Australian Tumbleweeds
Question Everything? Don’t Mind If We Do
Question Everything is useless. Every single thing it tries to do, something else does better. And that includes “giving Wil Anderson something to do outside of his stoner podcast”, because it’s not like they’re ever going to stop making Gruen.
Of course, we’re just pissing into the wind here. Now into its fourth season, Question Everything is the last show standing after that brief flurry of activity where the ABC decided it wanted back into the panel chat / quiz show game. You don’t remember that Question Everything used to be a quiz show? And not just one where every single answer was “get this shit off”?
The big problem Question Everything faces is that it is currently the third news clip comedy show of the week on Australian television. Third as in timing, third as in quality: it is not essential viewing. Have You Been Paying Attention? is top shelf. The Cheap Seats soaks up the crumbs. Then you get Question Everything, showing the same clips again only with shittier jokes.
You’d think this would be kind of awkward for the ABC. They hardly make any local comedy as it is: duplicating the commercial networks so blatantly ain’t a good look. So why bother?
The real reason they can get away with it is pretty obvious. ABC viewers only watch the ABC. All the clips you’ve seen used elsewhere? Brand spanking new to them. Unfortunately, this would be somewhat embarrassing for the ABC to admit – they’re supposed to be pulling in new audiences, remember. So there has to be another reason why they’re making a show that just duplicates what we’ve already had two hours of earlier in the week.
Enter “The Next Up Initiative“, which is like The Avengers Initiative only it leads directly to the dole queue:
Most people probably aren’t familiar with ‘The Next Up Initiative’. Can you give us a brief explanation of what it’s about?
One of the broader aims of the show (Question Everything) is to give less experienced comedians a chance to get a start in the industry.
I have always admired the way producers like the team at Good News Week or the legends at Working Dog have tirelessly tried to encourage new and diverse talent.
At Question Everything we have an intern program for emerging writers to give them experience of what it is like to work in a TV writing room, combined with a program to give newer comedians panel experience in a TV studio.
In practical terms what that means is each week, as well as the episode of Question Everything that goes to air, we run another version of the show with different panellists (the only difference being that there is no studio audience).
This gives comedians the chance to be in a studio, making a show, and see how it all works without it being the pressure of their first TV appearance.
We have used that process to bring new guests to the show, but also to hopefully provide comics with studio and writing experience that they can take to other opportunities outside our world.
Which raises the question: why bother broadcasting Question Everything?
Seriously, and putting aside our usual snark and outright hostility for once, but doesn’t this sound like a scheme that doesn’t actually require them to make Question Everything? The new talent isn’t getting a shot on the actual show that goes to air. Oh no: they’re working on a practice show out the back that doesn’t even have a studio audience.
If you just want to train new talent on something you’re not going to air, why not just do the fake show? It’d be a shitload cheaper for starters. And if you want to give new talent real experience, why not get them to work on the real show*? Anderson says he admires the way Working Dog helps new talent. Maybe he could follow their lead and actually employ new talent on his show? You know, give them real credits they can put on their resumes?
Of course, there’s always the chance that the new talent might not be quite as polished as the regular panelists. Which would be a problem for Anderson, because the entire schtick of the show is sneering at other shows for not being as good as the version of Question Everything that exists only in his head. When Working Dog pulls up a clip for a laugh, the laugh is usually because something funny happens. When Question Everything does it, the laugh is usually “look at this shit”.
Which is why having Wil Anderson hosting a new talent showcase makes no sense. He might be a top bloke away from the cameras, but on-camera? His entire comedy persona on the ABC is built around a kind of snarky one-upmanship that means he always has to have the last laugh. Other people get to say things on his shows, but he’s the one who swoops in with the big joke. Is Jan Fran still on this show?
In contrast Shaun Micallef, AKA that other ABC fixture who’s been speaking out recently about the need to nurture new comedians, has put two shows to air in 2024 where he’s played second fiddle to – hang on, this can’t be right – new comedians? The guests on Eve of Destruction and Origin Odyssey may not be complete unknowns, but a lot of them aren’t getting that kind of prime time push anywhere else on free-to-air television. And Micallef, as host and interviewer, is clearly doing what he can to present them in the best light.
