Frankly, we give a damn
What we shouldn’t see the ABC having to do is pick one under-represented group over another. All groups should get their... Read More »
Almost Off Topic
The Kids Are Alright I Guess
Ok, so Shaun Micallef’s Brain Eisteddfod is a quiz show. Not a comedy quiz show – a good old-fashioned, we’re seriously keeping score so you’d better give the correct answer, quiz show. But is it funny? Two episodes in and we can safely answer that question with… kinda? It’s hosted by Shaun Micallef, a man... Read More »
Shaun Micallef Hits the Piss
If the ABC really wanted to pull a crowd with Shaun Micallef’s On The Sauce, they should have got Mick Molloy to host it. Having Micallef host a mildly anxious series about how maybe drinking is not great for everyone just feels like a natural fit: having Molloy out there desperately trying to fit his... Read More »
Vote Vote Vote for Judith Lucy
It’s long been obvious that one of the reasons why Australian comedy is vanishing from our screens is because it’s being replaced by the accidentally amusing antics of reality television. So it’s time for the tables to turn: that’s right, we’re talking about the push to have Judith Lucy as the next Bachelorette. The interesting... Read More »
Raking over the coals
You might say there’s been a bit of a mixed reaction to the new series of Rake. Not all fans of the series have warmed to Cleaver Greene’s move to Canberra, and the show’s writer Peter Duncan appeared to apologise to viewers in an interview with the Daily Telegraph last week. He later clarified what... Read More »
Pointless without the laughs
The British game show Pointless has been a cult afternoon hit on the ABC for a few years now, delighting retirees and people taking sickies alike with its mix of obscure trivia questions and twee comedy banter. It’s the kind of show we don’t make much of here. We Australians make game shows (featuring ordinary... Read More »
Hypothetical Hypotheticals
The Australian’s Diary column had this to say the other day: Over at Aunty, it looks like a case of goodbye The Checkout, hello Charlie Pickering’s Hypotheticals. Diary hears the ABC is keen to revive the 1980s panel program fronted by Geoffrey Robertson QC to such fascinating effect. But in the hot seat for the... Read More »
Homecoming blues
Adelaide’s the kind of place a lot of young people move away from as soon as they can, gleefully embracing the wider range of opportunities in cities on the east coast or overseas, and only coming back when they really have to. Returning to Adelaide – or any other small-town type of place – after... Read More »
Stand up and tell a story
Stand-up is the main route into comedy these days. Try naming a comedian who’s been well known in the past 10 years who didn’t start their career in stand-up. Kate McLennan and Kate McCartney? The Chaser team? Chris Lilley? Sammy J? Adam Zwar? Troy Kinne? It’s a short list*. And one that means that the dominant... Read More »
So, so Hard
If the return of Hard Quiz tells us anything it’s that the ABC doesn’t learn from it mistakes, it just doubles down on them. How else to explain a show which in its third season still suffers from the same basic problems that we pointed out ages ago: It’s a quiz show about specialist knowledge hosted by... Read More »