Top and Bottom lists that rank the topic of discussion can be entertaining and compelling at the same time. While there are no thorough and correct answers (unless a registered survey or census has been performed), many listings are usually done by matter of opinion, and with the odd listener / reader / viewer interaction.
In the last few weeks, three lists have come across the dodgy news desk:
A semi-decent list, containing a few films that the Working Dog crew make reference to in some previous sketches, and including their own entry: The Castle – all in the Best part of the list.
Then there’s nothing.
Not even anything in the Worst list.
Where’s The Dish, Any Questions For Ben?, Crackerjack, Bad Eggs, Boytown ..? (or even Guru Wayne?)
Now this is an impressive list to put together. If you followed Tony Martin on his old radio show Get This, you’ll know half the shows he’s mentioned appear. Once you read all 25 shows, you’ll notice only ONE show from Working Dog appears, and it is well deserved. But, there’s ONE vitally important show that didn’t make it in the Top 25, but was mentioned in the ‘Honourable Mentions” category, along with two other shows made by Working Dog / D-Generation.
Nine out of the ten listed are pretty damn accurate, but the clincher at the bottom is a little bit astounding: The Mick Molloy Show. While it wasn’t to everyone’s cup of tea, it wasn’t suited for Channel 9’s audience, who just wanted to watch The Pretender or a repeat of The Commish (bet you read that in your head with Pete Smith’s voice, right?).
There were other just-as-bad-or-worse shows that didn’t make the cut on there. Doug Mulray’s Naughtiest Home Videos is a prime example. What about David Tench Tonight, The Comedy Sale, Let Loose Live, The Wedge, Are You Being Served Down Under?… you get the idea.
Yeah, we may be a bit biased, but it made us think: you can’t please everyone, no matter how hard you try. Time to sink the slipper!
What are your thoughts?
Should The Wog Boy been removed from 3AW’s list and The Dish put in there instead?
Funky Squad be on the fail list somewhere?
The D-Generation appear on the Top 25?
Feel free to leave a comment below, or in the infamous forum.
Aaron Beaucaire, or “Doctor” Aaron Beaucaire – according to a Muckraking segment based on violence, passed away late August.
Beaucaire was popular with The Late Show fans. Known for his over-the-top explosions and special effects on the show, he was also considered “The Fifth Beatle” when props man Alf Camilleri* wasn’t around (but the fans loved them both equally).
..or.. the “Terry Gilliam” of the group, which stemmed from his American accent and similar appearance in the looks department.
But Beaucaire’s credits weren’t limited to just The Late Show. Other credits include Funky Squad, The Castle, Shonky Golf With Mick Molloy (A series of sketches that appeared on The Mick Molloy Show and got a full DVD release), Bad Eggs, Welcher and Welcher and many other projects. See the full list of Aaron’s work here.
While it is not possible to cover every angle of his work on The Late Show, this video introduction of the VHS release of The Devil At Your Heels shown in 1993, sums up his work just about perfectly.
If you own the Champagne Edition Late Show DVDs (of course you do!), switch to Disc 1, turn on Commentary and start from Volume 2 – Track 21 – Muckraking: TV Violence. Aaron ‘phones it in’ for the commentary, talking about his various stunts and effects he had set up with Shitscared and other sketches, with hilarious results.
A true legend. Deadset legend.
Thank you for the shocks, laughs and explosions, Doctor. You truly were the doyen of the special effects industry.
* The dear Alf Camilleri passed away in 2007. Unfortunately the blog part of this site was not active at the time to publish an article, however he was remembered in the CC Forums.
Instead of writing about the DVD release of Working Dog‘s latest movie feature Any Questions For Ben?, I thought I might change things up and write about how I viewed it.
You see, I never got the chance to see AQFB at the cinemas when it was released nationwide. I had plenty of opportunities to check it on the silver screen, but due to a hectic schedule, I missed out on taking 2 hours out of my life to sit down with a frozen coke and popcorn. So, I had to opt for the rental release.
While there’s many rental release options available, I had moved interstate and at this present time, not able to sign up to my local rental store. Nor do I have the extra $30 a month to pay for a DVD mail rental service. All I wanted to do was rent AQFB and enjoy the film comfortably from home.
