Production
Development
Writer Tony Sattler claimed that the series "grew out of the contact [he and writing partner Gary Reilly] had with journalists, and the characters are based on facets of journos we've met". [1] The series was created at the same time as Reilly and Sattler were writing and producing Kingswood Country (1980–1984). [1] [3] [4] Reilly and Sattler wrote one script per show each week, while also producing and edited them. [4] Julieanne Newbould believed that the series was negatively affected as a result, claiming that "that sort of thing shows up in the finished product". [3] She stated that "the next series [...] will be a great improvement" as it "will have their full attention". [3] Little was revealed about the series before its launch. [5] For research, the writers studied the John Fairfax and Sons office in Broadway, Sydney. [6]
Each episode was recorded twice before a live studio audience. The two recordings were then edited into one recording, using the best audience reaction from each recording. [1] [7]
Casting
Paul Chubb, who portrays Russell Ducke in the series, had originally approached writers Reilly and Sattler for a writing job on the series; the writers remembered he also had acting experience and cast Chubb in the role. [1] [2] Reilly and Sattler had seen Theo Stephens in a commercial. [1] The writers did not initially consider Julieanne Newbould for a comedy role; she was cast after Noeline Brown, Sattler's wife, who portrays Phil Maguire, recommended her. [1] Brown was offered the role of Maguire by Reilly. [8] Terry Bader was cast as Leslie Windrush, the first regular gay character to be featured in an Australian comedy series. [9]
Broadcast
The series premiered on 1 February 1981 at 8:00 pm on ATN 7. [11] Before the first series had aired in 1981, a second series of thirteen episodes was ordered for later in the year. [1] [8] However, by June 1981, the second series had been cancelled. [12] In April 1982, it was rumoured that the series would be revived, however, Sattler denied these claims. [13]
In February 1981, the series was proposed for screening in Canberra, but was rejected by the CTC-TV station. [6] In 1987, the series was repeated in Brisbane on BTQ-7. [14]
Reception
The series received criticism from Sydney journalists and Australian scriptwriters, who claimed the show to be of a poor standard compared to Reilly and Sattler's earlier television series, The Naked Vicar Show (1977–1978). [15] The series was described as being "played with the familiar Reilly/Sattler fever-pitch, comic pace". [8] Paul Chubb's portrayal of Russell Ducke was highly praised, described as being "one of the best things" about the series, [8] and as the show's "one saving grace". [2]
Ian Rolph, writing for The Australian Women's Weekly , described the series as "drivel", stating that it contained "all the humour of an In Memoriam section". [2] Rolph was critical of the Sydney newspaper The Sun 's involvement with the series (the show's characters worked for a fictional newspaper also called The Sun), noting the large amount of ads promoting The Sun and its sister paper The Sydney Morning Herald , as well as Channel 7 Sydney's connections to the paper, stating that "it beats me why any newspaper would want to be associated with this mirthless muck-heap". [2] Similarly, Cal Cullen, writing for the same magazine, called the series "dreadful" and "a disastrous attempt at TV comedy"; however, he praised the show's casting. [16] Television writer Albert Moran, in Moran's Guide to Australian TV Series (1993), wrote that the series, in contrast to the writers's earlier sitcom Kingswood Country , "had too many characters who were not sufficiently distinguished as types from each other, and too many normal types". [17]
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