Meanwhile, Wil Anderson is hiding them out the back making a show that isn’t going to air. But at a guess, involving the new talent with the real show would suggest that they might actually be able to have a career doing comedy on the ABC.
And that’s a position currently reserved for Wil Anderson.
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*some of the back room talent does graduate to the real show, which is great but doesn’t really answer the question of why a show that’s meant to be a new talent showcase won’t put new talent to air until after they’ve spent a few months in Wil Anderson’s comedy boot camp
Bask in more Tasks
Taskmaster is back for the second time this year, but is the second time the charm? Or the third time, given this is the third series of Taskmaster Australia.*
On paper, this is a strong cast, featuring popular and successful comedians from several generations: Peter Helliar, Rhys Nicholson, Mel Buttle, Aaron Chen and Concetta Caristo. But as always, it’s the format that lets it down, with many of the laughs coming from the post-task wash-up rather than the task itself.
Not that they aren’t trying. Strapping four yoga balls to the contestants as they play Tetris with giant blocks sounds like it’ll be heaps funny but sadly doesn’t result in a lot of laughs. In the end, it’s people trying to get some differently shaped blocks to form a square, and that involves seriously thinking through the problem, whether they’re wearing four yoga balls or not.
The same thing applies to the task where they have to hide traffic cones around the Taskmaster estate for Deputy Taskmaster Tom Cashman to find. Sure, there’s a kind of comic chaos as the comedians chuck the cones into the lake or wherever, but there are also lots and lots of better ways to make an audience laugh.
Filming an emotional scene on a drone was pretty funny, with Aaron Chen making a bizarre black-and-white German drama and Peter Helliar donning a dress and an unconvincing ginger wig to remake Saving Private Ryan. And doing the most epic wink also saw Aaron Chen excel, as an oddly charming dictator delivering a cheeky wink to the crowd from the balcony. But for every task which gives the contestants opportunities to be funny and creative, there’s also a lot of padding, and not of all of it was Taskmaster Tom Gleeson’s funny takedowns of their efforts back in the studio.
Taskmaster is one of those shows where the madness of having to make your bed whilst in it is framed as an acceptable substitute for well-thought-out, guaranteed-to-make-you-laugh material. It gives more of a chance for the comedians to actually do comedy rather than, say, having to spell some words, but it’s a way less satisfying or funny watch than a good sitcom or sketch show would be.
And while “shows the whole family can enjoy” are a good thing to have on free-to-air TV, it’d be nice if our comedians could do something other than this kind of thing. You know, the kind of thing where they have to do a thing which isn’t being funny.
* This is technically the second series of Taskmaster Australia as it was shot before the series which aired earlier this year. There are a bunch of theories about why the order was swapped, but the fact that the cast of this series is better known than the cast of the second series to air seems to have been a factor. There’s also a fourth series coming next year, which was shot last month.
Vale the ABC’s Current Wednesday Night Comedy Line-Up
Shaun Micallef’s Eve of Destruction went out the same way it came in: as a relatively engaging, definitely low-stakes talk show that managed to be utterly inessential viewing even by the standards of the genre. It wasn’t bad television, but was it really prime time television? Oh wait, it was on in the Hard Quiz slot. Hang on a second while we dial our expectations all the way down.
There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with watching a couple of people have a decent chat. Especially when one of them’s Shaun Micallef, a man whose interviews skills have come a long way since the heady days of Micallef Tonight – a great tonight show where the interviews were never a strong point.
Now though? He’s keeping things on track but knowing when an aside is worth following up, maintaining a light touch and going for the laughs when they’re there while showing a real interest in the more serious side of things (and drawing a decent tree besides). Australia’s top television interviewer? Well, he’s looking better than most of our “serious” journalists, that’s for sure.
