On the weekend Working Dog released a video of their new animated series Pacific Heat, soon to be shown on Foxtel’s Comedy Channel on Sunday November 27.
Already, fans have responded saying that it echoes another animated US spy show Archer (with a hint of Working Dog’s previous work – 1995’s Funky Squad).
@workingdogprod @TLSChampagne @ComedyChannel looks very similar to Archer
— Paul Michael Craig (@paulmac_78) October 16, 2016
@workingdogprod @TLSChampagne @ComedyChannel what a shameless Archer rip-off!
— Carlo Lucchini (@CarloLucchini) October 16, 2016
While we do agree here that it resembles the US show that was launched in 2009, we originally thought the idea of Pacific Heat sounded like it was loosely based from the 1996 radio serial Johnny Swank.
What is Johnny Swank?
The comedy serial was broadcasted on the Today Radio Network in 1996 by Working Dog, and usually played during the breakfast shows on 2DAY, FOX, B105 etc. Listeners would follow the adventures of the too-cool-for-school Johnny Swank (voiced by Rob Sitch) and his bumbling sidekick K2 (voiced by Santo Cilauro), with various characters voiced by Tom Gleisner, Jane Kennedy and friends.
There would be a story arc for one whole week starting on the Monday and wrapping up on the Friday, with each episode running average 2 – 3 minutes in length. Think a piss-take of Mel Brooks’ Get Smart but on radio.
Here’s a week’s worth of episodes to show you that the premise was around for a while.
Funnily enough, Funky Squad started out as a radio serial too, before hitting the TV screens.
Either way, we’re looking forward to Pacific Heat!
