Good News Week

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Good News Week
Goodnewsweek2009.jpg
Good News Week logo
Genre Comedy
Satire
Format Panel game
Written by Ian Simmons, Simon Dodd, Bruce Griffiths, Dave Bloustien, Warwick Holt, Mat Blackwell, Patrick Cook
Directed by Martin Coombes
Presented by Paul McDermott (1996–2000, 2008–2011)
Starring Mikey Robins (1996–2000, 2008–2011)
Claire Hooper (2008–2011)
Julie McCrossin (1996–2000)
Opening theme "It's Good News Week" by Hedgehoppers Anonymous
Country of origin Australia
Language(s) English
No. of seasons 9
No. of episodes 217 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Ted Robinson
Producer(s) Jordan Robinson
Running time 42–63 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel ABC (1996–1998)
Network Ten (1998–2000, 2008–present)
Picture format 576i SDTV (2009–)
1080i (HDTV) (2008–2009)
Original run 19 April 1996–27 May 2000
11 February 2008 – 9 May 2011
Chronology
Related shows Good News Weekend
GNW Night Lite
Good News World
External links
Website

Good News Week is an Australian satirical panel game show hosted by Paul McDermott that initially aired from 19 April 1996 to 27 May 2000, and resumed on 11 February 2008 to 9 May 2011. The show aired first on ABC before it was bought by Network Ten in 1999. On 17 January 2008, the programme was renewed for a new run on Network Ten starting with a sixth season after the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike caused many of Ten's imported US programmes to cease production. The show had since been renewed for four further seasons.

Good News Week draws its comedy and satire from recent news stories, political figures, media organizations, and often, aspects of the show itself. The show typically opens with a long monologue from Paul McDermott relating to recent headlines. Afterwards, two teams, with two permanent captains and four guests, compete in recurring segments to answer questions.

The show has spawned two short-lived spin-off series, the ABC's Good News Weekend (1998) and Ten's GNW Night Lite (1999). A third spin-off titled, Good News World, premiered on 5 September 2011 on Network Ten.[1]

Contents

[edit] Format

Good News Week's format is based on that of the British programme Have I Got News For You, although host Paul McDermott says that the idea behind the show, "of looking at the news in a satirical way, the week's events, 'this is the week that was', goes back to early radio programmes."[2] Executive producer Ted Robinson has said that the show's humour is usually less genteel than Have I Got News For You as the British series is aimed at an older, over-fifty audience whereas Good News Week is most popular among the 18 to 39 age group. "We are at the rabid mongrel end of the market," he says.[3]

[edit] Monologue

McDermott opens each show with a scripted monologue in which he dissects newsworthy events in a humorous manner. He concludes by declaring, "and that's the good news!" and throwing his newspaper clippings in the air, after which an air cannon expels more newspaper clippings all over the stage. The episode's six panellists, divided into two teams, are then introduced. Teams are captained by the two regular panellists, radio comedian Mikey Robins and stand-up comedian Claire Hooper. The four guest panellists consist of a combination of comedians, media personalities and occasionally politicians.

[edit] Recurring segments

See also: List of Good News Week recurring segments

The monologue is followed by a number of recurring segments. Over a series of rounds, the competing teams attempt to score points by participating in games relating to the news of the week. However, McDermott often allocates additional points such as for flattery, particularly witty comments, creative incorrect answers or to orchestrate the defeat of Robins' team; similarly, he may confiscate them such as for heckling, misbehaviour or poor, “dad joke” type humour. Each segment is concluded with a short monologue by McDermott about the news story of game, and the whole show concluded by a monologue discussing “the good news for the week ahead”. Other than McDermott’s monologues, the show is entirely unscripted although some parts of the show require rehearsal when using certain types of props.[4] Each episode usually features four to six different games in addition to the regular segment “Strange But True”.

[edit] History

[edit] Initial run (1996–2000)

Paul McDermott hosting an episode during the show's initial run on Network Ten

The series premiered on the ABC on 12 April 1996, with an initial order of 50 episodes.[5][6] The ABC was initially apprehensive about executive producer Ted Robinson's choice of Paul McDermott for host. He had dreadlocks at the time, and was best known for the crude, aggressive "bad boy" character he had played in the Doug Anthony All Stars. In addition, it was doubted that he was capable of ad libbing and speaking well, as in past interviews he had usually allowed his fellow band members to do most of the talking. McDermott cut off his dreadlocks for the show and succeeded in broadening his appeal by showing a gentler, more charming side as host.[7] He has said that although he feels there are still elements of his more aggressive character in Good News Week, they are "toned down... I've got to be the generous host now, spin-the-wheel sort of thing. I'm basing myself on Mike Brady now. I'm the disciplinarian."[8] Mikey Robins was a part of the series from its beginning as one of the team captains. Both Judith Lucy and Anthony Ackroyd briefly participated as the second team captain before Julie McCrossin took on the role.[5]

