Why have our networks abandoned locally scripted Comedy?
Exclusive: TV Tonight asks network programmers to please explain their lack of scripted comedy.
- Published by David Knox
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EXCLUSIVE: Can we talk?
Aside from the ABC, when was the last time you saw a locally-produced scripted comedy on Australian television?
I’m not talking panel shows or travel specials with comedians, but honest-to-goodness scripted jokes with actors?
We have a wonderful track record of narrative and sketch comedy in Australia: Mother and Son, Fast Forward, Kath and Kim, Frontline, The D Generation, The Paul Hogan Show, Summer Heights High, The Comedy Company, The Naked Vicar Show, The Mavis Bramston Show. We have a plethora of performers at the Melbourne Comedy Festival.
So why are our television networks, especially commercial networks, avoiding them like the plague?
Preferring to avoid the cost and risk of comedy they leave it all to the ABC and detour their comedy via travel specials (Hamish and Andy, Anh Do), panel shows (This Week Live, Have You Been Paying Attention?) or specials (Melbourne Comedy Festival Gala). Gag writers not withstanding, these leave comedy writers performers, out in the cold.
It’s as if Ben Elton’s Live from Planet Earth burnt the industry for years to come.
Even Foxtel has an entire channel devoted to Comedy and has avoided scripted content of late, preferring comedy show specials and prank shows (Balls of Steel Australia and Off Their Rockers with someone who fronts ads to sell Lamb). How is this Comedy?
Their last scripted show was probably Whatever Happened To That Guy?
Collectively, it’s an industry disgrace and it’s letting us all down.
Meanwhile the ABC is blazing a trail for the genre: Upper Middle Bogan, The Moodys, Please Like Me, Jamie: Private School Girl, It’s a Date, Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell (a perfect example of scripted comedy without the full expense of a sitcom budget).
Not all of them have succeeded: The Elegant Gentleman’s Guide to Knife Fighting, Wednesday Night Fever, This is Littleton. But throw a few darts at the target and a few may land close to the bull’s eye.
Other low-budget ABC shows Laid, Review with Myles Barlow, The Strange Calls, Lowdown have triggered international editions.
Wilfred, developed for SBS, has had multiple seasons in the US. It’s the perfect example of what could be developed for multichannels in Australia. But where is the next one?
With a few exceptions, networks are ducking and weaving on the issue.
TV Tonight asked all our network Programmers to please explain: What scripted content will they screen in 2014?
Here are their responses.
SEVEN: Angus Ross
Head of Programming
Last year Seven had improvisation show Slide Show and Anh Do specials. In comedy this year Seven has specials featuring the Montreal Comedy Festival, and more from Anh Do.
But there is a new scripted show by Housos star Paul Fenech.
“We have Bogan Hunters for 7mate and another comedy which is a bit top secret at the moment but is being made for 7mate as well,” he says.
“We shot a pilot for it last year and we think the best way to grow the show and to hit the key audience is to run it on 7mate, initially.
“We’ve got some comedies in development with some pretty big comedy names, but these things can take quite a while to generate properly. If we can get one of them up in 2014 we will, but they are all in development at present.
“It’s not that we’re not trying, it’s just that you need to find the right vehicle for some of these big names.”
TEN: Beverley McGarvey
Chief Programming Officer
“None of the Free to Air commercials have scripted half-hour sitcoms but what we have is probably more comedy-drama, and there are comedy elements in some of our dramas. We don’t have a straight half-hour sitcom but we are always open to the right idea and to looking at it with the right talent,” she says.
“You think about the amount of American pilots that go through the networks and how many of them work. It’s statistically virtually-none, because it is so hard to get right.
“We’ve restructured our team here at TEN and we have a Head of Comedy now, Paul Leydon.”
TEN currently has panel show Have You Been Paying Attention? from Working Dog.
“We do have panel comedy, and we’ve probably had more of that than the others. Shows like This Week Live are important because it flushes out some great comedy talent,” she explains.
