Club Buggery

Last updated

Club Buggery
Genre Comedy
Written by John Doyle
Greig Pickhaver
Directed by Colin Bromley
Starring Greig Pickhaver
John Doyle
Ian Turpie
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes28
Original release
Network ABC
Release21 April 1995 (1995-04-21) 
27 September 1997 (1997-09-27)

Club Buggery is an Australian television series made in the 1990s. It was created and performed by Australian comedy duo Roy and HG (John Doyle and Greig Pickhaver) and broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) network in 1996 and 1997.

Contents

Development

The series was an offshoot the duo's long-running, groundbreaking improvised radio comedy series This Sporting Life (TSL), which premiered on the Triple J radio network in 1986 and ran until 2008. Doyle and Pickhaver first essayed a TV adaptation of TSL in 1993, but that series was only partially successful and suffered from the limitations imposed by its predominantly 'talking head' style.

Its successor Club Buggery, broke these limitations by creating an innovative blend of format elements including variety, talk and sketch comedy. It referenced many Australian club and TV entertainment genres including the RSL club circuit, and vintage television programs in the sport, variety, quiz, talk and music genres. The intertextual and subversive nature of the humour was evidenced by the title.

The program ran for two series of 28 episodes each under the title Club Buggery and it then was retitled as The Channel Nine Show (retaining the same basic format) for a further series of ten episodes in 1998. The title was a reference to both a vintage TV series (it was the Sydney title of the famous Melbourne-based variety series In Melbourne Tonight , presented by Graham Kennedy), as well as referring ironically to contemporary rumours that the duo were leaving the ABC to go to the Kerry Packer-owned Nine Network.

Later in 1998 they presented the similarly-formatted Planet Norwich, which was recorded in the UK and presumably intended for the British market. Some time later they also presented segments as part of a comedy series hosted by British comedian Ben Elton.

Title

In most English speaking countries, the word "buggery" has two quite specific and extremely negative meanings – one refers to the act of anal intercourse, and the other to the charge in law that proscribes that act. But in Australian English, the word "buggery" and its derivations have taken on a remarkably broad range of uses, many of which are generally understood as being slightly (and usually deliberately) exaggerated and comical in tone, and while probably considered somewhat "common", most of these usages are now quite broadly accepted and are in general not considered overly offensive. It was this peculiar Australian usage pattern which obviously made it attractive to Doyle and Pickhaver as a title.

For example one can tell someone to "go to buggery", which is a slightly stronger equivalent to the American expression "take a hike". The adverb "buggered" is also widely used and often refers to a broken or defective object ("my car's buggered") or is used as a means of expressing tiredness or exhaustion ("I'm buggered after that bushwalk"). The word can also be used as an expression of lack, such as in the phrase "There's bugger-all (money) left in the bank". But this novel range of usages is evidently only inoffensive in Australia, and the use of the word "buggery" in the series title was a source of some amazement to overseas guests such as Canadian comedian Mike Myers.

Format

Essentially a blend of variety, talk show, and sketch comedy. The show interspersed interviews with guests, giveaway segments, discussion and comment by Roy & HG, music segments, pre-taped comedy inserts (including a soap opera parody performed by a number of famous sporting personalities including footballers Paul Sironen and Warren Boland) and a closing musical performance by a well-known Australasian music star of the past.

The guest interviews were often highlights of the show, as Roy and HG honed their often revealing two-handed "good cop/bad cop" interview style. Typically HG opened by asking some seemingly innocuous questions (some of which had a subtle sting) and he was followed by Roy, who had a much more probing and sarcastic manner and specialised in asking questions that put the guest "on the spot". One memorable interview was with actor/comedian Mike Myers who jokingly flirted with Doyle and the two danced arm-in-arm afterwards. Other notable guests included actor Roger Moore, singer Pat Benatar, musician Nick Cave and comedian/writer Alexei Sayle. One celebrity who turned down an invitation to appear was Sting as his manager was concerned about the show's title.

Other regular features included:-

2000 Olympics

The duo scored their greatest successes and reached a peak of popularity in 2000. Having moved to the commercial Seven Network, the official Australian broadcaster for the 2000 Summer Olympics, they were ideally placed to present a new version of the This Sporting Life concept. The series, The Dream with Roy and HG , gained record ratings and won them a huge new audience, and made their unofficial animal mascot, 'Fatso the Fat-Arsed Wombat', into a national icon.

Awards

See also

Related Research Articles

Fast Forward was Australia's highest-rating and most critically awarded commercial television sketch comedy show, broadcast for 90 one-hour episodes from 12 April 1989 to 26 November 1992.

John Patrick Doyle AM is an Australian actor, writer, radio presenter and comedian best known for his character Rampaging Roy Slaven.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greig Pickhaver</span> Australian comedian

Gordon Greig Pickhaver AM is an actor, comedian and writer, who forms one half of the Australian satirical sports comedy duo Roy and HG as the excitable sports announcer HG Nelson. The award-winning duo teamed up in 1986 for the Triple J radio comedy program This Sporting Life, and were broadcast nationwide for 22 years, leading to several successful television spinoffs.