Straight away, I’d think of iTunes for the rental. But my computer doesn’t necessarily agree with iTunes eating up the memory of my CPU. It wasn’t until one Sunday night, I was waiting for Channel 9’s telemovie Howzat! – The story of the late Kerry Packer developing World Series Cricket starringWorking Dog‘s friend Lachy Hulme as the big man himself, I had to kill time. Plus there was another dodgy installment of Big Brother on the screen. Do I dare sit through that to get to the telemovie of the year?
I killed time by surfing YouTube and searched for interviews of Rob Sitch covering AQFB. What I found (other than interviews of Rob and Josh Lawson) was the rental for AQFB.
Why not? I’ll check it out on YouTube as this seems to be where you go to for anything anti-iTunes. I’ve rented through iTunes before, so I’ll try YouTube for something different. In order to make the rental work, I had to sign into my YouTube account and and make my purchase via Google Wallet. This meant I had to go to my Gmail account and set it up through there. Within 2 minutes I was up and ready. There was only one type of renting quality available, which YouTube claims is ‘near DVD quality’. I paid my $AU5.99 and my access was activated. YouTube movies has the exact same of rental times. Roughly 30 days to download access, and 48 hours to watch.
I had two hours to kill so the 1 hour and 54 minute movie was a perfect fit. Time to activate!
Any Questions For YouTube?
Going by what I was promised of “near DVD quality”, I was thinking that this would equal to roughly 1.5GB quality of video that I’d be downloading. According to a Firefox browser add-on, the movie came in at 642MB. Make sure you have decent bandwidth and download limit before purchasing. I had to wait only a few seconds until I was able to start watching the beginning of the film, which defaulted to a semi-large screen.
This was easily adjusted by clicking on the full screen option. But it occurred to me: what was the exact resolution? It turns out it was 480p. Decent, but not the “near DVD quality” I’d hoped.
Clear, but not DVD res clear
Don’t get me wrong though, the visual quality didn’t deter me from enjoying the film… which brings me to a quick summary of the film in my own point of view.
Directed by Rob Sitch, Ben (Josh Lawson) is a 27 year old who enjoys partying, job hopping, partying, women, partying, travelling, partying, and just having a great time. He is successful at what he does – brand managing. It isn’t until Ben is invited by the Principal (Rob Sitch) to do a careers speech at his former high school, he bumps into former students Alexis (Rachael Taylor) who is working for the United Nations in Yemen, and Jim (Ed Kavalee), an Olympic Archer who earned (Bermagui) bronze. After Alexis gives a riveting and insightful speech about her work with the UN, the crowd is hungry for more to ask Alexis more questions. When it comes to Ben’s speech, he somewhat fumbles and over-exaggerates on his story. When the floor is opened to ask Ben any questions – no one is interested.
This leads to him realising his life isn’t as interesting as it should be and while all his friends are accomplishing life challenges and settling down (close friends Nick (Daniel Henshall) and Emily (Felicity Ward) getting more serious), he’s out bedding the next hottest chick who flirts with him. This includes bedding number 16 world champion tennis player Katerina (Liliya May) and slightly self-indulgent Kelly (Jodi Gordon) – with the encouragement of his ‘forced’ mentor, wealthy cafe owner Sam (Lachy Hulme)trying to look out for him. Even turning to his parents for support – Rob Carlton as his Dad, and Tracy Mann as his Mum, both don’t really give him clear advice, just something to bounce off for ideas.
After having a lunch with Alexis, Ben discovers that he connects a lot better with her than any other girl he’s met. But as he tries to pursue a relationship, Alexis is back to Yemen, and whom he promises to stay in touch. But his partying ways and laziness gets the better of him, in which he fails. This continues on and on, and while the world spins around him and people move on, Ben is stuck in the same pattern. A pattern he needs to break before it is too late.
