13 schoolyards, Author at Australian Tumbleweeds - Page 4 of 109

Emu War (What is it Good For)

The Emu War is an Australian comedy movie and we’ll stop right there. To clarify: this is a comedy that’s (barely) movie length, not a movie that’s claiming to be a comedy. What’s the difference? Australian movies are almost always either scams to extract money from funding bodies or calling cards for the cast and... Read More »

Austin Powers

Austin is the kind of series you get when the production side of television couldn’t give a rat’s arse about whatever it is the audience actually wants to watch. And fair enough. The entire basis of ABC television is to provide programming for those who aren’t being served by mainstream broadcasting. But there’s a big... Read More »

The (F)art Of…

ABC arts programming has been rubbish for years and new effort The Art Of… is no exception. Just how bad is it? It manages to make Josh Thomas seem good. It doesn’t make him seem funny mind you because haha, they’ve got him on the episode about “heartbreak”. Why is a program about the arts... Read More »

We Need to Talk About Colin

Colin from Accounts is back, and right from the start there’s a problem. No, not that Gordon (Patrick Brammall) and Ashley (Harriet Dyer) have given Colin (a dog) away and want him back. That’s solved by the end of the first episode. And not dragging it out? Pretty much the opposite of a problem really.... Read More »

Superwog Characters Described as “Iconic”, Antics Still Considered “Usual”

Press release time! Theo and Nathan Saidden will bring back their iconic Superwog characters for a new standalone series, Son of a Donkey. The Saiddens will write, direct, produce and star in the series also produced by Princess Pictures for Netflix.  In Son of a Donkey, we meet Theo just as he moves out of... Read More »

Taskmaster, Cut Faster

Does a television comedy require comedians? Probably not; there’s been plenty of decent vox pop segments over the years that have scored big laughs without the use of skilled professionals. So does Taskmaster Australia require comedians? Now that’s a question. Back for a second season that’s technically a third because the second – which they... Read More »

Have You Been Paying Attention… to the lack of new faces in comedy?

There’s basically two kinds of comedy showcases on television. There’s the ones where new talent gets a chance to strut their stuff, and the ones where established talent bring in the viewers. Guess which kind is the only kind we currently get on Australian television? It wasn’t always this way. It wasn’t even all that... Read More »

We’ll Sell You the Whole Seat But You’ll Only Use the Funny Bit

The Cheap Seats is back for 2024, and if you were ever looking for a textbook example of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, it’s your lucky day. And has been since 2021, if we’re being honest. As this is currently one of our favourite Australian comedy shows, we’d love to have a lot... Read More »

White Lines

Where do you draw the line with White Fever? As previously discussed, it’s perfectly fine for what it is: it’s just that what it is isn’t a comedy. Which is a problem, because if a half hour scripted series airing on the ABC at 9pm on a Wednesday isn’t a comedy, what is? As you’ve... Read More »

All the News that Fisks

Press release time! The key to all this is “now also around the world”. But hey, no complaints here if the Netflix effect is working to make an Australian comedy internationally popular for once. Later in 2024 can’t come fast... Read More »