And yet, it’s still just a talk show, and a lightweight one at that. Either Australian television needs two or three of these shows running away quietly in the background as part of a healthy media environment, or ditch them entirely and put what little resources they consume into something with more substance. We’re not holding our breath for either – but we would like to see Micallef back doing something closer to comedy before the Destruction finally gets here.
*
Guy Montgomery’s Guy Mont-Spelling Bee is a bit of a tricky one to pass judgment on. And yet here we are: let’s give it a crack. With a risky mix of comedy and what is pretty much the exact opposite of comedy, this seemed like the kind of show that would appeal both to comedy buffs and the boring quiz-obsessed stiffs who seem to compose most of the ABC’s audience these days. And yet!
It was hardly a surprise that the spelling stuff was played for laughs. Didn’t always get them, because spelling is boring. But the show’s commitment to complicated and firmly comedic set-ups for the various challenges really hammered home the idea that no, this was in no way a serious spelling competition. Suck it quiz show fans.
So comedy was the big winner, right? Depends what you mean by comedy. If you mean “a bunch of mates laughing at each others jokes and the general silliness of the show around them”, then yes. Comedy – in the form of the comedians on the show – won big. If you mean the audience at home got some good laughs, bad news.
Look, there were a lot of funny moments across the eight weeks. But way too often, the show felt like the kind of thing that’d be hilarious to watch happen live in front of you but didn’t quite translate that excitement to the folks at home. Comedians cracking up at their own jokes (or the jokes of the person next to them) is nice, but it tends to leave the audience shut out. If these guys are doing all the laughing, what’s left for everyone else?
Which, funnily enough, brings us back to Eve of Destruction. Micallef is pretty much the local master of the silly game show. Nobody’s excited about the idea of Talkin’ ’bout Your Generation coming back without him, even if that final season on Nine didn’t quite work. On that show, and on Eve as well, he’s always fully aware of the audience. When everyone else is getting wrapped up in their own witty japes, he’s the one pulling things back.
Micallef can and does do a lot of funny things on the seemingly endless run of shows with his name in the title, but he’s also always the host. His job is to make sure everyone – audience included – has a good time. If that means standing a little apart from the hilarity, that’s where you’ll find him.
Guy Montgomery’s a very funny guy. So is everyone else on the show: the big selling point was a relentless, freewheeling, anything can happen vibe. How else could you make a spelling bee funny week after week? And it was the contrast between the vibe and the dull-arse subject matter that made it work as well as it did. Not enough vibe? All you have is a spelling bee. If you put that much vibe into a comedy set-up? You get a big old mess – as proven by any number of wacky random lol shows over the history of television.
And yet, once you got past the whole “I can’t believe what I’m watching here” thing, Guy Montgomery’s Guy Mont-Spelling Bee was still a spelling bee. It was an extremely well done, one joke show: “what if a spelling bee was as funny as humanly possible”. And now we know. Thanks.
Mind you, Aaron Chen sure can riff with the best of them.
Buried
The new web series Buried is marketed as a comedy about being a mother, but before you start having flashbacks to The Letdown, stop. Buried, it turns out, is an entertaining and occasionally funny horror.
Abi Cohen (Miriam Glaser), a stressed-out single mum of two, is trying to get her primary school-aged daughter Rosa (Audrey O’Sullivan) to school when a cyclist (Alex Yakimov) almost runs Rosa down. What follows is a pretty standard driver-cyclist interaction: Abi gives him a blast for not watching the road, he cycles off not caring what she thinks, and Abi gets into the car and off they go to school. Except whilst taking a shortcut, she encounters the cyclist again. And accidentally kills him.
With baby Leo (Hazel Howe) in the backseat crying, and Rosa moaning that she’ll be late for school, Abi feels she has no choice but to dispose of the cyclist’s body as quickly as possible. But it’s not as simple as popping him into the boot and driving out to the bush with a shovel, Abi has to dodge a seeming obstacle course of other people, who all threaten to uncover the secret she’s trying to bury.
