Anyone a fan of this early 90s comedy sketch show?

It was made by the D-Generation (Rob Sitch, Santo Cilauro, Mick Molloy, Tony Martin, Jane Kennedy, Jason Stephens and Tom Gleisner) and the format was similar to The Mary Whitehouse Experience (live segments mixed with pre-recorded sketches). Rob Sitch, Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner and Jane Kennedy went on to form Working Dog Productions which makes most of the top comedy in Australia, most notably the sitcom Frontline.

Here are some clips for The Late Show:

The Olden Days (dubbed Western) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OtaAUc-BrI

We're Still Number Four (sketch mocking their own network ABC) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n42lNEoP5zE

Shit Scared http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ3VQCx_l2c

It's definitely worth getting hold of if you haven't seen it, I think there is a Best of Compilation avaible on the ABC website, but the full series are out there on various download websites.

(Australian Comedy)

Really?

Quote: Leevil @ March 1 2009, 8:33 PM GMT

(Australian Comedy)

Really?

View original

Well not currently no, but the late 80s/early 90s it had some great stuff. Like those I mention, mainly the De-Generation and of course Sean Micalfe.

Rob Sitch gets a lifetime pass for The Castle.

Quote: David Bussell @ March 4 2009, 11:23 AM BST

Rob Sitch gets a lifetime pass for The Castle.

View original

I've recently ordered this off Amazon, after hearing so much good stuff about it.

I've just finished watching both series of The Late Show, excellent stuff, a shame that a lot of Working Dog's recent stuff hasn't been that great, although I hear The Hollowmen is promising?

I've still got to get hold of Frontline.

But Tony Martin is my favourite Late Show/D-Gen member, the one most dedicated to making his work as funny as possible. For those that aren't that familiar with his work you should get hold of his old radio show Get This, they are all available here http://ybbs.chigau.com/ (helpfully all the rubbish music is cut out, so just pure Tony Martin joy)

I think 'The Castle' was a most enjoyable comedy movie. I haven't noticed any great Ausie sitcoms here in the last 20 years.

Quote: Rob M @ April 3 2009, 9:06 PM BST

I haven't noticed any great Ausie sitcoms here in the last 20 years.

View original

That's because there haven't been many. Anyways, here's a list of some Australian sitcoms and comedy shows of the past 30 years. Not in chronological or even alphabetical order yet, but rather in the order in which I remembered them.

Some Australian sitcoms and comedy shows

Acropolis Now (1989-92) - Truly awful. Bad acting and infantile scripts. Involved Greek Australians running a cafe and calling one another "stupid wog". Was very popular.

Kath & Kim (2002-) - Amusing only because it is an accurate reflection of the banality and idiocy of suburban Australians. And because Barry Humphries appeared in one episode. Premise wears thin when you grow weary of laughing at dumb Aussies.

Kingswood Country (1980-84) - Great early 80s sitcom. Imagine a combination of Bless This House and Love Thy Neighbor set in Australia.

Hey Dad (1987-94) - Abysmal. Dreadful stuff about a single parent, his kids and his secretary with the brain of a retarded spaniel. Not a single laugh. But it was incredibly popular. I loathed it.

Mother and Son (1984-94) - Consistently close to brilliant. Imagine Steptoe and Son but with a senile female parent. Terrific cast and writers.

Love Thy Neighbour in Australia (1980) - A nice idea, albeit a poorly planned one.

Are You Being Served? (Australia) (1980-81) - Daft rubbish, unashamed rip-off, but good cos of John Inman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_25R4BBHYyc

The Games (1998-2000) - Top stuff. Clever satire about the bureaucracy and politics behind the Olympic Games.

Frontline (1994-97) - Imagine a droll Aussie version of Drop The Dead Donkey with more laughs. Very good.

DAAS Kapital (1991-92) - Painful crap.

Comedy Company (1988-90) - Sketch show. Ordinary at best. Popular because it didn't require any thinking.

The D-Generation (1986-87) - Sort-of groundbreaking mid-80s sketch show by Melbourne University students. The nucleus of The Castle.

Fast Forward (1989-92) - Topical sketch show involving some members of The D-Generation and some newcomers. Wildly popular and often funny - assuming the audience were undemanding schoolboys and Joe Idiot.

Full Frontal (1993-97) - The spin-off from Fast Forward. Sometimes funny. Introduced actor Eric Bana (who?).

Bligh (1992) - Historical but certainly not hysterical comedy by the Fast Forward team. In a word: crap.

The Late Show (1992-93) - Most of the original D-Generation team back with a sometimes topical sketch and stand-up show. Probably their best work until they did Frontline.

The Hollowmen (2008-) - Rob Sitch of the D-Generation and Frontline stars in this satire of political spin doctors and advisers. Not bad.

Pizza (2000-07) - The lives and times of the guys working for a pizza delivery company. Filled with all sorts of very negative ethnic stereotypes. Crass, crude, clever, racist, inventive and funny. Spawned a movie called Fat Pizza.

