8MMM – a radio station that makes for great television

It’s proudly billed as being at the “arse-end of the world, in the middle of nowhere.” And no, 8MMM is not owned by SCA. It is an Aboriginal Radio Station fictionally based in Alice Springs.

Why triple M? Because there are three kinds of Whitefellas who work for Aboriginal organisations – Missionaries, Mercenaries and Misfits. That’s the view of the program’s producers who have created this irreverent comedy hailed by critics as “groundbreaking” and “pushing the bounds racial stereotypes.” 

Anyone who’s worked in a community radio station (or even a commercial one) that runs on the smell of an oily rag will readily identify with the characters in 8MMM whether they are Aboriginal or not.

But in this case, both the drama and the comedy stems from the fact that like many Aboriginal organisations, 8MMM employs black people but is run by white people. 

TV critic Rosemary Neill writing in The Australian gave the program effusive praise saying, “Its first two episodes are so assured, they represent one of the strongest comedic debuts seen on the ABC in recent years. 

“White and black archetypes are expertly skewered as the broadcaster’s Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal staff attempt — and fail, epically — to reconcile the traditional and Western ways of doing things, from reporting local news to capturing a ceremony traditional lawmen want to record for future generations.

“8MMM claims to be Australia’s first indigenous narrative comedy. As bold as it is groundbreaking, it gleefully cuts through the politically correct pieties that often envelop indigenous affairs as it tracks the daily dramas of a chronically underfunded Aboriginal radio station in Alice Springs,” reports Ms Neill.

Read more here.

8MMM Aboriginal Radio airs at 9:30 pm weekly from this Wednesday starring Geoff Morrell, Shari Sebbens and Ian Meadows

8MMM Aboriginal Radio TRAILER from 8MMM Productions on Vimeo.

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