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Bumped: Tractor Monkeys, Elegant Gentleman. Gone: Would I Lie To You?

Local shows make way for more Stephen Fry on ABC's comedy night.

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2013-04-12_1557It was a bad week for ABC’s Wednesday line-up this week and it is wasting no time in adjusting its schedule.

From next week Qi is back in at 8:30pm (with a repeat no less) while the local Aussie offerings have been pushed out by thirty minutes.

8:30pm Qi rpt.
9:00pm Tractor Monkeys
9:30pm The Elegant Gentleman’s Guide to Knife Fighting

Would I Lie To You?, which was at 9:30pm, is now out.

18 Responses

  1. The Captain Cook sketch was old, part of the small series of sketches Jungleboys had online for over a year before this series was commissioned (they’re dropping old sketches in amongst the new ones, like the Fat Mate sketch this week). The development time for this series was very short compared to that, if you look at when they did the call-out for comedy writers to submit material — Dec 11 2012 with the deadline of Dec 28.

    The hundreds of writers Stan refers to (who submitted material to that call out), have possibly resulted in 1 or 2 sketches per program, since other than Chris Taylor and Josh Lawson, the only writers on the series who aren’t also directors, actors or the EP are:
    Jake Bennett (ep 1 & 3)
    Mary Rachel Brown (ep 1)
    Belinda King (ep 2)
    Alan Rutledge (ep 2)
    Dave Mullins (ep 3)
    Simon Godfrey (ep 5)

  2. It comes as no surprise that Tractor Monkeys and Elegant Gentleman have got pulled as they breach the ABC double rule, no audience but no quality either. But the sad thing is that they get pulled by the same programmer who commissioned them. If it was commercial television heads would have rolled by now. But the ABC has no such accountability. Isn’t it about time that the ABC took a deep long look at how senior management develops and commissions Australian production? If it doesn’t things won’t improve.

  3. I don’t know if I can watch QI again. I love the show especially Stephen Fry. But I can’t cope with the way it has been treated this year i.e. the end credits; nor am I a fan of constant pointless pop-ups. I too was one of the people that liked the Captain Cook ad. But I wasn’t joking about what I said about disrespecting the TV shows. I now know television is like the town siren in my area. Doomed in the 21st century. Because they’ve chosen to be a second class technology with how they treat the shows.

    And I wanted television to last forever just like the town sirens. I mean can the internet wake you up? Plus the two technologies least likely to work in country towns are the internet and mobile phones. What did they choose as primary warning devices? Why does stupidity win?

  6. I’ve been watching 1989 episodes of Fast Forward (One, Thursdays 9.30) and most of it is still funny. I doubt too much being produced these days will still make us laugh 24 years down the track.

    Steve Vizard was a huge talent, wonderful impersonations.

  7. I can’t figure out networks!
    I’m all for giving local content a run but those 2 shows just aren’t funny. Ok. Some bits were funny, but unfortunately more of it was just awful.

    On the other hand the British have always handled panel shows well and Would I Lie To You? should stay.

    At least Stephen Fry is back.

  8. That’s the sort of behaviour I expect from networks further around the dial. I really liked “Would I Lie To You?” and now new eps of that have lost out to repeats of QI? “Tractor Monkeys” was the weak link here and should have been moved to Thursdays or Fridays.

  10. I’ll admit (like ‘A’ does on every post) that I giggled at the Prius Man sketch on TEGGTKF’s first episode. Might keep watching in the vein hope it gets better because I know they have hundreds of different writers contributing.

  12. Would I Lie To You tends to drag on a bit at times, but I don’t understand why the other shows need bumping. The ABC really hasn’t given this lineup time to take hold. They’re getting as jumpy as Ten and they will end up paying the same price.

  13. tractor monkeys is fun but the games are often rushed and short. And Yes HG and Josh worked really well together was an extremely funny ep. I am also enjoying the revamped SBS2

  14. I am not sure I like the ABC doing this. I know it doesn’t happen very often, but it seems unfair to aussie talent. They are under no commercial pressure to behave this way…

  15. I saw Tractor Monkeys this week with HG Nelson and Josh Thomas and didn’t mind it. I thought HG and Josh work well together despite their age differences. Any word yet on who is joining the panel of the revamped Spicks & Specks?
    How much longer until Chris Lilley’s new project starts?

    A shame about Would I Lie To You?
    Apart from a skit on Captain Cook the Elegant Gentleman’s Guide to Knife Fighting hasn’t been my cup of tea.

  16. That’s a shame, but having seen the ratings, I understand why they made this move. I really like ‘Would I Lie To You?’ & ‘Tractor Monkeys.’ But ‘The Elegant Gentleman’s Guide to Knife Fighting’ is soooo baaaad, sorry.

    PS: seems Stephen Fry is ABC1’s way to plug holes (aka, Chuck Lorre at Nine).

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