So, exactly how much of this week’s episode of Jonah from Tonga was just a bunch of schoolboy dickheads running around hiding from authority figures? We’re not saying that kind of thing can’t be funny; we are saying that when you’re Chris Lilley and the only string you have to your comedy bow is your... Read More »
“Fuck You, Kevin.” And with Ed Kavalee’s joke about the title of Julia Gillard’s forthcoming memoir, we had pretty much the only reason why Have You Been Paying Attention? was airing at 9.30pm. Ok, there was also a rush of jokes about Mick Molloy’s scrotum at around 10.35pm which probably justified the late night timeslot,... Read More »
Wow, Jonah really is stirring up some serious shit: A new Australian television comedy about a rebellious Tongan teenager has been condemned as “self indulgent” and “deeply offensive” to Pacific Islanders. Chris Lilley’s six-part ABC TV comedy series Jonah From Tonga follows the life of a 14-year-old schoolboy and his run-ins with family, friends and... Read More »
We don’t always talk up upcoming shows unless they fill us with a sense of dread but this one snuck up on us: Dirty Laundry Live is back! Yes, the only survivor (to date) from the 2013 round of panel shows returns tomorrow night on ABC2 to deliver the same mix of celebrity gossip and... Read More »
The most recent series of Adam Zwar’s Agony wrapped up this week and… yeah. Don’t get us wrong, we watched it each week – ok, we had it on in the background each week, but we seriously meant to watch it. Apart from that one week we fell asleep during it. That counts as a... Read More »
And Jonah From Tonga isn’t a show which requires or demands your absolute concentration, it’s basically a series of scenes in which Jonah and his gang bully other kids in the school and exchange toilet humour-peppered barbs with other... Read More »
First you have this*: Regardless of the content of the show, simply by choosing to wear ‘racial drag’ Lilley has put his work in the company of pieces of entertainment history as regrettable as the Al Jolson Minstrel Show. Yet for the most part we seem at peace with one of Australian TV’s favorite sons... Read More »
Press release time! AUSTRALIA BINGES ON A PUCKLOAD OF JONAH! The ABC created an Australian first for audiences, serving up the ultimate binge-fest with Chris Lilley’s series JONAH FROM TONGA having its world premiere on ABC iview in a weekend-long event. With the ABC initiative replicated in the UK by BBC Three, the binge... Read More »
For one weekend only, the ABC have made available for streaming all six episodes of Chris Lilley’s new series Jonah from Tonga. We’ll be honest: we couldn’t make it all the way through. Here’s why: ‘Most of my characters never change as [a series] goes along,” says Lilley. ”There’s a familiar structure to television where... Read More »
If there was ever a time when the Logies wasn't dishing out awards to undeserving winners, we'd like to go there. Seriously, they declared that Housos was the Outstanding Light Entertainment Program of... Read More »