Buried has a classic horror/thriller plot but set in the everyday world of solo parenting and suburban mores, and it ratchets up the tension well. Louise Siversen (Prisoner, The Games), Alicia Gardiner (Deadloch), Genevieve Morris (No Activity) and Michael Faaloua Logo (Colin from Accounts) are just some of the well-known performers playing characters who almost work out what Abi’s up to. Heather (Eliza Matengu) is another memorable person for Abi to dodge. She’s the mum at the school gate who seems to have it all – and be able to do it all – except she’s got a secret too.
Running over 5 x 7 minutes-long episodes, Buried far from outstays its welcome, leaving you wondering what might happen if this became a full 6 x 25 minutes series. It also leaves you wondering why so many people making comedy hybrid shows always seem to pair comedy with drama, leading to mostly disappointing results (In Limbo, Austin, White Fever… you know the kind of shows we’re talking about).
Horror pairs far better with comedy than drama, partly because it’s not meant to be serious and partly because, like comedy, it’s pretty good at surfacing ordinary human anxieties. So, maybe one of the shots in the arm that Australian screen comedy needs is less comedy-drama about suicide and “finding yourself”, and more comedy-horror involving ordinary people with chainsaws?
Puppet for destruction
Randy Feltface, sometime collaborator with Sammy J on shows like Sammy J & Randy in Ricketts Lane, has a new radio series on BBC Radio 4, Randy Feltface’s Destruction Manual (available in Australia on BBC Sounds). And while putting a puppet on the radio seems like a funny idea out of the blocks, the UK has plenty of form in that department already, so the laughs do not start and end there.
Randy, it seems, is a climate contrarian, and far from wanting to save the planet from global warming, he wants to speed up our inevitable destruction. So, he invites climate deniers and climate warriors onto the show to find out how he can get more carbon monoxide spewed into the atmosphere, so we can all stop worrying and be put out of our misery.
But as bleak as that the set-up sounds, this acerbic and ironic look at the discourse around climate change is actually pretty funny. When Randy starts digging into the views of climate deniers, he ends up kind of siding against them…not that the climate warriors get off lightly – they’re shown to be fairly ridiculous too.
Along the way, there are a few gags which we could probably do without – including a hoary old joke about how hoary and old Mick Jagger is (is there a comedian who hasn’t done one of those?) and some material about silly English town names (again, many comedians have trodden that path) – but overall, there’s enough fresh and original material in Randy Feltface’s Destruction Manual to keep you laughing throughout the four episodes.
It’s Time to Hit the Road: Shaun Micallef’s Origin Odyssey
Now that Shaun Micallef’s entered the “not trying to be funny” stage of his career with Eve of Destruction and now Origin Odyssey, it’s time to ask: is there anything here for comedy fans? Sure, it features comedians each week. So did that Julia Zemiro show where they did burnouts in a parking lot and nobody was laughing there.
After watching the first episode we can safely say that… maybe? There’s definitely some funny moments in this first episode, where Micallef takes Aaron Chen – in only his second show airing Tuesday nights at 7.30, what with him also being in the new series of Taskmaster over on 10 – back to China. There they visit a bunch of places associated with his father’s ten years working on a pig farm due to a Chinese cultural policy they’re not allowed to mention.
Micallef’s voice over is in no way dry and humourless, and there’s more than one decent gag built around odd street signs. Chen is a funny guy too: the bit where Micallef suggests some bland platitude is a good guide to life and he snaps back “maybe your life” is possibly the funniest thing on Australian television this week. And this is the week The Cheap Seats introduced us to the concept of “the wanket”.
But this is basically a mash-up of a bunch of different formats. There’s the tried and tested “comedians go on holiday, do dumb stuff” one, right down to an opening featuring dueling Trump impressions that could almost have come out of Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon’s epic salute to / takedown of the genre The Trip. There’s also a hefty chunk of “comedians explore their family tree, are confronted with the past” mixed in, especially during the back half.
This stretch is a lot lighter on laughs. It’s not exactly tear-jerking stuff, but Chen is clearly taking a few emotional knocks being confronted with the physicality of what his father went through. He also gets to hang with a bunch of relatives. Which is nice and also occasionally feels like Micallef is hosting an outdoors version of This Is Your Life.
