Rita Panahi: The Footy Show without Sam Newman is like hot dog without sauce — bland and boring
SAM Newman is The Footy Show and, following the return of a host that he fully respects in Eddie McGuire, Channel Nine should let the controversial star off the leash, writes Rita Panahi.
Rita Panahi
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SAM Newman is The Footy Show.
Channel 9’s efforts to gag the program’s pivotal star have only damaged the once high rating program.
It would be a great shame if one of the longest-running TV franchises falls victim to the grievance industry.
If Newman is determined to make a fool of himself by donning a dress and fishnet stockings then let him and just ensure that he’s wearing supportive underwear.
He’s big enough and bad enough to wear the criticism and there are other panellists who can immediately rebuke him if he does say something genuinely outrageous.
Controversy is at the heart of Newman’s schtick, and it is largely schtick, and to try to tame him is a sign of inept management.
Thankfully returning original host Eddie McGuire has promised to “let Sam off the leash” once the revamped program returns to air, after a two-week hiatus.
If it wasn’t bad enough that they inflicted the unwatchable Craig Hutchison on a prime time audience, Channel 9 also tried to make the program adapt to the PC age.
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It seems that The Footy Show producers and Channel 9 management have been more concerned about appeasing always-irate feminists and other assorted activists than putting together a program for the masses that is witty, insightful or even just entertaining.
As one Footy Show insider told the Herald Sun yesterday: “When we were at our best we embraced complaints, now we’re afraid of them.”
Meanwhile, the ratings are circling the drain.
It would be wrong to characterise Newman’s antics on Thursday night as a publicity stunt; the former Geelong great appeared genuinely aggrieved. It was evident almost immediately that something was wrong. Namely Sam was again not allowed to be Sam.
Last month Newman was forced to apologise for an insensitive comment about former Olympian Caitlyn Jenner who is transgender.
The program was reacting to the outrage merchants desperate to be aggrieved on behalf of others. Incidentally, Jenner herself is currently under fire for joking that Aerosmith’s “Dude (Looks Like a Lady)” is her “theme song”.
Many regular Footy Show fans would’ve been keen to hear Sam’s take on a tumultuous seven days in football that saw two senior AFL executives resign due to inappropriate relationships with junior female staff.
Instead they found a disgruntled Newman who contributed little to the program, declining to answer questions that he once would’ve relished and refusing to do Sam’s Mailbag segment.
Newman’s silent tantrum put him off-side with several of his co-hosts but perhaps that act of petulance was needed to force Nine’s hand.
When I spoke to the 71-year-old Hall of Famer last month he was defiant and vowed not to change his ways to mollify the “outrage brigade”.
“There’s a competition going on in the world to see who can be the most aggrieved and who can be offended the most,” he said.
“I’ve got to the stage in my life where I don’t care about people who have agendas.
“I refuse, and our show refuses, to be intimidated.”
Let’s hope he is right.
The Footy Show without Sam Newman is like a hot dog without sauce … bland and boring.
Nine have done what they should’ve moved heaven and earth to do last year and that’s lure back McGuire to re-energise a show that’s become stale and safe.
When McGuire left the program it was averaging more than 450,000 viewers in Melbourne. With Hutchison as host it has fallen as low as 130,000.
In McGuire they also have a host that Sam fully respects and will listen to when creative differences arise.
The pervasive culture of political correctness and identity politics has been shoved down the throats of footy fans for too long.
Let’s go back to enjoying the game and having a laugh without fretting about how the hypersensitive members of the community will react.
— Rita Panahi is a Herald Sun columnist.
Email rita.panahi@news.com.au, follow her on Twitter @RitaPanahi or read her blog.
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