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Tom Gleisner | |
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 Gleisner in 2020 | |
| Born | Thomas Edmund Gleisner 24 October 1962 |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Alma mater | University of Melbourne |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1980s–present |
| Television | Have You Been Paying Attention? |
| Spouse | Mary Muirhead |
| Children | 2 |
Thomas Edmund Gleisner AO (born 24 October 1962) is an Australian comedian, television presenter, producer, director, writer, occasional actor and author. Gleisner currently hosts Network 10's Have You Been Paying Attention? .
Gleisner was educated at Xavier College in Melbourne, Australia. He attended the University of Melbourne in the 1980s, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws in 1987. While he was a university student he began working with Santo Cilauro and Rob Sitch in the 1983 Law Revue Legal A.I.D.S. Gleisner wrote and performed in the 1985 Melbourne University Revue Too Cool for Sandals.
Gleisner was credited as a writer on The D-Generation (1986–1987) but not as a regular performer. [1] He did, however, appear on numerous occasions as a guest star (he featured more prominently in the second season), and on the album The Satanic Sketches .
Gleisner went on to perform in the D-Gen's late-eighties Triple M radio show (and its spin-off album The Breakfast Tapes), and then starred in, and wrote for, ABC TV's The Late Show (1992–1993). His best-remembered performances in The Late Show included the newsreader of Late Show News, the co-host of Countdown Classics with Jane Kennedy and the interviewer of stuntman Rob Sitch in Shitscared, although he appeared in various other sketches (including a recurring role as brainless bush-traveller "Wallaby Jack").
After The Late Show finished, Gleisner co-founded Working Dog Productions, along with Santo Cilauro, Jane Kennedy and Rob Sitch. Their first venture was Frontline which ran on the ABC from 1994 until 1997. Gleisner was a writer/producer/director, and also had a minor role as photocopier repairman Colin Konica.
In 1995, Gleisner starred as mute cop Poncho on Funky Squad on ABC, another Working Dog comedy which he co-created and served on as a writer/producer/directors. Gleisner co-wrote the Working Dog films The Castle (1997), The Dish (2000) and Any Questions for Ben? (2012). He also hosted and co-executive produced the popular Network Ten program The Panel (1998–2004). Gleisner has also appeared with Rob Sitch as a presenter of the ABC TV fly-fishing documentary A River Somewhere (1997–1998). He wrote and directed the Glenn Robbins comedy, All Aussie Adventures (2001–2002, 2004, 2018), was the judge on the improvised comedy program Thank God You're Here from 2006 to 2009, but was replaced by various judges from 2023, and co-wrote/co-produced Working Dog's The Hollowmen (2008), Utopia (2014–2023), and Pacific Heat (2016).
Currently he is host of the popular Australian quiz show Have You Been Paying Attention? (2013–present), and a producer of The Cheap Seats (2021–present).
Gleisner has written four comedic books in the persona of a fictitious cricketer, Warwick Todd, The Warwick Todd Diaries (1997), Warwick Todd: Back in the Baggy Green (1998), Warwick Todd Goes The Tonk (2001) and Warwick Todd – Up in the Block Hole (2009). He has appeared in his Warwick Todd persona in guest appearances on TV.
Gleisner has also written a number of fly fishing books along with Rob Sitch.
With Sitch and Santo Cilauro, he is responsible for the travel guide parodies in the "Jetlag Travel Guide" series. The series comprises the Eastern Europe send-up of Molvanîa: A Land Untouched by Modern Dentistry, parody of Southeast Asian destinations Phaic Tăn: Sunstroke on a Shoestring, and Central American send-up San Sombrèro: A Land of Carnivals, Cocktails and Coups.
With Cilauro and Sitch, Gleisner co-wrote the comic play The Speechmaker, which the Melbourne Theatre Company premiered in 2014. [2]
His musical Bloom , with music by Katie Weston, premiered in 2023, also for the Melbourne Theatre Company.
Gleisner is married to Mary Muirhead and they have two children, a son and a daughter.[ citation needed ]
Gleisner is the chairman of Challenge, an Australian cancer support organisation. [3]
He is also passionate about raising autism awareness, co-founding Learning For Life, a centre that provides early intervention to autistic children, with his wife in 2004. [4] They were inspired to do so by the child of a dear friend of his and his wife. [5]
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.
Robert Ian Sitch is an Australian director, producer, screenwriter, actor and comedian. He is known for his 1990s comedy series Frontline, and the long-running comedy series Utopia.
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.
The Late Show is a popular Australian comedy sketch and satire show, which ran for two seasons on the ABC. It aired weekly on Saturday nights from 18 July 1992 to 30 October 1993.
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.
Michael Molloy is an Australian comedian, writer, producer, actor and television and radio presenter who has been active in radio, television, stand-up and film. He currently hosts The Front Bar on the Seven Network.
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.
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".
Edward Robert Kavalee is an Australian comedian, actor, writer, podcaster, radio and television presenter and association football commentator. He is a recurring panellist on Network 10's Have You Been Paying Attention? with Sam Pang and co-hosts Hughesy, Ed & Erin with Dave Hughes and Erin Molan on 2DayFM.
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.
Any Questions for Ben? is a 2012 Australian comedy film created by Working Dog Productions, directed by Rob Sitch. It stars Josh Lawson, Rachael Taylor, Felicity Ward, Daniel Henshall, and Christian Clark. It was written by Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner, and Rob Sitch.
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.
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