We were going to write an epic post this week, examining the malaise that currently seems to be infecting Australian (television) comedy. But then we realised we just couldn’t be arsed. And who do we blame for our lacklustre efforts? Why, Australian (television) comedy, of course. Because right here and now, in the middle of... Read More »
Remember when people used to complain that Have You Been Paying Attention? was too scripted? Yeah, because actually writing jokes is a bad thing when you’re trying to be funny. But after the opening segment of their first episode for 2015 it’s time to throw those complaints in the bin, as the combination of actual... Read More »
True story: when this week’s episode of The Chaser’s Media Circus came on, one of us got up from their seat, walked out the back door, walked up the driveway to the street, and then stood there for a full minute wondering exactly what it was they were doing. We’re not saying Media Circus is... Read More »
When Tony Martin and Mick Molloy officially “split” as a comedy team in late 2007, the smart money was on Tony Martin coming out the winner. Wait, “the winner”? Who the fuck thinks like that? Whatever their personal differences, we don’t know either of them personally and so – because we’re not a pack of... Read More »
We’re going to come straight out and say this: the only Australian TV comedy we really look forward to each week, at this moment in time, is Have You Been Paying... Read More »
“Fuck You, Kevin.” And with Ed Kavalee’s joke about the title of Julia Gillard’s forthcoming memoir, we had pretty much the only reason why Have You Been Paying Attention? was airing at 9.30pm. Ok, there was also a rush of jokes about Mick Molloy’s scrotum at around 10.35pm which probably justified the late night timeslot,... Read More »
* Have You Been Paying Attention? is coming back after Easter as an hour-long late-night show: CHANNEL 10 has shifted Have You Been Paying Attention? from its prime Sunday evening timeslot. Ten says the comedy panel show hasn’t been axed. Instead it is set to be relaunched in an expanded one-hour version after Easter. The... Read More »
Working Dog’s much-loved (by us) comedy game show Have You Been Paying Attention? (or HYBPA) tried something a little different last night: they went to air at the usual time (6pm) with the usual episode, then at 10.30pm they ran an extended “after dark” version that was around ten minutes longer. Has society gone mad?... Read More »
Most of our objections to the state of modern Australian comedy can be boiled down to two points: most of it isn’t even trying to be funny, and it’s not even any good at whatever it is trying to do. So we’re actually kind of pleased to see both The Checkout and Have You Been... Read More »
Was 2013 a good year for Australian comedy? Of course not – comedy hasn’t had a good year in this country since, oh, let’s say 1994, just to make it a nice round twenty years of decline. Yes, individual comics have had good years and individual shows have made a splash, but come on: comedy... Read More »