The dynamic will be different with different comedians – Wippa next week seems closer to being Micallef’s peer, in age if not comedic ability – but here the vibe is very much “Chen’s comedy dad is taking him on an emotional journey”. Chen even points out that he’s roughly the same age as Micallef’s oldest son. Can Micallef paint as well as Chen’s real dad? If so, get those adoption papers ready.
This burst of dad vibes – “avuncular” is probably the technical term – isn’t something we’ve seen a lot of from the previously ageless Micallef. To be honest, it’s probably not great comedy-wise. His particular style of comedy has always relied on energy and a certain intellectual silliness: a laconic John Clarke style humourist he is not. Possibly he’ll find a way to make being the nation’s well-meaning dad funny; possibly there’s still a bit more gas left in the tank. But here at least, the old Micallef is taking a back seat and a newer yet older Micallef is to the fore.
As we find ourselves saying a lot these days; this is good television, but it isn’t exactly good comedy. It’s not trying to be. In this post Mad as Hell period Micallef seems committed to lowering expectations around him being a wacky prankster every time he turns up on screen. And there are some funny moments here, even beyond Chen’s “edgy” early material as a teenage stand-up.
It’s just that once again the funniest man on Australian television is making Australian television that isn’t really trying to be funny. It’d be nice if someone was.
Fresh Blood 2024: Sorting the middling from the good and the bad
It’s press release time!
ABC and Screen Australia announce Fresh Blood projects set for production
The ABC and Screen Australia are delighted to announce the next stage of the Fresh Blood initiative, with three projects being selected to move into production.
Each team will receive $400,000 in funding ($200,000 from the ABC and $200,000 from Screen Australia) for the production of a 30-minute pilot, reflecting a continued commitment to supporting emerging Australian talent and innovative storytelling.
The three projects were selected from a highly-competitive pool and showcase the calibre of new and diverse voices within the Australian screen industry.
Rachel Millar, ABC Head of Entertainment said, “The ABC is thrilled to be moving into pilot stage for the next round of Fresh Blood. We were so impressed with the ingenuity, diversity, and production value in the stage 1 short form. We can’t wait to see their truly ‘fresh’ storytelling come to fruition in long form and we’re excited to be once again partnering with Screen Australia on this fantastic initiative.”
Lee Naimo, Head of Online and Games Screen Australia said, “Building on the success of the previous Fresh Blood initiatives, we’re proud to support these three teams and their exciting projects to move into production on their pilots, promising to bring fresh perspectives to Australian audiences. These projects exemplify the creativity and diversity that the Fresh Blood initiative aims to champion.”
The successful projects are:
- Going Under: A comedy-drama that explores the lies people tell to save face, grieving for something not yet lost, and not disappointing Mum. Written by Lauren Bonner and Danielle Walker and produced by Craig Ivanoff and Saskia Vaneveld. The story is set in a town on the brink of destruction. As the protagonist gets reacquainted, she falls back in love with the community she had left behind. Going Under is about personal growth and the connection between individuals and their communities.
- Urvi Went to an All Girls School: A coming-of-age comedy-drama set in 2010 Melbourne. Directed by Nina Oyama and written by Urvi Majumdar, Nina Oyama, Rohan Ganju and Suren Jayemanne, this story follows the journey of a teenage girl determined to become an actress despite her traditional Indian family’s wishes. Produced by Lauren Nichols with executive producers Michelle Buxton, Urvi Majumdar and Chris Mcdonald, Urvi Went to an All Girls School, asks audiences how far they’d go to follow a dream — defying cultural expectations in the uniquely heightened environment of a selective all-girls school.
- Westerners: Immerses viewers in the vibrant, multicultural milieu of Western Sydney. Directed by Munasib T Hamid and co-written by Kevin Duo Han and Mark Mariano, the story follows three young adults navigating the challenges of their unfulfilling jobs while contending with cultural clashes and personal dilemmas. Produced by Monique Mulcahy and executive produced by Max Miller, Georgia Mappin and Sam Lingham, Westerners combines humour with a surrealist style, depicting the characters’ struggles and comedic escapades in a culturally diverse environment – exploring themes of identity, community and the quest for meaning.