Swift & Shift Couriers (2008-) - Successor to Pizza. Not quite as funny - but might improve. Imagine a gross, unsubtle version of The Office. Best joke is that the second letter 'f' has fallen off the sign of 'Swift and Shift'.

Let the Blood Run Free (1990-94) - Hugely forgettable crap.

Jimeoin (1994-95) - Horrible. An Irishman shows that he can be as unfunny as Australians.

Col'n Carpenter (1990-91) - Dumb. Not even remotely clever or funny.

The Big Gig (1989-92) - Mix of stand-up, music and sketches. Most of it was rubbish.

Late for School (1992) - Let's be honest, you'd get more pleasure masturbating with a cheesegrater than watching this pap.

CNNNN (2003) - Good news spoof by the Chaser team.

The Chaser's War on Everything (2006-) - Topical, clever and frequently silly. Great stuff. The best to come out of Australia in recent years. Not that that's saying much.

The Micallef Program (1998-2001) - Spoof variety show by Shaun Micallef. Sometimes funny with brilliant surreal moments, but often trying too hard.

Newstopia (2007-2008) - Also by Shaun Micallef. Like a weak Australian version of Brasseye. Rare flashes of brilliance, but mostly contrived.

The Librarians (2007) - Pure shite.

Very Small Business (2008) - Wanted to be a clever comedy about the media, marketing and small business. Lame.

We Can Be Heroes (2005) - Chris Lilley plays various characters in a mockumentary about finding the Australian of the Year. Not bad, but many dull patches.

Summer Heights High (2007) - Chris Lilley mockumentary again, this time set in a school and playing only three characters. Quite good, if a bit tedious at times. The highlight is Tongan student Jonah Talakua (and his dad).

Thank God You're Here (2006-) Based on the improvised stage comedy of Theatre Sports. Imagine Whose Line is it Anyway with only one game, a boring host and no laughs.

Thanks for that list Kenneth! As I say I've been really getting in to the D-Generation stuff lately. Found some of the old Martin/Molloy radio shows, haven't started listening yet but I know how great they are meant to be (shame Martin and Molloy fell out recently).

I need to get hold of Frontline, The Games and The Hollowmen.

I think I might try to get The Micallef Programme as I've heard lots of good things about that.

Quote: Martin H @ April 4 2009, 12:11 PM BST

I think I might try to get The Micallef Programme as I've heard lots of good things about that.

View original

One of the funniest things about 'The Micallef Program' was the title. The first season was 'program' in American spelling. ABC viewers complained about this, so the second season used the British spelling and was called 'The Micallef Programme'. The third season, in line with the increasingly surreal nature of the show, was called 'The Micallef Pogram'.

At the start of the second season, Micallef explained the change in spelling (quote from Wikipedia): "There's been a few changes since last season: we're spelling "programme" correctly this time, the French way with two m's and an e. That's entirely due to your feedback and we thank you for that. Certainly don't get that level of pedantry from viewers of commercial television."

His most recent show, Newstopia, is rumored to have been canceled by SBS because of his involvement in another show on the Ten network. Newstopia has had some great spoof ads, some of which you can find on YouTube.

Ha, that's great about the name change.

It's a shame that Working Dog keep churning on Thank God You're Here, they can clearly make better shows than that and its annoying they are wasting their creativity. But I suppose it brings in the big bucks.

I still can't get enough of Bargearse:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fahf77qzEnE

Quote: Kenneth @ April 4 2009, 2:06 AM BST

Let the Blood Run Free (1990-94) - Hugely forgettable crap.

View original

Ha, I'd forgotten all about this programme! I used to quite like it.

Quote: Kenneth @ April 4 2009, 2:06 AM BST

Kath & Kim (2002-) - Amusing only because it is an accurate reflection of the banality and idiocy of suburban Australians. And because Barry Humphries appeared in one episode. Premise wears thin when you grow weary of laughing at dumb Aussies.

Summer Heights High (2007) - Chris Lilley mockumentary again, this time set in a school and playing only three characters. Quite good, if a bit tedious at times. The highlight is Tongan student Jonah Talakua (and his dad).

View original

Love both of those shows.

Quote: Martin H @ April 4 2009, 9:00 PM BST

It's a shame that Working Dog keep churning on Thank God You're Here, they can clearly make better shows than that and its annoying they are wasting their creativity.

View original

Thanks for the reminder about Thank God You're Here - it's still being made now - will stick it on me list. Did you see when Andrew Hansen from The Chaser's War on Everything was invited to appear on Thank God You're Here? He just acted like an idiot, completely ruined the skit and walked off doing his 'surprise spruiker' act before saying "this show sucks": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1T7oTEtO3s

That was clearly set up, no?

Quote: Martin H @ April 4 2009, 11:28 PM BST

That was clearly set up, no?

View original

You mean TGYH invited Andrew Hansen on the show and instructed him to "act like an idiot and take the piss out of us"? Or The Chaser approached TGYH and said "please have Andrew on the show and let him take the piss out of you"? I don't know. There could be an explanation on the DVD commentary of that segment. It looks as if he just went on and took the piss.