Author Topic: Generic Aussie Comedy Thread (Read 28928 times) Tweet Share

13 schoolyards · « **on:** March 03, 2009, 09:55:38 am »

And so it begins again... much as the way it'll continue I'm guessing, with no real news for ages and then when it comes it'll be all bad.

*edit* except that this post'll be lost in the move to the new server! Lord, what a pratt I am.

Bean Is A Carrot · « **Reply #1 on:** March 03, 2009, 07:50:10 pm »

If this post's going to be lost, then I guess this is my opportunity to drop character and declare my great love for the work of Wil Anderson.

Ja'moke · « **Reply #2 on:** March 03, 2009, 08:22:18 pm »

I'm currently experiencing the joy of The Late Show, thanks to Gavin who sent me both complete series.

What a fantastic show, packed with ideas and passion. How can you not laugh any time Rob Sitch and Santo Cilauro appear on screen together and how adorable is Jane Kennedy?

I will definitely be purchasing Frontline after I've finished with The Late Show.

Bean Is A Carrot · « **Reply #3 on:** March 04, 2009, 09:17:07 pm »

Hope you enjoy Frontline, Ja'moke.

How annoying that my comment about Wil Anderson has been migrated to this new forum, but not Gavin's declaration that he is now believing everything I've ever said. Gavin, the best thing you can do right now is come around and clean my flat. This will really help your life. Or more accurately, mine.

And I'd also recommend people tracking down Micallef Tonight. There's a commercially available Best of DVD with a commentary track from Micallef and Tony Martin, and fan circulated DVDs of the complete series and pilots. There's a even a UK distributor for the later, a very nice woman in Yorkshire.

13 schoolyards · « **Reply #4 on:** March 05, 2009, 09:46:28 am »

Yeah, how crap is it that my useless opening post has made it across but many of the ones that followed - steering people towards class Aussie acts such as The Games and Micallef Tonight - have been lost. Especially as once you get past those shows you enter Chris Lilley / Chaser's War on Everything territory, and the warning signs at the door of Aussie Comedy aren't nearly big enough for safety's sake.

Good news tho', as Les Patterson Save the World is out on DVD in Australia this week - region-free too for those outside region 4 - and it has some halfway decent extras. My fave was Bazza's chat about the film (no doubt taken from a previous interview, much as I'd like to think he recorded it just for this DVD, but well on-topic for the 20+ minutes it runs) in which he suggests that back in the 1980s Australia film was seen as being a servant of the tourism industry. In contrast to, oh, 2008's blockbuster Australia, directly sponsored in part by the Australian Tourism Board...

Bean Is A Carrot · « **Reply #5 on:** March 05, 2009, 10:10:11 pm »

I noticed the Les... DVD in the latest Umbrella e-newsletter. The extras look great, unlike the vanilla R2 disc I bought a few years back. I may need to purchase this new one.

The 7.30 Report vodcast seem to be including Clarke & Dawe this year. Last year they rarely bothered, but this year they've podcast every sketch. So yay for them.

Neil · « **Reply #6 on:** March 05, 2009, 10:13:19 pm »

Quote from: 13 schoolyards on March 05, 2009, 09:46:28 am

Yeah, how crap is it that my useless opening post has made it across but many of the ones that followed - steering people towards class Aussie acts such as The Games and Micallef Tonight - have been lost.

I did leave the other place open for the day so people could copy over stuff that got posted after the dump. I'll grab those missing posts for you lot now, hang on.

Quote from: amoral

I recently discovered Shaun Micallef through the other Aussie comedy thread, downloaded all three series of The Micallef Programme and enjoyed them immensely. No one so handsome should be allowed to be so funny.
So where would those of you in the know suggest I go from there?