It’s always fun when a press release puts the word ‘fresh’ in (sarcastic?) quotation marks so we don’t have to.
Seriously, though, is there anyone out there who thinks these were the three most deserving of this year’s Fresh Blood pilots? If we were ranking them in order of how funny they were, these three would be solidly in the middle. They were neither laugh-out-loud hilarious nor obviously dreadful. They were neither edgy nor downright dull. They had some laughs, but don’t worry folks, there’s a bit of relatable drama in there too (two of them are “coming of age” shows and one is about being challenged by a natural disaster).
Given the current state of ABC comedy, which is to play it as safe as possible whilst having one eye on potential international sales, this makes sense. And if you want a good laugh, hey, at least the ABC’s one remaining, actually funny sitcom is back next month!
Closed For Business
So this dropped today:
Was it what we were expecting? Pretty much, but you know what we’re like.
What is puzzling about this is not that it looks bad, because it was always going to look bad*. It’s that it seems to have been made by people with absolutely no idea of how Australian television works in 2024. Which is a problem, because this is an Australian television show in 2024.
The Office as a concept has a lot of things going for it. It’s got name recognition: that’s great for bringing in viewers. There’s been more than one extremely successful version of it: that means it’s a concept that can work in different situations. But the one thing it doesn’t have – the one thing those other strengths actively block it from having – is the ability to come out strong right from the start.
Because people know about it, and because people have enjoyed the earlier versions, it’s going to take a while to become anything more than a knock off. This isn’t news; the US version had the exact same problem. You know what else the US version had? Multiple seasons to work it out.
Going by this trailer – a promotional device designed to show off the best available moments from the series – this sucks. Which isn’t really a surprise: the first season of the US version of The Office largely sucked too. But being expected doesn’t make it acceptable.
If you’re making a series for Australian television in 2024, you have zero room to suck. You have to arrive on screen as your best possible self. Maybe overseas there’s a production process that allows room for change and development. Australia is too small for that luxury. Here, series arrive fully formed, go through their run, and vanish.
This means that what you see is what you get. Even when a dud gets a second series (which only happens on the ABC), it’s just more of the same. There’s no “oh well, maybe it’ll get better as it goes”, because that never happens. And it won’t happen here.
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*Specifically, it looks bad because it seems to be following very firmly in the very deep footsteps of the original UK version, which, you know, we already have. Which is also a comedy that’s 20 years old**, so it’s a bit like someone deciding to remake To The Manor Born in 1993. Or Mother and Son in 2023 oh wait
**Is it just us, or have general attitudes towards (office) work kind of hardened over the last few decades? In 2001 a comedy about how working in an office was shit was like “haha yeah, it sucks but it’s a living”, whereas now it’s more like “this bullshit is a total fucking fantasy, I can’t even pay my rent”. If we’re meant to be getting laughs from recognition, then the hostility and desperation needs to be cranked up a fair bit – and you know, that stuff’s always hilarious
More of the Same Only More So
Press release time!
2025 Is Kicking Off With A Pang!
Sam Pang, Big Brother, Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Gen And More Are Coming Home To Network 10 In 2025.
If home is where the heart is, then expect a whole lotta love for Network 10’s programming in 2025. Next year 10 brings home some of its most beloved Aussie shows and welcomes a host of brand new, homegrown hits.
One of the stars of Have You Been Paying Attention? and fresh from another stellar job hosting the Logies, Sam Pang is creating and starring in his very own weekly show on 10.
Daniel Monaghan, SVP Content and Programming, Paramount Australia said: “Sam Pang has been part of the 10 family for over a decade and we’re delighted to have commissioned his brand-new show for 2025.
“Sam’s quick wit has kept Aussies laughing for years, and we know his fresh new program will give audiences exactly what they want.
“We are currently in the final stages of development, and we can’t wait to share it with viewers in the new year.”
