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I Come From a Land Down Under

By Cindy Davis | Posted Under Trade News | Comments (21)

350px-UnderbellyCast.jpg

Pay cable channel Starz and Chris Albrecht (formerly head of HBO) clearly want to encroach on the other big players in the business and they’re coming out guns blazing. After announcing the development of a “Camelot” series and the co-production of “Torchwood,” Starz has now acquired the U.S. rights to the popular Australian mob series, “Underbelly.” The series is based on the book “Leadbelly” by John Silvester and Andrew Rule and is a depiction of the violent gangland wars that have occurred in Melbourne since 1998 (and according to ABC news Australia, whose effects linger even through 2010). In 2008, when the Nine Network was ready to air “Underbelly” after having shot the series at the precise locations where events took place, it caused such a ruckus (trials were ongoing) that a judge blocked the show from being aired in Victoria.

The show gained both critical and audience acclaim, and having previously read a bit about the series, I was already foaming at the mouth over having a replacement for “The Sopranos.” But, the interesting twist is that instead of doing the show as an Americanized version of an Australian story, Starz is researching our own crime families to find a true life basis for the series. Apparently seasons of “Underbelly” are each based on specific events, but I’d figure they want more than just a format for their money. We’ll have to trust that Albrecht, who led HBO to its heyday with “The Sopranos,” “Sex and the City,” “Six Feet Under,” etc., knows what he’s doing.

Any Ozzies out there? What say you?









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Comments

I just want Carnivale and Deadwood back please, thank you

Posted by: gilp at June 23, 2010 5:09 PM

I never bothered to watch Underbelly, mostly because I'm a contrarian and every man and his dog around here watches it. I am considering looking into it though as a basis for Dresden Files RPG campaign. I think one of the guys from it was killed with an exercise bike in jail like a month ago, so it's reasonably current stuff.

Also, I remember when that order blocking it from airing in Victoria (where I live) happened a couple years back, and it took maybe three days before pretty much everyone I knew was watching it. I was working at a DVD rental joint at the time and we used to sell pirated copies of the episodes for a couple of bucks a pop.

Posted by: Chugga at June 23, 2010 5:33 PM

Chugga is right everyone watches it (seemingly apart from us!). From what I have seen from ads is that the amount of T&A featured is it's draw card.

The people the show is based on are all either dead or in jail (or being killed while in jail). Flaming scum, the lot of 'em!

Posted by: seraf at June 23, 2010 5:45 PM

Yeah, Underbelly is pretty much lowest-common-denominator T&A fare here. Entertaining, and a neat gimmick for those of us who remember news reports of the crimes themselves, but far closer to NCIS quality than Sopranos or The Wire.

Let me put it another way: The people who thought Harry Connick Jr's reaction to the blackface skit on our Channel Nine a couple months ago was overblown and politically correct? They LOVE Underbelly.

Posted by: Ed at June 23, 2010 5:57 PM

I don't watch it. Damn, the one time I could probably contribute something. :(

Posted by: Sage at June 23, 2010 6:05 PM

They have been rerunning "Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities" on Channel 101 on DirecTV. I think it's the second season (sorry, "second series") of the show. I watched it the first time around on DirectTV. There's violence, cursing, drinking, drugging and boobies. So, it's watchable. But it's no "Sopranos."

Posted by: growler at June 23, 2010 6:52 PM

I am considering looking into it though as a basis for Dresden Files RPG campaign.

Is that already out now? Damn! I would KILL to play in a campaign.

No really. I would MURDER EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU. JUST FOR THIS GAME.

Maybe I can start an online campaign. Aw who am I kidding? I can't even get my D&D one off the ground again. Still, given the time and enough people....

What were we talking about again? Something Austrailian? Was it those Foster's commercials? I loved those.

/the comment brought to you by the letters A,D,H, and D. Yeah D came twice. Wanna start some shit?

