Australian Tumbleweeds

Remember the “good old days” of Australian comedy DVD releases, where extra features were a joke instead of actually containing more jokes? But as everyone who scored a copy of series 3 of The Librarians for Christmas now knows, All That’s Changed: not only does this particular slice of Aussie comedy hilarity contain a descent chunk of extra features (inc all of the Sir Robert Franklin clips and a couple of table reads, which is really going above and beyond the call of duty), but there’s also an easily found and highly enjoyable selection of Easter Eggs as well. Hurrah! Especially as one of those EEs consists of Tony Martin singing “US Forces” in the style of the Federal Environment Minister.

The reason why Tony Martin’s getting all the thanks here – it’s a Gristmill production, after all – is down to a): his near-constant presence in those extras, and b): a scene where Robyn Butler and Wayne Hope basically say “is that going to be enough extras to keep Tony happy?” Yes, it seems that Tony’s love of DVD extras isn’t just part of his comedy persona, it’s reached out into the real world – and we’re all the better for it.

Of course, some may point to the amazing amount of extras available on Chris Lilley’s DVDs. And sure, hour upon hour of deleted scenes seems pretty impressive there. But let’s be honest: you’re not getting Lilley doing commentary on any of his shows, are you? All you’re getting are the plentiful offcuts from a filming process that generates deleted scenes at the same rate as a ACA “special report” on youth crime churns out cliches.

No, it’s Mr Martin who we (mostly) have to thank for the current golden age of DVD extras… or we do until we realise The Chaser aren’t too shabby with the DVD extras either. Ditto John Safran. And those Micallef P(r )ogram(me) DVDs… ah heck, just forget we said anything…

(The Librarians s3 DVD does have some excellent extras though)

Don’t forget to cast your vote in the Australian Tumbleweeds 2010. You have until 31st December 2010 to register your votes and snarky comments at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/tumbliesvotes.

While there hasn’t yet been an official announcement – and who knows, the way things work these days there may never be one – it seems increasingly likely that we have, finally, seen the last of Hey Hey it’s Saturday. It’s a result that should surprise no-one capable of rational thought: for all the cheering from the peanut gallery when Hey Hey moved to a Saturday timeslot after frankly disastrous ratings on a Wednesday night, a Saturday timeslot didn’t make it any cheaper to make and made it a lot harder to attract enough viewers to make it worthwhile. After all, viewers on a Saturday don’t count double ratings-wise.

For some reason, many Hey Hey fans couldn’t figure this out. Seemingly driven entirely by nostalgia cut free from any real-world constraints, they asserted that once Hey Hey was back on Saturday nights its long-lost audience would somehow rise from the dead to watch it in droves before heading out for a big night at The Chevron or The Metro (feel free to add further early 90s nightclubs as appropriate). They were wrong. Very, very wrong. So wrong in fact that anyone who joined the “bring back Hey Hey” Facebook page should be banned from any job requiring decision-making skills for the rest of their now-meaningless lives.

But it’s not entirely their fault. Strong ratings for the first few episodes of Hey Hey this year suggest that people actually do want to see live entertainment and comedy on in prime time – they just didn’t want to see the same old crap Daryl Somers has been serving up since 1992. The success of the 2009 reunion specials was so obviously down to nostalgia even mainstream TV writers picked up on it: why Nine let Daryl return with 20 episodes virtually unchanged from the show that was axed due to low ratings a decade earlier would be a mystery if not for the fact that the networks are always pulling bonehead moves like that.

As for Daryl… who gives a shit? He’s already proved he doesn’t give a shit about his viewers, constantly talking about the ways he was going to make Hey Hey into a new and more attractive show before he got on air, then claiming the fans would riot if he made a single change once he was back. Yep, Celebrity Head was that big a cultural icon. Well, in one particular “celebrity” head at least.

If you’re an Hey Hey fan, ask yourself this: by bringing back basically the same show that had been axed, what did Daryl think had changed since 1999? By the mid-1990s Hey Hey’s best years were obviously behind it, the hilarious segments and quirky sketches and a general feeling that anything could happen replaced by drawn out banter that went nowhere, Daryl convulsing with laughter at jokes no-one else found all that funny, and a man in a duck suit running around in circles for minutes on end before dry humping some stage equipment. Yep, a million people every week were going to turn their backs on downloading the latest overseas comedy and YouTube clips of wacky pranks to check that shit out in 2010.

Let’s be blunt: from day one it was obvious that Daryl felt his show was stolen from him in its 27-year-prime when it was axed the first time and by putting to air the exact same show (ok, he tinkered around the edges) in 2010 he hoped to prove these nameless executives wrong once and for all. Well, he sure showed them. Bet they’re still smarting from that one. Ouch.

So Hey Hey’s done: why dredge up the past? Well, for one thing because the past just might be repeating itself. When Hey Hey was grinding to a halt the first time, Nine – wanting to keep the variety show crown that Hey Hey had helped them hang onto for decades – commissioned a bunch of new shows hosted by promising talent. For a brief moment, it looked like Nine seriously wanted to get into the comedy business, with shows from the then-unknown but promising Rove McManus and the critically successful Mick Molloy and Shaun Micallef. Hurrah!

