Fresh Blood 2024: A new hope
The ABC’s new comedy talent initiative Fresh Blood has thrown up some shows of variable quality. But in 2024, things are looking... Read More »
Comedy TV
Again, The Weekly
The thing with good comedy is, it always has a point of view. One or more human beings found something funny and decided to share it with the rest of us. And when you don’t have that, you have The Weekly. Usually comedy series that lack soul make up for it with money. At one... Read More »
We Applied Rule 3Oh!3
If there’s one big problem with the current wave of dramedies – and there’s dozens of problems, but let’s continue – it’s that they’ve replaced comedy’s jokes and drama’s drama with… nothing. Dramadies are just aimless, drawn out dramas with a mildly amusing premise. They’re half an hour of limp dialogue and static staging that... Read More »
Vale Question Everything 2023
So after a few false starts, Question Everything finally figured out what kind of show it wanted to be. No, not a shit show. In fact, it’s even possible to see why those involved might have thought they were making something decent. They weren’t, of course, but it’s been a long year, we’re getting tired,... Read More »
Vale Australian Epic
Australian Epic assumes you'll find the concept of the series funny. Musical-style songs about events from Australia’s recent past?... Read More »
Vale The Cheap Seats 2023
You can get away with a lot when you’re funny. The Cheap Seats is the kind of show that Australian television loves to throw together, throw at a screen, then throw in the bin when nobody tunes in. And yet it’s one of the big successes (the only success?) of recent years, a sure-fire winner... Read More »
Clip Joint
Imagine, if you will, a fan of Australian comedy. Not all that long ago, this fandom might have kept them pretty busy; these days it only takes a few hours a week to keep up to date. And yet, even with that meager diet it still feels like they’re watching the same thing over and... Read More »
The World of Tomorrow 2.0: Snore ABC
It’s been well over a year since the incoming federal Labor government promised a new cashed up world for the ABC. Okay, so 2023 was always going to be business as usual. But surely 2024 was going to present us with the fruits of that momentous electoral decision? Mo’ money, mo’ programming and all that.... Read More »
Australian Epic (Fail?)
Despite what television producers like to think, musicals aren’t automatically funny. The joke with Australian Epic is meant to be that hey, we’re making big musicals out of small stories. It’s not a bad joke – but going by the first episode, it’s not good enough. When it was first announced, Australian Epic was called... Read More »
Prats in the ranks: Darradong Local Council
Darradong Local Council is technically an all-new series but you could slap the titles for Housos on it and no one would spot the... Read More »