What's the opposite of saying "I read it for the articles"?

Is it something like John Howard saying he likes Bob Dylan for the tunes but not the lyrics?

It's something I ponder each time I tune in to ABC1's The 7.30 Report. Effectively I watch it because I value decent current affairs reportage (and as we all know, there's not a whole lot of that going around on Australian television).

But the main reason I do is for reasons I'm sure plenty of Australians share with me: Kerry O'Brien is a fox.

It all began back in my late teens when Mum would bound into the living room at 7.28pm each weeknight, murmering things like "Mmm, Kerry" as she settled in for half an hours' worth of Walkley-standard broadcast journalism.

And of course that's the main appeal of Aunty's mega-babe: his brain. His face may be taking on a touch more of the crinkled Robert Redfords these days, but his mind is as sharp as ever. (Jesus, I make him sound like he's 96.)

There's nothing more energising than watching O'Brien go in to bat against some numbskull politician or dipshit celeb, but when he's matched with someone of similar wit, it's televisual heaven.

Remember when he had Paul Keating on?



It was the journalistic/political equivalent of the URST between Bradley Cooper and McSteamy in Valentine's Day.

In fact one of life's great tragedies was that Rachel Ward got George Negus - as the ABC representative - to drop trou' for her Full Monty-esque 'Aussies Without Cossies' fundraiser back in 1998.

Thanks to the magic of the internet, however, we can still enjoy the shot of O'Brien giving his former colleague shit:


(click to enlarge)

You know, because I reckon given the chance, Kerry would've dropped his dacks with the best of them. After all, he's a feisty sort:



It's true that in objectifying Kerry I run the risk of both making myself look supremely stupid ("Duh, I watch it for the babes!") and also doing a disservice to his continually excellent services to the journalistic arts.

But I don't care.

My father was fond, back in the day, of saying that the ABC had wisely designed their current affairs line-up to provide "Kerry for the mums, and Maxine McKew for the dads".

Sadly for dad, Maxine's famously moved on (though there are plenty of potential replacement TV paramours in her stead), but for mum and I and just about every other red-blooded Australian - for now, at least - we'll always have Kerry.