Kennedy Molloy – Anything could happen

It’s always a safe bet that a show introducing itself with “this could go anywhere” isn’t going to deliver, and so it is – so far – with Kennedy Molloy.

Having said that, Kennedy Molloy has a lot of good things going for it. Jane Kennedy and Mick Molloy have been doing radio, comedy and radio comedy for three decades, and have always been part of successful, well-liked programs. The D-Generation, Martin/Molloy and The Hot Breakfast were ratings smashes, and so anticipated has Kennedy Molloy been that the show’s podcast is already in the iTunes top 10 – how many radio shows do that after first week?

Problem is, Kennedy Molloy is also like a lot of other radio shows out there: two people having a gab about what’s in the papers, what’s on the telly and what happened to them last night. And while we get that a lot of people seem to like that kind of thing, in radio terms it’s about as cookie cutter as you can get. Are fans of Jane Kennedy and Mick Molloy, who grew up with The D-Generation, Martin/Molloy and The Late Show – shows which really pushed the boundaries of what you’d expect of breakfast radio, drivetime radio or late night live comedy – really going to be satisfied with that?

Currently, the vibe of Kennedy Molloy is “Hughsie and Kate but far less annoying”. And if that’s as far as the show goes when it comes to standing out in the marketplace, then they might as well not even bother.

But that’s probably not going to happen.

Triple M Melbourne’s Hot Breakfast, the show Mick Molloy left to do Kennedy Molloy, was always enlivened, nay, made listenable, by Mick’s personal take on the well-worn tropes of commercial radio, so a better Kennedy Molloy is likely.

It’s also probably not fair to judge a show which is only a week or so old. And is quite deliberately warming itself up in Melbourne only before going national next year.

One thing is certain, though: Kennedy and Molloy are going to need to personalise their show. Play to their strengths as comedians and radio personalities and do the kind of radio that the likes of Hughsie and Kate, and the various other guy/girl radio combos around the nation, wouldn’t do.

Can they do it? Sure they can. Will they do it? We’ll have to wait and see.