The whole film itself is a total step away from Working Dog‘s other films (The Castle, The Dish) so do not expect anything as funny bone laughs to come from AQFB. Being a non-Melbourne resident, the film covers Melbourne and its indistinguishable features in a remarkable way, especially with a killer soundtrack that is roughly 3/4 made up of Australian musicians and bands. Each scene though tends to be joined by a time stamp of “A Few Hours / Weeks / Months Later” or segued by a eagle-eye view of the metro district and a modern tune playing for about 10 seconds. While other reviews and feedback tend to criticize the lack-of jokes and story line, the film comes across as three genres: Comedy / Drama / Romance. Or at least, a romantic dramedy aimed at the modern white-collar male who is about to hit their 30s.
The acting alone is smooth, with Lawson showing off his chiseled jawline and blue eyes, and Taylor looking stunning as always. The supporting cast blend well together, just like they are mate in the first place. Naturally, Hulme tends to be the scene stealer when he appears (anyone else get a smile when Sam says to Emily in his nightclub “You are a very beautiful woman!” – subtle Jane Kennedy reference? Probably not)
Overall, AQFB is a positive simple film which tends to promote the city of Melbourne in a partying lifestyle way, with shots of rooftop cult cinemas, cafes in their famous alleyways, and trendy apartments. Even the very touristy shot of snow skiing in Queenstown, New Zealand, and the bungie-jumping was on the verge of a beautiful plug. But I thoroughly enjoyed it. I now have an itch to go!
While AQFB wasn’t a blockbuster hit, this could be a winner for the film if it manages to get screened overseas. Indeed, the Australian Tourism Board should hire Rob Sitch and Co to develop something quite glamorous and visually startling.
This is still going into the pool-room as part of the Working Dog collection.
As for renting it on YouTube, I might stick to a DVD purchase.
PS: While viewing it on YouTube, I noticed some other ‘recommendations’ – one being Shortbus. How spooky! #GetThis
Other “Recommendations” are not for everyone…
(and if you’ve gotten this far reading, going back to my Howzat! rant – while Hulme played Packer in Howzat! and Carlton played Packer in Paper Giants: The Birth Of Cleo, both Hulme and Carlton are in this film. Packer-rama!)
You can rent Any Questions For Ben? on YouTube or in various resolutions for rent and purchase on iTunes.
You can also rent the DVD / Blu-Ray at any good rental store, and purchase at any good retail stores. Check those stores for prices.
..and.. you can purchase the 30 track soundtrack on iTunes. It’s a ripper!
Another short dramedy is popping up on your very own ABC digital channel – ABC2.
Brand new Australian comedy Kane & Disabled shows a behind-the-scenes look at the lead up to the 2012 Paralympics, sports commentator Ernie Kane (Lawrence Mooney) interviews Paralympian Athletes, but without the awkwardness and borderline insensitivity.
His producer on the show, Noah Urlich (Sam Pang) manages to rescue him in one form or another. Noah is also the cousin to 80s singing sensation Margaret Urlich and son to Australian TV producer Earl Urlich.
The 10 x 5 minute episode series begins Thursday August 16 7:25pm on ABC2. Look out for Judith Lucy on Episode 1, and a despectacled Tony Martin in a future episode. Which one? You’ll have to tune in and find out…
Rob Sitch (L) Tom Gleisner (C) Santo Cilauro (R) Everyone else (Missing)
Continuing the celebration of The Late Show and its 20 year anniversary (which has been a week past since time of publish) we have a zinger for you.
For the next installment of the ‘Remembering” series, two of The Late Show and Working Dog cast members – Tom Gleisner and Santo Cilauro, took time out of their extremely busy schedule to talk exclusively to CC about the show. Instead of asking what really has been ‘stock standard’ questions in some media interviews, we did our best to talk about the behind-the-scenes experiences, creative processes, budgets (or lack thereof) and why there wasn’t a third season. Also covered is how Judith Lucy joined the show in Season 2, and what would it be like if The Late Show existed on air in present day… would it survive?
Yes, we even asked the popular “Why isn’t the show out on DVD as a complete series?” which also covers repeats on Pay TV. No holds barred, no beg-your-pardons! Hopefully many of these will answer a lot of thoughts that have been scrambling our minds for years.
We also put the call out a few weeks back on the CC Forum, Facebook and Twitter pages to give you the chance to ask a question yourself, in which 3 were chosen and answered.
