Oz TV Reviews
Australian television programme reviews
RocKwiz v Spicks and Specks
Which one is Australia’s favourite pop quiz?
We have two long running and successful music quiz shows currently on Australian television. The ABC‘s offering Spicks and Specks is based on the British show Never Mind the Buzzcocks. Its format is to have two teams of three with resident captains, who have been there since the show first went to air, comedian/actor Alan Brough and radio presenter Myf Warhurst. Each week they are accompanied by a musical personality and a comedian. The host is comedian Adam Hills, whose delivery verges on the deadpan and I think this flows through to the shows presentation.
Alan Brough, Adam Hills and Myf Warhurst. Captains and host of Spicks and Specks
For anyone that did not know Spicks and Specks takes its name from the Bee Gees first number one single in Australia. It went to number one in the 60’s while they were on a boat back to England to kick off their career there.
The musical guests sometimes leave a little to be desired, in that they are frequently from specialist forms of music eg. Classical, Opera, and musical theatre and seem to me to be out of place on what is essentially a pop music program. Not to mention they are often unknowns to the wider public. I also believe that some of the question segments are getting very stale and need a revamp. Definitely the part where they sing songs using lyrics from an unrelated book and the part where they play tunes in some alien style and the panels have to guess what the song is. They’ve both been done to death. So although I am a still a regular watcher of the show, I would like to see a major revamp to freshen it up.
There is a segment in Never Mind the Buzzcocks, the British version of the show, where a bunch of people are brought on in costume and the teams have to guess which one of them was a member of some hit group in the past. This provides some good opportunities for jokes and banter and should be tried now and again on Spicks and Specks.
RocKwiz goes to air on Saturdays on SBS. The host is actress Julia Zemiro backed up by co-host / score-keeper and creator of the show Brian Nankervis. The two teams of three are made up of 2 members of the public (music geeks like me) and a musician/singer, whose identity the civilians have to guess from some clues provided by Julia. Now although these musicians are often unknown to me, at least they are normally young, up and coming and fit the genre of the show.
RocKwiz stalwarts Julia Zemiro and Brian Nankervis with the RocKwiz Orchestra
Now the big difference between the shows is the music. RocKwiz has a resident house band of very talented musicians, James Black on Guitar and Keyboards, Mark Ferrie on Bass and Peter ‘Lucky’ Luscombe on drums and occasional vocals. The guest musicians each play a song of their own on introduction and the show winds up with both musicians duetting together on a cover of a well known song and some of these have been classic renditions. In between the band are used for segment introductions and a ‘name that tune type’ segment.
Beccy Cole & Mark Lizotte lay some country on ya
Julia Zemiro’s presentation style is very upbeat and she interacts well with both the musicians and the members of the public. Brian Nankervis’s off the wall brand of humour has always appealed to me since I first saw him as Raymond J. Bartholomuez, the out there poet on Hey, Hey, it’s Saturday many moons ago. There are new episodes of RocKwiz coming in October, but in the meantime I am enjoying the re-runs, which is something you could not say for many quiz programs.
Dan Sultan and Ella Hooper with a little help from their friends
So in the wash up, for me RocKwiz wins the match up hands down. But I think there is still room on Australian television for both shows, although I would like to see Spicks and Specks completely refresh itself.
Update
I just watched an episode of Spicks and Specks followed by an episode of RocKwiz, both of which I had recorded. I have now come to this conclusion about the shows.
RocKwiz is a music show with questions and humour, whereas Spicks and Specks is a comedy program with questions about music.
So I imagine that your preferrence will depend on whether you are looking for a music show, or a comedy show. Personally I still prefer RocKwiz, as there are very few good music shows on TV these days, especially ones where musicians play live. But before anyone bites my head off, that does not mean that there is not room for both. I still watch and enjoy both, but I inevitably find myself comparing the two.
Interestingly, the spot I mentioned above, from Never Mind the Buzzcocks, where a number of people in costume claim to be a star from the past, has now been incorporated in Eddie McGuire‘s new sports quiz Between the Lines on Channel 9.
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15 Responses to “RocKwiz v Spicks and Specks”
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I’m a fan of both shows and I completely disagree with your assessment of Spicks and Specks. I think some of the things you criticize are the things other fans love the most, and I for one hope they won’t be radically changing the format in a hurry.
Hi Cathy, well we all have different opinions I suppose. But as Adam says below, the two shows are aimed at different demographics and I probably fall more into the one for RocKwiz. But thanks for adding your opinion here.
Spicks n Specks clearly deserves more air time to allow for spontaneity and tales (and talent) from their guests. It always feel rushed – because it is.
While the two programs seem to have different target demographics: RockWiz tending to be, well, “Rock”.
With the ridiculous amount of crime drama and sport on tellie (and zero percent Australian content requirements for digital-only channels), there clearly is more than enough space for both shows to co-exist and develop further.
Thanks for your comment Adam and I agree with you, but I had not really thought about the rushed aspect. I wonder how much of the show recording gets left on the cutting room floor. Maybe a longer version would be an improvement.