And then it all went wrong. Rove and Micallef’s shows lasted one series; Molloy’s show was axed after eight episodes. After that Nine gave up on comedy for the most part, handing the variety crown to the various Footy Shows. It’s not that hard to see why either: Nine’s “corporate culture” (for want of a better word) likes its comedy and variety broad, blokey, and obvious – Sam Newman in a dress / Warnie talking to his mates stuff. Hey Hey delivered that by the bucketload: whatever their flaws, Rove, Micallef and Molloy aren’t the types to let a blackface act on their shows.

So around the turn of the century you had a situation where the network was still comfortable with the Hey Hey style but the viewers increasingly weren’t there. The network’s replacements were all shows they didn’t really like, and when the ratings weren’t massive out the gate they each got the axe. Ten years later, and what has Nine lined up for 2011 light entertainment-wise? Ben Elton’s got a talk show, John Clarke’s doing a new series of The Games, and Tony Martin and Ed Kavalee are doing a show making fun of television called (currently) The Joy of Sets. See where this is heading? Anyone think any of those shows will get the 20 episode commitment Hey Hey got?

We’ve said numerous times on this blog that the reason why we hate on the bad as well as praise the good is because Australian television comedy is a zero-sum game. There are only so many timeslots to go around, and every time a bad show gets one a good one is pushed out of the way. So while some might say 2011 looks like a great year for local comedy thanks to Nine’s promising line-up, it’s just as important to realise that 2010 was a shit year because the resources that might have gone into three promising shows instead went into a pointless revival of a proven turd.

Idiots often say “if you don’t like it, don’t watch it”; we say “what are we supposed to watch instead?” Having Hey Hey it’s Saturday back in 2010 meant that we couldn’t watch a bunch of new or different shows we really might have liked, because its return meant they did not exist. Make no mistake, we’re celebrating its demise now. But those suckholes in the media that talked it up beyond any reasonable level and those chumps on the internet who demanded its return shouldn’t get away scott free. A “we were wrong” note in the local paper would be a good place to start.

Don’t forget to cast your vote in the Australian Tumbleweeds 2010. You have until 31st December 2010 to register your votes and snarky comments at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/tumbliesvotes.

This time of year usually signals the start of a two month-long drought of repeats and programmes too bad to be broadcast during the ratings season. But in a surprise move both ABC1 and The Comedy Channel have launched new panel shows in the past week.

You can see the thinking behind it. 2010 has seen a number of panel shows premiere to great hype and then be swiftly axed. In the relatively low pressure environment of the summer, new shows should have an easier run.

Not that they necessarily need the help. ABC1′s offering, The Trophy Room, is basically a sports version of Spicks & Specks. Sport’s something a lot of people like, Spicks & Specks is something a lot of people like – how could it fail to run for years?

Like Spicks & Specks, The Trophy Room seems to have been designed with a variety of audiences in mind. The very knowledgeable and the almost novice can all find questions to answer in the quiz rounds, and if you didn’t enjoy that don’t worry, there’ll be a wacky party game along any second now.

Apart from that, the team captains are inoffensive, host Peter Helliar manages to get some laughs, guest panellist and very good friend of the Tumblies Sam Simmons was quite entertaining, and there are some nice little sporting touches like oranges being brought out at half time and spoof post-match interviews with the panellists running during the credits.

The problem with The Trophy Room is it’s just not that exciting. Like Spicks & Specks it’s destined to be the sort of show you don’t dislike, but don’t watch religiously. Or at all, unless someone you really like’s on.

A better watch, if laughs are your priority, is The Comedy Channel’s Statesmen of Comedy. Hosted by Trevor Marmalade this is a very light-touch panel show which is more about the chat than the games. Three comedians talk about various topics for most of the show and there’s a quick quiz at the end where the winner gets a slab.

What made the the first episode work was the chemistry. Host Trevor Marmalade and guests Shane Bourne, Jane Kennedy and Tim Smith all know and like each other, meaning the chat and the laughs flowed easily. This is quite a feat for a brand new show, as well as a useful reminder of the importance of good casting.

You can’t just stick a bunch of different people behind a desk and expect the good times to roll. Great comedy’s about timing and chemistry, and generally involves a small group of people who understand each other, working together to get laughs.

According to TV Tonight upcoming episodes of Statesmen of Comedy will feature Glenn Robbins, Jason Stephens & Greg Fleet, and Peter Rowsthorn, Rachel Berger & Anthony Morgan. They sure sound like good trios – could this be the surprise comedy hit of summer?

Don’t forget to cast your vote in the Australian Tumbleweeds 2010. You have until 31st December 2010 to register your votes and snarky comments at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/tumbliesvotes.

The nominations have been counted, the donkey votes weeded-out and the attempts at vote-rigging discarded (we’re naming no names, but let’s just say the attempts to skew the results in a particular way were screamingly obvious…partly because they were completely out of step with how most people were nominating).

That aside, we now move on to voting. Head to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/tumbliesvotes to make your choices.

As usual we’re inviting you to comment on your choice in each category. The best comments will appear in our glittering awards ceremony to take place on or about Australia Day.

Voting closes on 31st December 2010. One vote each, please. Votes from obvious fraudsters will be discarded.

With voting now under way we will resume blogging, although only about shows and people not up for an award. Look out for our incisive views on The Chaser’s 2010 Annual Eat, Pray, Vomit very soon. In fact here they are…

Meh.

And don’t forget to fan us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. You can tweet your whatever about Tumblies 2010 using the hashtag #tumblies, and follow the lucky nominees on our almost pointless Twitter list.