“We also have the Melbourne Comedy Festival which is really important to us. Our audience responds well to Comedy so it’s good to have it on the schedule. But truthfully since I’ve been in Australia none of the Free to Airs have ever had a sitcom, and I don’t think it’s through lack of trying.”
However there is no sign of scripted comedy either as narrative or sketch, despite successes on the ABC.
“It’s obviously something they’re very good at and they have a lot of content on the ABC that is very particular to that audience. That’s probably why that content ends up there and it plays in the right place. We would all be looking for something that would appeal to a big, broad audience which is obviously our brief and our business. So we’re certainly looking at it.”
What about low budget comedy for ELEVEN or ONE? The network has previously dabbled in this area.
“You’re absolutely right. We should definitely find comedy that would work on ELEVEN but it just comes down to the time that the business model makes sense. That day will come.”
SBS: Peter Andrews
Network Programmer
For its slim commissioning budget, SBS has managed to produce some distinct if modestly-performing comedies including Housos, Legally Brown and Danger 5. This weekend it also begins a non-scripted interview series Stand Up @ Bella Union.
“Comedy is a really important genre for us and we have a number of projects in development. We are going again with Danger 5,” he says.
“Legally Brown performed well for us and we’re looking at Legally Brown 2 and are in discussions about that at the moment.
“It’s important to us and it’s vital. It’s a genre we believe we can take some ownership of.
“It provides us the ability to be distinctive and bold, those things that are important.
“You will see more of it on SBS.”
Nine: Andrew Backwell
Head of Programming and Production
Nine has not screened a locally-produced scripted comedy in some time, and admits there is nothing on the horizon to remedy this anytime soon.
“Our biggest comedy locally is Hamish and Andy, which I think is fantastic. Scripted comedy we haven’t gone down that path and I think it’s a really hard area to get right. When you go to the LA screenings, you see how many sitcom pilots are made each year. There are heaps, because when they work they are incredibly valuable. Look at Two and a Half Men, Big Bang Theory, Frasier, Friends, Seinfeld,” he says.
“But it’s a very hard area to work in and you need significant investment to find the ones that work. It’s an area that we’re really not concentrating on.”
What about developing a low-budget comedy, in the vein of Wilfred?
“The question we have to ask is do they sit on a big commercial channel, like Channel Nine? As good as it is, and I am a fan, I don’t think Wilfred would fit on Channel Nine. I don’t think it fits with our brand or our audience,” he admits.
“ABC has done a sensational job in this area. They have been the market leader in Australia developing this stuff.
“But once again does it translate to a commercial channel and can we take those kind of risks? Everytime you take a risk like that and it doesn’t work, the impact on your schedule is enormous. A lot of our job is about mitigating risk. Taking a risk, but mitigating them as much as you can.”
Backwell concedes that even to develop a show for multichannels, the mathematics don’t always stack up.
“Multichannels would be the perfect area to do this because you don’t have the same ratings pressure. But we only have so much production budget, so we would have to take money off our main channel, where we get a return, and put it on a multichannel where you don’t get the same return. So unless there is a lot more money for us to play with in terms of production, I can’t see us investing in risky, multichannel local productions,” he says.
“We get a better return for our money on Channel Nine.”
FOXTEL: Brian Walsh
Executive Director of Television
“We have a major project in development with Working Dog,” Director of Television Brian Walsh confirmed.
“To my knowledge what they’re doing has never been done on Australian television. So don’t expect a panel show,” he said.
“Don’t expect it to be like anything you’ve seen before. It’s a very fresh, original idea.
“We do have another comedy series we’re just formalising now. It’s an international format that will be adapted for the Comedy Channel. But it would be premature of me to say any more at this stage.”
The undisclosed new project is, however, unscripted.
ABC: Brendan Dahill
ABC1 / ABC2 Channel Controller
ABC has already screened first-run scripted comedy this year on two channels. While it gallantly waves a flag for the genre, this year it returns other established brands and introduces Utopia, Jonah From Tonga, Maximum Choppage and We’ll Have to Leave it There from The Chaser team.
“Comedy is one of the defining characteristics of the ABC. We’re the only ones really trying in Australian comedy,” Dahill insists.
