Christ this show needs a strong producer and some better writers. It’s all one-note, everything being a form of a roast joke is tiresome.
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They have trouble finding enough shows for prime time. They’re certainly not going to fund a show in a late night slot.
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The monologue was fairly dull but I liked the guest interviews. Couldn’t help but think some of them would have been better on The Project though.
Second season started off with 478,000 viewers. Quite a decent number.
(For context, last season averaged 497,125.)
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the interview comes with a caveat – no personal questions – but he will happily talk about his work.
“I don’t like talking about myself,” he says. “Some people, by the way, love talking about themselves. You know, they love it. But this show, it seems when your name’s in the title – and I’m so grateful, and I’m proud to be able to have my own show – I’m happy to try to do some publicity, or get the word out there.”
What he does confirm, however, is that he is related to Lorrae Desmond, aka Shirley from A Country Practice aka Australian TV royalty. When I read that, I honestly thought it was made up. She is his mum’s cousin – although his mum had never met her – and Pang arranged to present with Desmond at the Logies in 2017.
I wasn’t really a fan of this show earlier in the year, but I gave it another go last night and thought it was great. The tweaks they’ve made have definitely improved it. I liked the studio upgrades and Sam Pang seemed much more comfortable doing stand-up compared to the earlier episodes. He also gelled really well with Ray O’Leary. The extended interview with Rosie O’Donnell was fantastic. It felt much more like a proper night show, unlike the earlier version which was a bit dull. I’d mostly given up on it midway through the first season but it has hooked me back in.
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It’s Sam’s style though, I guess if people don’t like Sam and his style, they don’t watch!
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Christmas decorations were already for sale in the department stores… last month.
Can we have people getting easter eggs thrown at them instead 
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His style is precisely why he was given the show in the first place. If anything, last night’s episode felt like confirmation that the production team already knows the show will be axed once this run concludes — and they’re not exactly hiding it. They referenced its poor debut several times, almost as if acknowledging the inevitable.
Rosie was fantastic, but her interview highlighted a real flaw: Sam didn’t seem to know how to control the flow of the conversation. He essentially allowed Rosie to steer the entire segment, taking full advantage at every opportunity, leaving little room for genuine back-and-forth or structure.
Sam’s a good comic, but he’s far better suited to The Front Bar, where his awkwardness actually adds to the show’s charm. There, he has the benefit of not having to carry the weight of being the “host,” and if a joke falls flat, he’s got Mick and Andy to back him up and keep things moving. On Tonight, however, that support simply isn’t there — as we saw with Ray’s hesitant, low-confidence performance as guest announcer.
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Then how come 10 seem to be backing it, with the schmick new set?
They need a vehicle now they’ve lost The Project, and interviews on a 450k rating show is better than a 250k rating show that was The Project.
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At Easter maybe? Why not mix it up a bit too?
Instead of a Christmas tree, how about a snowman statue or bunch of Christmas lights.
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Come on. That desk it like $200 from Officeworks with some spay paint. The screens are basically left over from The Project set.
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I don’t understand the criticisms. The show has improved immensely from the first few episodes.
Sure, some jokes fell flat in his monologue but that is always going to happen but there have been a lot of improvements to the show now.
Overall, season 2 episode 1 was very good.
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Just caught up. It is getting better.
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Definitely think it’s a big improvement over the first season. The set looks a lot nicer, perhaps the Project being gone has allowed them more freedom to rearrange and re-light the space.
Having the main guest stay on over two segments was a good call, Rosie was great.
The wheel thing was fine, I reckon they’ve got the message now and it’ll be something different each week.
For me the biggest thing to improve now is just Sam’s general presenting, still lots of stumbles and ‘ums’ and ‘ahs’.
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No.
I went to Sam Pang on Monday night. The show was so funny, we had a great time!
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Guests for next Monday are Rachel Griffiths (host of The Idea of Australia on SBS) and comedian Sam Campbell.