13 schoolyards, Author at Australian Tumbleweeds - Page 49 of 114
One Crazy Summer… plus two more
Ben Elton’s something of a strange figure in Australian comedy, in that despite living here off-and-on for the last twenty years he’s never actually become part of Australian comedy. He’s set books here, he’s made one rapidly cancelled television program here, but otherwise he’s generally avoided the panel shows, comedy game shows, radio chats, newspaper... Read More »
Cram it with Walnuts, Ugly!
“Welcome to Cram!, the only quiz show in the entire world where the players get the answers before they’re asked the question” – well, apart from every other quiz show ever made, because if quiz shows only asked people questions they didn’t already have the answers to then the contestants would never get any answers... Read More »
Rebrand of the Hand
Friday afternoon is usually the time when governments and large organisations announce bad news in the hope that the media and the general public – already halfway out the door for the weekend – will fail to give it their full attention. So having this story leak out of the ABC late last week doesn’t... Read More »
Getting Back With Your Ex
For a man so consistently hilarious, it’s a little surprising that Shaun Micallef has never quite cracked the secret of sitcom success. Welcher & Welcher has its defenders – ironically, they don’t include Micallef himself – but it’s generally seen as more miss than hit, while the first season of The Ex-PM never really scaled... Read More »
Vale Get Krack!n
If you had to think of a single word to describe Australian television comedy – and that word was legally required to be complimentary – you couldn’t go far wrong with “polished”. Whatever the many, many many, many many many flaws with our nation’s comedy output, one thing it pretty much always manages to do... Read More »
Ten Years On: The Silence Around Summer Heights High
As you read this, it’s exactly ten years since Chris Lilley’s Summer Heights High first aired on ABC television. Running from September 5th to October 24th in 2007, it was a ratings smash – one and a half million Australians tuned in for the final episode – that made Chris Lilley a household name and... Read More »
A Useful Insight
Press release(s) time! Stars come out for new ABC comedy Squinters Friday, October 13, 2017 — ABC and Screen Australia in association with Create NSW are pleased to announce that filming is underway in Sydney this week on Jungle’s new six-part comedy series Squinters, a series that celebrates the great Aussie ritual that is the... Read More »
Very Small News
Press release time! 11 10 2017 – Media release Don Angel is Back in Very Small Business: Gristmill’s new satire for ABC TV Gristmill co-founders Robyn Butler and Wayne Hope AACTA award-winning production company Gristmill (Little Lunch, Upper Middle Bogan) have secured principal production investment from Screen Australia in association with Film Victoria, for Back... Read More »
Someone Left Off the F
Press release time! ABC celebrates and debates the Arts Sarah Blasko, Hannah Gadsby and Chris Taylor lead a culture charge Thursday, October 5, 2017 — New film and TV review show Screen Time heads up an exciting and diverse slate of arts programs, coming soon to the ABC. Ranging from fine art and fashion, to... Read More »
Someone Just Found $20 On The Floor And They’re Spending Up Big
In recent months we’ve been wondering time and time again: what kind of comedy can the ABC make when they can’t afford to make anything that’s not an overseas co-production? And now we have the answer: really cheap comedy: Adam Zwar and Trent O’Donnell are set to make a six-part comedy for the ABC set... Read More »