''The Shire'' was an Australian reality-drama series that played on Network Ten in Australia and Hulu in the United States. It debuted on Ten on 16 July 2012. The series followed the lives of 15 people, that work, live or play in and around Sydney's

Sutherland Shire Sutherland Shire is a local government area in the southern region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Sutherland Shire comprises an area of and as at the had an estimated population of . Sutherland Shire is colloquially ...

. The series has been described as "dramality" by Ten, a combination of drama with prompting and light scripting. ''The Shire'' was created and produced by

Shine Australia Endemol Shine Australia is an Australian production company and is a division of Banijay led by Rory Callaghan. Following an acquisition of shares, production company Endemol Australia merged with Shine Australia on July 26, 2015. They produce ...

. Modelled on the American TV show '' The Hills'', the production company describe the series as a reality show version of soap opera '' Home and Away''. The final episode was shown on Monday 10 September 2012.

Cast

* Simon,

radio announcer An announcer is a voice artist who relays information to the audience of a broadcast media programme or live event. Television and other media Some announcers work in television production, radio or filmmaking, usually providing narrations ...

, Mitch's friend * Gabrielle,

direct sales Direct selling consists of single-level marketing (in which a direct seller makes money by buying products from a parent organization and selling them directly to customers) and multi-level marketing (in which the direct seller may earn money f ...

assistant, Mitch's girlfriend * Michelle, Mitch's mum * Sophie,

ultrasound Ultrasound is sound waves with frequencies higher than the upper audible limit of human hearing. Ultrasound is not different from "normal" (audible) sound in its physical properties, except that humans cannot hear it. This limit varies ...

cavitation manager * Vernesa, shop assistant * Kerry, bar/beauty salon manager * Tegan, singing

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

and waitress * Matt, recruitment consultant, Kerry's boyfriend * Folksy, Spock's friend * Beckaa, student * Tony, financier, Beckaa's father * Kris and Stace, Beckaa's best friends * Joel "Rif-Raf",

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

* Megan, stripper * Nikee, pole dancer * Michael, bricklayer, Nickee's manager * Michelka,

personal assistant A personal assistant, also referred to as personal aide (PA) or personal secretary (PS), is a job title describing a person who assists a specific person with their daily business or personal task,. it is a sub-specialty of secretarial duties ...

Reception

The first episode of ''The Shire'' received a mixed response. TV blogger Steven Molk wrote "As a first episode, ''The Shire'' ticked all the boxes. It established the characters well (in that we all know what to expect from them in future episodes), set out the premise of the show quickly and offered tidbits of insight into the relationships between the key players." Pedestrian TV's review was favourable noting, "While Sophie and Vernesa are frontrunners as my early favourites, I was also quite taken with the character Rif-Raf... Reality television is a genre that shouldn't be confused with documentary television... I think ''The Shire'' is just great." John Birmingham of the Brisbane Times also gave a favourable review, "Lest you judge me, before I have a chance to get judgey, just let me say I loved this TV train wreck. I loved it like a diabetic loves that last, choc-dipped fudge brownie that sends him hurtling towards surgery for the emergency amputation of his gangrenous toes." A less favourable review was given by Michael Idato of ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'', "Does Ten have a hit on its hands? The answer is nearly, but not quite. It needs to be doing modest business on the good side of the million-viewer watermark for that. But it's a noisy nearly-hit, and in a room where everyone's talking, silence is death. The fact that most people will kick the show doesn't mean much; the "reality" genre is engineered to create conversation, not adoration. And a hater, in commercial terms, is probably worth one and a half genuine fans." According to the official

OzTAM OzTAM is an Australian audience measurement research firm that collects and markets television ratings data. It is jointly owned by the Seven Network, the Nine Network and Network Ten, and is the official source of television ratings data for ...

ratings data the premiere episode of ''The Shire'' received 941,000 (1.01M with +7 data) viewers while the second episode grew to 1.06M. The total viewers for the third episode decreased due to the scheduling of the London Olympic Games however the series consistently maintained healthy ratings throughout its run. The show has also been sold internationally and is currently available on the US online platform Hulu.

Controversy

The pilot episode generated significant controversy in Australian media and has been described as "edgy" and "offensive". Following a clip leaked in March 2012, local residents were angry that the area and residents would be portrayed negatively. The Mayor of Sutherland Shire Carol Provan vowed to take "any means possible" to stop the production crews filming in the area. The local council reportedly put forward a motion at a council meeting on 19 March saying they did "not approve the filming of ''The Shire'' and

ould Ould is an English surname and an Arabic name ( ar, ولد). In some Arabic dialects, particularly Hassaniya Arabic, ولد‎ (the patronymic, meaning "son of") is transliterated as Ould. Most Mauritanians have patronymic surnames. Notable p ...

not co-operate in any way with the production". The mayor urged locals not to cooperate with the makers of the program. Network Ten defied critics and pushed ahead with production. Controversy also arose after it was revealed that several of the stars were not actually Shire natives.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shire, The Network 10 original programming 2012 Australian television series debuts 2012 Australian television series endings 2010s Australian reality television series English-language television shows Television shows set in Sydney

Cast

Reception

Controversy

See also

References