Back in the 90's, Rob Sitch, Tom Gleisner, and Santo Cilauro were my heroes. I LOVED (and still love) The Late Show, a program that showcased the talent of these men. They were quick-witted, hilarious, versatile, and they put together a show that you wanted to talk about and quote endlessly, the trademark of many a good piece of visual entertainment. They followed it up with the superb Frontline, and several great movies including The Castle. Somehow they decided it would then be time to spend the better part of a decade sitting at a desk, interviewing vacuous celebrities, spouting the government's 'safe' and convervative viewpoints, and passing off infotainment-style humour so bad they make Bert Newton look like Bill Hicks. What the hell happened? Is this supposed to be the crowning glory that sits on top of all their earlier brilliance? It's so desperately lame that it doesn't surprise me it's lasted this long. Any show that's so bland and inoffensive that a gay-hating bishop would give it the thumbs up is always guaranteed prime-time immortality.
I moved overseas a few years ago, but managed to catch the 2005 Christmas Special, out of curiosity. Good lord, can this show sink any lower? They were actually hawking products and advertising sales under the guise of comedy 'ads'. For charity. What charity is this? A charity for all the mentally-slow viewers who can't see the shows they watch have actually become advertisements themselves? Folks, if you want charity, tell them to donate half their weekly earnings to any cause you care to name. Then we'll see how serious they are about promoting their favourite corporations. Either that or donate said money to get Australian comedians on TV who haven't completely sold out to the point of blinding embarrassment.
Maybe the title of this show should be called "We Need New Yachts", because I cannot possibly think of another reason why these former talents make this crap. Either that or call it "We're Rich, Who Cares?"
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