The show initially struggled to gain a following, and McDermott admits that the early shows were "a little wobbly" and that he was not quite sure of the role he was supposed to be playing. "After only six episodes the critics said we were goners," says Robins. "In fact, the first publicity we got said we were axed."[9] In late 1996, while facing budget cuts, the ABC announced the cancellation of Good News Week, but later reversed the decision.[10] The series grew in popularity and by 1997 was attracting an average of 750,000 viewers nationally, occasionally beating commercial stations in the ratings.[11]

In 1999, Network Ten purchased the rights to Good News Week in a reported $6 million deal after outbidding the Seven Network, the Nine Network and the ABC.[12] The show's move to commercial television sparked outrage among some fans, who felt that this was a 'sell-out', but the show's staff expressed optimism about the change, describing it as a new challenge and a chance to reinvent themselves. Robins has described ABC as a channel that allows new talent to find their feet, and argued that as Good News Week had achieved this it was time to move on and make way for other performers. He added that Ten had allowed the writers great artistic freedom, perhaps even more than the ABC had permitted. "We can be even crueller about the Government without getting messages from on high," he said.[13] The show retained all of its stars and the majority of writers and technical staff after the transition.[14]

Among the show's guest panellists were Adam Spencer, Margaret Scott, Peter Berner, Amanda Keller, Tanya Bulmer, Anthony Morgan, Rod Quantock, Rove McManus, Johanna Griggs and Hugh Jackman, as well as several political figures such as Democrat senator Natasha Stott Despoja, then-Minister for Justice and Customs Amanda Vanstone and Deputy Prime Minister of Australia Tim Fischer.[2] Amanda Keller, a frequent panellist, advised guests of the show to "talk, no matter what... Err on the side of verbal diarrhoea because they can always cut things out."[4]

Ten cancelled the series in 2000, but early in 2001 announced that it had struck a deal for a limited series of Good News Week specials and debates.[15]

[edit] Second run (2008–2011)

Claire Hooper replaced Julie McCrossin as a team captain.[16]

While Network Ten had initially intended only to bring back Good News Week as a one-off special, the short supply of US shows resulting from the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike caused the network to take an interest in developing more local programmes and the show returned as a weekly series. The revived series premiered on 11 February 2008 with McDermott reprising his role as host. Robins returned as a team captain and comedian Claire Hooper replaced McCrossin as the opposing captain.[16]

Many segments from the show's initial run, such as "What's the Story?", "Strange But True", "Magazine Mastermind", "Buzzers of Death" and "Warren", are largely unchanged, while others have been updated or renamed such as "So You Think You Can Mime?" (formerly "Bad Street Theatre") and "Blow Up Your Pants (formerly "Scattergories"). New segments include "Couch Potato" and "Dirty Sexy Fast Money", the show's weekly final challenge.

The programme is available for streaming via the Ten website, and also available for download as a vodcast. The main differences between the broadcast version and the vodcast are the presence of a larger Ten watermark in the lower right corner, and the use of generic opening music instead of the original theme song used in the broadcast version.

On 10 November 2008, Network Ten announced that a new season of Good News Week would be produced and aired in 2009.[17] In the 2009 season the final round "Dirty Sexy Fast Money" changed its name to "Kevin Rudd's Fast Money". A new season premiered on 1 February.[18]

On 14 September 2010, Network Ten announced that a ninth season of Good News Week would be produced and aired in 2011.[19][20]

[edit] Spin-offs

[edit] Good News Weekend (1998)

In 1998, a ten-week series entitled Good News Weekend aired on the ABC in the Saturday night time slot usually occupied by Roy and HG, who were away working in Britain at the time. The show was hosted by McDermott and featured regular team captains Robins and McCrossin. Unlike the weekly show, Good News Weekend was focussed more strongly on popular culture than the news and frequently featured musical guests and stand-up performers. The shows were broadcast live, with the exception of a few prerecorded sketches.[21]

[edit] GNW Night Lite (1999)

During 1999, a second spin-off was created for Network Ten. GNW Night Lite featured the regular cast, in addition to Flacco and The Sandman. Like Good News Weekend, it was focussed on music and variety and games tended to relate to popular culture rather than current events. There would also generally be a musical act and Flacco and The Sandman would perform humorous monologues and dialogues between segments.[2] McDermott describes the show as having been "a fairly radical departure" and says that they initially struggled with it, but by 2000 had found a combination with which they were comfortable.[5]

[edit] Good News World (2011)

Network Ten announced on 11 August 2011, that they would be resting Good News Week and introducing a new spin-off titled, Good News World. The series premiered on 5 September 2011. Paul McDermott, Mikey Robins and Claire Hooper returned.[22] The spin-off series is reportedly "more skit-based series [than Good News Week]."[23]

[edit] Other media

Several items of merchandise were available from ABC stores including

  • Two books (Good News Week Book One, Good News Week Book Two)
  • Two CDs (Paul McDermott Unplugged: The Good News Week Tapes Volume 1, and Live Songs from Good News Week: The Good News Week Tapes Volume 2)
  • VHS video (Good News Week: Unseen and Obscene).