“Do we want to be another ‘me too’ (network) or do we want to be the only one? Currently, Australian comedy is defined by the ABC. I think that’s sad that we’re the only ones making Australian comedy, because everybody wins by more people making it. You get more benchmarks and everyone having to raise their game constantly, which is what’s happened in Australian Drama.
“Australian Drama has become incrementally better every year because nobody ever gets better at doing anything by ‘not doing it.’ The more Drama that gets made the better we get at making it and now we have world class Dramas getting picked up everywhere.
“I think we are already in a space where, even with just the ABC playing, we’re now making world class comedy. Upper Middle Bogan and The Moodys I think are world class.”
While comedy remains subjective, and some shows achieve better success than others, ABC proudly recognises its role in developing new work and new performers.
“For a public service broadcaster it’s a really important part of our mix and, particularly in Australia, our sense of humour defines us. The way we are prepared to laugh at ourselves says a lot about you as a nation,” he explains.
“I think it’s a shame that more isn’t made of it. For any network if you get your Drama and Comedy right, in particular, it defines the network.
“Moodys, Upper Middle Bogan and Chris Lilley define the ABC. When lots of people think about the ABC that’s who they think about.
“Comedy is the crown jewels of the network.”
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- Tagged with Balls of Steel Australia, Bogan Hunters, Danger 5, Fast Forward, Frasier, Friends, Frontline, Hamish and Andy's Gap Year, Have You Been Paying Attention?, Houso's, It's a Date, Ja’mie: Private School Girl, Jonah From Tonga, Kath and Kim, LAID, Legally Brown, Live From Planet Earth, Lowdown, Maximum Choppage, Modern Family, Mother and Son, Off Their Rockers, Please Like Me, Review with Myles Barlow, Seinfeld, Shaun Micallef's Mad as Hell, Slide Show, Stand Up @ Bella Union, Summer Heights High, The Big Bang Theory, The Comedy Company, The D Generation, The Elegant Gentleman’s Guide to Knife Fighting, The Mavis Bramston Sho, The Moodys, The Naked Vicar Show, The Paul Hogan Show, The Strange Calls, This Is Littleton, This Week Live, Two and a Half Men, Upper Middle Bogan, Utopia, We’ll Have To Leave It There, Wednesday Night Fever, Whatever Happened to That Guy?, Wilfred
37 Responses
I watched the first two eps of This Is Littleton last night and thought that they were pretty good. As with all comedy of this form, not every sketch works as well as others, and different sketches/characters will appeal to different people (I found the Corey Delaney/Daniel Sims-inspired Head of Planning & Development to be a bit annoying but he was presumably meant to be).
I think 3½ stars is about right – def worth a look if you like sketch comedy.
The trouble with shows like Mother and Son is that each episode takes so long to write in order to get them just right. They’re usually a labour of love for a single writer (Geoffrey Atherden in this case) or a pair (eg Gina Riley & Jane Turner with Kath & Kim). I think of M&S as being our Fawlty Towers. It was beautifully crafted – writing, directing, acting, editing.
Great Insight, David! Love the last like from Nine thats why their multichannels are full of repeats and already run movies these days – they could care less.
Comedy is always going to be a hard sell especially these days when the networks seem interested in 1hr blocks
Australian sketch/sitcom comedy takes a while to settle in and Australian viewers are harsh to judge local production (look at the stigma of Aussie films…). Commercial networks really don’t give the shows much of a chance in today’s day in age. If you don’t rate within 3 weeks, you’re gone or shifted to a 1 am timeslot. Now with instant reaction and judgment on social media, it makes it harder for them to breathe, sadly.
Judging by the comments here I might give This is Littleton another go.
I watched the first episode and didn’t even crack a smile (and I’ll laugh at pretty much anything!)
Whereas good drama will invariably rate (unless it’s on Ch10), comedy is pretty subjective and usually draw niche audiences. I loved Moodys last year but it’s wearing a bit thin in 2014 (eg Sean is just a d***). The ABC can wear ordinary ratings a lot longer to gain an audience – a luxury commercials don’t have.