If you enjoyed the Micallef P(r)ogram(me) you'd best check out Micallef Tonight which was his short-lived Tonight-style show. The guests are boring for the most part but anytime he gets to play with the format is brilliant. More recently he's done Newstopia, which is a fake-News show which was hit and miss but still reasonably good. Not sure how it would hold up for an international audience especially given it's topical nature.

Oh! And Welcher and Welcher is a great little sitcom that Micallef made which is still, criminally, not on DVD but can be found in various corners of the internet.

Enjoy!

As this will all be gone tomorrow I would like to thank Bean Is A Carrot for her advice. I don't know exactly when or why I decided to believe absolutely everything she says but it was one of the best decisions I ever made. I literally listened to every Get This podcast, in order, on my mp3 player without once switching to anything else. All 162 episodes.

If we're recommending Australian things I would like to add The Games starring John Clarke, Gina Riley and Bryan Dawe. I especially love the first series.

Yevgeny Kafelnikov

Bean Is A Carrot · « **Reply #7 on:** March 05, 2009, 10:20:22 pm »

We were kinda kidding, but thanks very much Neil. And thanks for putting up with our ridiculous ongoing threads about things none of you people have ever heard of. Like Mr Squiggle. How poor your British lives must be.

Neil · « **Reply #8 on:** March 05, 2009, 10:25:44 pm »

Heheh, not a prob, always nice to see you lot enjoying your chat so much.

13 schoolyards · « **Reply #9 on:** March 06, 2009, 02:52:34 am »

Thanks Neil - we were (mostly) joking, but I tend to think this thread is useful mostly as some kind of stand-alone surreal comedy for most people 'round here.

I saw Two Fists One heart yesterday, AKA the movie in which Tim Minchin appears for, um, three scenes? (maybe four). It's a fairly typical Aussie effort (that is to say, not really worth the ticket price), but Minchin is actually pretty good at playing a piano-playing gag-craking wimp. So there's some solid type-casting there, which isn't surprising as every other role in this too-depressing-to-summarise flick is straight out of the Bumper Book of Immigrant Cliches. I will say they screwed up by not getting Mark Mitchel to put on the Con the Fruiterer apron for the role of 'violent sexist unloving wog dad' but.

Bean Is A Carrot · « **Reply #10 on:** March 06, 2009, 01:30:20 pm »

Seen The Combination yet, schoolyards? It looked kinda interesting on The 7.30 Report, but clearly sucks purely on the failure to cast Mitchell in the ethnic Dad role.

13 schoolyards · « **Reply #11 on:** March 07, 2009, 02:44:30 am »

Not surprisingly, The Combination (which I have seen) and Two Fists have EXACTLY THE SAME PLOT:a burly boxer & member of an ethnic community well-known for its violence saves a blonde anglo girl from menacing types, they strike up a relationship, she loves him (and symbolises the 'Aussie' way of life, AKA the wider culture) but isn't sure that he can change his ways - because they seem to be his culture's ways - they break up, and then... well, I don't want to spoil it. Clearly my failed love life is down to not rescuing enough blonde models from gangs tho'. The big diff is that The Combo doesn't have an ethnic dad - it's the older brother fresh out of jail that's the voice of reason while his younger bro is all about the thug life, while Two Fists has the violent dad and a son who's not sure he wants to follow down his path. So, you know, completely different there.

New Gruen Transfer soon too, just so you know. To sell your TV sets.

Bean Is A Carrot · « **Reply #12 on:** March 08, 2009, 11:14:43 am »

Here's something from the Hun which caught my eye.

Quote

Stage show Pam Ann takes off in Australia
Article from: Sunday Herald Sun

Luke Dennehy

March 08, 2009 12:00am

SHE has a huge following in Europe and now Pam Ann is hitting the big time in Australia.

Pam Ann (left) is a fictional flight attendant played by Caroline Reid, who grew up in Vermont, Melbourne.

Reid took her character overseas in 1999 and has experienced success approaching that of Barry Humphries and Dame Edna Everage.

