Parody isn’t exactly the lowest form of comedy, but the law of diminishing returns kicks in pretty fast when your jokes are all about making fun of something else. And Danger 5 wasn’t even a parody of anything real; anyone trying to tell you otherwise wasn’t paying attention last time their local cinema put on... Read More »
Santo, Sam and Ed's Sports Fever finished up on Monday night after 10 weeks. Apparently it hasn't been axed, it's on a break, so the question is: when will it be... Read More »
With almost all Australian radio comedy consisting of two or three people having a natter, it's perhaps not surprising that most Australian comedy podcasts follow a similar format. The (refreshing) point of difference with some of the better podcasts, however, is that the level of conversation often raises its sights above the odd-spot stories in that morning's... Read More »
Working Dog has a new television show out? As Mick Molloy used to say, hurrah! These are the guys that gave us Frontline (excellent), The Panel (ground-breaking, if of variable quality), The Hollowmen (a steady improver), Thank God You’re Here (massive smash hit, occasionally hilarious), Cup / Sports Fever! (a sports comedy show sports haters... Read More »
In yesterday’s Green Guide Debi Enker wrote something that will come as no surprise whatsoever to long-suffering readers of this blog: “Wednesday night ratings are not giving Aunty much joy”: In recent years, the ABC has established Wednesday as a home for crowd-pleasing light entertainment. Reliably anchored by Spicks & Specks, it offered a selection... Read More »
Some shows come to us on a clear wave of passion and enthusiasm. Others arrive as the result of extensive product-testing and marketing. And then there’s Agony Uncles, which looks like the winner of a competition to come up with the cheapest possible programming alternative to running a photo of Tony Jones for half an... Read More »
Last weekend's Sunday Telegraph contained the news that Barry Humphries' upcoming show Eat Pray Laugh will be his final ever live stage... Read More »
And so we bid farewell to Outland, the long anticipated and much delayed ABC-1 sitcom about a gay science fiction group.... Read More »
In recent years we've seen the ABC attempt to bring a little sparkle and mass appeal to its more serious outputs. Perhaps this was inspired by the phenomenal success of The Daily Show and the many failed attempts by local comedians to make an equivalent... Read More »
Making its TV debut on SBS last Monday was Danger 5, the cheesy 1960s action series send-up that pits five international spies against the Nazis. Oh, and they have to kill Hitler too. Sounds like a hoot,... Read More »