Mini-Series: Alive and Well and Living in Australia

I remember network TV miniseries from my childhood with an unending fondness.

These epic marathons came to your home over the span of many evenings, back in the days when people still watched network TV almost exclusively. They were sprawling, they were beautifully shot, and they contained a depth of story that you rarely even saw on regular drama series.

The most wonderful thing about TV miniseries was that everyone tuned in to watch them. Pre-Tivo, you had to watch when they aired. Besides, everyone was talking about them the next day, so you needed to be up to speed.

The legendary Roots was before my time, but I remember Lonesome Dove, The Thornbirds (not that I understood it at five years old, but I remember it being on), and V. Oh my god, do I remember V.

A kid in my first acting class had about two lines in a miniseries about the South whose name I cannot remember and, whoa brother, did I think he was the biggest thing going.

Anymore, network miniseries have gone the way of the daytime soap, what with the high production costs, I suppose. They're really the domain of HBO, but you know we're all probably going to wait until it comes out on Netflix, anyway. There's no real sense that you need to tune in when it airs (one of the thousand times it airs, that is).

So, it delights me to no end that miniseries still exist here in Australia. There is a lot of buzz about one that's starting tonight called The Slap. It's based on a book, which we actually read a few months ago in my book club. It divided us book club girls, and purportedly, people are quite divided on the series, as well.



I haven't started watching it, yet, but based on what's happening in my Twitter stream right now, I'd say a whole lot of the country is watching. Oh my gosh, I need to catch up! Whether it's brilliant or not, I can't say, but it's exciting to be part of a community event.

Long live the TV miniseries.