Funky Squad | |
---|---|
Genre | police comedy |
Written by | Santo Cilauro Tom Gleisner Jane Kennedy |
Directed by | Santo Cilauro Tom Gleisner Jane Kennedy |
Starring | Tim Ferguson Jane Kennedy Santo Cilauro Tom Gleisner |
Composer | Craig Harnath |
Country of origin | Australia |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 7 |
Production | |
Production location | Melbourne |
Running time | 30 mins |
Production company | Working Dog Productions |
Release | |
Original network | ABC TV |
Original release | 24 April – 5 June 1995 |
Funky Squad was a short-lived 1995 Australian comedy television series which satirised 1970s-era U.S. police television dramas, such as The Mod Squad . Only seven half-hour episodes were produced, which were broadcast on the ABC. Real television commercials from the 1970s were shown during the program's "commercial breaks". [1]
The show featured four "funky" undercover detectives: undetectable as police, given their "hipness". The conclusion of each episode was deliberately designed to be incredibly predictable: usually the perpetrator of the crime under investigation could be identified within the first few minutes of the episode.
Before the television series, Funky Squad originally aired as a series of episodes on radio station Triple M. Rob Sitch, who played Grant, was replaced by Tim Ferguson when the series went to television.
In a metafictional setting, the characters were played by "actors" whose "names" were displayed in the opening credits of the program. These "real names" were also satirical, poking fun at the names of actors who appeared in American 1970s cop shows.
The program was created and written by Australian comedians Santo Cilauro, Jane Kennedy, Tom Gleisner, and Rob Sitch of Frontline and The Late Show fame. Cilauro, Kennedy and Gleisner also co-directed the series. Sitch was originally to star but was replaced by Ferguson due to study commitments overseas.
The show was given a meagre production budget of A$1,000 per episode, so many of the costumes were acquired by wardrobe director Kitty Stuckey (best known for her work on Kath & Kim ) at local Melburnian Salvation Army stores. [2]
In 1995 The Funky Squad Annual was published. [3] Unlike many TV show tie-ins this was not a behind-the-scenes work or analysis of the show but was a parody of annuals for TV shows in the 1970s. As such it addressed a child readership and included many pictures, features, puzzles and comic strips.
A VHS video containing three episodes of the series ("A Degree in Death", "Wrong Side of the Tracks" and "The Carnival is Over") was released in 1996. A DVD set of all seven episodes of the series was released in Australia on 7 November 2007. The DVDs were marked as Region 4, but appear to be region-free. [4]
Frontline is an Australian comedy television series which satirised Australian television current affairs programmes and reporting. It ran for three series of 13 half-hour episodes and was broadcast on ABC1 in 1994, 1995 and 1997.
Jane Kennedy is an Australian actress, radio presenter and television producer, best known for her work with Working Dog Productions, a group of performers responsible for a variety of television and films. She previously was a co-host of KennedyMolloy on Triple M with Mick Molloy.
Thomas Edmund Gleisner is an Australian comedian, television presenter, producer, director, writer, occasional actor and author. Gleisner currently hosts Network 10's Have You Been Paying Attention?.
Working Dog Productions is a film and television production company based in Melbourne, Australia. It was formed in 1993 by actors Santo Cilauro, Rob Sitch, Jane Kennedy, Tom Gleisner, and producer Michael Hirsh. The company changed its name to Working Dog Productions Pty Ltd in 1996. The company's mascot is an Australian Cattle Dog.
Santo Luigi Cilauro is an Australian comedian, television and feature film producer, screenwriter, actor, author and cameraman who is also a co-founder of The D-Generation. Known as the weatherman in Frontline, he is also an author and former radio presenter on Triple M, and achieved worldwide fame with the viral video Elektronik Supersonik.
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The Panel was an Australian television talk show that was broadcast by Network Ten and its affiliates; it was also simulcast on the Triple M radio network. The show was produced by Working Dog Productions and included several members of the former D-Generation and The Late Show casts.
The D-Generation was a popular and influential Australian TV sketch comedy show, produced and broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (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.
Mary Coustas is an Australian actress, comedian and television personality and writer. Originally from Melbourne, Coustas often performs as the character "Effie", a stereotypical second-generation Greek Australian prone to malapropisms. She completed a Bachelor of Arts at Deakin University in Melbourne, majoring in performing arts and sub-majoring in journalism.
This is a list of the 13 episodes of series one of Frontline, which first aired in 1994. In series 1, Frontline chronicles the behind-the-scenes workings of a struggling current affairs show competing with dominant players for audience share. The series is shot in mockumentary style.
This is a list of the 13 episodes of series two of Frontline, which first aired in 1995. In series 2, Frontline struggles with ratings, and the network's varying attempts to heighten the ratings. The series is shot in mockumentary style. All of the show's episodes were written and directed by Rob Sitch, Jane Kennedy, Santo Cilauro – who also did most of the camera work – and Tom Gleisner.
This is a list of the 13 episodes of series three of Frontline, which aired in 1997. In the third and final season, the show-within-the-show becomes the most respected and well-rated current affairs program in Australia however the politics and manipulations behind the scenes remain the same.
"Five in a Row" was a 1989 single by Australian comedy team, The D-Generation. It was released in November 1989 and reached a peak position of number 12 on the ARIA Singles Chart. It was co-written by The D-Generation members, Santo Cilauro, Tony Martin, Rob Sitch, and Tom Gleisner. Music written and produced by Colin Setches and John Grant.
The Hollowmen is an Australian television comedy series set in the offices of the Central Policy Unit, a fictional political advisory unit personally set up by the Prime Minister to help him get re-elected. Their brief is long-term vision; to stop worrying about tomorrow's headlines, and focus on next week's.
Hugh Clifford Stuckey was an Australian comedy and drama screenwriter, with credits writing for television, film, radio and commercials both locally and in the United Kingdom and the US. He was also a published author, playwright, radio broadcaster, actor, and Victorian baseballer.
Santo, Sam and Ed's Total Football was an Australian association football themed comedy television show, hosted by Santo Cilauro, Sam Pang and Ed Kavalee. The series launched in 2013, screening each Tuesday on Fox Sports from October to May, in line with the network's A-League coverage. In October 2015, it was announced that the show would not return for a third season.
Utopia, internationally titled Dreamland, is an Australian television comedy series by Working Dog Productions that premiered on the ABC on 13 August 2014. The series follows the working lives of a team in the fictional Nation Building Authority, a newly created government organisation. The Authority is responsible for overseeing major infrastructure projects, from announcement to unveiling. The series explores the collision between bureaucracy and grand ambitions. The second series aired in 2015, beginning with the first episode on 19 August 2015. The third series aired in 2017, beginning with the first episode on 19 July 2017. The fourth series aired in 2019, beginning on 21 August 2019. A fifth series aired from 7 June 2023.
Pacific Heat is an Australian adult animated sitcom co-created by Rob Sitch, Santo Cilauro, and Tom Gleisner. The series is a Working Dog production for Foxtel's The Comedy Channel. The series, which was first commissioned by Foxtel in February 2014, premiered on The Comedy Channel on 27 November 2016. It was repeated on Network Ten on Monday 8 May for special preview and Eleven on Wednesday 10 May 2017.
"Five More in a Row" is a 1990 single by Australian comedy team, The D-Generation. It was released in September 1990 and reached a peak position of number 37 on the ARIA Singles Chart. It was co-written by The D-Generation members, Santo Cilauro, Tony Martin, Rob Sitch, and Tom Gleisner. Music written and produced by Colin Setches and John Grant.