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July 24th, 2013 
Peter Nolan
Updated
Beneath the polished and promising veneer of ABC’s The Time of Our Lives, Caroline Baum found tame and soapy characters whose self-absorption doesn’t reflect modern Australia.
I wanted to like The Time of Our Lives from the moment I saw the trailers: great cast, local production, a warm-hearted take on the messiness of contemporary life in modern Australia.
At last.
Full of anticipation and ready to commit, I was prepared to make the series a weekend habit, adopting my traditional state of mind for the 8.30 timeslot: I want something where I can recognise some aspects of my own life’s paradoxes and challenges, with a bit of emotional impact, robust dialogue and strong performances to set me up for the week. TV I don’t have to apologise for.
Casting Claudia Karvan as a not immediately sympathetic character is a masterstroke. I really like the twist on her character Caroline, a mother who assumes her child is gifted and then discovers the exact opposite.
As Bernadette, Justine Clarke must be the most believable, watchable woman on TV, capable of expressing real authenticity in everything she says and does and even the way she wears the not especially flattering clothes wardrobe have assigned her character. I love that she’s a bad cook, a nice touch in this era of over-competent competitive plating up.
The men are strong too, particularly Shane Jacobson who is great as a freelance muso dad and Stephen Curry as a wannabe comedy impresario.
Their acting is mercifully free of the kind of twitching histrionics that shows on commercial channels have to resort to when the writing is weak and the direction has not given the actors enough to do, so they just wriggle their eyebrows and lips, hoping viewers will attach some meaning to their facial tics. (A clue: it’s on Wednesday nights and rates its socks off.)
But six weeks in I am feeling impatient and frustrated. Because despite the fact that the series includes some “issues” i.e. alcoholism, blended families, marriage breakdown, pre-teens and social media, and all the juggling of two-job families, the show has a listless, directionless quality that makes me feel like I am watching The Slap without the slap. It’s all a bit tame and soapy.
Worse than that, I cannot bear the self-absorption of these people.
None of them appear to be interested in anyone or anything beyond their own backyards. They don’t discuss politics; they don’t volunteer in the community; they are not angry about what they see on TV. Their perspective seems small, parochial and self-indulgent. Yes, they worry about money and relationships, but there is no bigger picture.
Sure, Chai Li (played by Michelle Vergara Moore) the adopted Asian member of this otherwise very white, very Aussie tribe works for an aid organisation but it is mentioned only in passing. We learn nothing about her professional life beyond some bitchy office politics and a spunky colleague.
For all of these people, it’s as if life is something you do when you are not busy navel-gazing.
I just don’t accept that this is an accurate reflection of who we are right now. When I look around me I see friends of all ages and backgrounds engaging with their community through activism, advocacy and participation.
They are setting up markets and community gardens, or crowd-funding creative projects, or running fundraisers for the surf-life saving club or a local charity, or donating time and expertise to not-for-profits. They are thinking about other people and doing it quietly, without fuss or praise.
None of them are what you might call do-gooders and none of them are any less busy than the people in The Time of Our Lives, but they are connected to the outside world in a way that makes them far more interesting citizens than anyone I am seeing on the screen.
I don’t expect complexity from romantic comedy escapism like Offspring or the equally light and likeable House Husbands, but I do expect it from a show with a name that suggests gravitas. The moment you put the word LIFE in a title, you are suggesting you have something important to say. Like This Life, the cult British show of the nineties which I still regard as peerless in exploring the dynamics of friendship, ambition, class and desire. Crownies tried, and almost got there. But then legal dramas have a built-in advantage in terms of rich storylines and high stakes. But surely just because the people in The Time of Our Lives are not working at the big end of town does not make them more disengaged from society?
The trailer for this week’s episode gives me hope that the canvas is about to get a little broader, with a hint that Bernadette reaches out to kids in need in her neighbourhood.
Just in time.
Caroline Baum is a journalist and the editorial director at Booktopia, Australia’s largest online bookseller. Follow her on Twitter @mscarobaum. View her full profile here.
Topics:
television
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Source Article from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-24/baum-the-time-of-whose-lives/4840638
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Comments (24)
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Andrew:
24 Jul 2013 4:58:22pm
Love the show. It is up there with Rake and Tangle as one of the best on the box.
BTW – Shane Jacobson and Stephen Curry’s characters aren’t brothers. Stephen Curry’s character, Herb, lived with Shane Jacobson’s character, Luce, as a foster kid growing up.
