A mixed bag of shows

SOME TV series made great returns while others did not. Some were so bad that they were mercifully cancelled, while others still remain on air.
However, though Astro celebrated its 20th anniversary this year with various goodies to its subscribers, there are still many viewers who prefer to watch their shows online, using other means and services.
So it is hard to say what series really did well among Malaysian viewers, and what did not.
However, if you listen to water-cooler talk, you know that Game of Thrones season six and Westworld made a huge impact, whether they watched these shows on Astro on the same day as US viewers, or through some other means.
Other programmes still holding strong on viewers’ list are cooking competition series such as MasterChef Australia, MasterChef US and My Kitchen Rules.
Long-running reality singing show American Idol finally had its swan song with its Farewell Season (season 15), where Trent Harmon beat out La’Porsha Renae for the title.
Meanwhile, The Voice continues to make itself relevant, with new judges Alicia Keys and Miley Cyrus. Now into its 11th season – but with no real breakout star to date – the show is only watchable when the judges bicker.
On the Asian front, Asia’s Next Top Model Cycle 4 had its own share of drama, when a sponsor lashed out at the Korean contestant for “being rude”.
And even before the show started, there was a small storm in a teacup over the participation of Malaysian representative Tuti Noor. Certain religious zealots raised a stink over the possibility of her wearing skimpy fashions.
Yet no one seems to bat an eyelid about the regular airing of the Victoria Secret’s Fashion Show, which features models dressed in nothing more than racy lingerie.
The second season of How Do I Look? Asia may have had celebrity stylist Jeannie Mai as the new host replacing Sazzy Falak, but it was still a poor cousin to the US version.
There is still no sign of MasterChef Asia despite calls for contestants.
After the pretty dismal first season in 2015, I suppose the reason could either be a lack of sponsors, or a lack of interest from potential contestants.
And the long-awaited The Amazing Race Asia season five obviously suffered budget constraints, as contestants only ran around Southeast Asia with many of the legs in Indonesia – probably because Wonderful Indonesia, a campaign run by the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism, is the main sponsor.
Overall, it is evident we are still badly in need of good Asian-based productions. Hopefully, the coming year will be better.