I probably fit into that “Rock” demographic. Hence my preference.
Have you seen any of the British version, Never Mind the Buzzcocks? I’ll find a suitable clip and post it here for comparison.
BTW you are not Adam Hills by any chance are you?
Here’s a clip from Never Mind the Buzzcocks the British show on which Spicks and Specks is based. It has run since 1996 with changes to the host and team captains. I just found out that there is also a version on U.S. TV using the same name. I am pretty sure that Bill Bailey one of the team captains on Never Mind the Buzzcocks has appeared on Spicks and Specks
I don’t know if this clip is typical but it is pretty funny.
2 music quiz shows on T.V.’s better than none,but both need shaking up-
SPICKS & SPECKS-couldn’t agree more about Substitute & Look What They’ve Done…. being done to death.Would like to see both rounds retired to make way for either completely new ones or ones that haven’t been on for some time(and there’s plenty to choose from).Also,Hamish Blake,Dave O’Neill and Meshel Laurie need to be rested.There’s only so much of those 3 I can take.
ROCKWIZ-would like to see more well known musical guests and cut back on dickheads they’ve had in the past year like Adam Green,Nathan Hudson and Jack Ladder.Oh,and RockWiz hasn’t had a question about Spicks & Specks yet.Spicks was nice enough to throw in one about RockWiz in their 200th episode last year,so RockWiz should return the compliment.
Yes John having the same guests on over and over again does add to the staleness of the show, but this seems to be a problem with all Australian panel shows. Good News Week is just as, if not even more guilty of this. There must be some good Aussie comedians out there touring the comedy clubs who would kill for a bit of TV time.
I think there could be two reasons for this.
1) The producers only want an established name to draw the punters in and b) The regulars probably want to give the work to their mates who came through the ranks with them. Or am I being too cynical there?
Both Spicks… and RockWiz especially have had musical guests over the years that I’ve never heard of.
I haven’t watched Good News Week in years,so I can’t comment on whether or not they’re just as guilty for having the same guests over and over.
And no,you’re not being too cynical!
Yes John, as I said in the main article RocKwiz frequently has guests I have never heard of, but in their favour those unknowns are usually young up and coming musicians that fit the genre. And sometimes I’ve discovered some real talent there. It was the first place I saw Dan Sultan for example and he is awesome. If you haven’t checked out the video above that’s just a sample of what he does.
Alas I agree with Cathy and disagree with the author. I was firstly a rockwiz fan and ignored spicks (loyalty to SBS – HA) but we stumbled across it a few years ago and LOVE it. It doesn’t stop me loving rockwiz either, but I think the author may not really get the point. You see, both these shows are Gen X shows catering to the demographic that watches ABC and SBS. The audience are, for the most part, not fans of such horrid shows as Glee or 3 and a half men *shudder*.
You see, young, trendhunting kids want change. They want foxy ladies instead of an a decent (but still foxy) aussie bloke (who happens to be brilliantly funny.. if you get his humour).
I think you just don’t get it – Spicks is brilliant – I’ve laughed more this season that ever before. Leave the format alone, leave the panel alone, leave Substitute alone and continue watching rockwiz if that pleases you more. Just don’t bag what you don’t get.
Thanks for your comment Anna. But I don’t really think I bagged Spicks and Specks I just said it needed refreshing. Maybe you haven’t been watching it long enough too get a bit bored with the same segments if you only came across it a few years ago. I’ve been watching it since it started in 2005 over 5 years ago now.
And I don’t know what’s not to get, it’s hardly rocket surgery.
Anyway I’ll be watching this week for the out takes show, to see how much good stuff doesn’t make it to the regular shows.
Last nights episode of RocKwiz was great! A bit of a preview to the coming season of their tour around the country. It looked like such a fun trip, I would have loved to have been there.
It was completely different to a normal show in as much as there was No Quiz. But heaps of music on stage, in rehearsals, singing on the tour bus. I loved it. It ended with a great rendition of Tom Wait’s ‘Come on up to the House‘, with all the regulars singing a verse, including Julia Zemiro and Brian Nankervis. I’ll put up a clip as soon as I find one, but if you missed it you can catch it on the SBS site here
I’ve found a clip of the awesome show stopper Come on up to the House by the house band with Julia Zemiro and Brian Nankervis. Interesting to see Julia sheds a few tears at the end. Her voice has improved a lot. I seem to remember her singing being pretty awful on that It Takes Two show.
What has happened to RocKwiz? We had the tour show, then the ARIA hall of fame thing, then a gap and now we are back on repeats. Last weeks show featured the lovely Kate Miller Heidke, who duetted at the end with a bloke 2 foot taller than her. But what has happened to all the shows they must have in the can? What about all the shows they did on tour? Maybe I’ll write to SBS and ask.
Just watched the Spicks and Specks episode that featured Seasick Steve and ventriloquist Nina Conti. It was a great show.
Check out Seasick Steve closing out the show in his very special style. THUNDERBIRD!