Ray Martin spruiks daughter Jenna's book on The Project

Caught a bit of The Project last night. It really is one of the most nauseating shows there are. As televisual emetics go, it's right up there with Q and A. But while the weekly ABC jawfest makes you queasy with its relentless, bloody-minded bias, it's the Network Ten production's chummy smugness that is so intensely vomitous.

Last night's episode was a perfect example of this. See, "journalistic legend" Ray Martin was on the show, along with his daughter Jenna, who's written a book that seems to have been inspired by living in the shadow of such a famous dad.

Before her appearance, Martin narrated a little segment about troubled celebrity "father-daughter" relationships, the implication being "but Princess Jenna and I are not like that at all". (And I'm sure that's true, by the way. She seems like a nice enough young woman and they're clearly very fond of each other.)

That said, I just found this brazen spruiking just so wrong in several ways -- the grotesque sense of entitlement being one of them. And there was Jenna's obvious excitement at being given this opportunity -- one denied to many far more talented young women lacking the good fortune to have such a well-known and well-connected father, by the way -- as well as the gleeful way she lapped up the obsequious attention from the panel and audience. I mean, wouldn't you be at least a tad ambivalent about this? Wouldn't you wanna do it all, or mostly, on your own steam?

Then there was Ray's creepy delivery. That voice. It's so robotic; so devoid of humanity. Drooling idiots may think it conveys a sense of authority and trust, but to anyone who can actually think it's like the aural equivalent of a Big Mac. It's dreary and bland even when he's narrating some newsworthy event. But now he was telling us about his own daughter -- who'd written a book that seemed to have a lot to do with her relationship with him. Yet his voice was exactly the same. Given that context, his vocal blandness became weirdly repellent. Made me shudder, actually.

The segment was also hugely hypocritical in light of the relentless attacks on Tony Abbott's daughters over alleged nepotism -- many of which I'm sure Ray and other leftie airheads on the show would find not at all unreasonable.

Have a look at the vid. If you don't find yourself gripped by the sudden urge to blow chunks I'll be very surprised.