Over the years, stars such as Madonna, Kylie and Dannii Minogue and Elton John have become fans of Pam Ann.

She was the flight attendant on John's private jet when he flew partner David Furnish to Italy for his 40th birthday.

Celebrities on board included Victoria Beckham.

"Elton John was a real angel. He was like a fairy godmother," Reid said this week.

"He was running towards me and I'm thinking, 'Is he coming to me?'

"He then swooped me up and I felt like, this can't be happening."

Foxtel's Comedy Channel will screen The Pam Ann Show - Reid's first television show - from Wednesday. Reid couldn't be happier.

"I have been dreaming of this show since I started Pam Ann," she said.

"I've always wanted to do television ever since I was a kid watching Hey Hey It's Saturday and Blankety Blanks."

If "approaching the success of Barry Humphries" means "hasn't had quite as many British TV series as Barry, in fact, hasn't had any", then that's correct. She did a Comedy Lab (a broadcast pilot for Channel 4) in 2002, though. And don't kid yourselves that she's a big star in Britain, she isn't.

13 schoolyards · « **Reply #13 on:** March 09, 2009, 04:33:14 am »

I've had a look at the first episode of Pam Ann, and it's a magical trip back in time... to the late 90s when pay TV was seriously crap. A not-that-good cabaret act brought to the small screen, complete with loads of "me no rikey" racist gags and sub, sub sub Dame Edna snark. I never thought anything could make me nostalgic for Bob Downe, but this half-arsed (actually, full-arsed, as it's clearly very gay-friendly in its campness) talk show wannabe had me begging for Bob to come back within the first five minutes. Long before the audience partipication / celebrity dating game show where the "celebrity" was someone I'd never even heard of, thus making the whole thing even more pointless.

I also finally got around to the first two epsiodes of Laurence Leung's Choose Your Own Adventure, and while the first one (where he tried to get back with a primary school crush) was fairly flat, the second (where he tries to become a rock star) is a bit better, thanks largely to Tim Rodgers rock star lessons and some actual gags. There's also a few kinda pointless pranks going on, which makes me re-think my previous Safran-esque comments: the Chaser boys are the producers after all, and their fingerprints are over large chunks of this. It's not a bad show by any stretch and I did laugh at a couple of moments, but it could have done with a really savage editing because there's maybe 10-15 minutes of gold dragged out to 26.

(actually, the two comments from my sister in the next room as I was watching LL are more telling: "is that some kids show you're watching - it sounds like some 4pm thing?" and "is that Australian Idol?")

non capisco · « **Reply #14 on:** March 09, 2009, 10:01:17 pm »

I greatly enjoyed Laurence Leung's Edinburgh show of a few years back about him still desperately trying to compete with his elder brother in terms of cool. Kind of forgotten all about him until I read the previous post. I'll endeavour to check out the TV series, despite the mediocre review here, if it's at all easily downloadable.

I'm also really enjoying plowing through 'Get This!', yet another thing I'd never have heard of if it weren't for this place.

Lee · « **Reply #15 on:** March 09, 2009, 10:18:11 pm »

Watching series 1 of Newstopia at the moment... bloody great, isn't it? Can't say I get some of the local satire, but the linguistic gags and the frequent "fucking with the format" stuff are great in their own. Just got series 1 of the Games on DVD as well, (the Pinball VHSes were wearing a bit thin - many thanks for them though if you're still reading!) and I'm currently waiting for a copy of Review With Myles Barlow too. Good times... Tempted to go for the Micallef P(r)ogram(me) next, worth going for?

Saw an episode of Skithouse the other day too... I don't want to talk about it.

Ja'moke · « **Reply #16 on:** March 09, 2009, 11:18:26 pm »

Started the second series of The Late Show tonight. Who is this Judith Lucy that has suddenly joined the cast?

And other things of note, Tommy G is a little chubbier than in series one, whereas Mick is a little thinner and Jane has plucked her eyebrows.

