Ok, everyone knows that I hate the commercial TV stations here in Australia with a passion. The watermarks, the disrespect for programmes, the disrespect for their viewers. But this was a new level of disrespect.

So, there I was Sunday night watching Channel 7′s coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics Closing Ceremony. And my, what a slog that was. Boring as bat shit.

Anyway, there was rumour of a kung fu display to come, so I decided to hang out until the end. There was no display.

Instead, there was Jackie Chan, singing with another Hong Kong legend, Andy Lau. I’d been hanging out all through the Olympics for Jackie, and finally, there he was!

Jackie Chan at the Beijing Olympics Closing Ceremony

And what did our Channel 7 commentators say? They didn’t even recognise him! The most recognisable Chinese face in the Western world, a martial arts legend, a Hong Kong actor with close ties to Australia where he lived for a number of years, and the Channel 7 commentators had no idea! What chance did Andy Lau have – I mean, the commentators would have had to have watched a non-English speaking movie to have seen him before. What were the chances of that?

Obviously the camera man recognised him, as there were quite a few close ups on Jackie. But even that wasn’t clue enough for our brainiac commentators. They just talked about how everyone was so relaxed and having fun.

What? All asians look the same?

Holy crap. For god’s sake would the government just revoke the free-to-air licences and let some competent people start up some new and relevant TV networks?!