Comedy TV

Randling is a Word Based Game Show. The word is Denton.

If you like comedy and didn’t have reason to dislike the inordinately smug Andrew Denton before now, thanks to a recent interview he gave to Fairfax, now you do: In a perfect world, Denton says, Randling would have been a companion piece to the popular music-trivia show Spicks and Specks. But two weeks after pitching... Read More »

Hamish Blake is Unpopular Fraud, Steals Gold Logie From Deserving Blandoids

Did Hamish Blake deserve to win his Gold Logie? Well, it depends: considering the Gold Logie usually signifies a career about to come to a screeching halt… again, it depends. But you’d expect that kind of snark from us; one place you probably wouldn’t expect it from is the celebrity-worshiping pages of yes, you guessed... Read More »

Vale Woodley

Last weekend Sunday Age TV critic Melinda Houston revealed exactly why Woodley has been a bit of a fizzle ratings-wise: “It’s complex and full of thoughtful detail while still able to be thoroughly enjoyed by a six-year old.” While this is true, the problem is that it’s true of the show as a whole, not... Read More »

Vale Danger 5

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 »

Have we still got the Fever?

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 »

Nattering on for the hell of it

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 »

Pictures of Matchstick Men

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 »

Getting Dark Early These Days

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 »

The Agony and the… nope, that’s it.

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 »

Isn’t It Unsurprising At His Age

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 »