Tag: Live From Planet Earth

Tonight is not the night – The worst Australian topical comedies and tonight shows

When Tonightly with Tom Ballard was axed last year, Australia not only lost a show which was delivering a solid half-hour of interesting, passionate and funny topical comedy four nights a week but it a lost a show which had been allowed to be itself. So often, TV executives take a bunch of people who’ve... Read More »

Family Comedy doesn’t mean the same thing as Comedy Family

Press release time! Filming underway on ABC’s New Family Comedy series Sando Monday, November 20, 2017 — ABC and Screen Australia in association with Create NSW are pleased to announce that filming is underway in Sydney on the new six-part family comedy/drama series Sando, from the team at Jungle. Starring the much-loved Genevieve Morris (No... Read More »

Little sketches of horror(s)

This is Littleton is a new four-part sketch show set in the municipal offices of the fictional City of Littleton. It treads well-worn ground in TV sketch in that it features recurring characters and is set in the... Read More »

You Can’t Handle The Truth

Whadda know? Turns out The Unbelievable Truth isn’t half bad. The jokes are funny and there’s a lot of them, the dodgy panel format is constantly being broken up by cutaways and in studio antics, and… oh wait, maybe we should actually describe the show first: Craig Reucassel from The Chaser is your host, there’s... Read More »

Blah Blah Blah

If there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that Australian comedy is currently not operating at peak efficiency. In fact, it’s coughing its guts up all over the place. Duds to the left, ratings flops to the right, tired old formats hacking out their final breath everywhere else. What does it say about... Read More »

Get your Fix

Plenty of talented people have been burnt by commercial radio. Get This with Tony Martin, Ed Kavalee and Richard Marsland, and The Sweetest Plum with Declan Fay and Nick Maxwell were axed by Triple M for what you might call “business... Read More »

Australian Tumbleweed Awards 2011 – The “Pissing on Their Legacy” Award

Legacies are a fragile thing in the “what have you done for me lately” world of comedy. They’re also something that should constantly be on the line as you stretch yourself trying for new and greater... Read More »

Australian Tumbleweed Awards 2011 – Most Deservedly Axed or Shunted-Round-The-Schedules Program

Sometimes a show's just gotta go. Live From Planet Earth and Good News World were instant failures and their respective axings weren't much of a surprise, even if the latter's took a long time coming.... Read More »

Australian Tumbleweed Awards 2011 – Worst Sketches

Sketch comedy, like radio comedy, is a writer's medium. Performers are important too, but unless the writing is sharp a sketch show is... Read More »

Australian Tumbleweed Awards 2011 – Worst TV Light Entertainment Show

As a format, Good News World could have worked. Make that should have worked: topical comedy (or at least claiming to be a local version of The Daily Show) is a success around the... Read More »