Roy and HG are an Australian comedy duo, comprising Greig Pickhaver in the role of "H. G. Nelson" and John Doyle as "'Rampaging' Roy Slaven". Their act is an affectionate but irreverent parody of Australia's obsession with sport. Their characters are based on stereotypes in sports journalism: Nelson the excitable announcer, and Slaven the retired sportsman turned expert commentator. In his 1996 book Petrol, Bait, Ammo & Ice, Pickhaver summarised the duo's comedic style as "making the serious trivial and the trivial serious".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rove McManus</span> Australian comedian and television host

John Henry Michael "Rove" McManus is an Australian triple Gold Logie award-winning comedian, television and radio presenter, producer and media personality. He was the host of the eponymous variety show Rove and was also the host of the comedy talk show Rove LA. He is the co-owner of the production company Roving Enterprises with business partner Craig Campbell. He hosts Whovians on the ABC.

Merrick and Rosso were an Australian comedy duo active from 1996 to 2009, composed of Merrick Watts (Merrick) and Tim Ross (Rosso). The duo began in stand up comedy, and first came together when they teamed up for what was intended to be a one-off comedy show in 1996. They are best known for their syndicated radio programs, TV shows, stand up comedy tours, comedy DVDs and books.

This Sporting Life was a culturally iconic Triple J radio comedy programme, created by award-winning actor-writer-comedians John Doyle and Greig Pickhaver, who performed as their characters Roy and HG. Broadcast from 1986 to 2008, it was one of the longest-running, most popular and most successful radio comedy programmes of the television era in Australia. Undoubtedly the longest-running show in Triple J's programming history, it commanded a large and dedicated nationwide audience throughout its 22-year run.

<i>Good News Week</i> Australian TV series or program

Good News Week is an Australian satirical panel game show hosted by Paul McDermott that aired from 19 April 1996 to 27 May 2000, and 11 February 2008 to 28 April 2012. The show's initial run aired on ABC until being bought by Network Ten in 1999. The show was revived for its second run when the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike caused many of Network Ten's imported US programs to cease production.

Norman Gunston is a satirical TV character performed by Australian actor and comedian Garry McDonald. Norman Gunston was primarily well known in his native Australia, and to a lesser extent, the United States during the mid to late 1970s. He was the only Gold Logie winning fictional character on Australian television, with McDonald collecting the 1976 Gold Logie and the George Wallace Memorial Logie for Best New Talent in character.

The Gillies Report is an Australian topical satirical sketch comedy television series that was broadcast on the ABC between 1984 and 1985. The program was best known for sending up politicians and media personalities of the day such as Prime Minister Bob Hawke and Opposition Leader Andrew Peacock.

<i>The Aunty Jack Show</i> Australian TV series or program

The Aunty Jack Show is a Logie Award-winning Australian television comedy series that ran from 1972 to 1973. Produced by and broadcast on ABC-TV, the series attained an instant cult status that persists to the present day.

The Mavis Bramston Show was a weekly Australian television satirical sketch comedy revue series which aired on the Seven Network from 1964 to 1968. Mavis was created, written, and co-produced by Carol Raye, who also starred in it and was inspired by the British TV satirical revue TV shows of the period, most notably That Was The Week That Was and Not Only... But Also.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shane Bourne</span> Australian comedian

Shane Jerome Bourne is an Australian stand-up comedian, actor, musician, and television host.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamish Blake</span> Australian comedian, actor, and author

Hamish Donald Blake is an Australian comedian, television and radio presenter, actor and author. Since 2003, he has worked with Andy Lee as part of the comedy duo Hamish and Andy. The pair have performed live and on television and radio, most notably with their drive-time radio program Hamish & Andy. As a solo performer, Blake has appeared on various Australian television programs, including the Melbourne International Comedy Festival's televised 2008 Great Debate, and has been a regular guest on TV programs such as Spicks and Specks, Rove, and Thank God You're Here.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Turpie</span> Australian media performer

Ian Bruce Turpie, sometimes referred to as Turps, was an Australian performer, actor, pop singer and presenter. He was the host of the teen pop music TV show, The Go!! Show (1965–66) and various TV game shows, The Price Is Right, and Supermarket Sweep (1992–1994). As a TV actor he portrayed Keith Warne on Swift and Shift Couriers and Wazza and Narrator in Housos (2011). He was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in 2011 and died the following year, aged 68.

Broadcast on the Triple J radio station to simulcast with the annual three-game rugby league State of Origin series, Australian comedians Roy and HG provide a commentary of the match at hand. An extension of the duo's This Sporting Life radio program, also on Triple J, Roy and HG's use of comedy makes their sporting calls unique from that provided by other media sources, and has earned a cult following. With the duo's move to Triple M radio in 2009, and the end of This Sporting Life, the State of Origin commentary is currently on hiatus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian comedy</span> Australian television series

Australian comedy refers to the comedy and humour performed in or about Australia or by the people of Australia. Australian humour can be traced to various origins, and today is manifested in a diversity of cultural practices and pursuits. Writers like Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson helped to establish a tradition of laconic, ironic and irreverent wit in Australian literature, while Australian politicians and cultural stereotypes have each proved rich sources of comedy for artists from poet C. J. Dennis to satirist Barry Humphries to iconic film maker Paul Hogan, each of whom have given wide circulation to Australian slang.

<i>Have You Been Paying Attention?</i> Australian television game show

Have You Been Paying Attention? is an Australian panel game television quiz show on Network 10. The series, which is produced by Working Dog Productions, is a mix of news and comedy which sees host Tom Gleisner quiz five guests on the week's top news stories.

<i>The Front Bar</i> Australian sports television series

The Front Bar is an Australian Football League–based talk show that airs on the Seven Network. The show is hosted by journalist Andy Maher and comedians Mick Molloy and Sam Pang.

References

  1. "Cedtrivia". Archived from the original on 30 May 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2011.