Logies are ridiculous, tacky, harmless and a joke

If you think that Tom Gleeson’s Gold Logie win has made a mockery of the awards, then there is something you have missed.

OPINION

I’ll be the first person to admit that I haven’t paid any serious attention to the Logies since the 1990s.

Until this year (even though I actually forgot it was on last night).

I think Tom Gleeson’s Gold Logie win was bloody brilliant. He said in his speech that he loved that he could manipulate the media into doing what he wanted.

Well, tell you what, Tom, the media also loved getting behind your riotous campaign because, for the first time in a long time, the Logies were interesting. And people were interested. So everyone won.

Well, not everyone. Because there were five losers last night. Perhaps they’re pissed off, perhaps they’re not. Perhaps, like Gleeson, they also think the whole thing is a big joke and only fronted up with smiles plastered on because that’s what the fame game, and their publicists, demanded.

The problem with the Logies is that people take it so seriously, as if it really means something. It doesn’t.

Sure, the Logies had its serious moments in the past, even recently. Waleed Aly’s win was a huge surprise, and a nice one, even if I noticed the often racially charged enmity against Aly on that most civilised of public forums — the internet — increased after his win.

The Logies haven’t been properly relevant for a long time. People point back to the “golden” years of the Logies, of Graham Kennedy, Burt Newton and Lisa McCune, but TV has changed so much in the past 15 years, it could never be that again.

Was it that “golden” in the first place? The same TV personalities winning year after year? So boring.

Remember when Lisa McCune used to win all the Logies.

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Those guys won for programs that were popular, like really popular because there was little else to watch. TV was five channels and you either had to watch what was served up, or go read a book or, heavens forbid, talk to your family without the din of a Coles ad in the background.

That’s not TV today. TV is now five main channels, plus their countless digital channels, Foxtel, Fetch, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Stan, YouTube, iTunes and god knows what else.

How can you expect the voting public to coalesce around a consensus pick for something in a contest with as much credit as any popular vote through the internet?

You know what, there already is a popular vote when it comes to TV. It’s called the ratings, and they’re pretty dismal compared to what (ugh) Border Security used to get every single week.

It’s not necessarily a bad thing that the public’s viewing habits are now so fractured — the less people who watch Border Security, the better for mankind. As popular as Married At First Sight is, it’s nothing compared to what Friends used to rate in the 1990s. Thank god.

So people are really pissed at Gleeson for turning the Logies “into a joke” and stripping its credibility away. Gleeson doesn’t have that power. He only tapped into what was already true.

If you want the Logies to be more serious and credible, then let’s scorch Earth all this.

Get rid of the popular categories completely. Make the Gold Logie peer voted. Letting the public vote is how you end up with Gold Logie winner Scott Cam. Yeah, OK.

The Logies have “Outstanding” categories that are voted on by industry and experts, and you can rarely fault them for their picks.

But in recent years, the popular picks have actually, generally speaking, been improving.

Maybe it’s that fracturing of audiences or the fact the voting has moved online where social media campaigns have more influence than actual ratings and viewers, but it’s produced winners such as Luke McGregor for Rosehaven, a show that is actually really good.

Luke Mcgregor won the Most Popular Actor at the Logies. Picture: AAP Image/Josh Woning

In those “golden” years, the popular Logies almost always went to Home and Away and Neighbours starlets, because the only people who bought TV Week were soap tragics.

If you get rid of all the popular categories, get rid of the public voting, then the industry can be awarded for doing bloody good work when they do. That’s serious.

Oh wait, we already have that, it’s very credible and it’s called the AACTAs. Hands up if you can name any of last year’s winners.

Or we can keep the Logies for what they are — ridiculous, tacky, “a joke” and totally harmless. There a place for that too. Stop taking it so seriously.

Share your thoughts on the Logies | @wenleima