13 schoolyards · « **Reply #17 on:** March 10, 2009, 01:05:22 am »

The Micallef P(r)ogram(me) is well worth whatever it takes to get ahold of - it's Micallef's finest work to date, and one of the flat-out bestest sketch shows I've ever seen. And I've not only seen Skithouse, I've seen Comedy Inc, Flipside, The Wedge and The Ronnie Johns Half Hour, so I know what I'm crapping on about when it comes to the arse-end of Aussie laffs.

Judith Lucy is a stand-up who I'd never heard of before The Late Show, but she's done a lot of top work since... most of which you can't get ahold of because she hardly ever puts out CDs of her stand-up shows.

(quick plug for The Mick Molloy Show, a very late Show-esque effort in which Judith and Tony Martin did a lot of top work - it only ran for eight episodes, but if you can find the t*****ts anywhere grab'em)

And speaking of Mick, from tvtonight.com.au:

Quote

Molloy to star in The Jesters
By David Knox on March 10, 2009

A case of art becomes art? Mick Molloy has a new television comedy project, The Jesters, to begin filming for Movie Extra in Sydney on Monday. It promises to be a satire about the day-to-day battles of a sketch comedy veteran turned producer.

Molloy, who returned to TV last year in TEN’s Before the Game, who will star in the lead role of Dave Davies, alongside Deborah Kennedy and Susie Porter.

“The Jesters is a funny and dark look into the world of television comedy from the writers’ room to the network board meetings - loaded with jealousy, pettiness, and treachery - all the things that make show-business so much fun,” a statement said.

Sounds like plenty of room for some biting comment, especially if it traces his two shows on Nine. Movie Extra has already found success with Chandon Pictures, which launches a second season this month.

Movie Extra’s Peter Jenetsky, said he believed the “clever” series would win over viewers.

“We think the time is right and viewers will love us taking a poke at the satirical comedy genre,” he said.

It will air in the second half of the year.

13 schoolyards · « **Reply #18 on:** March 10, 2009, 10:26:46 am »

Slightly more has come to light on The Jesters in the form of a press release. It's not good news:

Quote

MOVIE EXTRA is delighted to announce filming will commence on a new satirical comedy series, The Jesters, today in Sydney.

The Jesters stars Mick Molloy (Crackerjack, The Late Show), Emily Taheny (Comedy Inc), Deborah Kennedy (Bastard Boys, The Sum of Us, Neighbours), Susie Porter (Better Than Sex, Remote Area Nurse) and introduces a cast of up-and-coming Australian comedic talent Ben Geurens, Christian Barratt-Hill, Andrew Ryan and Travis Cotton. Centred around the day-to-day battles of a sketch comedy veteran turned producer, Dave Davies (Molloy) and his young would-be stars,

The Jesters is a satire about satirists - a behind-the-scenes show about making a satirical comedy TV series, in the spirit of Frontline, Entourage and The Larry Sanders Show.

The Jesters is a funny and dark look into the world of television comedy - from the writers’ room to the network board meetings - loaded with jealousy, pettiness, and treachery … all the things that make show-business so much fun. As Steve Martin once said, ‘Comedy is not pretty.’ The Jesters shows why.

General Manager, Marketing & Content Strategy for Movie Network Channels, Peter Jenetsky, says; ‘MOVIE EXTRA is incredibly excited about bringing another original and clever Australian comedy series to subscription TV audiences. We think the time is right and viewers will love us taking a poke at the satirical comedy genre. Australians love to make fun of their own and The Jesters offers audiences the opportunity to get behind the gilded curtain while exposing the hilarious inner workings of a comedy television series.

The Jesters is written by comedy veterans Kevin Brumpton and Angus FitzSimons who have spent the past ten years writing for television comedy shows including Comedy Inc, BackBerner, David Tench Tonight, Life Support, The Big Bite and Good News Week.

