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“You don’t smoke a bong on live television!”

Media react as Sam Newman pretends to smoke a bong of marijuana on The Footy Show.

A gag by Sam Newman on last night’s AFL Footy Show has the Herald Sun claiming he could attract the ire of anti-drug campaigners and family groups.

Newman pretended to smoke a bong, but later admitted it was actually tea.

“I tell you this Garry, did we see in the paper that the AFL are now going to prohibit marijuana from being on the banned list of drug taking. Did I make that up?” Newman asked.

“Looking at having it taken off,” said James Brayshaw.

“Looking at having it taken off. Well thank god because this has given us a chance,” Newman said.

“Let me tell you just how this would work Garry, I’ve been waiting for the old marijuana to be taken off’.”

Newman then lit a bong and pretended to smoke it.

“Get him off! You can’t do that!” laughed Brayshaw.

“My goodness me, wow,” Newman said. “We might still get beaten but we don’t give a shit anymore because we can smoke the ganja.

“My gee, I suddenly got hungry, you couldn’t give us a kilo of butterfly wings and a perhaps a python thigh could ya? Tally ho boys!”

Host Garry Lyon told viewers Newman was only joking with tea and not real marijuana.

“You don’t smoke a bong on live television!” said Brayshaw.

While the show is unlikely to be a breach of the Code because it was classified M, it isn’t clear if it carried a [D] warning for Drug References.

Other shows such as Wilfred have featured marijuana in a bong, but the question for the media watchdog will be ensuring The Footy Show had the right classification information.

21 Responses

  1. @Grays It is not legal to sell bongs in Victoria anymore.

    premier.vic.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/2874-bong-ban-now-in-force.html

    What Sam did doesn’t really mean much but I have never liked the man. Can he tell me where I can buy a good bong?

  2. Sack him now! The AFL should step in and say enough is enough otherwise they could easily step in and say no more players, coaches etc will appear on the show anymore. In a weird sort of way its throwing acid on the game. You might think of it as a joke and a lot of people will but Nine are fools.

    Yes it has us talking and all but you know what this has now gone too far. Enough is enough as far as i am concerned. I watch the AFL Footy Show because its the best one around but then this fool Newman comes along and continues to do these stupid stunts.

  3. @Goatracer, you literally just about took the words right out of my mouth. I’m a NRL guy who doesn’t really like AFL but watches the AFL Footy Show religiously every week and haven’t watched the NRL version in years. And is just about the only Channel 9 show I watch (apart from Survivor but who knows when that will ever be back on 9)

    As for the “story” move on, nothing to see here

  4. The fact that he was smoking a bong I don’t think is an issue at all. But yes, it would have been appropriate procedure for Newman to have told Nine beforehand and to have classified the show properly to be containing drug references as well.

  5. Anyone that say he isnt worth the money is joking. He is the only thing original about the show that has been consistent over its many years.

    Yes he plays the fool and the class idiot on the show but thats his role. I know him personally and his nothing like that in real life.

    The only problem I have with the show was they should never have axed Trev 5 or so years back he was good.

    As for the reference who cares? It was 11pm at night. I have seen more racy thigns on SBS at 9.30 on a Friday Night.

  6. I might be on my own here but I fail to see how anyone that had actually watched this could come to these conclusions, he was clearly making a point on how ridiculous the ruling was and that performance would be compromised.
    I for one find the show entertaining and better on so many levels compared to their NRL counterpart.
    Sam Newman has an incredible presence and once given in to his raw talent and honesty it is hard not to be drawn into the boyish banter between himself, Lyon, Brayshaw and Crawford.
    This is coming from a NRL supporter who really doesn’t like AFL and is actually the only program that I watch on Nine, sad isn’t it!

  7. North of the Murray this would have aired at about 1:30am. But no doubt Nine “news” and ACA will flog it to death for publicity/cross-promotion as they have been instructed to do, no doubt for the “benefit” of everyone except the two northerners who may have actually seen it.

  8. This should hardly rate as news, as you said take a look at wilfred and any number of other shows that have drug scenes or implied drug use, I think these days people get off on complaining and if you are that worried about a skit on the footy show ( and you should be aware of what this show is like because its been on for nearly twenty years) then why are you still watching?

  9. Once again, this will be a massive over reaction by media – Sam Newman is always in the spotlight for controversy, so this is nothing new.
    No, the AFL Footy Show doesn’t cary a ‘drug references’ title, but hey, IMO any show rated M, and airs in the 9:30pm – 11:30pm slot is allowed to do what ever they wish.
    I reckon that the majority of complaint about this will be coming from the mouths of people who didn’t even watch the show last night.
    At the end of the day, the skit aired at about 11:10pm, and gave us all a laugh.

  10. just another attempt to get more viewers. the show is dead and has been for years. if brayshaw the giggling schoolgirl and lyon really cared, they would have stopped it.

  11. Don’t worry David, there is no media watchdog. Self-regulation rules. A little slap on the back of the hand is all that will happen. The Footy Show just gets more publicity. They’ve done the stunts dropping their pants and even degrading women. Time to move onto stunts involving drugs.

  12. This show should have been axed years ago. It makes Hey Hey it’s Saturday look like a University Lecture. If nothing else Newman should be given his marching orders he’s like the Kyle Sandilands of his generation – now that’s something to be proud of.

  13. Surely this can’t be news (not you David, but the Herald Sun)? Why don’t the people who complain about these things take a look at what’s on SBS at the same time. We are becoming as overly PC as the Americans.

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