Common Sense

###A First Look At Common Sense.

Premieres On Thursday, 6 July At 8.30pm

Common Sense is set to have the nation talking when the informative, insightful and entertaining news show premieres on Thursday, 6 July at 8.30pm on TEN and WIN Network.

From general news and the latest in politics to the worlds of sport and popular culture, Common Sense will bring genuine, immediate reactions from everyday Australians who collectively highlight the nation’s hilarious and unfiltered take on the world.

In the comfort of their own environment, the cast will draw from newspapers, radio, magazines, websites and social media to make sense of the week’s biggest and most interesting talking points.

Common Sense is the second jointly commissioned series between Foxtel and Network Ten, and follows on from the enormous success of Gogglebox, which launched in Australia in 2015 and has since won two TV Week Logie Awards.

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New promo tonight showed several more opinion-givers

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I watched the UK version, it’s nowhere near as good as Gogglebox

##australia Has Common Sense.

Meet The Ordinary Australians Making Sense Of News.

Premieres Thursday 6 July At 8.30pm.

Common Sense will set the nation talking when the informative and often hilarious news show debuts at 8.30pm on Thursday, 6 July on TEN and WIN Network.

Common Sense gives everyday Australians the chance to have their say, as they try to make sense of the week’s biggest and most interesting headlines.

Drawing from a range of media sources each week, the Common Sensers will tackle talking points such as the Margaret Court furore, a woman engaged at the age of 93 and Australia’s very own “Fake Trump”, Malcolm Turnbull.

The Common Sensers are hairdressing mums Nicki and Kathy; business partners Robert and Frank; removalists and best mates Brett and Lawrence; opinionated retirees Jean, Aileen and Ted; entrepreneurs and self-proclaimed pop culture junkies Helen and Sarah; cheeky real estate agents Jake and Ayden; markers Andre and Steve; the potato-selling Yip family of Darren, Trudi, Aileen and Matthew; mother-and-daughter team Lois and Michelle-Anne, along with Betty, all of whom are partners in a bra shop; and the quintessentially Aussie butchers Luke and Eric.

These everyday Australians will provide a light-hearted, honest and compelling hour of television.

###Meet The People Making Sense Of The News

A Closer Look At The Cast of Common Sense

Premieres Thursday 6 July At 8.30pm

The premiere season of the sensational topical news show Common Sense gives everyday Australians their chance to offer an unfiltered opinion of the week in news, when it kicks off on TEN and WIN Network at 8.30pm on Thursday, 6 July.

Common Sense features a cast of everyday people from 10 diverse environments across Australia discussing the news of the week and making sense of it all in a light-hearted, honest and hilarious way.

Guaranteed to get the nation talking, Common Sense is a joint production between Foxtel and Network Ten and from the makers of the acclaimed, award-winning Gogglebox.

###MEET THE COMMON SENSERS:

MICHELLE-ANN, LOIS AND BETTY BRA AND SWIMWEAR LADIES
MORNINGTON, VICTORIA

Glamorous mother and daughter duo, Lois and Michelle-Ann run a succesful bra and swimwear shop in Mornington, Victoria.

Betty is an employee and is one the shop’s chief bra fitters. Having served the local town for decades, the ladies are well-known to the local townsfolk and are well-versed in debating the local gossip and daily news with each other and the customers.

After hours, Michelle-Ann and Lois also run a quarter horse stud farm, where they breed cutting horses.

THE YIP FAMILY: DARREN, TRUDY, EILEEN AND MATT MARKET SELLERS
FLEMINGTON, NSW

The Yip Family are a Chinese-Australian family who sell vegetables at Sydney Markets. Trudi is the day-to-day manager of the company and working with her are her cousins Matt and Darren, as well as her Aunt Eileen.

Born in Australia, the Yips speak no Chinese and see themselves as Australians through and through. While prepping their produce, the news bulletins are regularly blasting from the radio at the warehouse, with the daily debate often helping them get through their long day.

BRETT AND LAURENCE REMOVALISTS
ABBOTSFORD, VICTORIA

Brett and Laurence are an Australian Bill and Ted with an infectious dose of intelligence, wit and goofiness. They are best mates who met on a shift at work one year ago and bonded over a mutual appreciation of AC/DC.

Originally from Wagga Wagga NSW, Laurence is a metal-head with big hair and bigger opinions. Brett is a mullet-wearing, big kid from West Australia with a wicked sense of humour. Both are avid news consumers and are often found debating and arguing about the state of the nation, as they lift and haul furniture around the city.

JEAN, AILEEN AND TED RETIREES
KEYSBOROUGH, VICTORIA

Jean, Aileen and Ted are a young at heart trio who live together in a retirement village outside Melbourne.

They meet daily to talk about the world while playing cards in the communal crafts room. Due to their life experiences, each has their own interesting story to tell, from first-hand accounts of the Depression to the tragedies of war.

Their curiousity about current world news means they are also the first to tackle the daily exploits of today’s celebrities and they have no issue in giving their take on the latest Kardashian exploits or celebrity court cases.

ROBERT AND FRANK FORMER BUSINESS PARTNERS
WOOLLAHRA, NSW

Robert and Frank are a fabulously posh, eccentric and incredibly witty duo. Both in their 70s, they have a cheeky and educated sense of humour that is both sharp and very charming.
Robert owns an exclusive fashion boutique in Sydney, while Frank refers to himself as an “urbanist” who advises on urban spaces.

The pair met in the late 1970s and soon became friends and business partners. Being older and wiser in their life experience, they have an eloquent way of explaining their views and opinions, which is incredibly entertaining and compelling to watch.

