''Melody Rules'' was a New Zealand
sitcom
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...
created by Geoff Houtman and Mihera Paterson for
TV3. It featured former ''
Nightline'' host Belinda Todd as Melody, a hard-working sibling guardian surrounded by a gaggle of eccentric friends and family. The series was structured in a similar manner to an
American sitcom, containing elements such as a
laugh track
A laugh track (or laughter track) is a separate soundtrack for a recorded comedy show containing the sound of audience laughter. In some productions, the laughter is a live audience response instead; in the United States, where it is most common ...
and
vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
-esque humour.
Although it ran for 40 episodes over two seasons in 1994-95, it was neither a critical nor commercial success. It has been named one of the
worst sitcoms of all time.
Premise
''Melody Rules'' centred on Melody Robbins (Belinda Todd), a conscientious and mild-mannered travel agent attempting to rein in her wayward siblings while her mother is off on an archaeological dig in Malaysia. She is aided and abetted by Fiona (Susan Brady), her ditzy air hostess best friend; Brendan (
Alan Brough
Alan Brough (; born 1967) is a New Zealand actor, television and radio host and comedian based in Australia.
Career
Early life
Brough worked as an actor in Wellington and Auckland, mainly in live theatre. He also appeared in a series of butter c ...
), her hapless co-worker; and Neville (Alistair Douglas), her nosey, filthy, and unkempt neighbour with the catchphrase "Ya decent?".
At the time, Todd was best known for her role as co-host of TV3's late news programme ''
Nightline''. She had little acting experience and was known more for her sexy, outrageous on-screen persona.
Production
''Melody Rules'' was fledgling broadcaster
TV3's first attempt at a sitcom, and it was hoped the show would form one of a number of flagship productions for the station. They received $1,262,990 funding from ''
NZ on Air
NZ On Air (NZOA; mi, Irirangi te Motu), formally the Broadcasting Commission, is an autonomous Crown entity and commission of the New Zealand Government responsible for funding support for broadcasting and creative works. The commission oper ...
'' for production.
TV3 paid an American television writer, John Vorhaus, to hold workshops in New Zealand, teaching hopeful writers how to script an American-style sitcom. This influenced the style of ''Melody Rules''.
List of episodes
Season 1
#"Going, Going...Goner"
#"Basic Insect"
Season 2
#"Inside Job"
#"We Are Family"
#"The Devil You Know"
#"Gullibles Travels"
#"Double Scotch"
Reception
Critical reception
Critical reception for ''Melody Rules'' was poor, and it is considered in New Zealand to be one of the
worst sitcoms of all time. It has also become part of the lexicon within the Kiwi television industry to describe an unsuccessful sitcom; for example, "That show will be the next ''Melody Rules''." The series has been labelled as "cringeworthy"
and "atrocious" by ''
The New Zealand Herald
''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspaper ...
'', one of New Zealand television's "disasters" by ''
Scoop
Scoop, Scoops or The scoop may refer to:
Objects
* Scoop (tool), a shovel-like tool, particularly one deep and curved, used in digging
* Scoop (machine part), a component of machinery to carry things
* Scoop stretcher, a device used for casualt ...
'', and "awful" by the ''
Waikato Times
The ''Waikato Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Hamilton, New Zealand and owned by media business Stuff Ltd. It has a circulation to the greater Waikato region and became a tabloid paper in 2018.
The newspaper has won the title of Ne ...
''.
Alan Brough
Alan Brough (; born 1967) is a New Zealand actor, television and radio host and comedian based in Australia.
Career
Early life
Brough worked as an actor in Wellington and Auckland, mainly in live theatre. He also appeared in a series of butter c ...
and Belinda Todd
both regret starring in the series; Todd compared it to
Macbeth in terms of "bad luck", and described it as "absolutely ghastly."
Nightline 20th Anniversary Special
'' (2010). Graham, Mark ( executive producer). MediaWorks New Zealand
MediaWorks New Zealand is a New Zealand-based company specialising in radio, outdoor advertising and interactive media. It is jointly owned by U.S. company Oaktree Capital Management and out-of-home advertising company QMS. It operates nine ...
and TV3. Brough described working on the series as "such a horrendous experience", adding "I was so embarrassed by it, I had to go overseas."
Both Brough and Todd claim the series was substantial in convincing them to leave New Zealand and move to
Australia and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, respectively.
The series has developed a "certain
cult status
A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
" for its perceived low quality.
Despite this, Brough and
Jodie Rimmer
Jodie Rimmer (born 1974) is a New Zealand voice and performer actress best known for starring on '' Young Hercules'', as Lilith. Her work includes '' Xena: Warrior Princess'', ''Channelling Baby'', ''The Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is a stretc ...
went on to lead fruitful acting careers, while Elliott O'Donnell is now known as Askew, a successful graffiti artist.
The failure of ''Melody Rules'' has been attributed to poor comedy writing, low budget production, miscast actors, and cultural incompatibility between the American-style sitcom and the comedy that New Zealanders prefer. In the years since ''Melody Rules'', there have been no further American-style sitcoms produced in New Zealand.
Ratings
After being pulled from TV3's primetime scheduling due to poor ratings, the series was placed in an early-morning
graveyard slot and "stripped" at two episodes per screening.
Cultural references
In 2019, a comedy podcast about the creation of the sitcom titled "The Worst Sitcom Ever Made" was released by Radio New Zealand.
Episodes were presented by creator Geoff Houtman and featured interviews from the writing staff, crew and cast members.
References
*Horrocks, Roger & Nick Perry (2004). ''Television in New Zealand: Programming the Nation'' p23 Auckland, N.Z.: Oxford University Press.
{{Reflist, 2
External links
''Melody Rules''at the
Internet Movie Database
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
Episode one of Melody Rules "Going, Going ... Goner"
1995 New Zealand television series endings
1994 New Zealand television series debuts
1990s New Zealand television series
New Zealand television sitcoms
Television shows funded by NZ on Air
Television shows set in Auckland
Three (TV channel) original programming