How good was the footy show

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The_Eagles

Norm Smith Medallist
Jun 30, 2005
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I liked, if not loved it up until about 2008/9
Sam was the cornerstone and he started losing his edge then. And then became borderline irrelevant old complaining guy
 

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workhorse

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Nov 13, 2006
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It had its time and place but never looked to really shake up the format enough to move with the times. Also the fact that players became sterile robots over time didn’t help so it was basically Brownless, Crawford and Newman performing the same tired routines for the last decade of the show.

Agreed.

It was one of only a few footy shows at the time, and pre-social media it actually served a great footy purpose for the announcement of teams, news-breaking etc. It's that element, coupled with the comedy/edginess that made it successful. People say it was successful because Sam was controversial which is just plain wrong - it was a well-rounded footy show that pushed the boundaries a little bit with the comedy stuff, not to mention the players that appeared as guests weren't media-trained robots and actually enjoyed taking part in all the guff.

It certainly lost a bit of an edge when Eddie left, but I think JB and Gaz did a decent job up until around 2008/09. Trev leaving hurt the show, as it made Sam the absolute focal point, and instead of him just being himself, which in itself is naturally divisive, he tried too hard to be controversial (or was encouraged to be)

By 2010/11 with the advent of Twitter and Facebook, the fact that news was readily available, the fact that they had lost two key-pillars and the third was getting stale, it was doomed. As you say, it failed to move with the times.

I've got the first decade 'Best Of' DVD and it's absolutely great. It was a different time but even so, not a lot seemed too sinister or overtly offensive. There were skits that probably wouldn't pass the sniff test of today's standards (whether you like it or not) but every show from that era would be the same.

The Sunday Footy Show is a great example of how to approach the 'blokey' 'larikinism' type show in 2021. They don't broach any topic outside of the footy, unless it's a way to take the piss out of one of the boys. They pump up the clashes between each other and generally just have fun at no ones expense but their own. And, to be honest, the few minutes of actually footy review/chat is often decent, too.
 

Lets Roar like '44

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Jan 23, 2007
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Loved it in the late 90s and early 2000s. Use to tape it and watch it later, couldn’t wait to see the teams, mailbag was great, the intrigue when Sam wasn’t at the desk at the start of the show, almost footy legends always good. It served its purpose while Ed, Trev and Sam were in charge. Trev getting shafted was the start of the decline. Garry and Jim were pretty good but times were a changing.
It was a but of fun and a must watch for plenty of people in the early days.
 
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Lets Roar like '44

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This was pretty damn funny (cue injury troll lah lah lah). Had a good run and gave plenty of people with a sense of humour a good laugh.
 
Sep 27, 2005
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It was big time, there was a still lot of money washing around commercial TV around then. Eddie was a fantastic news-breaker. The shows that are on now are either too footy-focussed or so unremittingly safe and low key (Front Bar)...Molloy is a fake, all that "I was riding in the back of Divvy vans when I was 17..." - no you weren't :rolleyes:

Agree with you about Front Bar, Maher and Molloy spoil it.

Molloy went to an exclusive private school on the Mornington Peninsula so as far away from a divvy van as you can get, so it's all an act.
 
when it started and was at its peak imo as a teenager at the time , it was something different, was footy content and things like the team changes or breaking news were actually a big deal. there wasn't social media or a forum or club media putting news out.


you also didn't see the players outside of playing that much so seeing them on a panel was a big deal, even street talk was a newish well revamp thing at the time , because normal everyday people weren't on youtube etc or reality tv

then that all needed to be replaced more by the sketches and forced humour stuff, that's ok but not as good imo
 

BruceTempany14

Calling out Geelong supporters
Aug 4, 2016
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Yeah agree. Used to love Molloy on The Late Show and Martin Molloy, but the whole ‘I only wear a suit to court’ schtick is ridiculous. He went to Peninsula Grammar FFS.

Sorry , but Peninsular Grammar is about as exclusive as Sunbury High .



Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com
 

patmatcat

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Aug 15, 2009
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Even in hindsight it was mostly garbage. Not particular funny, and just full of memes eg Garry on the stretcher or the little grabs of Tony Lockett.

Street Talk was always the highlight, and even that pretty much writes itself. Travel to Moe, spend an hour interviewing some of the towns finest, get the odd nuffie and you're rolling.

Before The Game was always my favourite weekly footy entertainment show.
Billy’s Wheel was hilarious at times.
 

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Herne Hill Hammer

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Eddie breaking stories was the main reason I watched it. Once he departed so did I.

World of Sport was still the best footy / sports show of all time, it had a bit of everything but it's core was the footy.

The woodchop dominated by the O'Toole clan with the patriarch counting them off, the tug of war with the big men at knot and anchor positions, bike roller racing on stationary positions with the big needle going around the board, the handball comp, Staminade and Big M Little League segments, horse racing, trots, dishlickers, Villiers doing the soccer, Gus Mecurio with the boxing, they had it all covered.
 
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Randall Stevens

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Jul 7, 2017
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As others have said, in the early years the show was great viewing.
Some of the players who were regulars on the panel could be genuinely funny, or had great rapport with Sam.
Billy, Hawkins, Lyon, Dunstall, Glenn Manton, Crawford and others in their playing days showed genuine personality in the days before players became boring media trained robots.

I watched the show basically until the end, even though in later years it was a shadow of what it had been.
For reasons I never understood, in the later years it seemed like many people saw declaring their hatred of the show as some sort of proud achievement.
It was amazing how many people 'just happened to be watching for the first time in 10 years' every time there was a moment of controversy.
 

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