Please enjoy the questions, thought of by the fans, asked by the fans, answered by Tom and Santo.
Tom is in black, Santo is in blue.
If possible, can you describe what the process / rundown was like about 1 hour before showtime?
Rather tense. We’d have to perform the entire show at about 8.00pm to a studio made up of techs and a few friends. Then we’d go back to our dressing room and wait to hear from the ABC lawyers about which bits would need to be changed. The longer the wait, the worse the outcome was likely to be.
Though, for me, it didn’t compare to the more stressful decision of who was going to ask the cafeteria guy if we could borrow 7 plates? ABC dinners were notoriously bad – the only option was Chinese takeaway. I’ll never forget the dirty looks accompanied by the begrudging words, “alright… but they’re boomerangs”. Scary to this day.
Mind you, the 5 minutes before Graham and The Colonel walked onto set were pretty tense – Rob and I were still rewriting up until the theme music started.
How difficult was live television when a joke / sketch didn’t get the laugh you wanted from the audience?
I guess the beauty of live TV is that you don’t really have time to think about it, or dwell on the moment. You’ve simply got to move on.
It’s strangely exhilarating. You share a special moment with whoever you’re out there with where you both look to each other and think, “wow – did we really do that live in front of a national audience? AND we sucked? Isn’t life weird?”
We spoke to Justin Anderson (oldest Pissweak Kid) previously (link here) and mentioned that he filmed a scene for a 7 Up sketch that didn’t make the cut. Were there many sketches that were filmed and were never shown?
Yeah, a lot of the pre-recorded stuff never saw the light of day. During the first season I seem to remember we had a full ABC film crew allocated to us one day a week. Often we didn’t have anything to actually film, so we ended up writing stuff just to give them something to do. This stuff was generally not that good.
We love to experiment. People who think they know comedy don’t really know what they’re talking about. You never quite know what will work or not. Experience helps – but there are no guarantees. I guess we were too young and stupid to be cautious about what we filmed. We’d give anything a go.
How hard was it to write and produce a sketch for the week it was broadcasted?
Topicality can be a real bonus. Except in slow news weeks.
I’ve always said that if a week was 9 days long, The Late Show would have been easy to write and produce.
Was there any creative differences at play, or did you all get along swimmingly?
We often tended to work in separate groups (Mick and Tony, Rob and Santo, Jane, Jason and myself). This meant a fair degree of freedom – there was no “Boss” telling anyone what they could and could not do. So creative differences were largely avoided.
We loved working together. The great advantage we had was that we weren’t a group that came together professionally. We were personal friends before we began to do comedy as a job. That made the whole creative process a lot easier.
Graham & The Colonel originated from the EONFM breakfast show. Were there other characters that had a previous life before The Late Show?
Not that I can remember.
Not on The Late Show – I think there were characters like Italo-Australian hoon, Gino Tagliatoni, on The D-Generation TV series.
Some of the props and backgrounds used for sketches appeared flimsy and held together by sticky tape, adding to the entertaining appeal of the visual joke. But what was the actual finance budget for the show really like?
There wasn’t a large budget, nor a lot of time. I one sketch I can clearly remember a sign reading “Amberlence” instead of Ambulance
Certainly, the OB sketches we shot ourselves (eg Pissweak World, Shitscared, Charlie The Wonderdog) had essentially NO budget. I subscribe to the theory that if your audience is admiring production value, you can be sure your comedy material is crap.
Was there any feedback from the music parodies you performed by the actual artists or record companies?
Not that I can re-call. I think Mick has some story about Frente (“Accidentally Was Released”) but you’d have to ask him.
There probably was some reaction but we were too busy to hear it.
What prompted to get an extra cast member for Season 2? Was Judith Lucy the first choice or were there auditions?
We liked Judith and always felt that the show could do with a greater female influence.
We needed a new person to ask for plates at the caf.
Are there any characters and jokes that the team wishes “Oh geeze, I don’t want to be reminded of that again!”? (Such as repeating a few sketches which would be now considered politically incorrect or tasteless)
To be honest I haven’t looked back at the full show rundowns for so long I can’t remember. But I’m sure there would some “questionable” material – in terms of comic strength. Filling an hour of TV once a week meant we had to occasionally lower the bar.