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Bradley Young:
24 Jul 2013 5:22:27pm
I think your review makes some excellent points. I wonder if we are expecting a bit much of TV, after all, it’s not real life.
In terms of your concerns about activism, I dont think ‘activism’ will always or should always express itself in the community. Close families can do this internal to their dynamic and the show reflects this.
I do however await, with you, for some broader socio-political reflection. Time will tell.
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Alison Cann:
24 Jul 2013 5:31:49pm
Caroline,
We need to reflect on the polish and promising veneer of ABC’s The Time of Our Lives, and find that the tame and soapy self-absorbed characters do reflect modern Australia so Kevin Rudd has got plenty of characters who will vote for him when he selects a date for the election.
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virgil:
24 Jul 2013 5:33:06pm
“None of them appear to be interested in anyone or anything beyond their own backyards. They don’t discuss politics; they don’t volunteer in the community; they are not angry about what they see on TV. Their perspective seems small, parochial and self-indulgent. Yes, they worry about money and relationships, but there is no bigger picture.”
Well that sounds like suburban Australia to a T
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Adam B:
24 Jul 2013 5:34:05pm
Sorry, but self absorbed and oblivious to the big picture seems to sum up a great deal of people I come in contact with (not necessarily the ones I count as close friends, but certainly in general society)… maybe you’re expecting something a little more socially aloof from your TV (especially on the ABC, with a history of great intelligent programming, such as The Slap), but really, this is the more likely common garden variety Australian you’re looking at.
12 years of Howard taught everyone to look out for themselves, and expect the worst from others, is it any surprise TV is reflecting that?
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MJLC:
24 Jul 2013 5:36:55pm
“…the show has a listless, directionless quality that makes me feel like I am watching The Slap without the slap”
It’s a funny old world when it comes to people’s tastes – when I saw the trailers I quickly determined it was going to be a case of watching The Slop with the slop. So I didn’t. I still don’t.
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Gordon:
24 Jul 2013 6:21:18pm
We agree!
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P.Sam C.:
24 Jul 2013 6:47:55pm
Yes, MJLC, sadly, Australian films are tedious, often predictable and sometimes even silly.
A change of characters on the board of funding Oz films is necessary if we want to have a flourishing film industry.
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John S:
24 Jul 2013 5:57:50pm
The endearing and latterly compelling aspect of TOOL is the very thing that Ms Baum appears to be criticising, that these characters are simply drawn but complex averages. Theirs are lives common to their audience, nothing special but full of difficulties, joys and diverse relationships. I’m not sure that Ms Baum’s description of the typical individuals she chooses to picture are as typical as she believes. I would contend that a cross section of Australian society is well represented by these individuals afforded less and less time to maintain their own relationships let alone establishing same with the wider community.
The criticism comes dangerously close to the self-satisfied myopia of the middle classes that seems to pervade much of ‘average’ Australia.
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philT:
24 Jul 2013 5:58:40pm
I like the show a lot. is it soapy? well, slightly but the characters, script and acting are above standard and seem to reflect life as it is. i’m glad you have friends who can extend their lives to helping others Caroline but the vast majority either can’t or won’t devote the time.
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tsj:
24 Jul 2013 6:01:52pm
As the homeschooling mother of 2 — one, a pre-teen with Aspergers Syndrome, I do my fair bit of navel gazing, I can tell you. Some of us are too introverted, tired, downtrodden or alienated to be engaging with our communities. Sadly, when I have any amount of free time, mostly I just want to be alone to have some space and time to myself. Not everyone is as organized and on top of life as you suggest in your criticism to have the time and energy to give back to their community. I think a lot of people are struggling with their lot and cannot do this (even if, like me, they want to). In this way, perhaps it is a true reflection of those of us who are struggling — obviously more than you.
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AG:
24 Jul 2013 6:23:18pm
Despite your unwillingness to accept it, most of Australia IS populated by self-absorbed people for whom ?life is something you do when you are not busy navel-gazing.? The people you see around you ?of all ages and backgrounds engaging with their community through activism, advocacy and participation? are the exception, and an exception confined largely to inner city Australians. This may be the point the makers of TToOL are trying to make. Or they may simply average Australians in charge of a production budget reflecting their own world.
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Dr. Ghostly:
24 Jul 2013 6:27:08pm
Why are Australian actors overrehearsed? The actor’s mind is ahead of the moment in these shows and you can see it coming all the time. That is not how we see dramatic moments – they happen fresh adn with surprise – and therin lies much of the art of acting. So, a show full of unmet potential – but I was really surprised by so much ‘on the nose’ dialogue. They lost me after a couple of episodes. It was a show I got nothing from and a show I could not fall into.
