David Tench Tonight

David Tench Tonight
Created by Zapruder's Other Films
Starring Host
David Tench
Country of origin Australia
No. of episodes 15 of 26 (as of 23 November 2006) (list of episodes)
Production
Running time 30 minutes per episode (inc. commercials)
Release
Original network Network Ten
Picture format 576i (SDTV)
Original release 17 August – 25 December 2006
External links
Website

David Tench Tonight was a short-lived television talk show created for Network Ten in Australia. The series featured David Tench, an animated fictional character, as host. The name "Tench" is a partial anagram created from the name Channel Ten.[1] The actor behind the digital Tench was Australian actor Drew Forsythe.[2]

Tench conducted interviews with various "celebrities" including Jimmy Barnes, Meat Loaf, Toni Collette, Nelly Furtado, Johnny Knoxville and future Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard. The 2006 season finale (episode 15) was shown on 23 November 2006. A Christmas special aired on 25 December 2006 at 10:30pm. On 5 April 2007, the show was axed.[3]

Technology

Tench was rendered and animated in real-time using motion capture technology. The guests were therefore able to see him and respond to him in real-time.[4]

Radio host Mick Molloy, who was a guest on the 11 October 2006 episode, clarified on his radio show Tough Love that the David Tench desk had no-one behind it and the guest spoke to a television setup behind the desk to "interact" with Tench.

The character of Tench was conceived by Andrew Denton and technically designed by Australian visual effects company Animal Logic.[4][5] Animal Logic used the VICON MX40 technology to create David Tench.

The concept of an animated talk show host was not entirely new. Hand-drawn animation was used to bring Space Ghost to life in the 1994 talk show Space Ghost Coast to Coast. An earlier similar gimmick was used in the British talk and music video show The Max Talking Headroom Show, featuring Max Headroom. Max, however, was not computer-generated but was realised by a clever mixture of prosthetic costuming and video effects, and was also able to interact with his guests.

Viral marketing

Before the program's airing, Network Ten used viral marketing to create publicity for the then unestablished show and character. Publicity included small-spot television advertisements with David Tench quotes written for the show, accompanied by the simple tagline, "finally, someone real on television."

A large amount of general interest was generated with seemingly minimal effort. However, this method of marketing was criticised by some as a cheap stunt to fool people's better judgement.[1]

Revelation and premiere

During the finale of Big Brother 2006 on 31 July 2006, Network Ten had revealed Tench as an animated talk show host with an "American accent". However, he often had a cultivated Australian accent that vacillated into a transatlantic accent.

The 30-minute premiere episode aired on Thursday, 17 August 2006 at 8.30pm (AEST).[6]

The show then moved to a new timeslot - Thursdays at 9.30pm AEST. The timeslot switch was promoted as a change to accommodate a new (in the network's words) "naught[ier]" content shift for the program, although based on the steady decline of viewing figures, it is easily visible that this is a change based on an attempt to reclaim audience share in the preceding timeslot.

The studio audience was made up of the general public who attended the show's taping.

Public opinion and media regarding David Tench

Cancellation

Andrew Denton was interviewed by the Daily Telegraph on 5 April 2007 and confirmed that David Tench Tonight was axed by Network Ten.[3]

The program's website is no longer online.

Segments

Episode list and guests

Ep# Airdate Guests
01 17 August 2006 Patrick Rafter, Ella Hooper
02 24 August 2006 Nelly Furtado, Nick Lachey
03 31 August 2006 Claudia Karvan, Mark Holden
04 7 September 2006 Ronn Moss, Toni Collette
05 14 September 2006 Shannon Noll, Amanda Keller
06 21 September 2006 Jimmy Barnes, Daniel MacPherson
07 28 September 2006 Layne Beachley, Matthew Reilly, Meat Loaf
08 5 October 2006 Georgie Parker, Jason Stevens, Troy Cassar-Daley
09 12 October 2006 Mick Molloy, Tara Moss
10 19 October 2006 Anthony Field and Murray Cook (The Wiggles), Gia Carides
11 26 October 2006 Guy Sebastian, Kate Fischer, Matt Welsh
12 2 November 2006 Adam Gilchrist, Kate Ceberano
13 9 November 2006 Marcia Hines, Father Bob McGuire
14 16 November 2006 Ronan Keating, Liz Ellis, Angry Anderson
15 23 November 2006 Johnny Knoxville, Andrew Gaze, Julia Gillard
16 25 December 2006 This special Christmas episode featured all of David Tench's 35 past guests

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Hassel, Greg (2006-07-21). "Beware the hype of viral campaigns". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2006-08-15.
  2. Christopher, Lissa. "Radar:Big Head Strikes Again". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2006-11-06.
  3. 1 2 Confidential, Sydney (5 April 2007). "Poor ratings end show's run". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2007-04-05.
  4. 1 2 McWhirter, Erin (2006-08-14). "Virtual Tench makes history". NEWS.com.au. Retrieved 2006-08-15.
  5. "Andrew Denton's cartoon capers". Sunday Herald Sun. 2006-08-13. Retrieved 2006-08-15.
  6. "Ten's animated host a world first". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2006-08-14. Retrieved 2006-08-15.
  7. "Third Time Lucky for Seven". ebroadcast.com.au. 2006-08-18. Retrieved 2006-08-18.
  8. "Inbox page - Idiot's Box". cityweekly.com.au (print edition and online). 2006-08-24. Retrieved 2006-08-24.
  9. "A Tench shone". The Herald Sun. 2006-08-30. Retrieved 2006-08-30.
  10. Lee, Sandra (2006-09-24). "TV hero pushes boundaries". news.com.au - The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2006-09-24.
  11. Bodey, Michael (2006-10-05). "Tench seeks a bigger audience". news.com.au (The Australian). Retrieved 2006-10-05.
  12. "Anchors away at ARIAs". www.news.com.au - Daily Telegraph. 2006-10-15. Archived from the original on 1 November 2006. Retrieved 2006-10-15.

External links

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