Rumours circulate on future of Clarke & Dawe
Rumours again emerge that 7:30 satirists John Clarke and Bryan Dawe may be replaced.
- Published by David Knox
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Speculation has again resurfaced that beloved comedians John Clarke and Bryan Dawe may not return to 7:30 next year.
Whispers about the duo’s future have been circulating for some weeks now.
Crikey reports 7.30 offered Chaser‘s Chas Licciardello a 12-month contract to front its Thursday night satire segment next year.
Last month 7:30 producer Sally Neighbour said, “Clarke and Dawe have a current contract with the ABC for the 2012 calendar year.
“There have been no negotiations yet regarding 2013.”
But the duo also celebrate 25 years together this year. John Clarke recently told TV Tonight, “…it’s a gorgeous thing that we do. We love doing it every week, we’ve never got sick of it. And it’s changed, it’s not the same as it used to be. It’s a bit like what it says in your Passport that you’re a journalist but what you do 25 years later is completely different.
“Every week for 25 years,” he says proudly. “It’s great fun and a good little writing discipline.”
Former ACA host Jana Wendt added, “For me, John and Bryan’s pieces were the anarchic highlight of every week. No other segment could have allowed a current affairs show to admit that parts of what purports to be serious, isn’t.”
TV Tonight is seeking clarity from the ABC.
Update: Chas Licciardello has tweeted, “Umm… I’m not replacing Clarke & Dawe on 730 – so if you could return to hating me for all the usual reasons, that’d be great. Ta.”
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- Tagged with 7:30, A Current Affair, The Chaser
3 Responses
Get rid of them. They are stale and very unfunny. It isn’t satire, it is monotony. This may have been cutting edge in the late 1980s but it is just tedious and very repetitive now. The novelty has long since worn off.
While 7:30 persists with this nonsense it looks more and more like a cheap-jack version of Frontline.
I hope they can continue. The main thing I wish the show would change is its name i.e. back to “The 7.30 Report”. Because that’s the real joke. If people don’t like their humour you don’t have to watch. I do. Thank you and I hope you continue as long as you want to. It’d be an outrage for anything less than that.
By the way I like Chas’ tweet. Very classy and amusing.
It’s time for Clarke & Dawe to shuffle off. Theirs is a gimmick whose time has well and truly passed. Their particular take on politicians and bureaucracy has become stale and predictable, and these days rarely raises a smile. It’s often funnier watching Leigh Sales struggling to paint on the appropriate “amused” face in response to their tired drollery. It also has to be said that their comedy spots have never been a good fit for 7.30, an otherwise serious program (as opposed to entertainment thinly disguised as current affairs, like ACA).