@PercyPervis Thanks for that Link. Made me LOL as well. Just checked iview and will be watching This is littleton tonight.
The commercial stations are just too scared or cheap to take a risk on comedy. I don’t really care if they produce it or not, because I know I’ll be able to find something funny on The ABC or SBS.
Haven’t had a chance to see “This Is Littleton” yet, but this sketch made me LOL!
youtube.com/watch?v=R4Y1ToO1S80
David, I think you’ve judged This is Littleton too early. It’s ratings have been strong on ABC2 – and very strong on its repeat night. It’s the old story of young sketch writer-performers being lambasted by traditional media (the Age) which hasn’t got the patience for anything different comedy-wise, and loved by new media (The Vine). News Limited was the anomaly – giving 3.5 stars. In any case, Melinda Houston famously said that Seinfeld wasn’t a patch on Mad About You. So, if her review has come into your assessment of This Is Littleton – please reassess.
“db
Outland! I don’t care if I’m the only person who watched it (and bought the DVD!), I want more Outland!”
I Agree!!! I really liked Outland.. Yes it was a Little Odd, and probably didn’t appeal to most people. But I’m a Fan!
Maybe with Adam Richard’s star on the Rise, there might be a new interest?
@barrington bumbaclaart – This Is Littleton reviews:
The Vine – Worth Watching (Writen by a friend of some cast members)
Well Gordon Farrer in the SMH called This is Littleton: “undercooked and misdirected”
Sunday Age: “But this sort of Housos-meets-Elegant Gentleman (via Portlandia) just isn’t funny.”
Herald-Sun gave it 3.5 starts from memory.
The second ep was better than the first. There are some good performers but I don’t think it’s very watchable and I don’t get why they have guys in drag when they have so many female performers. Great article David. Fascinating to see their response. Almost all the ABC content comes externally so it’s not like the networks couldn’t go to the same sources for content if they had the time or money.
There is no money in sitcoms for networks. All scripted shows drama or comedy are very uneconomical with huge setup costs and staff costs increase over time as ratings only decline. The only reason we have scripted shows at all is because networks need to fill their quotas.
Sitcoms often have the setup costs of a drama yet only deliver 8x30mins (4hours total) of content. Ratings suggest there is no demand. ABC has great comedies, but no one watches them.
That clown picture is creepy.
I personally can understand why the commercial channels don’t want to invest in local sitcoms, very hard to get local sitcoms to rate and ratings are the key to get revenue. People should understand that commercial tv channels are businesses that need to give their shareholders a return, they are not a public service. Local drama is rating well at the moment that is why we are seeing so many local dramas on air, they make commercial sense. We love seeing this big investment in local dramas. The ABC and SBS are howver totally different, they do not need to make profits, we all pay for them to produce the shows, and their charter is to produce the type of content that is not viable for commercial channels to produce. Seven needs to make money for the billionaire owner, it’s a business guys!
I pitched an old-fashioned laugh-out-loud sitcom (a proper sitcom, not a dramedy) to several networks a year ago. They all told me the same thing – it’s too risky. The cost is too high for the potential return. They can produce a soap opera, sorry, drama, for the same money and it will have a guaranteed audience, no matter how lame it is (witness the teeth-grinding awfulness that is Wonderland).
One of the networks admitted that Ben Elton’s Live From Planet Earth had scared a lot of them off flagship scripted comedy for the foreseeable future.
As for the argument that there aren’t any sitcom writers out there – I personally know at least a dozen writers who are currently working on writing sitcoms (alas, unproduced).
Note to ABC – The Moodys is not “world class.” Sorry.
good article and great that you’re asking the question…but how can you say “this is littleton” hasn’t succeeded? it’s only half way though it’s run and not all success should be based on the 3000 odd people that have a little black ratings box. why not give it proper chance before writing it off? if you keep up this behaviour, maybe it’s the media that should have something to answer for in the demise of aussie comedy??
in my opinion, aussie comedy is too often defined by class based humour and that can only be sustained for so long. here’s hoping at least one network make a bold decision in commissioning something fresh.
