The ABC really need to bring back The Chaser and put Penn and Teller back on Sunday nights in prime time on ABC Plus.
Absolutely not, the lineup is already full of hasbeens. Commission some new talent. For once. We do not need more chaser, Gruen or spicks and specs. There’s now an entire generation of comedians and actors the ABC has overlooked for these dinosaurs.
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it literally just premiered last night, after being promised for 2022, so any announcement is not high on ABC’s to-do list I imagine.
Ditto, I am pleased to see these back. It’s just a shame The Newsreader will probably only be another six episodes.
I am not sure if any of these really hit it off with audiences (Aunty Donna’s Coffee Cafe maybe an exception?), I can’t see any of them coming back.
Looks like they’ve just given Tony Armstrong another not-entirely-dissimilar show… Extra-Ordinary Things?
The new series Austin could be interesting, particularly featuring Michael Theo from Love On The Spectrum, although like with so many ABC shows the title is lacking. Was that the best name they could come up with to sell this show? One-word titles are not necessarily a killer (e.g. Fisk, Bluey and Utopia have been successful), but a good/clever/witty name can get people engaged. Does the heavy British contingent indicate that like Queen Of Oz that this was possibly originally pitched elsewhere before being settled on Australia?
tbh I don’t think The Chaser would even be wanting to bring back The Chaser.
Really good lineup, there drama shows in particular, not to mention the comedy put the commercials to shame!
The War on Everything would not survive this day and age
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The Tasmanian Government did announce that they have provided funding for developing a second season and Marta Dusseldorp was working on a script. It might skip a year (like Total Control does) and come back in 2025.
The story arcs came to a conclusion in those shows, so no real need to continue to another season. With Gold Diggers, the characters faced the music in the final episode and no longer need to be on the run. With In Limbo, the reason why the dead character was appearing was explained and he stopped appearing. The Messenger was based on a novel and the mystery was solved.
It would be very diffucult to comtinue to make another season of Crazy Fun Park since most of the characters were ghosts who died as children. The problem would be that the chacters who play the children would age and therefore would no longer look like the children ghosts. The Disposables story was also resolved although potentially it had a cliffhanger where the story could continue.
One underwhelming season was more than enough. 
Chris Oliver-Taylor, who oversaw a sweeping review of the ABC’s offerings and operations soon after being appointed chief content officer in March, describes the lineup as one of “consolidation”, and said it was likely there would be considerably more new commissions for 2025 than in next year’s slate.
Showcase presentation video
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It didn’t back in its time. I’m sure it would be fine today (just without any more blackface skits). But they should try some entirely new talent for a similar political-comedy show.
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I don’t agree. The chaser still do a musical and would appeal to the under 50 demographic.
I disagree. The Chaser were legendary and probably the best political satire comedy act, Australia has ever seen.
Of course it wouldn’t appeal to the over-50 conservative demographic which is what the ABC seem to be mostly catering for these days, this is why the entire ABC leadership team needs renewal IMO.
LOL, the Chaser would be stronger with over-50s than younger millennials and gen zs. People born when Chaser’s War premiered would be 18 by now. The ABC desperately needs to commission and stick with new talent if they want to be relevant with younger Australians. I was in high school when Gruen started, I’m in my 30’s now.
I’d wager Frontline/Working Dog and Jane Turner and Gina Riley are far more legendary than the Chaser when it comes to satire. Work from both groups has entered our culture and language in a way it hasn’t happened with the Chaser.
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Yeah. I agree with that. The Chaser would appeal to audiences 40 years and above. The younger viewers would probably balk at that style of satire too.
The big problem is that when they do specifically target a younger audience, the shows they create don’t seem to be attractive to those audiences and neither to the older ones, so they quickly flop.
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To stick with the Chaser theme, how long did they let it run at 9:45 on a Friday night before it properly took off? We all know you need to invest and give things time wear out any kinks. 4-6 episodes here and there is nothing to 1) build an audience around and 2) let the writers, actors, etc to really come into their own.
There does seem to be a big disconnect between the really successful comedians at the Melbourne comedy festival and the comedies that then get made by the ABC. Back in the 2000s there was a lot of overlap.
I’d much rather an ABC that takes risks in its commissioning than playing it safe with another filler series of Gruen.
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I think generally, they do take risks and create a lot of new content. But also need to cater for the audience they already have. If people are still watching Gruen and they’re asking for more, then why not keep making it?
It’s a different story with Q+A though. The ratings there are dire and it should be put out of its misery. That’s where they need a new idea/concept.
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I’d love to see The Chasers War on Everything return. One of my all-time favourite shows.
It definitely wouldn’t survive nowadays though.
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War on Everything was on Fridays for its 2006 season and it might have been the Cronulla Sharks incident that may have been the thing that got people to watch the show since that was the really big controversy from that year they were involved with. Then when it came back the next year it was given its really nice primetime slot on Wednesdays.
Look at how much controversy they created in the late 00s they’d get slaughtered in the current climate more so than they did 15 years
And the members of The Chaser are now pushing 50, they are not the edgy comics they were 20 years ago.
It appears that’s the thinking behind Question Everything where it tries out less media experienced comedians, and ABC was sort of on the right track with Tonightly but then it got axed.
But the fact that they’ve got Micallef coming back, plus more The Weekly/Gruen/Spicks And Specks, indicates that there is no big investment in the next generation of comedians or comedy shows, just sticking with what are now heritage brands.
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Australian creators of scripted drama completely shunned by Australia’s national broadcaster. The commissioned shows all follow-ups to existing IP or spinoffs of existing IP (some, overseas IP which is even sadder). Imagine if we invested in Australian talent to create new IP?! Imagine. Then we could sell those shows around the world rather than just putting our hands up saying “us too, us too!” and relying on what has come before. Sadly, “imagine” is all we can do because now it’s not just the commercial networks “playing it safe” it’s the ABC as well. What a dire day.
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I know others will disagree, but I don’t think there’s been a decent crack at new comedy since At Home Alone Together.
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There are a lot of millennials in their 30s and 40s that the chaser would appeal to but the problem is the ABC is way too conservative in their approach, and this is due to the current and previous leadership IMO.
The Chaser could be smart with how they approach a new series considering today’s politically-correct climate, so it wouldn’t necessarily be similar content to what they had with The War On Everything. The Hamster Wheel was good, CNNNN too.
There is virtually nothing on the ABC for millennials during prime time. Spicks and Specks and QI does not cater for everyone, they need to broaden their appeal. Penn & Teller was good, but they buried it at 9:30pm on a Thursday which is just bizarre.