One week into the official election campaign and… yeah. Remember when political satire was a central part of Australian culture? You do? Have fun down at Services Australia trying to claim the old age pension. Slightly less snarkily, these days any election campaign really drives home the shrinking opportunities for political comedy on Australian television.... Read More »
(slightly late) Press release time! Lune Media has announced a series commission from Network Ten for a brand-new quiz show – Shaun Micallef’s Brain Eisteddfod. The one-hour, weekly quiz program is hosted by actor, writer, television presenter and one of Australia’s favourite comedians Shaun Micallef. Leonie Lowe, Managing Director at Lune Media said: “I’m thrilled... Read More »
First out of the blocks and we’re off with a bang. Australian comedy needed a kick up the bum after a lacklustre 2021 and Mad as Hell was just the show to do it. Or just possibly we were starved of a good laugh over the Summer of Omicron and we’re wildly overreacting. You be... Read More »
2021 was a year when Australians desperately needed a good laugh. Fortunately, we had Australian comedy to laugh at.... Read More »
Making topical comedy isn’t easy. Forget the time constraints: we’re talking about having to make comedy out of the daily news. In Australia no less, land of no amusing news in good times or bad. And at the moment, things are pretty, pretty, pretty bad. Was 2021 the year that much of Australia woke up... Read More »
One of the many, many ways you can tell Mad as Hell is a great comedy show is that when things get shit out in the real world, the comedy on Mad as Hell gets sharper. Which sounds like it should be obvious, but then you remember The Weekly gave us multiple seasons of Corona... Read More »
Radio National’s new science-themed comedy quiz show The Pop Test seems perfectly designed for the golden age of audio... Read More »
Earlier this year we wrote a little about how Mad as Hell, as basically the last ABC comedy program still in existence, was having a bit of fun using all the old laff-getting tricks that other shows used to mess around with. Back then we were generally approving: little did we realise they were about... Read More »
Is it just us, or has Shaun Micallef been losing his grip a little lately? Not that he’s ever really been known for his iron grasp on things, but the occasional smirk at an over-the-top performance has, in recent weeks, seemingly blossomed into a lot of near-corpsing in the face of what’s become a regular... Read More »
If the ABC really wanted to pull a crowd with Shaun Micallef’s On The Sauce, they should have got Mick Molloy to host it. Having Micallef host a mildly anxious series about how maybe drinking is not great for everyone just feels like a natural fit: having Molloy out there desperately trying to fit his... Read More »