It’s the halfway point of Austin series 2, and what have we learned? Not to watch Austin for starters. When an episode begins with Austin (Michael Theo) being told by his publicist that if he wants to sell books to the kids he has to say his favourite singer is Taylor Swift… what the fuck... Read More »
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 »
There’s plenty you can say about the Logies – TV Tonight called it “broken” last week, and they’re not wrong. But it’s so much more than a televised evening of backslapping and blatantly handing awards to stars linked to whoever holds the broadcast rights. It’s a show that, this year at least, got it right... Read More »
Austin is what you get when everybody making a show leaves the entertainment side of things to somebody else. Sure, there’s plenty of moments where it seems like comedy is just around the corner. But if they actually delivered any big laughs, you wouldn’t stick around for the next seven episodes. It’s not often you... Read More »
The Back Side of Television is, well, back. If you’ve been looking for a chance to laugh at the weird shit Australian television has served up over the last 70-odd years, then this third season is everything you could ask for and more. Best comedy show of the year? Hang on, we haven’t seen the... Read More »
While watching Shaun Micallef on the current season of Dancing With The Stars, it was hard not to think: has it really come to this? Or that’s we would have thought if we’d actually been watching the show and not just a clip of Micallef on social media. But why would we expect anything better... Read More »
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 »