The Jesters is produced by their production company, Return Fire Productions. Ted Robinson (GNW TV) is Executive Producer for MOVIE EXTRA.

The Jesters will premiere on MOVIE EXTRA in the second half of 2009.

I'm sorry, and I hate to pre-judge, but that writing team is a sackful of hacks with a proven track record of failure. With Ted "One Idea" Robinson's thumb-prints all over it to boot. Oh wait, two ideas: "Let's rip off 30 Rock!" Though I'm guessing it's actually an idea they've had for years*, only now they were able to get it up by pitching it as a 30 Rock rip-off. Which makes this line:

Quote

original and clever Australian comedy series

the funniest thing in that press release.

*exactly which current / recent comedy shows will they be exposing the "hilarious" inner workings of? This idea made sense back when shows like The Comedy Company or Full Frontal were around, but these days... again, what are they making fun of? Skithouse? Comedy Inc? This kind of comedy show simply doesn't exist any longer. They might as well do a parody of Pot of Gold - it'd be funnier.

Bean Is A Carrot · « **Reply #19 on:** March 10, 2009, 08:37:42 pm »

Judith Lucy's fabulous, but her sudden arrival in the Late Show cast did rather divide audiences. All my female friends loved her, all the males I knew hated her. They were insecure teenage boys, though. Grown men tend to have a more positive view. She released her first book last year, it's called The Lucy Family Alphabet and it's well worth tracking down.

The Jesters will probably suck, if only because it'll be one of those fashionably-shot ironic sitcoms, but I'm always interested to see Mick Molloy in acting roles. If he's given the right part he's pretty good, as Macbeth showed.

leddydee · « **Reply #20 on:** March 14, 2009, 01:48:21 pm »

Hello.

Where can you download the Get This podcasts? I read about them on here ages ago but forgot to download them.

Also, I'm not sure if asking for podcasts is OK. Sorry if it isn't..

Ja'moke · « **Reply #21 on:** March 14, 2009, 03:30:45 pm »

Quote from: leddydee on March 14, 2009, 01:48:21 pm

Hello.

Where can you download the Get This podcasts? I read about them on here ages ago but forgot to download them.

Also, I'm not sure if asking for podcasts is OK. Sorry if it isn't..

http://ybbs.chigau.com/

I'm still working my way through these beauties. I'm up to around mid-September 2006.

13 schoolyards · « **Reply #22 on:** March 15, 2009, 04:04:28 am »

It only gets better Get This -wise. I can't believe I'm still so angry it got axed.

Or maybe I'm just angry about the return of Gruen this week. There's a painful interview with Wil Anderson in the Herald-Sun TV guide for it, in which he says (roughly) "It was so new and different I was sure it would fail".

Really? A panel show combined with The World Wackiest Commericals was so new and different it was bound to fail? Oh Wil, you're so edgy and cutting edge it's a wonder you don't slice your own head off every time you pick your nose.

Moribunderast · « **Reply #23 on:** March 15, 2009, 10:26:51 am »

Yeah, I just read that interview. He really does seem to believe he's this amazing alternative comedian who's subverting mainstream TV and warping our fragile little minds. He even bangs on about how good stuff never rates well in Australia and then namechecks Sopranos and Six Feet Under! Oh, wow, Wil, how out-there!

It genuinely boggles my mind if his appraisal of Gruen given in that interview is an honest one because if it is, the man's delusions are reaching Russel Crowe proportions.

Anyway, onto better things, I've finally gotten around to watching The Librarians and Very Small Business on DVD as I couldn't follow them on TV (which I've all but stopped watching now; just living off DVDs and the like) and they are both fantastic. Very Small Business is probably funnier but I found myself enjoying The Librarians more, possibly because Very Small Business doesn't go two minutes without Kim Gyngell being SAD. That's not a criticism of the show, just me not really being in the mood to watch depressed characters. Both Roby Butler and Wayne Hope make great leads in the respective shows and there are some very clear McCaffrie flourishes in VSB which I quite enjoyed. Looking forward to the second season of Librarians very much.