[edit] Reception

[edit] Awards

Between 1999 and 2000, Good News Week has been nominated for two Logie Awards in the categories of Most Popular Comedy Program and Most Outstanding Comedy Program. The show has also been awarded an AWGIE Awards in the category of Comedy – Sketch or Light Entertainment (script) in 2009 and 2010.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2011/08/airdate-good-news-world.html
  2. ^ a b c Staff Writer (12 March 2000). "Yes, Prime Minister". Sunday Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2009-10-26. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/tangawarra/gnwart8.html. Retrieved 25 July 2008. 
  3. ^ McLean, Sandra (8 September 1997). "News Hounds". The Mercury. Archived from the original on 2009-10-26. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/tangawarra/gnwart4.html. Retrieved 25 July 2008. 
  4. ^ a b Tabakoff, Jenny (15 September 1999). "Off the Cuff and On the Air". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 2009-10-26. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/tangawarra/gnwart7.html. Retrieved 25 July 2008. 
  5. ^ a b c Molitorisz, Sascha (6 April 2000). "Looking For The Good News". The Age. Archived from the original on 2009-10-26. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/tangawarra/gnwart8.html. Retrieved 25 July 2008. 
  6. ^ Staff writer (10 April 1996). "Review". Herald Sun. Archived from the original on 2009-10-26. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/tangawarra/gnwart1.html. Retrieved 19 July 2008. 
  7. ^ Cossar, Lynne (9 October 1997). "The News is Good for This Allstar". The Age. Archived from the original on 2009-10-26. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/tangawarra/paulart4.html. Retrieved 19 July 2008. 
  8. ^ Schembri, Jim (26 March 1998). "Now For The News". The Age. Archived from the original on 2009-10-26. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/tangawarra/paulart12.html. Retrieved 19 July 2008. 
  9. ^ Johnston, Tony (21 March 1999). "Let The Good Times Roll". Herald Sun. Archived from the original on 2009-10-26. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/tangawarra/gnwart2.html. Retrieved 19 July 2008. 
  10. ^ Staff writer (2 April 1997). "Review". Herald Sun. Archived from the original on 2009-10-26. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/tangawarra/gnwart1.html. Retrieved 19 July 2008. 
  11. ^ Freeman-Greene, Suzy (13 June 1998). "The Bad Boy of Good News". The Age. Archived from the original on 2009-10-26. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/tangawarra/paulart1.html. Retrieved 19 July 2008. 
  12. ^ Fidgeon, Robert (27 January 1999). "Ten's Good News". Herald Sun. Archived from the original on 2009-10-26. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/tangawarra/gnwart9.html. Retrieved 25 July 2008. 
  13. ^ Devlin, Rebekah (18 March 1999). "Changing Channels". The Age. Archived from the original on 2009-10-26. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/tangawarra/gnwart2.html. Retrieved 19 July 2008. 
  14. ^ Mathieson, Craig (July 1999). "News Hounds". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2009-10-26. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/tangawarra/gnwart7.html. Retrieved 25 July 2008. 
  15. ^ Staff writer (22 February 2001). "Good News For Mikey Fans". Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2009-10-26. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/tangawarra/gnwart6.html. Retrieved 25 July 2008. 
  16. ^ a b Duck, Siobhan (6 February 2008). "TV Guide: Here's good news for Aussie production". News.com.au. http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,23169714-5005382,00.html. Retrieved 19 July 2008. [dead link]
  17. ^ Knox, David (10 November 2008). "Looking for the magic touch". TV Tonight. http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2008/11/looking-for-the-magic-touch.html. Retrieved 10 November 2008. 
  18. ^ Knox, David (23 November 2009). "Online is Good News for Good News Week". TV Tonight. http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2009/11/online-is-good-news-for-good-news-week.html. Retrieved 23 November 2009. 
  19. ^ "Network Ten has something for everyone in 2011". Throng. 14 September 2010. http://www.throng.com.au/ten/network-ten-has-something-everyone-2011. Retrieved 20 September 2010. 
  20. ^ Knox, David (14 September 2010). "TEN to renovate 2011". TV Tonight. http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2010/09/ten-to-renovate-2011.html. Retrieved 20 September 2010. 
  21. ^ Yallamas, Lisa (10 June 1998). "Working for the Weekend". Courier Mail. Archived from the original on 2009-10-26. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/tangawarra/gnwart4.html. Retrieved 25 July 2008. 
  22. ^ http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2011/08/airdate-good-news-world.html
  23. ^ http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/entertainment/a/-/television/10188196/planet-of-the-japes/

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