If a TV show like hit US vampire series True Blood was to be made in Australia, it would be "laughed off screen" by local viewers, says Packed To The Rafters creator Bevan Lee.
Speaking at an annual producers conference, Lee said that the Australian television industry was suffering from a "cultural cringe" factor, with viewers unable to believe high concept stories could happen here.
"I think they're wrong. I think they've formed some tiddely pom view of what happens in this country," Lee told the Screen Producers Association of Australia (SPAA) conference in Sydney.
"It's quite frustrating, I hope to God a show comes around that changes everything."
True Blood, set in a fictional southern US town, has been embraced by Australians, but if it was set or made here local viewers wouldn't accept it, Lee said.
"Vampires in a country town in Australia is equally valid but ... (the audience) would say what a lot of nonsense - vampires in Australia.
"It would be laughed off screen."
Likewise fantasy or science fiction doesn't work locally, he said.
"They go if you're going to come all the way across the universe to invade, are you really going to bother with Australia," he said.
"That's America not us."
One of Lee's previous series, an Australian court series Marshall Law didn't work because he believes Australians didn't believe in the stories, despite being meticulously researched.
Lee said gangland crime drama Underbelly's success would've been a different story had it not been a true story.
"If Underbelly was not a true story, I don't think it would've got the audience it got because Australians have this whole narrative disbelief that big stuff happens in Australia."
Seven Network producer Jo Porter said she believed Australians only wanted to see "middle Australia" represented on television - partly explaining the success of Packed To The Rafters.
"I think it's a case of tall poppy syndrome as well," she said.
"Can you imagine a successful show where it's a wealthy family in Australia. Australians like to see middle Australia."
Lee, the head of creative drama at Seven, also spoke about the future of sitcoms in Australia, and said while Seven would like to produce one, he'd never seen a script that was funny.
"The problem with sitcom writers in the country is they're just not very funny," he said.
"There's always been a will to get a sitcom happening (at Seven).
"Look at Seven, they had Hey Dad for all those years - the most successful sitcom in this country by far, ... but most of the sitcom writers in this country actually talk of it with a sneer on their face.
"One day we'll make it happen."
He said Australians needed to find their own humour - and the ABC had done well with shows like Kath And Kim and Summer Heights High as examples of finding our own brand of comedy.
Front page
RSS Feed