So there, a year or two late, but that's my tiny critique of the only good comedy to come out of this country that hasn't had a Micallef or Martin attached to it.

Oh, yeah. Did anyone read the Ed Kavalee interview in The Hun's (I think) Weekend supplement? If anything can be said for him, it seems his motives and heart are still in the right place creatively, it's just that he's stuck as a hired hand for hacks that he shouldn't be forced to associate with (on-air). There was a bit in the interview I found quite depressing where some producer from whichever station he's at now (Fox? Nova?) talks about how Hughes, Langbroek and said producer were reticent in getting Ed in because he's a bit private and the show would need him to be open about his private life. Personally, I don't give a flying fuck about his private life, I just want to hear good jokes. Instead we get to hear about how he's never said "I love you," to his girlfriend. Fuck you, commercial radio. And commercial TV too because this new Micallef vehicle sounds fucked. Let him do his own thing!

Er, sorry for such a ranty, venty post. I've been forced to see two Tim Rogers/You Am I shows within a week so my tolerance for cunts was at an all-time low when I came across the Anderson interview. Anyway, continue with the Get This love and GNW hate please. I'm gonna go listen to that Get This where Bob Franklin calls MMM cunts.

A.A · « **Reply #24 on:** March 15, 2009, 11:16:20 am »

I didn't like The Librarians very much at all. There were moments here and there in each episode, but I just didn't laugh out loud enough to justify 30 minutes of my time. Doesn't matter to me how "amiable" a comedy is...if it doesn't produce the requisite number of laughs than it hasn't done it's job. Also, I don't think Robyn Butler is as funny as she thinks she is. That could just be me, but she rubs me the wrong way.

Very Small Business, on the other hand, I laughed plenty. Kim Gyngell is fantastic, permanent depressed state and all. McCaffrie's touch was all over VSB, which is possibly why I enjoyed it more than Librarians; which was very much Butler and Hope's baby.

Definately agree with you on this new Micallef vehicle.

Perhaps I'm pessimistic, but all I can see is a cataclysmic failure on par with Yasmin. That's how long I see it lasting.

Probably should actually see the show first though...

13 schoolyards · « **Reply #25 on:** March 15, 2009, 12:34:30 pm »

If I had to choose between The Librarians and VSB (but I don't! Yay!) it'd be VSB every time. Yes, Kym's sad act did grow thin fairly fast, but fortunately they did allow him to get out some really solid one-liners so he had a bit of life in him - something a lot of comedy shows seem to forget when dealing with these kind of characters. It's fine to have a sad bastard in your show and to even treat it kind of seriously, but if the guy isn't likable why the heck are we watching?

I did enjoy a lot of The Librarians too, but it was mostly the small sidebars that contained the real gold (ie the flashbacks, the graphitti'd books, etc). I do, however, find Robyn Butler to be both funny and very attractive, so, um, bias exposed there. I do have high hopes for series two as well, because I think Butler and Hope are comedians who actually want to be funny (in contrast to, say, Chris Lilley, who just wants to be loved) and so they should build on what worked first time out. I believe there'll be more on-screen stuff between Hope and Butler this time around, so that's (for me) a good start.

I'm kinda netural on the Micallef show, mostly because Micallef himself seems to want to try pretty much everything on TV at least once so why not host a shitty gameshow? Every single other piece of information that leaks out about it does make it sound extremely shit tho - Amanda Keller AND Charlie Pickering as team captains? Why not just hire Maryanne Fahey and Sam Simmons while you're at it?

And yeah, it's impossible not to feel sorry for Ed Kavalee at the moment. He really started his radio career at the high point and the only way is down pretty much forever. I mean, where else will he get the chances he got on Get This? Not with f****ng Hughsie that's for sure. It's a black thought, but part of me thinks that Richard Marsland looked at his career at the end of 2008 and realised that his best years in radio would forever be behind him...

