Dumb deal = dumb satire – We analyse the parodies of Trump and Turnbull’s phone call
It’s been almost impossible not to stumble across a parody transcript of the Donald Trump/Malcolm Turnbull phone call in the past couple of... Read More »
Tag: Ben Pobjie
Australian Tumbleweed Awards 2016 – The Results!
Australian comedy hit a new low in 2016, though if you’re anything like us you probably didn’t realise it at the time. Why would you? On the surface it seemed business as usual: a handful of standout shows, one or two duds and a whole lot of stuff forgotten before the end credits finished. In... Read More »
Blurred Lines
You know that feeling when someone makes a joke and it’s completely obvious that it’s a joke and yet even though it’s a joke it’s also kind of revealing of their thought processes in a way that they maybe didn’t realise when they were making the joke? Yeah, that: Television, for me, is an aspirational... Read More »
Winners & Losers
It’s been a big week in Australian comedy, as sports reporters say… only they say “sport” instead of “Australian comedy” thus rendering this opening sentence pretty much useless. And having set the tone for this post, let’s move on: WINNER: Gristmill and Little Lunch, at least according to this press release: Little Lunch returns with... Read More »
Australian Tumbleweed Awards 2015 – The Results
Ever get the feeling you’re running in place? That was Australian television comedy in 2015. Not just in the usual “the only way forward is to bring back Fast Forward” sense either, even though once again hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent in the firm belief that the only comedy “mainstream Australia” will embrace... Read More »
Well, This Is a New Low
Ok @mscott, if you won't let me be on #qanda, how about the Chaser? Put in a good word? — Ben Pobjie (@benpobjie) September 8, 2015 If you don’t see why this kind of thing coming from a professional television critic is a problem – and it’s a firmly established pattern of behaviour now –... Read More »
Separation of Powers
Over twenty four hours later and we’re still trying to get our heads around this: I just remembered that I don't work with Shaun Micallef and other people who aren't me do. Deeply depressed. — Ben Pobjie (@benpobjie) March 28, 2015 In case you don’t know, Ben Pobjie is a professional, five-day-a-week-TV critic in the... Read More »
Australian Tumbleweeds 2014 – The Results!
Australian comedy in 2014 did pretty much what it was expected to do: not all that much. The days of any local comedy connecting with a mass audience seem to have ended with the mass audience realising Chris Lilley only ever had one idea, while the ABC’s other crowd-pleasing mainstays either tossed off a half-arsed... Read More »
Critical Failings (part 17 of a seemingly endless series)
It’s a sad indictment of the mental prowess of the people who run the Australian media that they seem to think hiring people who work in an industry to comment on that same industry is in any way useful to their readership. Oh sure, we can see how they’d come to that conclusion: who better... Read More »
Criticial Facilities
Unless you spend a lot of time wading around the shallow end of the music media, you probably missed the recent kerfuffle where a number of high-profile musicians (starting with Lorde) used social media to express their disapproval of magazines – specifically Complex – putting artists on the cover then bagging them out in reviews:... Read More »