Where there's a Wil there's a... Oh wait he got axed.
It's not often you get me on the side of Wil Anderson. I mean.. Wil Anderson is a cock. But that doesn't mean I can't feel sorry for the guy, maybe even bit of sympathy if I'm reaching. Which is why this morning, when I read on the net that The Glasshouse, Wil's talk show on the ABC, had been axed, I didn't jump to the blog and write something like...
HAHAHAAHAHA
I didn't do that because, apparently, The Glasshouse didn't get axed because Wil is shit, or a dickhead, or unfunny, or predictable, or lame, or a faunoiphiliac, it got axed for a completely different reason. An evil reason.
Apparently, the ABC killed it because of its new 'bias' guidelines. And The Glasshouse, with it's cutting-edge 'John Howard speaks funny' comedy, was just too biased against the Government. The involvement of Glasshouse co-host Corinne Grant as the face of the ACTU's 'Rights To Work' campaign has also made the show a target. Though, why anybody would want Corinne Grant as the face of anything is yet to be determined.
twenty-three more of these and i'll start to look attractiveFreedom from bias is great in news and current affairs shows, especially on a public broadcaster. But you can't regulate bias in comedy shows, especially topical, satirical, (shit) ones like The Glasshouse. Rob Sitch from Working Dog, the innovator of Champagne Comedy, was on Triple M this morning. He was talking about the axing and said that satire by it's very nature is judgemental. You can't have unbiased or balanced judgements. Saying 'this man is a murderer', and then being forced to say 'oh, but this other guy didn't pay his parking ticket' is balanced, but it's stupid.
Then they cut to a Nickleback song.
His point remains though. The reason why comedy shows bag out the Howard Government, or the Bush Government, isn't because they're run by left-wing commie abortionists, it's because those men are in power. You can make plenty of jokes about the Opposition, but they're not the ones affecting our lives.
And when Wil Anderson tries, all he does is make Kim Beazley fat jokes.
Do you really want more of Wil Anderson's Kim Beazley fat jokes, ABC?
6 comments:
As much as the whole repression of legitimate ABC satire enrages me, the Glass House was, much like King Charles I, long overdue for the axe.
I don't mind Corinne Grant, and Dave Hughes was once a genius, but Wil Anderson is a Knobasaurus Rex. Hopefully the ABC can create a new, innovative satirical comedy format to replace it, but given the state of Australian comedy today, I doubt it.
Get off this blog, you filthy fkn hun brit. TIOCFAIDH AR LA!
You shall have your day soon enough, my friend.
The Glass House team is still playing that "defend satire" card, but I've changed my mind. Let's face it, the show was going downhill fast. As one news article said, the fact that the Chaser team is still alive and kicking shows that satire is not at risk here, only stagnant comedy is.
while i won't deny that the glasshouse was shithouse (see what i did there?), it had just been nominated for a logie, won some pooncy award last year and has been getting its highest ratings ever. it wasn't going downhill in that sense
Granted, but I'm looking at this from a comedic standpoint. All your criticisms about Wil Anderson ring true for The GlassHouse too. It was becoming tired and predictable, but people were catching on and getting into it, paradoxically, as it was getting worse. Why? Coz people are stupid.
The same thing happened with BackBerner. Funny, yes, but it had run it's course, and even though people liked it, the ABC realised it had to go.
I'm not saying The Glasshouse wasn't popular or anything, but anyone who remembers it in the early years can see that nothing has changed, and Wil Anderson is still making the same Howard/ Warnie/Michael Jackson/sex joke he's been making since day one.
I think its sad to see the glasshouse get axed.
(whether you liked it or not, im just saying what i think)
I think it was just really out of the blue because the glasshouse was doing very well in ratings and its a very cheap show to make.
I feel sorry for the people who worked on the glasshouse because now they are out of the job.
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