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 Unfortunately the joke is outdated (with the unfortunate loss of Princess Diana in 1997), but that is what makes it Champagne Comedy – vintage – 1992.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.
Scarcely Relevant – at least it’s not a virtual box of sand. (Pic: TonyMartinThings.com)
Okay, so the header paints this in a negative way.. but it isn’t! It’s supposed to be a pun on the whole story. It just sounds wrong.
The “E” in “E-Relevant” is referring to the e-reader / e-book, because Tony Martin has compiled his scribblings from his now defunct site The Scrivener’s Fancy and compiled them into a fancy virtual binding e-book.
After having two books physically published Lolly Scramble (2005) and A Nest Of Occasionals (2009), Tony had started a website to publish his weekly scribblings The Scrivener’s Fancy from 2009 to 2011. Alongside his regular stories, many of his close friends wrote for the site – such as Andrea “I’ve Never Heard Of Nickelback!” Powell, Matt Quartermaine, Garry McCaffrie, Tony Wilson, “Let’s Startle” Bob Franklin, Robyn Butler, Wayne Hope, Shaun Micallef, and pseudonym “Avril Rolfe” Sarina Rowell, along with other ‘guest Scriveners’. Just to name a few. There were a lot more.
With the popularity of the site and what appears to be heavy in reading content, Tony has gathered his writings and combined them together as an e-book called Scarcely Relevant – Writings from The Scrivener’s Fancy – formatted and available in pdf / epub / mobi format, on his new site TonyMartinThings.com for a brain-snapping bargain basement price of AU$6. Covering roughly 464 pages of ‘lowbrow commentary in elegant surrounds’ (which translates to 1.293103448275862 cents per page), you can re-live the site that made you laugh every Wednesday once a week when you weren’t checking out the Green Guide letters or vandalising Wikipedia.
You can read the e-book on your computer as PDF, or transfer the files to read on your smartphone or e-reader. After purchasing the book, the cash register goes through PayPal security, in which you need to use some type of credit or online debit card. Make sure you use a legit e-mail address, as once the purchase is done, you will receive a disposable link that will give you a time frame of downloading the format to your liking. Roughly 1 – 2MB for the book, it sure is cheap, but it’s not nasty and downright boring!
Purchase the e-book here: Tony Martin Things. Only available on that site too, so no lending Fleety $20, because it’s only $6.
A big hug and heartful congratulations to Mick Molloy! Mick made a major announcement on Triple M Melbourne’s “The Hot Breakfast” show this morning (Friday 8 June, 2012) that he will become a father for the first time.
To the amazement to his on-air colleagues who knew nothing of the news, the double zinger was thrown in at the end – he will be a father to twin boys.
He’s always had a thing for twins… The Blakeneys, anyone? 😉
Many people come to this site, being fans of The Late Show, reminising about the sketches they remember in their minds and wearing out their VHS and Betamax tapes of episodes recorded 20 years ago. There’s the Champagne Edition DVD which has Volumes 1 – 3 of The Late Show, as well as “More Bits”, and the extra bits hidden as easter eggs on Bargearse and The Olden Days DVD release.
So, the question day in and out that always gets asked by fans of the show to the D-Generation crew, as well on Facebook / Twitter / Forums is:
Q: Will The Late Show ever be released on DVD in its entirety?
Tony Martin answers the question to a follower on Twitter.
So the clear answer is: unfortunately no.
As much as we don’t want to highlight the copyright issues, when you look back at it, here are a few issues which did not appear in Champagne Edition DVD release.
* Theme song – the original theme was James Brown – (Turn Me Loose) I’m Dr Feelgood, which was replaced by a generic tune.
* Countdown Classics – the segment where Tom Gleisner and Jane Kennedy reminise over fashion, songs and Molly Meldrum’s antics, most of the segments use song samples that range from 30 seconds to a minute. A big breakdown on the song Escape / Pina Colada Songby Rupert Holmes was used. Even the first episode had a chunk of The Bee Gees – Jive Talkin’, with the scene where Robin Gibb ‘won an award’ for ‘most mystifying cut-away’, while trying not to stumble out to the back yard. Don’t forget the full song My Little Angelperformed by 70s rock glamour star William Shakespeare (the late John Cave).
