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Airdate: Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell

Surpri-i-i-se. Micallef's new show on ABC1 will screen on Friday nights, not Wednesdays.

With a title no doubt inspired by the 1976 film Network, Shaun Micallef is Mad as Hell on ABC1.

The news satire show will feature an ensemble cast including Francis Greenslade (Winners and Losers, The Micallef Programme), Talkin’ ‘bout Your Generation), Roz Hammond (Muriel’s Wedding, The Dish, The Librarians, Outland), Veronica Milsom (Hungry Beast, Triple J), Emily Taheny (Comedy Inc., Stupid, Stupid Man, The Chasers War on Everything) and introduces Tosh Greenslade.

It will be interesting to see how this differs from his former Newstopia series for SBS, but Micallef is always watchable.

Somewhat surprisingly, the show has been given a Friday night timeslot, rather than joining ABC’s traditional Wednesday comedy night.

One man. A desk. The world. Hold onto your socks! Australia’s second favourite funny man is about to return to Aunty with a brand new show that’s guaranteed to blow the lid off an entirely different kettle of fish.

Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell is a half-hour weekly round-up, branding, inoculation and crutching of all the important news stories of the week, and it starts Friday May 25 at 8pm on ABC1.

Along with a like-minded ‘think tank’ of reporters and pundits, Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell offers not only reportage and analysis of the week’s events, but discussion, argument and dissection of what’s making the world turn every which way. It’s a show that knows that if News isn’t Now it’s Nowhere.

So don’t just sit there, get up out of your chairs right now and go to the window, open it, and stick your head out and yell, “I’m going to watch Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell. Premiering Friday May 25 at 8pm on ABC1”. It’ll save us having to do any promotion.

Remember folks, you’re a human being, goddammit! Your life has value!

Fridays at 8pm on ABC1, starting May 25th.

11 Responses

  1. Having worked on the 1996 debut season on Good News week on the ABC, where it was scheduled Fridays at 8 – and it struggled to find an audience. It was cancelled, before getting another shot and it built its audience – but it was a tough slot. The target audience was often out partying. Maybe Micallef’s satire is a tad older, but similar turf i would think. His name alone will give it a core fan base, irrespective of its quality and timeslot.

  2. Looking forward to this. Having a larger regular cast then Newstopia and likely more serious budget could see a return to Micallef Program style crosses to on-location reports. And Greenslade!

    I’m also quite sure that the Micallef Program’s original slot was 8pm Fridays. ABC being what it is, Fri NIght is a suitable slot that allows for an extended run away from the competitive Wed entertainment slot, and allows it to build a modest following.

    ABC would also be thinking of the value of getting a show like this to DVD (and to some minor degree, iView), so producing the show doesn’t mean it needs to compete for eyes on a Wednesday Night.

    I dig. Getting more of a sense it’s not just Newstopia take 2 🙂

  3. Oh well, with a timeslot like that at least we can rule out a second series.

    C’mon ABC, this kind of show ain’t gonna work on a Friday – let alone an 8pm timeslot. Definitely something for Wednesday nights – maybe at 9pm after Denton’s Randling instead of Laid. Remember what happened the last time Micallef was in an 8pm timeslot?

    That said, Micallef is a hilarious comic talent and I hope it works.

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