12 August, 2015. 15:35
ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
IT’S ONE OF Australia’s most favourite pass times.
And in light of Channel 7’s decision to axe the groundbreaking reality TV series Restaurant Revolution for Cats That Make You Laugh Out Loud, it’s becoming more popular than ever.
Destruction by gravity has been a cornerstone in Australian entertainment for generations and people around the country are now taking to clifftops, roofs and quarry faces in order to destroy their television sets.
The rekindling of the nation’s love affair with throwing electronics off high places is said to be a result of the controversial new cat video show rating so well, which many feel is a powerful insight into the Australian people.
Australians have started throwing their televisions off high places to escape the poor quality programmes on offer. SOURCE: YouTube user tjf80
27-year-old Hector Fairplay describes himself as a “self-confessed TV tragic” who counted Big Brother and House Husbands amongst his favourite shows – but after watching just 13-minutes of Cats That Make You Laugh Out Loud last week, he unplugged his 57cm LED television and threw it off the roof of his Liverpool home.
“I’ve lost my faith in television executives, on the whole,” he said.
“Once upon a time, I used to look forward to coming home after my 130-minute commute home from work to watch some quality programming. Sometimes, I even got visibly upset when the train got delayed because it’d mean missing the start of my favourite show,”
“But this cat show is beyond the pale. I gave television a fair go but I’ve had enough. From now on, I’m just going to flop around in bed and watch Netflix on my laptop.” he said.
Not since the Fraser Government asked Australians to destroy their microwave ovens over radiation fears has there been such an interest in destroying things by gravity. Then health minister Don Chipp famously told people around the nation to throw their “science ovens” on the tip in a largely successful advertising campaign.
Mr Fairplay is not alone in his condemnation of Australian television entertainment, with many others also joining him by abandoning the traditional medium of family fun.
Residents of the Blue Mountains village of Blackheath have reported their concerns to police over people throwing televisions off the Govetts Leap Lookout this week.
In the report itself, residents have stated that the traffic along Govetts Leap Road has been higher than usual and that people can be heard laughing and having a good time, which is out-of-the-ordinary in the Blue Mountains.
Park rangers have also expressed their worries over the growing pile of smashed televisions on the popular Rodriguez Pass track, which passes below the lookout.
“People are definitely throwing televisions off Govetts Leap,” says ranger Keith Antwell.
“This is very unsafe and terrible for the environment. The consequences will be irreversible unless people stop doing it now. It’s costing the local council thousands of dollars to clean up the mess,”
“So we ask television executives, creative directors and producers to make some quality programmes so people stop throwing their televisions off the lookout.” he said.
