Back in 2002 Shaun Micallef made a sitcom called Welcher & Welcher. And it’s hilarious. So why is it only now coming out on DVD with no fanfarte whatsoever? Why isn’t it hailed as the comedy classic that it is instead of a minor footnote in the career of an increasingly popular game show host? What, in short, the fuck went... Read More »
Australian TV’s not exactly crying out for more panel shows, but the recently launched Santo, Sam and Ed’s Cup Fever is a welcome addition to the schedules. It’s a fun mix of chat, sketches and enjoyably bad jokes (only Santo Cilauro could sell a gag as bad as “Diego Maradonut”), which even a non soccer... Read More »
Lowdown has now finished and while it wasn’t an amazingly great show by any stretch of the imagination it has been the Australian comedy TV highlight of the year so far. Why? Because unlike anything else on offer – panel shows, dramedies, Hey Hey It’s Saturday - it was a reasonably well-written show with some decent laughs in it. And with dramedies and panel/variety shows the dominant formats in entertainment right now, a scripted show which gets laughs is something to be happy about. So, what the hell was going on with that final... Read More »
From Throng.com: The 7PM Project is to be commissioned for another year, further demonstrating Ten’s support for the program, which many had written off when ratings fell after just a few weeks on air in 2009. Even early this year, and into the ratings period from February the show failed to attract the ratings it... Read More »
Look everyone! A press release from Channel Seven! Channel Seven today announced Tim Ross will make his solo television hosting debut on the new comedy series, Australia Versus. Australia Versus sees national pride at stake with our leading comedians taking on their international counterparts to prove that Australia is the best country in the world... Read More »
In yet another indication that the future of entertainment is online, a recent-ish episode of the Mediaweek podcast revealed that Andrew Denton's production company Zapruder's Other Films has employed nine members of the Hungry Beast team to work on “online projects”. What exactly these projects are was not revealed; it's also not terribly clear at this stage what types of entertainment will work best in an online... Read More »
You do the best with what you’re given. When someone’s reliant on a supplier a little further down the chain, it’s easy to pass the blame along to them. Best of all, there’s usually no way for an outsider to prove them... Read More »
Nothing makes a comedy fan’s heart sink more than the arrival of a new dramedy. Not because comedy and drama shouldn’t ever be combined, but because dramedies always seem to be either populist light dramas with little-to-no actual comedy (Packed to the Rafters) or sitcoms which turned out to be so woefully laugh free that... Read More »
*Has anyone else noticed that the promos for The 7pm Project no longer seem to feature Dave Hughes? He’s still in the logo shot at the end, but otherwise it’s all Carrie and Charlie (who now has a much neater new haircut) with the nasally gurner nowhere in sight. The show’s slow march towards becoming... Read More »
If you want to sink the boots into I Rock – and it’s an Australian show, so who doesn’t – it seems that attacking its credibility is the way to go. We’ve already had this review pointed out to us; Helen Razer takes a similar tack in the latest Australian Rolling Stone. Only problem is,... Read More »