I hope there were questionable sketches. I’d be disappointed if at that age we didn’t cross that line.
Why did you stop after Season 2? How would you compare ratings from 1992 to what the figures would be like in 2012?
A few of us were not sure about doing a third year. We were all pretty burnt out by the pace of producing 20 live shows a year. And we didn’t want to do a sub-standard series without key cast members, so we all agreed to take a break and pursue a few individual projects. Mick and Tony did a fantastic year of stand-up while other members went on to write and produce “Frontline”.
Ratings are hard to compare. These days I wonder whether most people would even watch the show live on Saturday night? Maybe the best bits would simply pop up on You Tube the next day.
Let’s put this one to bed. Due to copyright / legal reasons the entire series won’t be released on DVD. However, if there was a clear, legal and affordable opportunity, would there be a Champagne Criterion edition – in a perfect world? What would happen if all the fans donated at least $1 for funds (or a $5 note signed by Steve Vizard)?
I think the world is better off not having to re-live the entire series. There were plenty of not-so-stellar moments in between the gems.
My mum’s got the entire series on VHS – why don’t you organize a big night at her place? Just give her a couple of days notice and don’t bother about specifying dietary requirements – a dozen trays of lasagne should do the job. Steve Vizard to provide the drinks.
What do you think about fans still ‘keeping the dream alive’ with The Late Show on the web and social media?
In the words of Kenny Rogers, you’ve got to know when to hold them, know when to fold them and – most importantly – know when to walk away.
Fan Questions:
Ben Rourke
Were many fat mannequins needlessly sacrificed during filming takes of Shitscared with Robbie & Mick?
I think we only had two mannequins. And a work experience boy.
Rob made the big sacrifices – concussion (head squashed in bus door during Exploding Buses Shitscared) and second degree burns (scorched butt in Oriental Shitscared)
Daniel Camm
Was The Late Show on the ABC very different from what was envisioned for the Late Show that you tried to get up at Nine? (and does the Ch 9 pilot tape still exist)
No, both ideas were pretty much the same. It’s just that Channel 9 wanted a pure sketch comedy show (like Fast Forward) and they couldn’t understand the sort of hybrid we were proposing. From memory no tapes exist.
The 1st Shitscared – I can’t remember what it was but I remember filming Jane’s Nissan Vitara as the stunt vehicle – was shot in Channel 9 Carpark on a Panasonic Hi-8 Camera that was literally sitting in the ‘Funniest Home Videos’ Prize Cabinet.
(Note: See “The Best & 2nd Best Bits Of The D-Generation DVD and check ‘The Bottom Drawer’ area. The ‘Dinkum Street’ sketch was from the failed Ch 9 pilot)
Tyson Cooper
Do you realise how influential The Late Show had been on australian comedy? Do you see the similiarties between The Chaser and The Late Show?
We certainly didn’t realize that we were influential at the time. We just wanted to make each other laugh – and still do. As for the Chaser, I guess comparisons can be made. We’re both loose collectives of comics who met at Uni who don’t mind making fools of ourselves in search of a laugh. I suspect we both also share short attention spans – and like moving on to other projects.
And once again – a huge THANK YOU to Tom and Santo who, while with a dozen projects going on a the same time, still managed to answer our questions. Also a big thank you to Michele who helped organise the interview. Couldn’t have done it without you!
There were many more questions to ask, but we’ll save them for another day!
Two thirds of Santo, Sam and Ed’s Cup / Sports Fever are getting back together on the radio airwaves to deliver thrilling sporting commentary to our ears.
For two weeks, starting from 30 July, Santo Cilauro will be joined by Sam Pang on Triple M Melbourne (no word yet if it’ll be broadcasted nationally) for Rush Hour – Going For Gold. The show will commentate on nearly everything sport, and may be loosely covering the current sports event that comes around every four yeats.
Word has it as well that Tom “Tommy G” Gleisner may drop in from time to time to throw in his two bits worth of witty tales.
