The view

The Age

Thursday November 12, 2009

Debi Enker

THE conventional wisdom still applies: we do love a wedding. Last week, Australian TV's first family, the Rafters, celebrated the marriage of Ben (Hugh Sheridan) to Melissa (Zoe Ventoura) and 2.07 million people tuned in to see them tie the knot.If not for the Melbourne Cup, it would have been the week's top-rating event. But even with the race (which drew 2.67 million viewers), the hallowed place of the Rafters in the TV universe was again affirmed.Through its second season, Packed to the Rafters has averaged 1.84 million viewers. Last year, it averaged 1.93 million, following a premiere that made it one of the most successful launches ever of a local drama.While the show has been an outstanding popular success, it shouldn't be forgotten that it was initially seen as a risk. Seven developed a series that wasn't about crime, cops, doctors or lawyers. A warm-hearted comedy-drama about an average suburban family, it was an enterprise loaded with potential for disaster.But the cast clicked from the get-go and while the show can be clunky �� in its production rather than its writing �� Rafters has successfully negotiated the biggest traps.Yes, it appears that we go for hatches, matches and dispatches: births, deaths and weddings can still be relied upon to boost ratings. For the Rafters, that means on to the next merry milestone. Stay tuned for the impending birth that will rock the show's original premise of empty-nesters coping with their adult children. And stand by for bringing up baby.