MediaWorks is revisiting the West household with an Outrageous Fortune prequel called Westside, which follows the infamous Grandpa back in his hey day. In the lead up to the series MediaWorks has released all seasons of Outrageous Fortune online for free online to get fans excited, and in terms of streaming numbers it seems to be successfully rekindling interest.
It’s fair to say that South Pacific Pictures has been on a bit of a roll lately. Its success in developing likeable and sometimes dodgy characters (typically of Shortland Street origin) continues, this time with new TV ONE show Nothing Trivial. According to TVNZ, Wednesday night’s debut episode set a new millennium record for a New Zealand drama debut on television, with an average 516,300 viewers watching the first episode.
A trouble-making family from West Auckland with a penchant for dodgy dealings, swearing, booze and shagging is a solid premise for a TV show. And Outrageous Fortune certainly delivered the goods for TV3 during its six year run. A family with supernatural powers who are descended from Norse Gods is a slightly stranger concept. But that’s what TV3’s new local drama The Almighty Johnsons is all about and, while it will undoubtedly be difficult to fill the entertaining boganic void left by the departure of the Wests, ratings for the first episode of the replacement were promising.