Not to forget, Hot Breakfast co-announcer Mick Molloy will still be charging on with Eddie McGuire with London 2012 sporting updates for breakfast.
If you’re in Melbourne – tune into 105.1FM or stream at triplem.com.au – for outside listeners, I’m sure there will be a podcast. If not, just listen to the golden stream.
But not at the desired 10pm slot we all come to love. But here’s something just as good.
Thanks to the hard work ofTom Gleisner, Rob SitchandSanto Cilauro, the tantalising, delicious tastebuds of Audrey Gordon‘s “Tuscan Summer” cookbook has hit the small screen in bite-size portions.
Audrey’s Kitchen delivers delicious and mouth-watering recipes that can add light to your kitchen, which if you’re trying to save power bills, is quite beneficial to the ordinary household. (Unless you are from The Shire).
Watch as Audrey Gordon (Heidi Arena) prepares and cooks quick and easy meals within a 5 minute show, adding her own style of wit and humour to your faux-marble bench top.
With already 4 episodes under her belt, catch Audrey’s Kitchen on the ABC1 main channel – Saturday and Sundays at 6:25pm, or catch up at Audrey’s ABC site.
20 years ago today, “Generation X”ers (and a few older “Generation Y”ers) were about to embark on a new form of Australian comedy.
Channel 7 sketch comedy show Fast Forward was the talk of the town, into their 4th season, but was nearing the end of its life cycle. Where will Australia turn to for laugh-a-minute and toilet humour?
Bring in Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner, Jane Kennedy, Tony Martin, Mick Molloy, Rob Sitch and Jason Stephens. With sketch comedy experience in their blood already (from their earlier sketch show The D-Generation) and after a failed Channel 9 pilot The Late Late Show, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation parts with 8 cents a day and cleans out the 10pm Saturday night time slot to create The Late Show.
Here’s the first sketch that was shown 20 years ago at 10pm, Saturday night – 18/7/1992.
Tony Martin as Prince Charles. Unfortunately the joke is outdated (with the unfortunate loss of Princess Diana in 1997), but that is what makes it Champagne Comedy – vintage – 1992.
“Why isn’t there a reunion special or something?” Santo The Magnificent hears you think… while we would all love that, time has changed the working patterns of the cast, as they’re all doing their special thing. However,Tony Martin acknowledged the anniversary on Twitter the night before.
Due to copyright and legal reasons, we cannot show you full episodes. But if you look hard enough on the interwebs, you may find something floating around. Or hit up youtube.
First appearance of Mick Molloy and Jason Stephens’s segment – Muckraking.
So, how to celebrate?
Today:
* Change your Facebook status update to any quotes from The Late Show
* Join in on the conversation on Facebook
* Follow us on Twitter and use #LateShowAU hashtag
* Re-watch your Champagne Edition DVDs, search YouTube, or dust off your VHS tapes.
This Saturday 21 July 2012, we’re going to be watching the first episode at 10pm AEST and tweeting about it as it ‘goes to air live’. Feel free to join in when that begins.
The first Graham and The Colonel segment from episode one.
What stories can you remember when The Late Show was on? Were you 12 and sitting in the loungeroom in your PJs while your parents slept? Were you having dinner parties and talking about standing on the summit of Mt Everest? Were you even born?
Old school fellow friends of The Late Show crew Jane Turner, Gina Riley and Magda Szubanski have just released the full length trailer to the foxy ladies of Fountain Lakes fillum – Kath & Kimderella.
Kath & Kimbegan as minor characters on the short lived sketch comedy show Big Girls Blouse and Something Stupid in the mid to late 1990s, which spawned into their own 4 season series on the ABC and Channel 7 with major success. The show has been that popular, close friends of the trio have popped up, such as Marg Downey, Barry Humphries, Matt Lucas, Rove McManus, Kylie Minogue and others. But of course, other Late Show members have appeared, such as Tony Martin (as the boyfriend of Magda’s character Sharon’s boyfriend), Mick Molloy (as Kath’s ex husband and Kim’s father), Judith Lucy and Rob Sitch.