Posted by: Vermillion at June 23, 2010 7:24 PM

Underbelly 1 had some value, then the producers sat down with a focus group to find out what worked and wrote down "tits, drugs, tits, money, people getting shot, tits. Bewdy".

For genuinely good Australian crime drama, try (possibly vainly) to find Phoenix, Janus or Blue Murder. Blue Murder is the show Underbelly wishes it was.

Posted by: Squirrelgripper at June 23, 2010 7:35 PM

That's some great feedback - thank you.

Posted by: Cindy at June 23, 2010 8:40 PM

Season one was banned in Victoria because one of the people portrayed in the series was about to go to trial, and their lawyer was a little worried the jury might be just a little biased by watching another version of their client gunning down a bunch of people on TV the night before.
So, of course, everybody in Victoria just went the REALLY illegal download route. I imagine the jury selection went something like:
"Okay, everybody who's illegally watched Underbelly, please leave. Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye ma'am, goodbye, good... oh fuck."

Regardless, I'm not sure how this will translate. It's an interesting story, but let's face it, in Australia, a guy carrying a massive shotgun is most likely a criminal. In America, he's probably just taken it off his roof rack!

Posted by: ScienceGeek at June 23, 2010 9:07 PM

Eurgh, Underbelly. I don't watch it either and it's never really appealed to me. Everybody I know seems to watch it, thoughh, but it's just always seemed to be overdramatised, historically inaccurate and an excuse for a bunch of people to get nekkid, purely to piss off the puritanical viewers at home stupid enough to rise to the bait and complain about the show, which in turn adds to its supposed controversy.

Posted by: Linda at June 23, 2010 9:42 PM

I agree that when the first series was shown, there was a great deal of hype. However, I still recommend this to anyone that hasn't seen it. There is some solid acting talent involved. Also, boobies.

Posted by: Dexter Morgan at June 23, 2010 9:46 PM

As an Australian I was sceptical when the show first aired but eventually ended up watching the series and got hooked.

The thing that did it for me was having the memories of these events fresh in my mind and getting an insight into how everything ended up as messed up as it did. Australia has a tendency to glorify its criminals and Underbelly is no different, with the show having made the career of more than a few actors down here.

I believe a US version could be a success but the key would be getting some degree of realism to it so that the public finds the material more accessible.

Posted by: Aussie Sam at June 23, 2010 10:07 PM

Hey, Dexter, when you coming back man?

Posted by: Cindy at June 23, 2010 10:11 PM

I'm Australian, and from the state of Victoria, so I feel obliged to chime in. I really enjoyed the first season of Underbelly when I watched it at the time (I never bothered with later seasons, which struck me as forced sequels due to the success of the first, which they couldn't continue into a real second season because, well, every character is dead). I recently re-watched the first season and didn't like it nearly as much, but it definitely had a lot going for it.

The show benefitted greatly from being based on very well known events. The actors also all did pretty amazing work, especially those that had to play well known criminals. The actors who played Carl Williams (a schlubby fat guy who was really, really stupid, but managed to rise up to being the big gangland leader) and his wife (the Australian equivalent of the most redneck American - abraisive, thickly accented, completely uncivilised) were especially impressive. Hell, I didn't appreciate their performances until I saw them out of character and said "oh, they didn't just hire actual bogans?"

Underbelly also had a lot of top talent, and made an impact by how they used them. The man front and centre of the picture up top is a very well known Aussie actor (Vince Colossimo), and his character is killed in episode two, which had to be unexpected because of the casting (for those that didn't know the real life story). A good little bit of shock value that got people hooked early.

