Comedy TV

Rebuilding the Aussie Sitcom from the Ground Up

The first thing you notice about Ground Up is that it’s not written by the lead actor. A first for an Australian sitcom in 2026! And probably a lot longer, it’s too depressing to check. A sitcom written (or co-written) by its lead doesn’t have to suck. May we direct your attention towards The Games,... Read More »

Vale Urzila (the show, not the person)

Okay, so Urzila turned out to be slightly less varied than we’d hoped. Still (mostly) funny tho! And as it’s unlikely we’ll see a second season – or any other local sketch comedy on the ABC before they give up terrestrial broadcasting and become just another website – we can just space out our viewing... Read More »

Vale Bad Company, Hello Make That Movie

Creating a hilarious ensemble sitcom isn’t easy, but some approaches work better than others. And as we say goodbye to Bad Company on the ABC and hello to Make That Movie on HBO Max, it’s not hard to identify which approach is funnier. Bad Company is a show that should have generated a lot more... Read More »

Glenn and Mick’s Celebrity Intervention – A Reassessment

Six weeks into Glenn and Mick’s Celebrity Intervention, and it’s time for a reassessment. If you watched the first episode, with Carrie Bickmore, and walked away never to return, we get you. Honestly, we thought we’d be writing about this show again much sooner, because after that opener, it was clearly going to be axed... Read More »

John Safran Speaks!

It’s been a long time between drinks for John Safran. His last major issue-tackling role on our screens was back in 2016 with The Goddamn Election; a decade later he’s looking at the touchy topic of free speech with Shut Your Big Fat Mouth John Safran!. Is Australia’s most notorious prankster finally about to say... Read More »

Let’s get Quizzical

Sky News Australia’s current relationship with comedy is being clipped and joked about on The Weekly with Charlie Pickering and The Cheap Seats, but can it generate its own laughs with the new weekly comedy quiz show Quizzical? Er, no. It cannot. And based on its first episode (which aired last Sunday, 17th May), it... Read More »

Shaun Micallef is Harshing My Vibe

Shaun Micallef’s back! Not being funny or anything though, he’s got another one of his “what the fuck is wrong with you people” documentaries on the ABC. Titled Shaun Micallef’s Going for Broke, this time he’s got gambling in his sights. And no-one is safe! Just kidding, the whole thing (well, the first episode of... Read More »

Urzila Chiller Diller

When it comes to sketch shows, we’ve learned not to pass judgment until at least week two. First week, pretty much every sketch show seems fresh and funny. Second week? Oh look, turns out all those fresh and funny sketches are going to be reoccurring, pounding the same handful of jokes into the ground week... Read More »

A Few Quick Thoughts on Bad Company

Usually we’re more than happy to go off on a series after nothing more than a brief glimpse at a cast photo. But Bad Company? We’re still mulling the first episode over. So while we wait for out no doubt amazingly insightful full-length review a bit further down the track, here’s a few odds and... Read More »

Vale The Weekly 2026

Every time The Weekly tries to act like it’s built up enough goodwill to get self-referential, it’s a reminder that it really is, in more ways than we can express, shithouse. Not every segment, not every joke, but taken as a whole it’s just garbage. Twelve seasons of it! The opening segment of this year’s... Read More »