The Weekly is off and running
It's a good first effort from Charlie Pickering with a mix of comedy, news, commentary and conversation.
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under News
Charlie Pickering unveiled The Weekly last night, a mix of comedy, news, comment and conversation.
The first episode tackled such topics as Online Piracy, whether Tony Abbott is ‘manly,’ the Speaker of the House, Star Wars, and immunisation. Pickering handled the punchlines and wry opinion with confidence.
First guest was Sam Neill discussing his documentary Why ANZAC? Despite it airing the night before, this was the strongest part of the show. Pickering is at his best bouncing off guests and Neill was a charming guest, never in need of a punchline.
The show was technically also very smooth, recorded on Tuesday night and edited for Wednesday before it eventually records ‘As Live” on the day of broadcast.
There were hints of similar shows, here and there, but it’s early days and needs time to find its voice. I’d like to see the show play with more anger and greater sense of the silly. But the first effort was an encouraging start.
Online there were reactions by those who liked what they saw…
OMG! 3 mins in and I've lost count of the laugh out louds! Fun! #TheWeekly
— Renée🌈 (@gylanicdreamer) April 22, 2015
Great to see a smart, sharp new show on @ABCTV – loving @theweeklytv so far. Much needed laughs in a long week.
— toriedwards (@toriedwards) April 22, 2015
I've always liked Charlie Pickering & can watch him again since he's not with #thepoject – back on @ABCTV and all is well. #TheWeekly
— Helen (@canberra_bells) April 22, 2015
https://twitter.com/GeorgeDonikian/status/590833863208800257
Hats off to @charliepick and @nonstoptom! Man @theweeklytv on @ABCTV tonight was some damn good tv. #TheWeekly #MalcolmInTheMiddle
— Aiden G (@Aiden_G) April 22, 2015
Good work @charliepick. Plenty of good bits. A few nerves. Massive achievement. #TheWeekly
— Tony Wilson (@byTonyWilson) April 22, 2015
You've hit the ground running, in this 1st ep of @theweeklytv.
Congratualtions @charliepick and @ABCTV.
Slick and funny. Thanks!#TheWeekly— 💧Ros (@roshart) April 22, 2015
Those who didn’t….
I really like Charlie, but don't think I laughed once tonight. Hope it improves #TheWeekly
— Al O'Ryan (@ali__louise__) April 22, 2015
https://twitter.com/LaurenceRosen/status/590832585053327361
https://twitter.com/RolandJamez/status/590830976021868544
#TheWeekly Pickering is an undoubted talent – but this production feels like a Jon Stewart cover band. *sigh* welcome to creative Australia
— Dubrow (@chrisdubrow) April 22, 2015
Charlie Pickering's jokes aren't much better than breakfast TV #TheWeekly
— Mike (@bikeymikey70) April 22, 2015
Those who were undecided….
https://twitter.com/kateburford/status/590845360542584833
And even those missing Shaun Micallef….
https://twitter.com/AshGhebranious/status/590832809503109120
https://twitter.com/Rowans_Graffiti/status/590827309311004673
There is a way to save #TheWeekly Is Shaun Micallef busy next week?
— Wal G (@Gisikus) April 22, 2015
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19 Responses
Huge ratings drop in week 2.
The Block Auction is a big drawcard. Need to see week 3.
Oh the irony. The first episode has a story on piracy and the show itself is a rip off of LWT. If you don’t want to be compared to Stewart or Oliver then don’t make a copy of their shows.
I agree with you David, a good start. Over the weeks it will get sharper. I have to disagree though about having a guest on the show maybe it was just the structure of the show – it seemed out of place, maybe because it was sort of sandwiched in the middle. Tom and Kitty’s segments were great. I had the impression they would be on for the whole show as a panel, obviously I was wrong
Loved it.
There – that wasn’t so hard to say 🙂
I liked it, but HBO’s lawyers might be calling ABC in future weeks. It was very much Last Week Tonight with John Oliver in look and substance for the most part.
Excellent point.
Yes, there were whole lines and even mannerisms lifted from Oliver’s show. It’s like the good old days of Steve Vizard ripping off Letterman.
So boring, I won’t be watching again!
I thought that it was a pretty decent first effort. Tom Gleeson and Kitty Flanagan need to be better integrated somehow because I felt that they interrupted what I was watching and temporarily took me to another show before returning to The Weekly. Interview was great, altho’ brief, but that’s prob as much down to Sam Neill as Charlie. Time will tell. Early days yet.
I liked it. And re Sam Neills “Why Anzac” doco, thankyou David Knox for recommending this in a comment a few days ago, as I watched it and thought it was the best Anzac doco I have ever seen. Looking forward to more of The Weekly.
Interesting Charlie P got 120,000 more than if he had been on the Project. However I tuned in out of curiosity, but unfortunately I will not return. Just not funny enough and not in same league as Shaun M.
Count me in the negative camp I’m afraid. For a man who wants to be a comedian, not a newsreader, he needs to be funny. Whatever the numbers were, I’m predicting plenty of people jumping off. I’ll call it now, sight-unseen, put 8MMM on at 8:30pm, and run the Weekly at 9:30pm.
David, is there going to be a repeat, maybe on ABC2? My in-laws house flooded last night (in Sydney Stormageddon lol) and I spent the night shovelling water and dirt – I’m so annoyed I missed it!!
Tonight ABC2.
David, interesting that you read this as a negative comment.
‘Charlie Pickering’s jokes aren’t much better than breakfast TV #TheWeekly’
That would have been coded as negative in any data monitoring system.
I watched the interview with Sam Neill which was terrific & then Tom Gleeson cam on & I had to change the channel.
You lasted longer than me – I was just now watching it on iView, but bailed after the start of Kitty Flanagan’s segment. I find her schtick pretty tiresome, but thought I could sit it out. I was wrong.
Up until then I was happy to give it a go, even though it’d started looking like a very average MAH-Project mashup.
I didn’t think it was bad per se – but it really needs to find its own feet to have any chance.