Next year, 10 welcomes Big Brother home to the network that first introduced this reality TV juggernaut to Australian audiences.
Hosted by Mel Tracina, the resident cultural correspondent on The Cheap Seats, audiences can expect the authentic, OG show you fell in love with all those years ago, including live nominations, live evictions, a brand-new home, engaging housemates and non-stop hijinks.
Mel Tracina said: “I was one of the millions of Aussies captivated by Big Brother when it launched on Channel 10 in the early noughties.
“The show has such a loyal and passionate fan base, and I am excited to help bring back the show’s original spirit (minus the flip phones and bum dancing).”
The lineup of housemates will include a fascinating cross-section of relatable, everyday Australians who audiences will be able to interact with in real time. This exciting Big Brother revival will launch across all Network 10 platforms in quarter four of 2025.
Daniel said: “Big Brother, the show that started it all, is coming back to 10 where it belongs. It’ll be bigger, better and bolder than ever before and we are thrilled to welcome Mel Tracina as host.
“Mel is a self-confessed reality TV junkie who will bring so much energy and passion to this revitalised series.
“With 24-hour live streaming, live nominations and live evictions, viewers won’t dare miss a moment of the drama as it all unfolds in real time. Get ready Australia – Big Brother is watching.”
Whether you spill the tea or hear it on the grapevine, here’s some news both young and old can get behind: much-loved comedy quiz show Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation – now known as Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Gen, is returning to 10 for loads of fresh laughs for the entire family.
With a new host and three new team captains, this intergenerational panel show pits Gen X, the Millennials and the Zoomers against each other in a riotous battle to find out which is the best generation of ever.
Now for some dead good news: critically acclaimed international comedy Ghosts is being adapted by BBC Studios Australia in a brand-new local version.
Based on the smash British sitcom, this hilarious eight-part series will be set in a haunted country house and feature hilarious new ghosts with a distinctly Aussie twist.
Ghosts Australia will commence production in the new year and premiere on 10 and Paramount+ in 2025.
From poltergeists to pranksters in 2025, The Inspired Unemployed remain as busy as ever with a brand-new comedy travel series: The List.
A bucket list comedy travel show, The List follows Jack and Matt (AKA Falcon) as they holiday around the globe. From Japan to South Africa, Germany to Finland and Malaysia to India, The List promises an itinerary high on laughs and awkward and unexpected situations. The List is coming to 10 and Paramount+ in 2025.
Rounding out the year with a good dose of festive cheer is Staycation, a feature-length, live action Christmas movie from Ludo, the producers of the smash hit series, Bluey. This madcap comedy sees a dysfunctional middleclass family attempt to survive their Christmas break at home, only to find themselves accidentally mixed up with some very dangerous characters indeed.
With more than a nod to the uproarious National Lampoon film franchise, this Aussie comedy will be ready to unwrap Christmas on 10 and Paramount+.
…October will also herald the triumphant return of comedy hit Taskmaster Australia when Season 3 puts Pete Helliar, Mel Buttle, Aaron Chen, Concetta Caristo and Rhys Nicholson to the test.
And because there’s no rest for the wicked, host Tom Gleeson and his trusty sidekick Tom Cashman will be back in the new year to put another bunch of celebs through their paces. The Taskmaster Australia Season 4line up will see Tommy Little, Emma Holland, Lisa McCune, Takashi Wakasugi and Dave Hughes forced to think laterally and maybe fail literally.
Daniel added: “2025 will showcase a super-charged schedule of addictive, premium content on 10, with fresh home-grown hits rolling out right off the bat in January starting with I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! and continuing all the way through to December with Big Brother. It’s a diverse slate of brilliant entertainment mixing audience favourites with brand new shows destined to be viewers’ new obsessions.”
Australia’s favourite larrikin pranksters The Inspired Unemployed also return for another season of comedy chaos in 2025 with a fresh series of The Inspired Unemployed (Impractical) Jokers on 10 and Paramount+.