With the success of the 2005 Kath & Kim TV movie Da Kath & Kim Code and the US transfer of the series (which sadly flopped – you just can’t translate this type of humour!) the full length feature film Kath & Kimderella is around the corner, with the full trailer officially released… and look who’s in it as one of the main characters!
Looks like someone has stood on the summit of Mt Everest a few dozen times before…
Kath & Kimderella is out at cinemas September 6, 2012.
Over the two years of The Late Show, there were various sketches starring children ranging from 8 – 14. They eventually became known and credited as The Pissweak Kids. What originally began as sketches from The D-Generation in 1986 – 1987 as Tommy Cravat Jnr promoting pissweak theme parks, the idea was rejuvenated for The Late Show, starring a few kids (explained later) and parents exploring theme parks that are promoted extravagantly, but end up being way below expectations – pure pissweak.
Each ‘Pissweak World‘ would be a different theme, with poorly constructed amusement rides, exhibitions, and entertainment that was hosted by a dull looking but bewildered Tom Gleisner. Even though The Pissweak Kids attended each theme park, they were never entertained to the maximum pleasure you could receive.
Each theme park theme was as follows:
Ep 4 – Pissweak World
Ep 6 – Pissweak Colonial World (Ye Olde Pissweak Worlde)
Ep 8 – Pissweak World Fun Park
Ep13 – Pissweak Western World
Ep 15 – Pissweak Marine World
Ep 19 – Pissweak Movie World
Ep 20 – Pissweak Air World
During the Second season, The Late Show stepped away from the Pissweak World theme parks, and created the mini show Charlie The Wonderdog.
Charlie The Wonderdog was mostly created by Tom Gleisner, with Charlie being Tom’s actual dog in real life. Charlie The Wonderdog was a loose piss-take on animal hero shows, such as Skippy and Lassie, which Charlie played a family dog owned by Gramps, played by the late Charles ‘Bud’ Tingwell. Gramps was always joined by The Pissweak Kids (from The Pissweak World sketches) and living in the fictitious Havenswood National Park.
Each episode revolved around the peaceful and calm Havenswood, where Gramps and The Pissweak Kids would either be doing a nature study research, solving crimes, or investigating an incident that would coincide with a radio report (voiced by Rob Sitch). Just when disaster strikes, Charlie comes to save the day.
The Pissweak Kids with Gramps
A really popular episode of Charlie The Wonderdog is ‘Dead Man’s Weir’, where the eldest Pissweak Kid (Justin Anderson) plays two characters – regular “Peter”, and “Foolhardy Cousin George”. Amazingly, “Peter” isn’t in the episode, but “Foolhardy Cousin George” is in town and nearly drowns in Dead Man’s Weir, only to be rescued by Charlie. Foodhardy Cousin George is still popular to this day, google the name and you’ll see more.
Ep 21 – Charlie The Wonderdog – Ep 1 – Run Charlie Run
Ep 22 – Charlie The Wonderdog – Ep 2 – Charlie Digs In
Ep 23 – Charlie The Wonderdog – Ep 3 – Dead Man’s Weir
Ep 24 – credited – but no appearance
Ep 26 – Charlie The Wonderdog – Ep 4 – Rescue on Mt Variable Weather
Ep 28 – Charlie The Wonderdog – Ep 5 – Love Thy Neighbour / Charlie The Star (and Dickhead Tonight ad)
Ep 30 – Charlie The Wonderdog – Ep 6 – Double Trouble
Ep 40 – Charlie The Wonderdog – Ep 7 – A Very Charlie Christmas
Other than Pissweak World and Charlie The Wonderdog, the kids were also used in other sketches, such as Beadle’s A Prick! and other sketches. The youngest boy – Nic Anderson, is more well known in the Chicken Tonight food commercial parody Dickhead Tonight, saying “Mum, can we have Dickhead Tonight tomorrow?”
With the 20th Anniversary around the corner, I managed to track down Nic and Justin Anderson, brothers in real life and the youngest and oldest male Pissweak Kids.
Justin is in black, Nic is in blue.
How old were both of you when you became a member of The Late Show cast?
Justin: I was 14
Nic: I was only 8
Can you remember what was going through your mind when you were asked to be a ‘Pissweak Kid’?
