Bean Is A Carrot, Author at Australian Tumbleweeds - Page 2 of 54
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 »
Sam Pang Tonight – half time report
Last week, Sam Pang Tonight’s mid-series renewal had a few people scratching their heads. After several decades of networks cancelling new shows of this type after just a couple of episodes (especially shows which annoyed people online and had been dipping in the ratings) it got renewed. Huh?! What’s with the programmers not shitting the... Read More »
Vale Optics, Hello Full Story – Battle of the PR sitcoms
Just as Optics, a sitcom about a PR company which finds it has some problems close to home, finishes up on the ABC, Troy Kinne has released Full Story, a sitcom about a PR company which finds it has some problems close to home. Which means we’re one sitcom about a PR company which finds... Read More »
Get voting now in the Australian Tumbleweeds Awards 2024!
Do you have views on Australian comedy in 2024? Of course you do or why are you here? Well, now’s the time to express them as you vote in this year’s Australian Tumbleweeds Awards. As always, the categories are: Plus, you get the opportunity to rant about how awful/great each show/film was, with the best... Read More »
A dog of a Christmas
What could be more Christmas-y than a dysfunctional family, mental illness and a dying dog? That seems to be the thinking behind Nugget is Dead?: A Christmas Story, Stan’s Australian-made Christmas movie for 2024, anyway. Written by and starring Vic Zerbst and Jenna Owen (The Feed and the upcoming sitcom Optics), this sees Zerbst as... Read More »
The ABC’s structural change has been bad for scripted comedy
The ABC’s 2025 upfronts announcement last week says a lot about why the ABC makes the scripted comedies it does. And it’s all about where comedy programming sits within the ABC’s corporate structure. A couple of years ago the ABC restructured and split its operations into two areas: Content and News. Content oversees comedy, drama,... Read More »