaking of option 2, although I don't intend to watch, it would be amusing watching Newman struggling to contain his contempt for one of those "other" humans, you know, the ones who don't play footy, don't know anything about footy, certainly shouldn't be allowed in footy dressing rooms, shouldn't be allowed to report on the footy .... rumours are they comprise around 50% of the population! How will he deal with one of them being on the set?

44 minutes ago, demons123452000 said:

I have a great idea, why not get rid of the footy show and replace it with maybe a cooking show,or even better a house reno show, could even bring on a farmer wants type show. Give me a break ok it needs a polish, maybe Rebecca can give that, me for one waits all week to get a bit of a giggle fix. And a help for the show if Billy goes to the backbench oi

How about Bondi footy Show?

19 minutes ago, Ted Fidge said:

How will he deal with one of them being on the set?

He'll either accept her as a professional, or be condescendingly misogynistic (with some ogling thrown in). I suspect the latter.

It seems like a fairly lame attempt to get some lapsed viewers back. It won't make a lick of difference to anyone who currently watches, as the dominant personalities will still control proceedings. But it could get some people to check back in to see what the new host is like.

1 hour ago, jackaub said:

How about Bondi footy Show?

Or Bondi Chef wants a renovated footy show?

It might be relevant if they actually talked about football for even 20% of the show.

AFL360 was also better before they started having so many guests, 

Some of the shows audience haven't seen, or interacted with, a grown woman before.

Expect a reaction like the opening sequence in Kubrick's '2001'

18 minutes ago, Gorgoroth said:

It might be relevant if they actually talked about football for even 20% of the show.

AFL360 was also better before they started having so many guests, 

Agree. I could care less about what Dyson Heppel thinks about a game he's not playing and offers no insight into, or current coaches and players tiptoeing their way around copping a fine for giving an honest response.

Just give me some goddamn footy analysis.

 

And if I cared about watching the Footy Show, I'd probably be annoyed that they've added another cats person to the Geelong love-fest... but I don't.