Television: Slick Aussie series wins on all fronts

Parris Goebel is notable for her single-minded belief in herself. Photo/File

I never caught the Aussie comedy /drama series RAKE first time round ... well damn it's good.

On TV One, Wednesday at 8.30pm ... what a satisfying show.

Ostensibly a law and order show that is funny and dramatic with a mordant wit, in its glorious writing, and spectacular acting.

You've got to give it to the Aussies when they come up with a great show, it's a "bewdy mate".

Every scene cleverly morphed into the next part of the story never missing a beat and keeping you glued to the next part of the action ... there was no time to dwell on other things during this show ... it was riveting, ballsy stuff.

While most of the characters, like most humans, were flawed, some utterly dysfunctional.

Our anti-hero New South Wales defence lawyer Cleaver Greene (Richard Roxburgh) is defending society's indefensible, he is the champion of lost causes ... he's wayward, irreverent, a pain-in-the-arse to his colleagues, family and friends and even slightly attractive to boot.

He's a terrier this boy, sharp faced, with a lopsided smile who traverses life and law with eager zeal and an often a misplaced faith in the law or his version of it.

The character development in this series is superb, there is nothing that smacks of mediocrity it wins on every front.

For me seeing it for the first time it was exciting watching all the elements of good TV making come together.

It was a great comfort considering there is so much garbage on the telly, particularly the relentless programming of reality shows, those numbing assaults on our senses ... again and again and again.

So it's a rave for RAKE from me for every incredible moment of its laugh-out-loud clever scripting often casting aspersions on the legal profession, showing it in a slightly surreal and often odd glory.

Last Saturday night on TV One at 7pm NZ Storywas the inspiring story of Auckland hip-hop dance and choreographer Parris Goebel.

This year, we've been celebrating the extraordinary successes of Lorde, our Samoan opera trio, O Sole3 Mio (Pene and Amitai Pati and cousin Moses McKay) ... well Parris Goebel is right up there.

From a little girl, Goebel was fixated on dance. She said she never entertained doing anything else, she was a dancer forever for her whole life.

Being able to witness her single-minded belief in herself was a gift. She's an inspiring talent this young woman.

Her ReQuest Dance Crew, an all-female hip-hop dance outfit from Auckland, formed in 2007, showed her sheer guts and determination to achieve.

They won twice in a row at the World Hip Hop Dance in LA and, just a year later, the talented choreographer and dancer Goebel was on her way.

She was hired as a choreographer for Jennifer Lopez's Dance Again world tour, and has never looked back.

Now I'm certainly not up on my hip-hop dance routines but even I know our Parris Goebel is a force to be reckoned with and is another fantastic talent putting New Zealand in the world spotlight.