David Tench Tonight

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]

David Tench Tonight
Created byZapruder's Other Films
StarringHost
David Tench
Country of originAustralia
No. of episodes16
Production
Running time30 minutes per episode (inc. commercials)
Release
Original networkNetwork Ten
Picture format576i (SDTV)
Original release17 August (2006-08-17) –
25 December 2006 (2006-12-25)

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]

Tenchnology

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

Public opinion and media regarding David Tench
  • On the morning of the first episode, The West Australian newspaper compared Tench's appearance to Liam Bartlett, who had recently left Perth radio to join 60 Minutes.
  • eBroadcast reported that the ratings for the first show averaged 1.162 million viewers to be number 10 on the most-watched list but was behind new shows that premiered the same night including Celebrity Survivor.[7]
  • The City Weekly (a Sydney publication) discussed in its 24 August 2006 print edition how Channel Ten tried to pass off a promotion for David Tench Tonight as a "legitimate" news item during its 5pm main news bulletin.[8]
  • David Tench was interviewed by Flip Shelton in the Herald Sun regarding his background and return from the United States to host David Tench Tonight (despite the obvious fictitious nature of both the character and the identity outside the character).[9]
  • The Australian newspaper (via news.com.au) reports that Andrew Denton and Anita Jacoby are in Europe pitching David Tench to television networks at the MIPCOM television sales conference - the article also reports that Network Ten originally committed to a 26-episode run merely to make the series' development viable. The article also discussed the poor ratings of late.[11]

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
  • A Tench Thought - A thought by Tench.
  • Return Fire - David Tench reads a letter or two from viewers and respond controversially.
  • For Legal Reasons - Tench says some controversial things that his lawyers and celebrities' lawyers tell him to apologise for.
  • You Got Me, Dave - A prediction if a celebrity came on the show; most notably, calling Germaine Greer a revolting old reptile for insulting Steve Irwin.
  • Last Burst of Tench - Tench would finish with a brief, controversial statement.

Episode list and guests
Ep#AirdateGuests
0117 August 2006Patrick Rafter, Ella Hooper
0224 August 2006Nelly Furtado, Nick Lachey
0331 August 2006Claudia Karvan, Mark Holden
047 September 2006Ronn Moss, Toni Collette
0514 September 2006Shannon Noll, Amanda Keller
0621 September 2006Jimmy Barnes, Daniel MacPherson
0728 September 2006Layne Beachley, Matthew Reilly, Meat Loaf
085 October 2006Georgie Parker, Jason Stevens, Troy Cassar-Daley
0912 October 2006Mick Molloy, Tara Moss
1019 October 2006Anthony Field and Murray Cook (The Wiggles), Gia Carides
1126 October 2006Guy Sebastian, Kate Fischer, Matt Welsh
122 November 2006Adam Gilchrist, Kate Ceberano
139 November 2006Marcia Hines, Father Bob McGuire
1416 November 2006Ronan Keating, Liz Ellis, Angry Anderson
1523 November 2006Johnny Knoxville, Andrew Gaze, Julia Gillard
1625 December 2006This special Christmas episode featured all of David Tench's 35 past guests

See also

References
  1. Hassel, Greg (21 July 2006). "Beware the hype of viral campaigns". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 August 2006.
  2. Christopher, Lissa. "Radar:Big Head Strikes Again". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 20 July 2007. Retrieved 6 November 2006.
  3. Confidential, Sydney (5 April 2007). "Poor ratings end show's run". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 31 December 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2007.
  4. McWhirter, Erin (14 August 2006). "Virtual Tench makes history". NEWS.com.au. Archived from the original on 31 August 2006. Retrieved 15 August 2006.
  5. "Andrew Denton's cartoon capers". Sunday Herald Sun. 13 August 2006. Retrieved 15 August 2006.
  6. "Ten's animated host a world first". The Sydney Morning Herald. 14 August 2006. Retrieved 15 August 2006.
  7. "Third Time Lucky for Seven". ebroadcast.com.au. 18 August 2006. Archived from the original on 19 August 2006. Retrieved 18 August 2006.
  8. "Inbox page - Idiot's Box". cityweekly.com.au (print edition and online). 24 August 2006. Retrieved 24 August 2006.
  9. "A Tench shone". The Herald Sun. 30 August 2006. Archived from the original on 30 December 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2006.
  10. Lee, Sandra (24 September 2006). "TV hero pushes boundaries". news.com.au - The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 24 September 2006.
  11. Bodey, Michael (5 October 2006). "Tench seeks a bigger audience". news.com.au (The Australian). Archived from the original on 22 October 2006. Retrieved 5 October 2006.
  12. "Anchors away at ARIAs". www.news.com.au - Daily Telegraph. 15 October 2006. Archived from the original on 1 November 2006. Retrieved 15 October 2006.
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