In our previous blog, we wrote about the launch of ABC Comedy, reviewed some of the new batch of Fresh Blood shows now available on iView and promised to review more Fresh Blood next time. Well, promise kept; here’s our thoughts on more of this year’s Fresh Blood… Why Are You Like This? Two annoying millennial... Read More »
Recently, there was an exciting announcement. The ABC said it was creating a new channel dedicated entirely to comedy, called ABC Comedy, on which they’d be airing a brand-new comedy tonight show, Tonightly with Tom Ballard. And, they’d be releasing heaps of new short-form comedy shows from new talent on iView under the Fresh Blood... Read More »
Press release time! Twenty sketch comedy teams have been selected as the 2017 recipients of Fresh Blood, the highly successful joint initiative between ABC and Screen Australia designed to unearth a new generation of comedic talent. Each team will receive $15,000 to create 3 x 3-5min sketches that will be released on iview in the... Read More »
Press release time! The Home of Australian Comedy gets some Fresh Blood this December Screening from Thursday 8th December on ABC2 and iview Monday, November 14, 2016 — The graduates of the inaugural Fresh Blood, will premiere on ABC iview and ABC2 this December following the three-year Screen Australia and ABC development initiative. The two,... Read More »
Press release time! SKIT BOX in production on WHAM BAM THANK YOU MA’AM for ABC’s FRESH BLOOD Tuesday, August 16, 2016 — Fresh off the back of worldwide viral sensation Activewear, Sydney based Skit Box have passed the halfway mark filming their Fresh Blood series Wham Bam Thank You Ma’am. This 6×30 minute sketch series has been... Read More »
In news that will surprise no-one – mostly because it seems to have been announced then ignored months ago – sketch comedy group Fancy Boy were one of the big winners out of the ABC’s Fresh Blood program: ABC has a new sketch comedy series in production, Fancy Boy, which was part of the Fresh... Read More »
Now more than ever, Australian comedy is built around winners and losers. No, this isn’t some convoluted lead-in to a discussion about the Logies: pretty much the only thing of interest to be said there is that The Project won stuff while The Weekly, aka the ABC’s attempt to clone The Project right down to... Read More »
It’s been a bit of a theme here these last few weeks: where has all the Australian comedy television gone? With the ABC having diverted funding ever-so-slightly from long-running comedy panel shows – which were shit, but were still technically comedy – to long-running shows that just happen to feature comedians, we’ve entered an age... Read More »
Ever get the feeling you’re running in place? That was Australian television comedy in 2015. Not just in the usual “the only way forward is to bring back Fast Forward” sense either, even though once again hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent in the firm belief that the only comedy “mainstream Australia” will embrace... Read More »
Okay, so we kinda sorta knew Aunty Donna’s pilot was going to be the pick of the Fresh Blood bunch. For one thing, their previous efforts have been funny; for another, they’re an actual comedy team who’ve been working together for years. How often do you see one of them these days? So their pilot... Read More »