I haven’t based it all on the ratings. Reviews have not been very positive as far as I can see. Have not seen much social media nor word of mouth. I admire its charter of uncovering new talent and I hope it does. I think it’s reasonable to look at ABC and say, well not everything works but at least you’re having a go.
Because it doesn’t make economic sense for them to do so.
The networks used to meet their points quota with cheap sketch comedy. So the current points system makes it most economical for the networks to make quality dramas that hold an audience for months or expensive one of miniseries.
Comedy is risky, it often offends someone and humour is subjective so it is hard to get a large broad audience in suburbs. It’s often M rated these days so can’t be shown before 8:52pm. It is much cheaper to import US comedies that worked.
The ABC comedies target the niche of younger inner city viewers (e.g. ABC staff). The Moodys gets a few hundred thousand viewers. As Nine are honest enough to acknowledge, Eleven, Go! etc have a 3-4% share which will never justify expensive productions.
When American sitcom stars are earning six figure sums per episode, there is no way Australia has the funds to make 24 eps per year of scripted comedy. It is why Britain has always made 7-10 eps per show per year. Mother and Son over 11 years made only 42 eps! Kingswood Country nearly 90 eps over a 5 year period. Largely single writers or duos as with British teams. Huge budgets in America, advertising spots are a motza. We just can’t be as fearless with the projects. When we are, they are often derided or not watched at all. I don’t know the answer.
It’s hard to understand why the commercial networks are not making sitcoms anymore. ABC and SBS have had some successes with the likes on Wilfred and The Moodys so why no a new local sitcoms on 7, 9 or 10 when the format is such a success in the US and UK.
As much as a love the current crop of local drama’s I’d like some local 22 minute sitcoms to have the same kind of success as the likes of Modern Family and The Big Bang Theory.
Outland! I don’t care if I’m the only person who watched it (and bought the DVD!), I want more Outland!
Based on how the “contestants” answer the questions on “have you been paying attention?”, i’d say we have at least one scripted comedy right there.
Has Danger 5 done any business overseas? I’m a big fan of the show and noticed that it has fans in the US and Europe (even in Germany).
Has it been snapped up for broadcast anywhere else? I imagine it would go down very well in the UK, where its sixties vibe would bring back memories for those that grew up watching repeats of The Champions, Danger Man etc.
David, a big thanks for this article! I’ve been complaining about the lack of comedy (and genre in general) on Australian networks for quite a while on this site, so I’m really glad you’ve given them a grilling.
And yet, how sad that not one of them could give a real answer. Look at some of the big hitters- Two and a Half Men, Big Bang Theory, Modern Family. They’re comedies. The networks love the international comedies and flood them as filler whenever they need to. And they rate. Imagine coupling these up with an Australian comedy.
But alas, our networks are completely risk aversive. This is the time they need to be investing in local content. To win viewers over to Australian.
I always think about this issue as growing up, the 80’s and early 90’s were great for scripted Aussie comedies. Back then, there were only a handful of UK and US shows (ALF, Growing Pains, anything with Penelope Keith) slotted in between.
I think the big change happened when Friends hit our screens and it became this massive hit and no longer were family themed comedies a ‘thing’.
I remember we tried a Friends knock-off that was a disaster and with the inundation of overseas programs, we became conditioned to a type of comedy with a certain level of production values we struggled to reach.
ABC and SBS seem to take the risk with new shows (Kath & Kim, Upper Middle Bogan etc etc) and it pays off for them while 7,9,10 are too scared to bring anything new to the table in fear of it being ripped to shreds.
Funny though shows like Wonderland manage to not only get made, but…
Terrific advocacy David. Some interesting responses from the programmers. Sitcom is so expensive and generally you don’t get much bang for your buck, so they go for more eps of something less expensive. Satiric aspirations watered down to panel and game shows is a poor excuse, but understandable in our small industry. Even in the heyday, we never had a proliferation of comedies at once. There were many years between a Mother and Son and a Kath and Kim or a Kingswood Country and a Fast Forward. I don’t see it changing much any time soon. Shame tho!
Short answer – We don’t want to spend any money.