Kath & Kim is an Australian sitcom originally airing in the prime-time slot on ABC Television from 2002 and 2005 and subsequently on the Seven Network in 2007 and 2022. The show was produced by Riley and Turner Productions, the firm of Jane Turner and Gina Riley, who star as the titular characters of Kath Day-Knight, a cheery, middle-aged suburban mother, and Kim, her narcissistic daughter. Additional cast members include Glenn Robbins as Kel Knight, Kath's metrosexual boyfriend ; Kim's henpecked husband Brett Craig, and her lonely "second-best friend" Magda Szubanski as Sharon Strzelecki. The series is set in Fountain Lakes, a fictional suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. The series received highly positive reviews from critics, who praised the humor and cast performances, particularly of Turner and Riley.
Magdalene Mary Therese Szubanski, known as Magda Szubanski, is an Australian comedy actress, author, singer and LGBT rights advocate. She performed in Fast Forward, Kath & Kim as Sharon Strzelecki and in the films Babe (1995) and Babe: Pig in the City (1998), Happy Feet (2006) and Happy Feet Two (2011). In 2003 and 2004 surveys, she polled as the most recognised and well-liked Australian television personality.
Rubbery Figures was a satirical rubber puppet series and segment that screened in Australia in various forms from 1984 to 1990. The series ran on the ABC until 1988, when it was axed and subsequently revived as a segment on Seven Network's Fast Forward in April 1989. It featured puppets of major political and social characters.
The Secret Life of Us is an Australian television drama series set in the beachside neighbourhood of St Kilda, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is primarily a drama with some comedic moments. The series was produced by Southern Star Group and screened in Australia from 2001 to 2005 on Network Ten and on Channel 4 in the UK. Initially co-funded by the two networks, Channel 4 pulled out after the third series and the fourth series was not aired in the UK. The series won three silver Logie Awards.
Full Frontal is an Australian sketch comedy series that ran on the Seven Network from 1993 to 1997. It launched the television careers of Eric Bana, Shaun Micallef, Kitty Flanagan, Julia Morris, Daina Reid and Denise Scott.
Comedy Inc. was an Australian sketch comedy television series, which ran on the Nine Network from 19 February 2003 to 26 December 2007. The series was produced by Crackerjack Productions. It first premiered in February 2003 in the new wave of Australian sketch comedy shows being launched across the free-to-air channels along with Big Bite and skitHOUSE. Since the end of the series episodes have been repeated on the Foxtel cable channel, The Comedy Channel and during 2009, reruns were shown on Nine HD before the channel's closure.
Marg Downey is an Australian comedian and actress best known for her roles in The D Generation, Fast Forward and Full Frontal
The D-Generation was a popular and influential Australian TV sketch comedy show produced and broadcast by ABC for two series between 1986 and 1987. A further four specials were broadcast on the Seven Network between 1988 and 1989. The show would also serve as a stepping stone for many early incarnations of iconic characters, including Lynne Postlethwaite, Gina Hard-Faced B***h, Eileen Maverick and Kelvin Cunnington.
Stephen William Vizard is an Australian television and radio presenter, producer, writer, lawyer and businessman. He is an adjunct professor at Monash University and University of Adelaide.
Something Stupid was a short-lived Australian sketch comedy series which aired in 1998 on the Seven Network. The program was produced, written and performed by much the same team that was behind the Fast Forward series. The series had the working title The Lazy Susan Show.
Love My Way is an Australian television drama series created by John Edwards and Claudia Karvan, which premiered on Fox8 on 22 November 2004, before moving to W. for its second season, and Showtime for its third and final season, concluding on 19 March 2007. The series stars Claudia Karvan, Asher Keddie, Brendan Cowell, Daniel Wyllie, Lynette Curran, Alex Cook, Max Cullen and Gillian Jones. It was produced by Southern Star Group for Foxtel, with Kim Vecera and Mike Sneesby serving as executive producers for the series.
Richard George Carleton was a multiple Logie Award–winning Australian television journalist.
Big Girl's Blouse was an Australian sketch comedy programme that was broadcast in the mid-1990s on the Seven Network, created by Gina Riley, Jane Turner and Magda Szubanski. Early versions of the trio's Kath & Kim characters, Kath, Kim and Sharon, were first featured together in several sketches based around Kim's wedding. There were four one-hour episodes, plus the pilot, which are usually shown as eight half-hour episodes. The phrase "Big Girl's Blouse" is a British English idiom meaning "ineffectual or weak, someone failing to show masculine strength or determination." Many of the sketches from it are still available on YouTube. This was the third sketch show created by Riley, Turner and Szubanski following Fast Forward and later Something Stupid.
Magda's Funny Bits was a television comedy featuring Magda Szubanski that was broadcast on the Nine Network, Australia in early 2006. The Nine Network commissioned five episodes, four of which were aired prior to the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
Jordan Nicola Bridget Raskopoulos is an Australian comedian, singer, and television personality. She wrote and performed the Network Ten sketch comedy show The Ronnie Johns Half Hour, and was lead singer for comedy rock group the Axis of Awesome (2006–2018). She came out as a transgender woman in 2016.
Peter Moon is an Australian comedian, best known for writing and performing in the sketch comedy Fast Forward.
Below is a list of television-related events in 1989.
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.
Open Slather is an Australian sketch comedy television series which first aired on The Comedy Channel on Foxtel on 24 May 2015. The 20 episode series is executively produced by Laura Waters and Rick McKenna. After the first ten episodes aired, the series experienced a hiatus while new episodes were in production. Replacing new episodes were 30 minute 'best of' episodes titled Open Slather Reopened. The second block of ten episodes began airing on 6 September, and concluded on 8 November 2015.
The Logie for Most Popular Comedy Program is an award presented annually at the Australian TV Week Logie Awards. It recognises the popularity of an Australian comedy program, which over the years have included scripted comedy series, sketch comedy, variety comedy shows and panel comedy shows.
