Secret Life a soakie

LOGIE-winning television drama The Secret Life of Us collected another, less coveted, prize yesterday.

The Australian Drug Foundation awarded the show its inaugural "Boozie", for excessive and inappropriate displays of alcohol.

Foundation research shows one in four scenes in the show's first series featured alcohol.

Foundation spokesman Geoff Munro said one especially boozy episode featured plonk in 45 per cent of scenes.

"It showed the characters sitting around waiting for dinner surrounded by 18 empty-looking bottles, which seemed excessive," he said.

An episode that featured grog in only 11 per cent of scenes didn't get the foundation's tick of approval either -- because it showed characters using ecstasy.

Mr Munro said the foundation's analysis of 22 episodes showed none of the show's characters abstained from booze.

"The show tries to be realistic about young adult lives… but in real life about 20 per cent of people don't drink," he said.

"The show is an advertising dream for the alcohol industry.

"The writers ought to use their imagination and find other ways of showing characters relaxing or coping with pressure without resorting so often to the bottle."

Mr Munro said a previous study of six prime-time Australian programs screened in 1997 found only 3.4 per cent of scenes referred to alcohol.

The foundation's research covered only the first series, for which the show won nine Logie nominations.

"We haven't done a complete analysis of the second series, but the product placements seem to be even more blatant," he said.

"There was one episode where a character was drinking in the shower."

A spokesman from The Secret Life of Us was unavailable for comment last night.

By FIONA HUDSON
April 29, 2002
Herald Sun