Last week's ABC 2012 launch and other recent announcements have made us feel pretty positive about Australian comedy, which is somewhat of a strange sensation. Here's the list of what's coming up next year, tell us what you think about it in the... Read More »
Tonight Spicks & Specks died the way it lived: as a bland, largely forgettable chunk of televisual muzak that actively repelled any attempt to engage with it beyond the occasional glance at the screen. Of course it was a massive hit watched by millions: how could it have possibly failed? Just to make things very... Read More »
There’s a proper Vale Hamster Wheel post on its way, but we wanted to bring this up first: it seems Age TV critic Jim Schembri either can’t take a joke, or simply doesn’t get it: For me – and this will come as no surprise – the biggest laugh came when their awards for outrageous... Read More »
Nice looking but dull, that's how you might describe Rove McManus; it's also not a bad description of his chat show Rove LA, which finished up the other night.... Read More »
The purpose of comedy, it is often said, is to speak truth to power. But comedy's fatal flaw is that it needs to speak truths whilst also being funny, and once people are laughing they're probably less inclined to overthrow the powerful. Those who argue that comedy is a conservative artform have a point - comedy may point out some truths about the powerful, but it also makes you feel a lot better about them existing (if only for a few... Read More »
We’ve got nothing against The Chaser. (and let’s just pause to reflect that, by saying we have nothing against them, we’ve made certain the rest of this post will prove the opposite) In fact, while their current series The Hamster Wheel might be somewhat hit-and-miss, when it hits it’s probably the best thing they’ve done... Read More »
Hard as it might be to believe after his twenty-odd years in the spotlight, The Joy of Sets was Tony Martin’s first lead role in a television show. In fact, every other cast member of The Late Show (where Martin first made a serious TV splash) has more up-front television experience than Tony Martin has.... Read More »
One of the biggest problems to stem from the collapse of sketch comedy in this country – and wow, how pretentious a sentence is this one shaping up to be – is the way that it’s downgraded the idea of actual jokes in comedy. With a thriving – or even just barely existing – sketch... Read More »
You might have noticed that we don’t usually run interviews here, but when the chance to speak to The Bazura Project’s Lee Zachariah came along, how could we say no? Especially when by saying yes we could waffle on about all manner of obscure comedy topics and only occasionally remember to ask a proper question.... Read More »
Channel 9's push to become the “Home of Comedy” this year hasn't really worked out for them; Live From Planet Earth, the bumping of The Joy of Sets...even Hamish & Andy's Gap Year. Sure, Gap Year made it to the end and managed decent enough ratings, but it wasn't the greatest piece of television ever.... Read More »