Wow, Jonah really is stirring up some serious shit: A new Australian television comedy about a rebellious Tongan teenager has been condemned as “self indulgent” and “deeply offensive” to Pacific Islanders. Chris Lilley’s six-part ABC TV comedy series Jonah From Tonga follows the life of a 14-year-old schoolboy and his run-ins with family, friends and... Read More »
And Jonah From Tonga isn’t a show which requires or demands your absolute concentration, it’s basically a series of scenes in which Jonah and his gang bully other kids in the school and exchange toilet humour-peppered barbs with other... Read More »
First you have this*: Regardless of the content of the show, simply by choosing to wear ‘racial drag’ Lilley has put his work in the company of pieces of entertainment history as regrettable as the Al Jolson Minstrel Show. Yet for the most part we seem at peace with one of Australian TV’s favorite sons... Read More »
Press release time! AUSTRALIA BINGES ON A PUCKLOAD OF JONAH! The ABC created an Australian first for audiences, serving up the ultimate binge-fest with Chris Lilley’s series JONAH FROM TONGA having its world premiere on ABC iview in a weekend-long event. With the ABC initiative replicated in the UK by BBC Three, the binge... Read More »
For one weekend only, the ABC have made available for streaming all six episodes of Chris Lilley’s new series Jonah from Tonga. We’ll be honest: we couldn’t make it all the way through. Here’s why: ‘Most of my characters never change as [a series] goes along,” says Lilley. ”There’s a familiar structure to television where... Read More »
Press release time! WORLD PREMIERE OF CHRIS LILLEY COMEDY TO SCREEN IN EPIC WEEKEND BINGE ON ABC IVIEW Australia’s leading internet TV service, ABC iview, is giving superfans the chance to watch puckloads of Chris Lilley’s new series JONAH FROM TONGA online, before it hits TV screens. Every pucking episode of the six-part series will... Read More »