* Commercial Crimestoppers – a lot of products and companies lampooned and demonstrated.
* Muckraking – Using samples from other TV shows (Let’s run over Todd, from Neighbours!), as well as the Muckraking Mystery Tour where a sample of Magical Mystery Tour by The Beatles was used.
* Toilet Break – Scenes from 70s light entertainment show The Saturday Show, using songs from local and international artists (Damn Yankees – The Game, Ice T – Cop Killer) and from talent show Pot Luck (Kim Wilde – You Keep Me Hanging’ On, Billy Joel – My Life)
* Undiscovered Masterpieces Of The Cinema – Grabs of films Jaws: The Revenge, Houseboat Horror, The Armour Of God…
* Musical Closing Credits / Finale – only able to use samples, or “hooks” of the songs which are on the Champagne Edition DVD.
.. and that’s just scratching the surface.
Remember, at the time the show was on air, there was no idea or possibility of TV shows of this stature being released to the general public. There was no such thing as DVD existing in 1992 – 93. Also, Santo Cilauro and Tony have mentioned in previous interviews that there were a few jokes that didn’t perform well, as well as gremilins in the control room with delayed video plays.
So, what can you get? If you already own the Champagne Edition DVD and Bargearse / The Olden Days DVD, the best bet to watch other clips is to keep surfing YouTube for random uploads from various people, watch the Twitterverse, or find a friend who has tapes and watch them at their place. *nudge nudge*
Oh, and one last thing:
Q: If Foxtel replay Fast Forward, Full Frontal, Good News Week etc on Comedy Channel, why can’t they do that with The Late Show?
A: Pretty much the same answer above – copyright issues and some very poor sketches.
"French Chicks In The Nuddy II - The Search For Bum Nuggets"
Everyone’s favourite nerdy Comedian Tony Martin graced the brown velour desk for Late O’Clock With Rob Hunter starring Comedian Rob Hunter.
Rob Hunter is a comedian and writer who began his career in Adelaide eventually moving himself to comedian capital of Australia – Melbourne.
A wealth of experience behind him, Rob has performed stand-up all around Australia and the UK and has written for various radio and TV shows including Spicks And Specks (ABC), Rove (TEN), The Comedy Hour (ABC Radio) and You’re Skitting Me (ABC3).
Late O’Clock is Rob’s horrifyingly awkward talk show. The interviews are a bit like those conducted by Shaun Micallef, Andy Kaufman, Zach Galifianakis and anyone else who has ever been a butthole to a guest.
Rob started writing questions in 2006 but it wasn’t until 2010 that someone agreed to be a guest on his show. That guest was television’s Lehmo and the interview can be seen on Rob’s Youtube channel along with other interviews.
Rob also performs the show live with his friend Luke McGregor at various comedy festivals. The show was first performed at the 2011 Melbourne International Comedy Festival and quickly became a hit, with guests including Charlie Pickering, Wil Anderson, Greg Fleet, Tom Gleeson, Eddie Ifft and DeAnne Smith.
In this recent interview, Rob nearly goes on a slinging match with Tony, with a few minor stabs at Tony’s film Bad Eggs, as well as a script read and newspaper fwapping. (No wet ones)
It was the great, late actor Leo “Lucky” Grills who played Detective Sargeant ‘Bluey’ Hills in the Channel 7 drama production Bluey from 1976 to 1977. Bluey wasn’t your typical detective. What made him unique was that he drank, ate, smoked and did all the sleazy stuff – which made the character the perfect piss-take for The Late Show.
Bargearse was made up of spliced scenes from Bluey, dubbed by The Late Show cast and crew, telling the story of Detective Sargeant Bargearse who solves crimes by eating and farting his way to victory. It was 100% toilet humour which was played in 10 parts during the second season of The Late Show – successor to The Olden Days in Season One. (More on The Olden Days in future posts.)
