Utopia has come to an end, as we knew it would. But is this goodbye, or merely “I’ll be back”? Yeah, an 80s movie reference feels pretty on brand for Utopia. Despite being stocked with young comedic talent, this last season has been a firm reminder that the oldies haven’t retired yet and if this... Read More »
Ok, so Utopia is back for a record-breaking (not really – ed) fifth season. It’s been almost a decade since season one first aired – surely after a tumultuous decade in politics this particular satire has morphed into something all but unrecognisable? Yeah, nah, it’s business as usual once again. You can’t really fault Working... Read More »
Say what you like about Working Dog, but they definitely know the right way to do an end-of-year wrap-up. Throw in a few old clips, make the hosts dress fancy, and otherwise stick to business as usual. Which is just the way we like it. Of the two Working Dog series that wrapped for the... Read More »
A few months back we expressed befuddlement over the way 10 didn’t seem all that interested in exploiting one of their biggest local hits. MasterChef and Survivor get spinoffs, why not Have You Been Paying Attention? And clearly the programming chiefs at 10 are big fans of this blog – despite giving How to Stay... Read More »
We don’t usually bother with The Australian, which is one thing we have in common with the entire Australian population, but this did manage to catch our eye: Others have pointed out the irony of The Australian leaping to defend comedians they sued (successfully) over a joke; The Australian having spent the last decade or... Read More »
All Aussie Adventures is about as unfashionable a comedy as comedy currently gets. Despite star Russel Coight’s constant blathering on about conservation and helping out farmers and struggling regular folk, there’s no real political angle here: everything he says and does is completely centered on himself. So if you really wanted to stretch a point,... Read More »
The return of All Aussie Adventures last night comes at a time in TV history when broadcasters seem to be increasingly looking to the popular favourites of the past to draw in an audience (Roseanne, that proposed re-boot of Hypotheticals, that proposed re-boot of Frasier). Which is all well and good if it’s entertaining and... Read More »
Press release time! ABC continues the War on Waste in new podcast Wendy Harmer joins Craig Reucassel to build the War on Waste community Tuesday, May 30, 2017 — Craig Reucassel lit up Australia’s televisions with the War on Waste series. Now he’s joined by Wendy Harmer (Mornings on ABC Radio Sydney) to continue the... Read More »
Two weeks in and the verdict on Working Dog’s new animated comedy series Pacific Heat is… well, it’s not positive. And fair enough too: for 2016, it’s a great example of 1980s comedy. It’s not news that Working Dog’s sense of humour hasn’t been cutting edge since around the mid-90s, but in animation – where... Read More »
Back in the mid-80’s, some people in the UK came up with an idea for an improvised comedy radio show called Whose Line Is It Anyway?, which was a sort of mash-up of theatre sports and stand-up, inspired by a regular improv night at London club The Comedy Store. Following the radio series, it was... Read More »