Lastly, homegrown Australian shows just suck. Our networks just fill the fucking quota (there are actually laws requiring our networks to screen a certain percentage of local programming) - with typical, lowest common denominator shit like Dancing with the Stars, Biggest Loser, Australian Idol and a bunch of other local versions of the shit that plagues your screens as well. So along came Underbelly, an edgy, somewhat realistic, scripted crime show that gave you all the tits, guns and naughty language that Australians never shy away from and surprise surprise it worked. However, it wasn't THAT simple. I think it did an excellent job of showing what really happened and making it sink in. You can read that two men were gunned down in a mini-van at a kids football field, but to actually see their children sitting in the back of the van, sprayed with their father's blood from his fatal head wound and knowing it actually happened, there's just no way that doesn't make an impact.

As for your question Ms Davis - an American version of the show means nothing. It'll have the same title, but that's it? So, um, our local producers will be getting a cut of some American show just because it's about crime families? Cool, I guess. Does Starz realise they could have just made the show without acknowledging Underbelly? It's just a concept. Are they going to give FFC and Scorsese some residuals as well?

Posted by: Steve at June 24, 2010 2:21 AM

The first series of Underbelly was good. You could overlook the terrible production values and direction because the story was real and the characters interesting. There was some seriously bad acting though - Martin Sachs, I'm looking at you.

The next couple of series have been nothing but cheap T&A. There will be a couple of lines of dialogue, a voiceover telling you the story (because god forbid you right a script and let someone act it out), then a slow motion sex scene or murder/violence. Embarrassing crap.

Posted by: gkchump at June 24, 2010 3:27 AM

Posted by: Vermillion at June 23, 2010 7:24 PM

I believe it's out at the end of the month, however there are late beta copies floating around the net that are very very close to final. It looks insanely cool.

Posted by: Chugga at June 24, 2010 3:43 AM

Was a bit young to remember the events of the first series, but watching it brought back all the half remembered names and events. A very australian series full of familiar faces. however, the second and third series are just terible and surely there are enough seedy crime retellings in america. australian shows dont always translate well for american audiences (kath and kim?)

Posted by: ellenmary at June 24, 2010 9:04 AM

I agree as an aussie with Steve , the quality of both our television and film industry is terrible as we simply do not provide enough support, outlets or incentive for good writers and directors, and most of our good acting talent is snapped up very quickly by productions overseas with much better directing, writing and production substance (I'm looking at you Joss Whedon!!!)

The first season of Underbelly was amazing, great soundtrack, great cast (bar a few), it was just wonderful...

Season two went ind of downhill in casting Matthew Newton and it become more and more sexytime oriented, which to a degree rocks, but past that gets tiring. Like will the two Kiwis please stop bonking, I'm trying to watch good ol Chopper Reed do cool stuff!!!

Season three is interesting so far, but seasn one wsthe best

And the intrigue was all in creating a relevancy to crime still dormant in Australia today, but at its third season, the charms been lost and its sadly becoming pulp trash t please the masses.

For it to work, small budget, handheld cameras and an indie soundtrack sought out from original and often unknown Aussie artists worked very well. The writing was superb and the cast was strong and the editing was probably what made it work so goddamn awesomely.

What topped Underbelly? Animal Kingdom. She that shit asap because it is just chocked full of beautiful Australian talent and it rocked Sundance!!

Posted by: Camilla at June 24, 2010 9:13 AM

Thank you all for your thoughtful comments.

Steve, I can only guess that Starz wants specifics from the premise of the show - but it's just that, a guess. Like I said, since they paid for the rights, it has to be more than a format they want. If more news comes out, I'll definitely post an update.

Posted by: Cindy at June 24, 2010 9:54 AM

Underbelly the first series was pretty damn good, unfortunately the laws of diminishing returns have come into play with the next two series. If you wish to see a truly gritty Aussie crime drama then do as Camilla suggested and get thee to a theatre to see Animal Kingdom the second it's released in the States, best Australian crime film since Chopper. Actually the only good Australian crime film since Chopper. And like Wolf Creek it is loosely based on actual events. I'm amazed we even have a tourism industry anymore.

Posted by: Anthony at July 5, 2010 8:01 AM