Bargearse was that popular, it is generally quoted this very day by dedicated fans, such as yourself (Yes, you’re a fan, because you wouldn’t be at this site if you weren’t!)
Years ago, Tony Martin had released Bargearse on VHS, and fought long and hard to get the DVD release in 2007 (along with The Olden Days). Two days before the release, Lucky Grills passed away in his sleep in Queensland, aged 79. To celebrate Lucky’s 84th birthday (and 5 years since the DVD release), we hit the Twittersphere and invited Bargearse fans to watch their DVD or VHS copy at 6pm AEST, and quote the show using the hashtag #Bargearse as much as possible.
The result:
Number One on the Australian Twitter Trends.
That’s an epic thing to happen. Especially when it isn’t Bieber or 1 Direction related. Facing stiff competition against Eurovision on SBS and the footy, it’s fantastic to see that Bargearse still has a warm dutch oven ready in everyone.
The trend lasted on and off for about 2 hours, but for what it was worth, lots of laughter and memories were had.
Over the two seasons, Rob Sitch has played many characters, such as Graham from Graham & The Colonel, the egotistical chauvinistic character in the dinner party sketches, Gavin Oz from The Oz Brothers and more.
But he’s well-known (and stated by Santo Cilauro on the show) that he is the master of disguises. His first impression was 1992 US Presidential candidate Ross Perot, being interviewed by Tom Gleisner behind The Late Show News Desk.
As the show went on, Rob’s impressions improved, and even generated well-coined quotes that are remembered (and occasionally used) to this day. Most of the impressions rotated around the News Desk.
Dovetail: Who was the person Rob impersonated the most? Bruce McAvaney at a tally of 6 appearances.
Nearly every sketch comedy show – without fail – create their own song parodies. Most of the piss-takes are around songs or artists which are popular at the time. Sometimes the parody songs are that funny and entertaining, they can out-do the actual song. Even to the point that when you hear the original, you can’t help but sing the parody version of it.
Throughout the two years of broadcast, The Late Show paid a beautiful homage to popular songs and artists. Covering the tune, the band’s image, and even mimicking the video clip, they couldn’t go wrong.
Here’s a list of video clips that were parodied:
Season One
Ep 3: Sarah Brightman and José Carreras – Amigos Para Siempre
Ep 13: Harry Connick Jr (generic tune)
Ep 15: Red Hot Chili Peppers – Under The Bridge
Ep 20: Frente – Accidentally Kelly Street (Accidentally Was Released)
Season Two
Ep 4: Things Of Stone & Wood – Happy Birthday Helen (We’re Out Of Melbourne Cliches)
Ep 7: Cameron Daddo – Fifteen Minutes Of Fame (Four And A Half Minutes Of Shit)
Ep 8: Peter Andre – Gimme A Little Sign (It’s A Repetitious Song Girl)
Ep 9: Snow – Informer (Inform Me)
Ep 12 : Ween – Push The Lil Daisies (Sing Like A Dickhead And Dance Like A Duck)
Ep 14: Dannii Minogue – This Is It (Holy Shit)
Ep 15: The Sharp – Scratch My Back (Skivvies Are Back)
Ep 16: Madonna – Rain (Same)
Ep 18: Billy Joel – River Of Dreams (End Of My Career)
Ep 19: R.E.M – Everybody Hurts
Just a side note – the above does not include the other songs parodied on the show, such as Tony Martin singing his version of R.E.M – Stand, Rob Sitch impersonating Elton John, and others.
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.
A big hug and heartful congratulations to Mick Molloy! Mick made a major announcement on Triple M Melbourne’s “The Hot Breakfast” show this morning (Friday 8 June, 2012) that he will become a father for the first time.
Many people come to this site, being fans of The Late Show, reminising about the sketches they remember in their minds and wearing out their VHS and Betamax tapes of episodes recorded 20 years ago. There’s the Champagne Edition DVD which has Volumes 1 – 3 of The Late Show, as well as “More Bits”, and the extra bits hidden as easter eggs on Bargearse and The Olden Days DVD release.