Bean Is A Carrot · « **Reply #26 on:** March 15, 2009, 12:53:21 pm »

The main problem with The Librarians (which I found a bit so-so at the time, despite being one of the best TV comedies of that year) was the Robyn Butler character. She was just...irritating, I suppose. It was the tone of the character that they got slightly wrong, I think. And she needed to generate a few more laughs. Gosh, that's vague criticism (I ask again, with my amazing ability to pump this shit out, where is my ZANY column in The Age).

A.A · « **Reply #27 on:** March 15, 2009, 01:31:40 pm »

The flashbacks were the other thing that annoyed me about The Librarians.

Too often, they just weren't funny. And if you're going to cut away from the action, you'd better make it funny. Too often, it felt like second or third-rate Arrested Development.

Well...so says I.

The Hollowmen- despite being an infinitely inferior Thick of It copycat- and VSB are my non-Micallef Australian TV comedy highlights from recent years.

Moribunderast · « **Reply #28 on:** March 15, 2009, 10:21:55 pm »

Yeah, I must get around to the Hollowmen. I only saw maybe three or four episodes but they seemed pretty decent. First time I'd laughed with Rob Sitch in years which was nice. Am I right in remembering people saying it got better/funnier as it went along too?

As for Robyn Butler in Librarians, I actually thought she got her character spot-on. A scene that stands out in my mind is when she's complaining about seating arrangements for the Premier's visit and is acting like she was very firm in wanting to take care of it herself, then we get the flashback to the Premier's aide saying "We'll take care of that" and Butler replying with a perfect passive-aggressive "Oh, is that best? You'll do it? Okay." There were quite a few really nice character observations like that through the series which anyone whose spent time with repressed people could've enjoyed, I thought.

Totally agree on her and Wayne Hope wanting to be FUNNY above all-else. I seem to remember an episode of Get This just before The Librarians' run, when SHH was all anybody talked about and Wayne Hope was very subtly trying to assure people it would be nothing like SHH. Both VSB and Librarians had far stronger characterization than SHH but they always used that characterization as a springboard for jokes and you were never left in doubt that (even if it was falling flat) their main concern was comedy.

Re: the Micallef thing, I'll try to hold-off until I actually see it (what a novel idea!) and if it's really what he wants to do, that's fine. It's just that as a fan, it's not what I really want to see. If you'd have asked me before the announcement which "comedians/celebrities" I would've least wanted as team captains, Amanda Keller and Charlie Pickering wouldn't have been far from the top of that list. That being said, if anyone can subvert the genre and turn it into something good, Shaun can, so there's always hope.

13 schoolyards · « **Reply #29 on:** March 16, 2009, 04:37:41 am »

The Hollowmen really did pick up as it went along, until by the end of series 2 it was approaching Frontline levels of comedy. It took a pretty long run-up to get there though, so hopefully when / if it comes back this year it'll pick up exactly where it left off. It was another show that fell into the SHH "who needs to be funny?" trap for a while, until Tom Gleisner (I'm guessing - he was supposedly the one least interested in the project) put his foot down and stuck a lot more gags in. Still far too big a cast, and with too many ill-defined characters though.

I don't think The Hollowmen actually rated as well as everyone hoped - Gruen out-rated it, that's for sure - but there seems to be a new, made-for-youtube Hollowmen clip around the place (on youtube?) about ABC funding so that's a good sign that the Channel Seven version of Thank God You're Here won't be all they do in 2009.

And yeah, Micallef hosting a game show is about as far from what I want to see him do as you can get, even if it was a decent one and not the gurning train wreck My Gen (or whatever it's called this week) promises to be. Fingers firmly crossed that his deal with Ten is a "one for you, one for me" one and he can do his own thing on the side.