The things we do for fame... Michelle Collins in Rock Rivals (ITV1)
Tonight sees the launch of Rock Rivals, starring Michelle Collins and Sean Gallagher. It's a behind-the-scenes drama about the making of an X Factor-style television show called - no surprises - Rock Rivals. From the makers of Footballers' Wives, it perfectly encapsulates the camp, glitzy ethos which made its predecessor such a ratings triumph. The involvement of Simon Cowell as a consultant should ensure that there's just enough "reality" to keep us interested without revealing too much.
But it's yet another television programme about television. Talk about a self-regarding industry. We've had a few studio-set dramas and comedies over the years but our schedules are positively crowded with them at the moment.
Less successful with viewers, but quite as obsessed with the comings and goings at a TV production company, is Moving Wallpaper. It's coming to the end of its first run on ITV1, and has already had a second series commissioned, but it was littered with babble about demographics and audience share - does the average viewer care?
Channel Five viewers can currently enjoy Tina Fey's brilliantly acerbic peek behind the cameras of an American topical comedy show in 30 Rock. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was launched around the same time in the US, but was axed after 16 episodes in its home country (we got to see all 22). Many deemed it too self-referential and pompous for its own good. Hello! We're talking about the television industry here. Have you heard how TV producers talk to each other? Well if you haven't, Studio 60 wasn't at all wide of the mark.
Every light entertainment show going now has a sister programme on a digital channel, foisting upon us footage of contestants rehearsing without their TV make-up. They keep telling us how it's done and they haven't even bothered to ask us if we want to know. It's like Paul Daniels showing us where he hides his rabbits.
Why does the industry find itself so fascinating? And is the industry wise to assume that the audience is equally interested? Rock Rivals begins tonight at 9pm on ITV1. If you're watching, why not pop back after the show and tell us what you thought of it?
