Political satire with a girly chaser...

I have previously made my feelings known about The Chaser team on this here blog. Recently I discussed the television show at a work meeting, my colleagues were aghast - it was if I had said, "Four Corners is gutter journalism at its finest". The only person who shared my view was my ridicuously hysterical workmate who is addicted to rsvp.com and carries a perky leather manbag. He is bang up for a bit of lady action but is frequently mistaken for a lesbian - go figure.

They have done some great work over the years and they never serve up lazy television. The show has a great pace and honestly any team that can come up with the idea of dressing Lawrence Leung as the gay Tellytubby and trying to get into The Peel is clever. Like you, and the other 2.3 million Australians I watched the show last week. I have never said these guys aren't talented and funny and their APEC stunt was very interesting to watch. I don't think they ever imagined they would have been permitted to advance so far. But one thing really bothers me - the way women are represented on their show.

Even though the sketch is a parody of Channel Ten's Californication, it still featured two women dressed as nuns almost-pashing. Even if you splash KEVIN 07 across the front of their outfits, include it in a Led Zepplin parody and pretend you are making a statement on Kev's girly-bar experience, you still have corset-clad babes closing the show.

So I am wondering, even if you present some intelligent political satire, pull some audacious stunts and pad out the show with some mediocre sketches - how is The Chaser team better or different in its treatment of women than say...The Footy Show? Isn't this just the Sydney grammar school version of the boys club but with politics instead of sport? You know none of it would bother me if this was balanced with some other representation of women other than slaggy nuns and girly props. But apart from a member of the production team in a vet sketch and the bewildered receptionist at the Chinese embassy, these were the only females on show.

Why does it bug me so much? Am I being over-sensitive or doesn't anyone else notice?

Extreme Makeover for The Nation

The Nation attracted 363,000 nationally and 109,00 average in Melbourne last week. So they've called me in for an emergency meeting at Channel Nine to discuss how The Nation could be salvaged.

This is my prescription:

1 dose of bad dancing (subtitles optional)



1 drunk crazy-woman (tatts optional)



1 litre of intuition



Liberal amounts of chemistry



A dose of good vox-pops



One decent sketch per night



A killer closing musical act (tatts optional)



Apply immediately, you should notice an improvement within a week.

Never seen in the same place at the same time...

Possibly separated at birth?

The Chaser's Chas Licciardello and Australian Idol microphone-tapper [no pun intended] Anthony Callea.

Oh well, it could be worse...

The Chaser's War on Everything (except male-dominated TV)

I know that with my demographic profile, socio-economic background, political leanings, lifestyle preferences and BMI that I should be raving like a lunatic about The Chaser's War on Everything but the truth is I have a lot of trouble watching this show. The Chaser boys are currently enjoying the number one spot on the iTunes podcast chart, so clearly they have plenty of fans. Don't get me wrong, I find Craig Reucassel in a pair of rocket poppers as funny as you do. And you'd have to be clinically depressed if you couldn't laugh at Andrew Hansen spruiking out the front of Channel 9 in a dodgy cockney accent. The truth is I just find it all too blokey.

Of course I don't mean blokey in a Footy Show way - I just mean that there are too many men. You know sometimes you can watch the whole show and not even see one woman for the whole half hour. My husband loves it. But this is a perfect example of how women are just not seen enough on Australian television, that is of course excluding McLeod's Daughters where they have to quote Aaron Jeffrey, logie winner and all round knob, "the best boobs in the business."

The Chaser Team is not alone here either. Just take a look at the line-up for Mick Molloy's new show for Channel Nine, The Nation. Oh yes, Molloy's got some chicks sharing air-time with him - but let's just take a closer look at the list. Nikki Osbourne brings with her a wealth of experience from her time hosting graveyard shift telly on Quizmania and a Ralph shoot to boot, Jackie (H)O will be the 'entertainment reporter' (the thinner and even more vapid version of Angela Bishop) and then for a bit of street cred the cutely-named Tiffany Cherry, Fox Footy reporter. The writing team is also wall-to-wall male. Fifi Box wisely turned down the role and it's easy to see why - I can smell the stink of middle-aged leering from here.

And what about Rove? The new and improved 2007 version has booted off funny broads Corinne Grant and Meshel Laurie and instead given new roles to the over-exposed Dave Hughes, the soon-to-be over-exposed Hamish and Andy and Nova newsreader Carrie Bickmore. Bickmore can play the straight role and then Peter Helliar doesn't have to worry about a chick getting a bigger laugh than him.

It seems we were better off decades ago when a woman like Mary Hardy, who had a head for radio but a wit that didn't quit, could get her own show up. It doesn't seem that long ago that Wendy Harmer, complete with hair-lip scar and a freshly broken heart, hosted the first episode of The Big Gig and tore her former lover a new one on air. The opportunities for funny women are becoming even fewer. Maybe all those Big Brother housemates are right - perhaps the way to fame and fortune lies in the pages of FHM?

Working Dog don't fare much better. The Panel only made Kate Langbroek a regular after her loyal Triple R fans made their support for her obvious in various entertainment journals. Even then Langbroek was often the lone female sitting on the five-seater desk, sometimes supported by another female though never more than one. Their new show Thank God You're Here certainly has showcased some very funny women - but never more than one per show.

And don't even get me started on Daryl Somers on Dancing with the Stars. The gorgeous and talented Sonia Kruger dances rings around the very-threatened Somers each week and still manages to smile.

Not concerned enough? Some extensive research uncovered the following quotes:*

Mick Molloy: "If we have to work with them then they've got to be rootable. I hand-picked these girls so we didn't get any doggy ones."

Rob Sitch: "Everyone knows women are only 25% as funny as men. That's why we only have one woman on each episode of Thank God You're Here."

Julian Morrow: "We love women at The Chaser. We have plenty of them in make-up and wardrobe."

Chas Licciardello: "And in catering - where they belong!"

Peter Helliar: "Women are just better at reading news and stuff. Leave the jokes to the short, fat bald dudes and everything's sweet."

Daryl Somers: "Sonia/Jacquie/Denise/Livinia's job description is to look pretty. If she sticks to that she'll do well."

* Some of these quotes may be complete fabrications.