Bean Is A Carrot, Author at Australian Tumbleweeds
Vale Sam Pang Tonight series 2
Did anyone have a 16-episode tonight show on their comedy bingo card this year? We sure didn’t. But Sam Pang Tonight defied expectations. Firstly, because it stayed on air. Secondly, because it was pretty good. We’re not saying Sam Pang Tonight is charting new areas of comedy – and it’s certainly well aware that it’s... Read More »
Here comes the bride. Again.
What’s the one thing that links many of Australia’s most average sitcoms of the last five years? No, it’s not that SOMETHING VERY DRAMATIC happens in the second-to-last episode. Although that does often happen too. * The answer is that there’s a wedding – or a wedding of sorts – in the final ever episode.... Read More »
Mother and Son vs Mother and Son
The other day, the Sydney Morning Herald published an article called Is the new Mother and Son already better than the original? Our reviewer says yes. It’s a legitimate question to ask about Matt Okine’s remake of the fondly remembered 80s/90s sitcom, although it’s notable that the SMH didn’t ask it when series one dropped... Read More »
Vale Austin series 2
Isn’t it lovely when all the nice characters end up happy at the end of a TV series? And the bad characters get what they deserve? That was the heartwarming vibe the final episode of the second series of Austin was going for. Not a funny vibe, sadly. But we expected that. And we’ve talked... Read More »
Why Shaun Micallef hasn’t quite destroyed the chat show
Shaun Micallef’s Eve of Destruction may not be a game-changing chat show, but it’s different enough to be interesting. Many chat shows try to get guests to make startling confessions or to cry over dead relatives, and there’s a bit of that here, but the bigger focus is on relatable, interesting stories. So far, so... Read More »
Thank God It’s Friday’s been reimagined?
Remember Thank God It’s Friday (or TGIF)? You know, the Sydney-based, end-of-week topical panel show on ABC radio that’s been running for years? We mentioned it a couple of times, more than a decade ago, and have kind of forgotten its existence since. Until now! This year it got a reboot, with a new host,... Read More »
Can Guy Montgomery’s Guy Mont-Spelling Bee Funny?
Guy Montgomery’s Guy Mont-Spelling Bee is back, with more comedians spelling words across ten 45-minute-long episodes. And give or take a few rounds where there’s an added element, like hanging out miniature laundry or a “Spot the difference” contest, that is pretty much it. It’s round after round of comedians spelling words and sometimes being... Read More »
Vale Sam Pang Tonight
Few Australian tonight shows of recent decades have made it through their entire run. Even fewer have been renewed just a few episodes in. That alone makes Sam Pang Tonight pretty special. But you don’t stay on air unless there’s a sizeable audience who likes what you’re doing, and in news that may come as... Read More »