I had previously filmed a spot for a 7 up sketch that was never aired, and was surprised to be asked back to film the Pissweak World sketches. I never expected there would be more than one.
I was just asked to come along because they needed another kid to be in it, I really had no idea what I was getting in to. The whole family can be found in the pissweak world sketches, our middle brother, mum and dad all make an appearance.
How hard was it to film some of the Pissweak sketches?
It was a blast. I had no trouble doing anything that was asked from braving fierce flames to the icy cold waters of Dead Mans Weir.
It was always a lot of fun, and nothing was taken too seriously, the hardest part was trying too look sad while being put in ridiculous situations, but Tom, Santo and Uncle Rob (as we called him at the time) always made it a good time.
Were any of you able to give any creative ideas and jokes?
I’m sure there may have been a few, I think the biggest joke was my appalling green checked shirt that they insisted i wear in every episode after the second Charlie. I still have it somewhere.
I think my D grade acting abilities were probably enough input.
How do you feel / How did you felt owning the catchphrase “Mum, can we have Dickhead Tonight tomorrow?”
Being so young when I filmed that not many people recognise me now, but if it ever gets mentioned it’s one of the first things that comes to peoples minds. I remember being sat down by Rob and he was telling me not to tell my mum that I was going to have to swear on camera, he always made things so fun.
What was it like to work with the legendary Charles ‘Bud’ Tingwell? Did he give you any acting advice?
Absolute pleasure to work with, he was a real gentleman, and always had a pocket full of mints. Some of the advice he gave me I still use today. But thats between Bud and I.
To be honest with you at the time I had no idea who he was but I knew he must be important because people always asked about him, I just remember him being such a nice and genuine man, always had a lot of time for everyone.
How easy was it to ‘ham’ up the acting for Charlie the Wonderdog?
The way the scripts were written that they couldn’t be done any other way apart from over the top, it was a heap of fun.
I wasn’t hamming it up, I’m just a terrible actor, but being a young kid with a face full of teeth they thought it was funny to give me the hardest lines and progressively put in bigger and harder words to say, most of the time I didn’t even know what I was talking about, I guess that’s what makes it funnier.
How long did each episode take to film? Was it all in two days or did you film it the week it was to air?
Hahaha, each episode usually took a couple of hours to film, depending on how many locations we had to go to, and they went to air the same week.
Do you still keep in contact with the other Pissweak kids?
Of course my brother Nic, but I haven’t seen the girls for a long time.
Same as above.
How does it feel to be immortalised on the DVDs, as well as fans quoting your characters on Facebook / Twitter?
It was great to be a small part of such an amazing show that still has a place in the hearts of so many people. I am as much a fan of their work as everybody else, and it is great to see that “The Pissweak kids” are still fondly remembered.
My favourite quote is still from Dead Mans Weir when Laura says ” Lucky he came to this picnic in a wetsuit”.
Obviously at the time I had no idea the impact the show was going to have. I’m just glad people are still getting a laugh out of it and that Working Dog has now become such a successful identity, they thoroughly deserve everything.
What are you up to now?
I still do the odd acting spot, I have been on Underbelly, Blue Heelers, Rush, Stingers and various other shows and commercials. But you can usually find me at Draculas Cabaret in Melbourne. I am the bar manager there.
Nothing terribly exciting, once I realised how bad I was at acting I stopped doing that, currently trying to get into the MFB.
Thank you heaps to Justin and Nic. The guys were ever-so-open to make time to chat about their experience and memories. Nice work guys! (Just keep away from Dead Man’s Weir and I’ll pop around for Dickhead Tonight).
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NOTE: If you were apart of the show (as an extra, regular audience member, production staff) or know someone who was (family, friend, word colleague) please e-mail your details to champagnelateshow@gmail.com if interested in a friendly chat down memory lane.
Instead of writing about the DVD release of Working Dog‘s latest movie feature Any Questions For Ben?, I thought I might change things up and write about how I viewed it.
Old school fellow friends of The Late Show crew Jane Turner, Gina Riley and Magda Szubanski have just released the full length trailer to the foxy ladies of Fountain Lakes fillum – Kath & Kimderella.
