By KARYN SCHERER
Goodness knows we could all do with our own personal money doctor.
Some of us could probably do with having one on call 24 hours a day, with home visits included as part of the service.
So a television programme devoted to dishing out advice on how to cure your money ills sounded like a good idea.
Shows focused on the folding stuff have been attempted before with varying degrees of ratings success.
With Money Doctor (tonight at 7.30 on TV One) it has obviously been decided to steer away from less-than-riveting viewing like analysing the sharemarket and concentrate on ... you guessed it, real people earning real money trying to solve real problems.
The practice nurse is Good Morning host Mary Lambie, who does her best to look authoritative despite her recent brush with a bottle of peroxide.
Patients so far have included a couple of "house junkies," an ATM addict, a shoe-loving shopaholic, and someone who appeared to have some kind of obsessive-compulsive disorder which meant he kept receipts from every single purchase he had ever made.
Things got off to an interesting start in the first episode when one of the house junkies confessed she hated being told what to do with her money.
"In fact, I hate people telling me what to do," she frowned. Uh-oh.
You also had to wonder about one of the financial physicians when he was shown driving what appeared to be a fairly expensive sports car, given that his advice included buying "the cheapest and most reliable car that your ego can live with."
Taking a leaf out of Target's book perhaps, there is the added interest of supposedly candid video footage of patients doing things they really shouldn't - like buying yet another black handbag when they already own 30 black handbags (yes, really).
It is an odd device but it does help to highlight one of the key rules of budgeting: being honest about your spending.
Unfortunately, though, by trying not to bore us with complicated information, Money Doctor risks doing the opposite - boring us with the blindingly obvious.
Not to mention putting us at risk of electrocution, by suggesting we put our credit cards in the toaster.
I, for one, would appreciate advice on how to manage my credit cards better, rather than simply melting them down.
Not that the programme can be accused of not practising what it preaches.
It certainly looks as if it's been made on the proverbial smell of an oily rag.
The only problem is, the rag is so well used there's no oil left. I mean, really, whose brilliant idea was it to use a Scrabble board with the words "money" and "doctor" interconnecting?
While Money Doctor does not quite tell viewers to take two aspirin and come back next week, a bigger research budget might have made for a more potent prescription.
TV: If we had a bit more money
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