NIKKI AND KATHY HAIRDRESSERS
KOGARAH, NSW

Nikki and Kathy are lively Greek-Australian hairdressers. Kathy has owned Valet Salon for 20 years, having been a hairdresser since she was 14, while Nikki has been a stylist and manager at the salon for the past five years.

A married mum of three, Kathy has quite traditional views, especially on parenting. Nikki is a mum to two young boys and has a more carefree attitude to life and work, which can often cause lively debate.

Kathy watches breakfast television religiously and makes her kids watch so they can learn about the world. Instead, Nikki gets her news fix on her phone and on social media.

AYDEN AND JAKE REAL ESTATE AGENTS
MORNINGTON, VICTORIA

Ayden and Jake are archetypal young real estate agents, full of cheek and charm. They met when they started work on the same day at a real estate agency around 18 months ago. They describe themselves as the real Harry and Lloyd from Dumb And Dumber.

Ayden is the dreamer and Jake is the realist. Ayden has been living in Mornington since he was five and was raised by his single mother. Jake has lived in Mornington for two years.

LUKE AND ERIC BUTCHERS
GALSTON, NSW

Luke and Eric are likeable, straight-shooting butchers. Eric owns Eric’s Tender Meats and Luke is his friendly right-hand man. Eric is a traditional, friendly local butcher, having been in the industry for 25 years. He hired Luke six years ago and they have a delightful father-son relationship. Eric is a working, single dad and is often a second father figure to Luke. Luke is due to get married in August.

The shop radio has seen better days but never fails to pump out the daily news, which is a continual source of debate between the guys and their customers.

HELEN AND SARAH TECH CREATIVES
DOCKLANDS, VICTORIA

Sarah is the young, intelligent and lively CEO of tech company Girl Geek Academy and Helen is her equally vivacious employee.

The company encourages women “to learn technology, create start-ups and build more of the internet”. They have a boss and employee dynamic, but it is a relaxed one.

Helen has a background in cyber safety and is incredibly passionate about it. Sarah learned computer coding when she was five years old on a computer at school. Helen and Sarah mainly get their news from online sources and social media. Sarah also listens to a lot of podcasts.

STEVE AND ANDRE MARKETING CONSULTANTS
SYDNEY, NSW

Steve and Andre are marketing consultants and friends who met almost 30 years ago when they were booked to play a DJ set together.

Since then, they have run hospitality venues as well as forging careers as entrepreneurs and marketing consultants. They currently provide makeovers for businesses that need help to get back on their feet and become relevant.

TV news and current affairs watchers have plenty to scrutinise with lots of short grabs from network shows used in tonight’s premiere. Very small sample:

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Watching old people discuss sex and their genitals isn’t my idea of entertainment. Are they trying to be controversial in an attempt to attract some free publicity?

I dont see that as that controversial.

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I thought this show was okay but a lot of things were doing my head in.

Who watches videos on their phone midway through doing someones haircut? Why do the people getting a haircut not get involved in discussions like they would in the real world? How many times can a lady flick through the same rack of swimwear? Who reads the newspaper midway through cutting meat? Why don’t these stores get any customers? Etc etc.

I get the concept is meant to show everyday discussions but a lot of set ups just felt very forced and fake, when I’m sure they would just shoot each people’s weeks worth of material in one go. I don’t think the viewer cares if thats the case so they don’t need to pretend its not. They could have easily had some more realistic situations e.g have a bartender chatting to some regular customers, lunchtime discussions in a work kitchen etc. Of the ones in the episode I thought the elderly trio felt the most genuine.

Also this style show I think might be more suited to 30 mins. It was starting to drag towards the end.

Edit: Forgot to mention… did anyone else spot Kerri Anne Kennerly in tonight’s episode? I’m pretty sure it was her in one of those segway type shots in the posh man’s store towards the end of the episode. If it wasn’t her it looked very much like her.

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I lasted 10 minutes unfortunately. Bit of a snoozefest in my opinion. Just didn’t have the same magic Gogglebox has.

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You make some really good points there. This could have had potential but the casting is all off. Having more natural conversations with customers would have helped the show a lot.

There definitely should have been a taxi driver included, along with a barman, a cafe duo, and perhaps a high flying business couple who could have conversations on a flight each week.

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I tuned in fully expecting not to like this but found it quite good. I didn’t even think about the unreal aspects, recognising it as a TV show and not reality. Like Gogglebox, some were better than other. The real estate guys were a stand out (give them a show), looks like a fun office to work. The 3 older ones who sat watching TV were also surprisingly good - probably the most natural situation of any. I was prepared not to like them but they produced one of the best LOL moments and had some surprising opinions. This was despite not quite knowing what Twitter was (making comments with your phone was the explanation).

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I did enjoy it and I think it has potential.

I like the above ideas of incorporating a taxi driver or barman.

Who would the interact with - or would it be a monologue?

I think its pretty boring compared to Gogglebox. I can’t see this coming back after the first season if it doesnt improve dramatically.

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It wasn’t terrible but found it quite boring as others have said. I’ll keep watching - stories and chemistry could improve!

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I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Could definitely do with some work but can see it getting better with some slight changes

Do I think Common Sense will reach anywhere near Gogglebox-levels of ratings success for Lifestyle & Ten? Probably not. But judging by this week’s debut episode, it’s OK for what it is and does have the potential to improve.

The $64,000 question now is this: Will the Goggleboxers ever get to review Common Sense (the next season of Gogglebox will likely start after Common Sense finishes, so…) or would that be seen as “breaking the fourth wall” by the producers?

The producer has said no.

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