It’s the news. We think.
Originally touted as an Australian version of shows like The Daily Show, Newstopia provided to be a very different show, containing much of the surreal/absurdist comedy, garden path one-liners and general hilarity which Shaun is known and loved for.
The show aired weekly at 10pm on SBS, running for 30 minutes including commercials. However, the show would often include fake-commercials for SBS-style shows (eg. Inspektor Herring, a play on Inspector Rex) and for real (eg. Bunnings) or fake (eg. Dalgety’s Fruit Wholesalers) retail chains.
It was presented in the style of a news bulletin, with Shaun as host, and featured news pieces, on-location reports and on-set interviews with the cast playing roles.
The supporting cast included Kat Stewart, Nicholas Bell and Ben Anderson, with a writing team including Gary McCaffrie, Michael Ward, Dave O’Neil, Tony Moclair and (the late, great) Richard Marsland.
Each of the three seasons ran for 10 episodes.
Season 1
Ep 1 – 2007-10-10
Ep 2 – 2007-10-17
Ep 3 – 2007-10-24
Ep 4 – 2007-10-31
Ep 5 – 2007-11-07
Ep 6 – 2007-11-14
Ep 7 – 2007-11-21
Ep 8 – 2007-11-28
Ep 9 – 2007-12-05
Ep 10 – 2007-12-12
Season 2
Ep 1 – 2008-02-27
Ep 2 – 2008-03-05
Ep 3 – 2008-03-12
Ep 4 – 2008-03-19
Ep 5 – 2008-03-26
Ep 6 – 2008-04-02
Ep 7 – 2008-04-09
Ep 8 – 2008-04-16
Ep 9 – 2008-04-23
Ep 10 – 2008-04-30
You need at least half a brain to watch NEWStopia… excellent summary of the federal reserve and classic humour. Your the best Shaun.
Newstopia was my favorite show of all time. Is there any way I can get my hands on the dvd of the 3 series ?
Newstopia hasn’t been released on DVD, and is unlikely to ever be – Shaun has indicated its topicality will make it very difficult to ever release. You can get it through other “shared” methods, which Shaun is fairly happy to let happen.
Love this show, one of Shaun’s best!
can you please upload all your newstopia episodes on youtube