At home with Julia. They moved The Lodge to Sydney?

And in breaking news, “Avatar” wasn’t actually filmed on Pandora, “Star Wars” wasn’t actually filmed on Tatooine, “Yes, Minister” wasn’t actually filmed in Parliament House, and the guy playing Pan from “Midsummer Night’s Dream” isn’t actually a pixie (he might be a fairy though).

“At home with Julia” is merely a vehicle for a Julia impersonator to provide us with a few chuckles through political parody and satire. It is not intended to be an accurate portrayal of Canberra. Realism and special effects do not substitute for good storytelling. In fact, ask any dramatic writer and they’ll tell you that realism often gets in the way of the story.

I watched it, I chuckled. I will watch it again.

madamcholet said :

I think it was a given that it wasn’t Canberra, but the confirmation for me was that the recycling bin that “Teapot” wheeled out had a red lid, so they hadn’t really done any research

Hah, I noticed the red lid bin as well

milkman said :

Who even watches this crap?

John Moulis?

Yeah the exterior shots of the lodge do annoy me a little. I also noticed the red lid on the bin. Would have been nice if some exterior shots were in Canberra.

No biggie, the show itself was pretty good I thought. There were lots of guffaws at the Caulfield residence.

Who even watches this crap?

troll-sniffer said :

Caught the first half so far, it’s just slightly better than I was expecting, ie quite watchable if the critical side of the persona is turned down in favour of the ‘just watch and enjoy’ mode.

It’s a bit of an ask to accept the Lodge when we know it so well but what choice did they have? The chosen house is actually quite a good replacement from most angles.

I agree – pretty good replacement, I thought. I was pleasantly surprised to find I quite enjoyed it! And it’s the first Gillard impression that didn’t have my cringing! I’ll watch again 🙂

Yeah, I was a bit irritated, why couldn’t they do it in Canberra or at least make it authentic? The grocery shop where Tim tried to buy aussie meat was, I imagine, meant to be Coles at Manuka but it wasn’t.

That said, it was a lot funnier than I expected, and with some pathos thrown in, too. The clown-fest of the independants turning up in a ute was bloody brilliant. Loved it. And mixing all the imported beers and pretending it was home-brew… looking forward to next week.

Caught the first half so far, it’s just slightly better than I was expecting, ie quite watchable if the critical side of the persona is turned down in favour of the ‘just watch and enjoy’ mode.

It’s a bit of an ask to accept the Lodge when we know it so well but what choice did they have? The chosen house is actually quite a good replacement from most angles.

I think it was a given that it wasn’t Canberra, but the confirmation for me was that the recycling bin that “Teapot” wheeled out had a red lid, so they hadn’t really done any research – not that seeing a red lid bothered me at all before anyone jumps on that comment and tells me to get over it. The kids hanging around outside was also pretty silly.

Overall I thought it was a good albeit obvious idea executed in a fairly average way. Not sure how they are going to fill more episodes – if they don’t come up with anything more than the bored house husband scenario.

I thought the mexican cleaner was an odd touch too.

In my time walking the corridors of power all the cleaners were indonesian.

sarahsarah said :

Also: it’s missing the red Protective Service car that’s often parked there.

Shhhhhhh….

Yeah, as a ‘berran it’s glaringly obvious it’s not Canberra but I wonder to the rest of Australia would even notice it?

Also: it’s missing the red Protective Service car that’s often parked there.

lol – I have never seen a group of kids casually waiting outside the lodge for a glimpse/casual chat with the PM – If kids where to loiter around the lodge I suspect they would be bailed up on anti-terroisim charges – teen reconnaissance gone wrong!