If there’s a utopia for Australian comedy, it’s not Utopia series 3. The third series of a sitcom should build on past successes – and Utopia’s previous series were largely successful – but also give us, the audience, something new. Based on last night’s episode of Utopia, there’s nothing new for us to see here.... Read More »
Ronny Chieng International Student has been that rare thing in Australian sitcom: a show you want to see more of. If it was released on Netflix, you’d sit down to watch one and then realise two hours later that you’d just watched four of them. Why does it work so well? Partly it’s the familiarity... Read More »
Sometimes, a good thing should be left well alone. Sammy J’s Playground Politics was a razor-sharp series of five-minute sketches satirising federal politics via the medium of a Play School parody. It was also really funny. Then it came back a month ago as part of a series of 15-minute shows, Sammy J’s Democratic Party.... Read More »
The stand-out pilot in last year’s Comedy Showcase was undoubtedly Ronny Chieng International Student, in which first-year Malaysian law student Ronny falls in with a group of fellow Asian students and local girl Asher, and together they try to navigate their way through a minefield of crazy lecturers, equally crazy students, and Aussie traditions they... Read More »
Since the untimely death of John Clarke just over two months ago, it’s been nice to see many of his classic sketches again thanks to Clarke & Dawe From the Archives. But it’s also sad to remember that there’s now only so much John Clarke out there to enjoy, and very little unseen Clarke to... Read More »
Remember Playground Politics? Sammy J’s 2016 election satire in the style of Play School? It’s back (on ABC on Wednesdays, as well as iView and Facebook), as part of a new short-form sketch show Sammy J’s Democratic Party. Set in a secret bunker under Parliament House, Democratic Party offers a sneaky peek into the backroom... Read More »
It’s now been two weeks since there’s been an episode of John Conway Tonight, but according to TV Tonight the show may be back soon… Rising comedian Aaron Chen may be getting his big chance at his own show on ABC2. Chen, who has appeared as the sidekick on just 3 episodes of John Conway... Read More »
You’d think a comedy team as well-known as The Chaser wouldn’t have a problem finding a sponsor for their new radio show on Sydney’s Triple M, but a segment in the first week of their new show Radio Chaser asked listeners to call in and apply to be their sponsor. A guy with a truck... Read More »
The best thing you can say about a tribute show like John Clarke: Thanks For Your Time, a show which ideally wouldn’t exist because we’d rather John Clarke was still with us, is that it made us want to re-watch various John Clarke shows. It was only half-an-hour, and it was put together in a... Read More »