Young TV audiences can’t be patronised
Dead Gorgeous executive producer Ewan Burnett says creatives cannot talk down to the 8 to 13-year old audience, because they have become very sophisticated.
“This audience has grown up with Harry Potter and fabulous feature film visual effects. They’ve seen it all and won’t be talked down to,” Burnett told Encore.
“Children don’t need to be patronised. Dead Gorgeous respected the arts involved in creating a television show, and it’s a pity that it has to be singled out as being unusual. The dumbing down of television is to the detriment of our cultures and our future,” added producer Margot McDonald.
Dead Gorgeous is a co-production between Burberry Entertainment and Coolabi Productions, with support from Screen Australia and Film Victoria, and finance from the ABC, the BBC, UK distributor Cake Entertainment, and Nickelodeon Germany. The 13 episodes are currently airing on weekdays at 5:20pm on ABC 1, and will screen on weeknights at 8 on ABC3 from tonight.
I love this show! It’s one of the best I’ve seen in ages. No wonder I like it. It’s not dumbed down.
We can debate values, opinions and the degree of intellectualisation of children’s television, but I believe that we can say with a great degree of certainty this has been one of the best shows on television for a long time.