The Straits’ disappointing debut pulls in under 600,000
The ABC’s The Straits, which has been heavily promoted this week, debuted with a disappointing audience of under 600,000 last night.
The show’s ratings of 599,000 fell well below the ABC’s hit show The Slap, which was pulling in not far south of 1m in the same 8.30pm time slot last year.
The night was won again by Seven’s My Kitchen Rules, which pulled in 1.4m viewers – well ahead of the weight loss shows on Ten and Nine.
Shame – it was a bit patchy, but like most good crime stories, the setting makes a great character, an intriguing cultural backdrop and a beautiful visual backdrop. Stick with it I say – esp in comparison to the alternatives!
Re: The Straits. I tried to give it a go, I wanted to like it, but it was let down by very poor acting. It was cringe worthy in parts.
I wanted to like it too, but struggled to bond with something so utterly unbelievable. Not sure it knows what it wants to be…a black comedy? a crime drama? Tropical underbelly? Just came out more like a big budget soap opera. Although I found it very entertaining, I doubt I will bother with next week’s instalment.
Patchy? It was shocking. Poor script, poor direction and best not to talk too much about how variable the acting was. What a missed opportunity. And why no quality control?
Was a bit confused, but I’ll watch again in the hope that they try and top ep 1’s death by jellyfish scene. That was magic.
Couldn’t disagree more with the above comments. Has anyone watched the early episodes of all the HBO hits? The other channels… reality rubbish television.
“Heavily Promoted”……?
I watched the whole thing. Acting wasn’t bad, but the whole premise was really unbeliveable and made it hard to take seriously. Good on ABC for trying to produce drama (and providing the budget) when all the other stations churn out the same reality TV rubbish. A few more attempts and they’ll strike gold.
I enjoyed the creative murders. Are the Momtebello’s supposed to be an Australian crime family? Dad sounds like a Pom and half the rest have Kiwi accents … Please explain.
It was a bit patchy, but thought there was enough intrigue to stick around for the next episode. I’d rather watch this than MKR or SVU all the time.
I really liked it.
I suspect the croc farm will be used to dispose of an enemy before too long.
Can’t wait!
While not perfect -neither were the first couple of episodes of The Slap-The Straits has enough going for it for future viewings. It was never going to be a ratings winner with limited advertising compared to the gargantuan promotion of shows like Crownies and The Slap-they must have had posters on nearly every second bus and street corner.
Also, this country still isn’t mature enough to handle an almost entirely indigenous cast. We’re getting there. Shows like this, while not entirely ground-breaking, are a very vital part of our industry and growth as a nation.
We really liked The Straights debut, and will definately watch the series and have told others the same. We thought there was the odd kiwi accent too, but why is that such a problem? I liked the overlay of characters and their stories and am looking forward to the development of them and the story, though i reckon i have an inkling. And the acting is good! what show were you mob who commented earlier watching?
Sorry to say, but this was just so disappointing. The story line was pretty unbelievable, just bordering on hideous, the acting was so-so (okay in some parts but terrible in others). SURELY we can do better than that ! It wasn’t as bad as Bed of Roses but was up there with it. Terrible script. I actually though it was back comedy and with a bit of tweaking, that is probably the direction it should take…if not off the air entirely.
I will watch again but only to see if it could possibly get worse.
I really enjoyed it – great genre in an original setting. Its an odd ( but really interesting) mix of characters that i think will take the audience a few episodes to settle into. I thought the mix of black comedy and menace was absolutely spot on – the jellyfish scene was a cracker. Bring on the next episode – cant wait!
A pommy dad and a kiwi mum have an obviously Italian son? In Cairns? Miscasting to the MAX!
The children were all adopted. Did anyone actually watch it? Pure escapism with a new slant on PNG. Loved it. Great fun. Bikies and drugs and islands. Great combo.
didn’t even know it was on…
I watched the first episode and had similar thoughts to many of the previous comments (patchy, a bit over the top, not too sure about the acting…) but my interest was caught enough to watch the second episode, and I’m glad I hung in there. The characters are developing in really interesting ways, and there’s heaps of twists that just catch attention. I think I’m hooked!
I think it was a mistake to begin with a double episode when the two parts were generically quite different: first half hard-edged crime family thriller, second half blackish comedy capers. It made the show look like it didn’t know what it wanted to be. That would still have been a problem over two weeks, but not so obvious. Tonight’s third episode was mostly back on track, though the island scenes are still a problem. But the big surprises were very powerful, and the end left me looking forward to next week.
The Straits delivered everything I wanted from it – intrigue and twists, great settings, interesting characters and dark humour; I’m also not sure if it is really Harry who is running the business? I am now hanging out for the next episodes. One thing it doesn’t do is take itself too seriously, unlike some of the earlier comments
Enjoying the series. Agreed is Mum running the family business???
I REALLY LIKE IT I THINK ITS BETTER THEN ANY UNDERBELLY SHOWS.
Having watched this for a few episodes now, I have to say that it has grown on me. Very good characters, good production values, great job all round!