Christmas Came Early This Year
Yeah, you heard us:
The Roast won’t be back on the ABC next year. If you want a ridiculous parody of a news show, you’ll have to watch the Bolt Report #roasttv
— The Roast (@TheRoastTV) November 3, 2014
Who knew there was an upside to massive budget cuts? Guess even entrenched failure cruising on autopilot can’t last forever.
*is lynched by an angry mob while leaving Tumbleweeds HQ*
Ok, look: in theory the demise of any comedy show is bad news – it means less comedy, after all – but after literally years and 100’s of episodes which started out as a thick slice of smug shit from untalented blow-ins then failed to improve in any real way (trust us on this, we were watching Charles Firth’s pet project back in 2010 when it was an entertainment parody on Go! called WTF!), it’s clearly for the best for all concerned that the cast and crew of The Roast are now free to take on new challenges. Like filling in a dole form.
Oh wait, they’re all young white Sydney guys from upper middle-class backgrounds: they’ll be back with a new series of “viral videos” within a fortnight. And it’s not like the team don’t have other ways to earn a quid.
And yes, we noticed how they made it clear they wouldn’t be back “on the ABC”. Someone’s not letting the dream die just yet…
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=729060257170644&set=vb.284045785005429&type=2&theater
My favourite thing is they want to paint themselves as somehow victimised in not coming back, as if they haven’t been given a fair go.
“We’d also like to wish young, promising comedians like Shaun Micallef and The Chaser the best of luck as we pass the torch down to them.”
Nowhere on planet earth have the same group of young ‘comedians’ been given an opportunity to have their voice heard on national television for FOUR FUCKING YEARS (or however many years this has been). Shaun Micallef and the Chaser’s success doesn’t take away any success from the roast. The reason those people continue to get funding is that people like to watch them. It is that simple.
What the roast is hopefully doing is passing down the torch to another group of young people who deserve an opportunity to get some exposure and funding (you know, like actual comedians who are funny). Or failing that, another group of unfunny upper-middle class white guys whose parents are doctors and lawyers and who want to be tv stars.
At the end of the day there is nothing wrong with the people on the roast. Most of them just aren’t funny, and that’s fine. They can go off and do their own thing and find something they are good at.
Does anyone know when Foxtel’s Comedy Channel stopped funding The Roast? Initially as far as we know it was basically a Foxtel production that the ABC bought (a la :30 Seconds and Stupid Stupid Man), but we can’t find any mention of Foxtel putting money into it after 2012.
Sounds like real sour grapes there. Though there is a woman. And she seems of Asian appearance as well. Two minorities in one person. Score!
I guess this has to do with the new ‘The Project’ project coming along. Though maybe Micallef can get his daily show commissioned now.
http://molkstvtalk.com/opinon/first-cut-deepest-theroasttv/
“Obviously the ABC are being hit hard at the moment,” offered showrunner Nich Richardson, “But we were hoping because we were the lowest budget production in the history of the planet and produced more original comedy content than any other show in the country right now, we’d skate through unscathed.”
A lot of people are angry it’s being cute because “it’s the only daily news satire in australia.” It seems to me that being the only one of something isn’t an argument for anything and doesn’t say anything about how funny it is. Being the only woman on the show with asian appearance also doesn’t automatically make you funny and untouchable, especially that woman, who is clearly an unfunny careerist.
And can I add to that this golden gem of stupidity
“Now I’m going to put them in a new home so they can continue to be exploited and hilarious, because if I don’t, that’s basically it for a whole generation of comedy on Australian TV. It’ll be back to the old guard doing the old thing. Which works, but we all deserve more.”
That’s basically it for a whole generation of comedy on Australian TV? He actually considers the roast team the whole generation of comedy on tv? Like, this was a generations last chance?
“delivered a program that in three short years has become a part of the collective pop culture psyche”
I have never once seen anyone share a roast video or talk about the roast. When I’ve mentioned it people say to me “the roast? No I haven’t heard of that before.” Or “Is that the smug show on SBS?” “No that’s the feed. The roast is the smug show on ABC.”
“For a show that started as a two minute interstitial original News satire on ABC2 three years ago and grew into the ten minute show from year two, the team have more than made their mark – they even won the 2014 Molkie for Fave Digital Find.” – Molk spruiking his own utterly ignored awards there.
http://blog.australiantumbleweeds.com/?p=5128
He should really have mentioned they once won 3rd place for worst topical comedy