Australian comedy hit a new low in 2016, though if you’re anything like us you probably didn’t realise it at the time. Why would you? On the surface it seemed business as usual: a handful of standout shows, one or two duds and a whole lot of stuff forgotten before the end credits finished. In... Read More »
In word terms, 2016 was the year of “democracy sausage” and “post-truth”, but if the world of comedy had its say it’d probably go for “banter”, a term rightly mocked in The Yearly with Charlie Pickering for describing conversation that sounds funny but actually isn’t. Oh, the irony. But as joke after half-arsed observation died... Read More »
Press release time! ABC reveals strong Australian slate for 2017 & announces unprecedented investment in digital programming Wednesday, November 2, 2016 Stellar Australian actors and presenters, including Claudia Karvan, Hugo Weaving, Miranda Tapsell, Xavier Samuel, Ian Thorpe, Anh Do and Rob Collins are just a few of the stars that will grace the screens of... Read More »
We shouldn’t have to rely on our ex-pats (or fair-chunk-of-the-year-ex-pats) to “nail it” satire-wise, but here’s a comedy song you’re probably more than familiar with by now, and boy does much-of-the-year London resident Tim Minchin “nail it”. It’s not just the sentiment of Come Home (Cardinal Pell) that we like, it’s that this delivers on pretty... Read More »
How does the ABC start the new comedy year? With an episode of Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery featuring that well-known comedian, er, Kerry O’Brien. Safe to say we didn’t really bother with that one, as entertaining as the 7:30 host-turned Keating interrogator can be. We’ll save ourselves for episode 2: Rebel Wilson. Be back at... Read More »
Ever get the feeling you’re running in place? That was Australian television comedy in 2015. Not just in the usual “the only way forward is to bring back Fast Forward” sense either, even though once again hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent in the firm belief that the only comedy “mainstream Australia” will embrace... Read More »