Luckily for Australian drama, we all don’t have my taste.
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Malcolm:
24 Jul 2013 6:44:25pm
It’s a TV program so it’s make believe. Anyone searching for some life changing meaning in that regarding their own life clearly has too much time on their hands and a slender grasp of reality. Personally I prefer a good crime mystery.
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jilki:
24 Jul 2013 6:49:18pm
Carolyn, This interpretation of suburban Australia has a ring of authenticity which has me and my literary friends addicted. Congratulations A.B.C. for presenting characters we can identify with. A brilliant production. Superb acting.
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G.E.J.N.A.:
24 Jul 2013 7:19:48pm
Ah, what is authentic to you, jilki, is twee to me. Unfortunately these twee productions are all too frequent on your ABC.
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Anna:
24 Jul 2013 7:08:56pm
Good article – agreed with pretty much all of it. I have a full-time job, a young family and volunteer for three different community organisations, two of which I’m on the management committee for – so I am probably one of those types of people that Caroline refers to among her circle of friends/acquaintances. I really enjoy the volunteering engagement, despite being run off my feet most of the time, but I don’t get a sense that I am in any way typical of the wider Australian community. I would agree with most of the other commenters that Australians generally are like those in the show – fairly narrow interests who aren’t much into politics, or community organisations other than sporting ones, or exploring ways to live different lives.
I wanted to like TOOL too and watched the first 4 eps but haven’t bothered with the last 2…I was hoping for something a bit more like Love My Way which I found much more commitment-worthy. But it’s easy watching for a Sunday night so I hope it finds a decent audience.
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will_r:
24 Jul 2013 7:14:42pm
“When I look around me I see friends of all ages and backgrounds engaging with their community through activism, advocacy and participation.”
Then you’re in the small minority, statistically. Most people have neither time nor money for that stuff. What utter sanctimony.
The show sounds trite, by the way, but you blindly miss the reasons for its triteness.
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Not My Real Name:
24 Jul 2013 7:16:44pm
Sorry Carolyn, never seen it. Probably too busy with real life to need to have the ABC portray it for me.
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Applaudanum:
24 Jul 2013 7:17:31pm
“I just don’t accept that this is an accurate reflection of who we are right now. When I look around me I see friends of all ages and backgrounds engaging with their community through activism, advocacy and participation.
They are setting up markets and community gardens, or crowd-funding creative projects, or running fundraisers for the surf-life saving club or a local charity, or donating time and expertise to not-for-profits. They are thinking about other people and doing it quietly, without fuss or praise”
If your ‘real-life’ is littered with such vigour, good-will, participation and activity, why do you want to see it on TV?
I suggest you continue enjoying ‘real-life’, every second of it.
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Dave:
24 Jul 2013 7:51:35pm
While I find the show a rare oasis in the desert that is Australian television, I don’t agree that the actors are self absorbed because that aren’t out saving whales or rainforests or some other noble cause. All the people I know are too busy working their backsides off long hours – sometimes seven days a week or shift work for weeks on end to save the world. The most community minded I got was I coached my son’s football team for a couple of years but then my shifts got changed so that was that.
While we may not drive Prius’s and vote green when we get together we have informed and even heated discussions about politics and world affairs so it isn’t all standing around a campfire singing Barsney songs.
I wish I had more spare time for navel gazing but myself and my friends don’t have the time – and neither does most of Australia.
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Helvi:
24 Jul 2013 7:53:08pm
I like it, I feel for the characters. So what if they don’t talk about politics…like many young families they are too busy working ,juggling with childcare pickups, divorces, battles with ex- partners, going court, looking after alcoholic parents, Facebook, kids growing up too fast….
I wish I was still at that stage, now I have TOO much time for the ugly Australian politics; four out of five for me…my kids are too busy living their lives, families, studies, working, and have no time for TV…and even less for politics…
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Gody:
24 Jul 2013 8:23:59pm
Claudia Karvan is superb, she’d do any movie anywhere in the world proud, as would Michelle Vergara.
Shane Jacobsen is quite an agreeable character, as is um, the actress who plays Bernadette.
Alas, the writer – and the director – of this film (and most other films commissioned by the ABC) need to be flapped.
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JimmyD:
24 Jul 2013 8:28:02pm
For me, I still find this show enagaging because the actors are so good. They make the most out of the least.
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