As the undisputed home of Australian television comedy, 10 will continue to deliver full on LOLs in 2025. For starters, the Logie-winning Have You Been Paying Attention? will be back with host Tom Gleisner and panel regulars Sam Pang and Ed Kavalee.
The Cheap Seats also returns to take a wry look back at the week that was with hosts Melanie Bracewell and Tim McDonald. And the current season of Thank God You’re Here continues to keep us laughing every Wednesday night when Australia’s funniest performers step through the blue door into the unknown.
So, uh… good to know?
Sure, we don’t actually know anything yet about Sam Pang’s new show. Will he be leaving The Front Bar? What about Have You Been Paying Attention?
Also, no clue as yet as to who’s going to be on the no doubt doomed to fail Talking’ ’bout Your Gen. At a wild guess, it’s going to replace* Thank God You’re Here, which is the only comedy of 2024 that this press release doesn’t announce for 2025.
But at least we can rest assured that “10 will continue to deliver full on LOLs in 2025″… in stark contrast to the rest of Australian commercial television, which no doubt will continue to get by on sport, sport and sport much like they’ve done for the last fifteen years or so.
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*Update: seems all three Working Dog series will be back on 10 in 2025:
Taskmaster of None
Press release time!
Step Into Tom Gleeson’s House Of Fun. Taskmaster Australia Season Three Premieres Tuesday, 24 September.
Starring Aaron Chen, Concetta Caristo, Mel Buttle, Pete Helliar And Rhys Nicholson.
Tuesday night laughs are about to get even wittier as we welcome a new season of Taskmaster Australia to your Tuesday night comedy line-up.
You heard right, we are treating you to double the laughs as comedy powerhouse Taskmaster Australia returns for season three on Tuesday, 24 September at 7.30pm on 10 and 10 Play, joining Tuesday’s riotous roster alongside The Cheap Seats.
Tough-love Taskmaster Tom Gleeson is back, along with his loyal sidekick Tom Cashman, both ready to put our newest batch of comedians through their comedic paces.
Competing for Tom Gleeson’s cranium in gold trophy form and stepping into his “house of fun”, is none other than Aaron Chen, Concetta Caristo, Mel Buttle, Pete Helliar and Rhys Nicholson. But in Tom’s house, it’s Tom’s rules… which means anything can happen. Will our new comedy legends play by the rules and be up to the task?
From epic winks, flying discs and puzzles with cumbersome costumes, our unforgiving Taskmaster has a whole new bag of random, ridiculous and rambunctious tricks up his sleeve to test the wits of our season three line-up.
Who will have what it takes to become our next Taskmaster Australia champion?
Adapted from the BAFTA-winning, hit UK format of the same name, Taskmaster Australia rewards innovation, berates stupidity and promises an abundance of laughs. And the laughs continue right after, with your weekly hit of The Cheap Seats. What a hoot Tuesdays will be!
Well, “hoot” is certainly one way to put it. There’s also the term “even wittier”, which… well, “wit” isn’t exactly what we’ve come to associate with Taskmaster. But who knows? Maybe they’re dropping bon mots all over the place this season.
Slightly more interesting is the fact this season was filmed before the one that aired earlier this year. Supposedly that one got bumped up because the cast was available to promote it*, which makes sense. It’s not like you can actually stop Peter Helliar from getting his head on TV, you can drop a show with him in it any time you like.
What’s most impressive about all this is that – for one and a bit weeks at least – Channel 10 will have five new Australian comedy programs on the air each week. That’s Have You Been Paying Attention?, Taskmaster, The Cheap Seats, Thank God You’re Here, and The Inspired Unemployed: (Impractical) Jokers. At a time when the other commercial networks basically just show one program seven days a week in prime time, it’s a commitment to actual local programming that puts the others to shame.
It’s a bit of a downer then that when Paramount gets new owners in a few weeks, said new owners will most likely sell off 10 to some bargain basement bunch of local low-lifes who’ll strip it for parts. Guess having a local culture – even one just remaking overseas formats – was fun while it lasted.
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*and not because it featured a bunch of bigger names, of course not