Celebration of a nation
The ABC’s 90th-anniversary program ABC 90 Celebrate! was a noble attempt cover nine decades of broadcasting but left some... Read More »
Tag: The Librarians
Is Australian Comedy Sexist?
Short answer: yes. Or no. Maybe? Dammit, we’re going to have to think about this one for a moment. Let’s back up for a second. Last weeks episode of The Hamster Wheel had a segment on sexism in the Australian media. Yay Chaser! Or perhaps not, as a few people have expressed some doubts about... Read More »
Audrey’s Kitchen
Premiering tonight on ABC1 in the not terribly good timeslot of 6.25pm is the new Working Dog series Audrey’s Kitchen, six 3-minute episodes based on their 2010 parody cookbook Audrey Gordon’s Tuscan... Read More »
Vale: The Joy of Sets
Hard as it might be to believe after his twenty-odd years in the spotlight, The Joy of Sets was Tony Martin’s first lead role in a television show. In fact, every other cast member of The Late Show (where Martin first made a serious TV splash) has more up-front television experience than Tony Martin has.... Read More »
Devil With a Blue Dress On
In these days of a thousand digital channel flowers blooming, repeating your programs as often as possible during the week of release is a sign of commitment. “This is a show we’re standing behind,” a repeat says, “this is a show we want to be seen by as many people as possible”. Whether it’s a... Read More »
Travelling North
It was announced the other day that Rove McManus has become the latest Australian to score a gig on American TV, and that's all well and good but why him? There are lots of other far better Australian comedians having a crack in the US, why aren't they getting... Read More »
Making Up For Teenage Crime
When we haven’t been having a chuckle at Hey Hey it’s Saturday being nominated for a “Most Popular Light Entertainment Program” Logie (what, they’re handing out Logies just for turning up now?), we’ve been having a semi-serious discussion here at Tumbleweed Central: why doesn’t Australian television make more comedy for teenagers? Put another way, when... Read More »
At Last, the Laid Review
Laid would probably work if it was a movie. You wouldn’t pay to go see it, of course, but when it works it works in roughly the same way as a reasonably competent Australian independent film does – think The Rage in Placid Lake or The Illustrated Family Doctor (not that anyone paid to see... Read More »
Yet Another Thing to Thank Tony Martin For
Remember the “good old days” of Australian comedy DVD releases, where extra features were a joke instead of actually containing more jokes? But as everyone who scored a copy of series 3 of The Librarians for Christmas now knows, All That’s Changed: not only does this particular slice of Aussie comedy hilarity contain a descent... Read More »
Long Overdue
Right from its first episode, The Librarians (ABC1, Wednesdays, 8.30pm) has been surprisingly divisive, in that it was neither obvious rubbish or amazingly hysterical. More insightful critics than us might want to discuss whether being able to provide support for shows that aren’t either pandering crap or clear genius is a sign of maturity for... Read More »