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 »
The Inspired Unemployed (Impractical) Jokers is back for a third season and yeah, what’s going on with the title? Maybe it’d make sense if it was The Inspired Unemployed (Im)practical Jokers. But it’s not. And the head scratching doesn’t stop there. Prank shows largely belong to an earlier, more mean-spirited time on our screens. You... Read More »
So that was it for another season of Taskmaster. Don’t worry though, it’ll be back in a few months*, because nothing says event television like running a format into the ground. Then again, isn’t pretty much all television “event television” these days? Shows like The Cheap Seats and Have You Been Paying Attention? increasingly feel... Read More »
It’s perhaps unfortunate that The Weekly with Charlie Pickering airs two days after Have You Been Paying Attention? and a day after The Cheap Seats. They all often use the same clips, and if you happen to watch all three shows, it’s clear that The Weekly… doesn’t have the funniest jokes about those clips. But... Read More »
It’s a good thing Have You Been Paying Attention? is a topical news quiz, because otherwise we might as well be watching episodes from 2019. When a show’s this good that’s not a bad thing. Well, unless you’d like to see something new on Australian television before it all goes belly up. As the show... Read More »
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 »
C’mon: the return of The Cheap Seats (yay!), Gruen (boo!), Anne Edmonds announced as the new host of the returning Talkin’ ’bout Your Gen(eration), Sam Pang Tonight continuing to air long after any other Australian talk show would have been axed, Taskmaster Australia… is also on… Yep, it’s a big week in comedy! It’s just... Read More »
The Weekly did a special post-election debate episode and you know what? Tom Gleeson was the funniest thing on it. Yeah, we know you can read that two ways, this isn’t our first rodeo. Exactly why they bothered is a bit of a mystery. No doubt being bumped back to 9.30pm by the election debate... Read More »
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 »
In their wisdom, the ABC are now showing this year’s Fresh Blood winners on the free-to-air channel as well as iView. Well, two of them at least. While we’re getting Urvi Went to an All Girls School and Westeners, the third of the pilots – Going Under – is nowhere to be seen. The press... Read More »