Every day we anticipate Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell, which starts Friday 25 May at 8pm. Now, you can get snippets of information on the official Facebook page or Twitter account.
Shaun at the 2012 Logies
There were no awards for Shaun at this years Logie awards, but he was the presenter for the Gold Logie itself, introduced as “one of the legends”.
For the love of SJ Perelman
Shaun has written an article in The Sunday Age about his love of 20th century writer and humorist SJ Perelman, and how that love has translated into the search for rare works, books and… a suitcase.
Shaun in Gordon Street..
Quite often actually, as Shaun has produced a number of shows at the ABC Studios in Elsternwick. But in this case, he’ll be on the series final of Adam Hills In Gordon Street Tonight next Wednesday at 8:30pm on ABC.
We expect there to be some talk about Mad as Hell… yippee!
Laid Series 2 starts May 2nd
Returning for a second season is Laid, a black comedy written by Marieke Hardy and Kirsty Fisher. The focus of the show is Roo, a woman who finds out that all her previous ‘partners’ are dying, one by one, and with her friends, tries to determine why.
Shaun played the character of ‘G Bomb’ (ie. Roo’s gynocologist) in the first series, appearing in two episodes, and is back for the second season. How often he’ll appear, we’re not sure, but Kirsty assures us 4.75 times – or thereabouts.
Laid Series 2 starts May 2nd at 9pm.
Addendum to Your Gen, March 28th 2012
In response to Shaun’s joke about In Gordon Street Tonight leading to the ad break in the Gone with the Wind episode of TAYG, Adam Hills and Dave O’Neil played a joke with Shaun in retribution – Watch it here. (Thanks Micallef Tumbl(e)r)
Recap: Your Gen, March 29th 2012
Shaun did his best Charlie Chaplin before the opening credits of this, the penultimate episode (as recorded – but the last aired?!).
The guests were DJ Carl Cox, Comedian Bob Franklin, and Radio Personality Veronica Milsom. Shaun and Bob talked some guff before the first game, Name That Tee.
In Junior Masters, interpretations of classic “master” paintings by kids had to be identified, as well as the artist.
The sheer quick-ocity of As Quick As was experienced, with the toaster all loaded up and ready to go. Charlie queried what happened to the kettle they used to use, and Shaun informed him that a toaster seemed more sensible.
The four celebrities in the magic window all have a license to drive a forklift: Aaron Badley, Korg, Gandhi and Jean Michel.
BB picked Jean Michel, playing What Just Happened? Shaun (as Marlon Brando’s character) and Francis Greenslade (as Rod Steiger‘s character) played a scene from On the Waterfront, with the expected “modifications”.
- Gen X went for Korg – ¡Chronoloco! The items were all “As seen on TV” and Bob went through each, mainly describing and demonstrating them incorrectly, but humorously.
- Gen Y decided on Aaron, which was Who’s Your Mummy? It looked like Josh and Veronica were going to have to pass, but with a bit of prompting the guessed correctly – young sailor Jessica Watson.
The Your Gen round was worth two in the bush – Birds! The end game challenge was to find Which Generation Is Best at Shoveling Ectoplasm into a Toilet. Gozer has been reigning terror on the city, so the teams had to clean up before Mr Peck inspected. As the teams tried to shove the goop, the toilets spontaneously “exploded” it back out.
It was Gen X who had shovelled the most, winning the World’s Best Daughter trophy donated by (the mother of) Natalia Nespeca.
Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell is coming
Pre-production has began on Mad as Hell, which is Shaun’s anticipated return to his more tradition comedy show format. It will focus on weekly events, similar to Newstopia, and air on the ABC. The show will feature a cast of about six, and the first episode is set to screen on May 25.
Recap: Your Gen, March 28th 2012
Tonight, Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation was Gone With The Wind! It was the unofficial last episode, and the guests, set and Shaun were all dressed for the American Civil War era.
The teams were all dressed as characters from the book, mostly Scarlett O’Hara and George Wilkes; Shaun himself was Rhett Butler. Deborah Hutton joined Amanda on the Baby Boomer team, Matt Lucas and Charlie on Gen X and Christie Whelan with Josh on team Gen Y.
When Shaun found out Christie had been nominated, but never won a Helpmann, Shaun proclaimed he never wanted a [Gold] Logie; Carl Stefanovic could have it.
Shaun and Matt shared some mutual admiration – Matt had come to be on the show solely based on his love of The Micallef Program.
First up was Cinematic Smart Alec, where a single frame from the opening credits of movie was show. Despite Matt’s limited movie knowledge, he picked most of them. When it came to What Ya Talkin’ ‘Bout Willis?, Josh and Shaun entered an argument on if some of the sayings were actual sayings, or just rubbish taken from Urban Dictionary.
For the magic window, all the buttons were roles Michael Ward has played through the last four seasons: Dracula, Santa, Mr. Spock being attached by a woodpecker and General Mccarthur.
- Gen Y chose Mr Spock, which was Draw That Book.
- Gen X decided on Santa, playing Who Am I Doing? Matt did the impersonations, with Shaun “helping” and encouraging.
- BB picked Dracula, playing Crate Expectations – a crate version of Whose Baggage Is This?
The Your Gen topic was Wind!
In the end game, Tara (the set/house from Gone with the Wind) had been destroyed, so the challenge was to find out Which Generation Is Best at… Building a Grand Staircase. The teams used parts of the set to mostly build ladders.
Matt Lucas (and therefore Gen X) won the Forbidden Medallion of Kandor, Modelled by Jacinta (Stephen Hall) sent in by Nobby Doldrums of Hove SA
The mood throughout the episode was certainly of a show which ending. Did anyone else spot the Mad As Hell sign on Shaun’s desk? 🙂
Recap: Your Gen, March 21st 2012
Rather than anything special, it was just a regular old show tonight (in Shaun’s words) with Maggie Kirkpatrick, Dave O’Neil and Ella Hooper joining the teams as guests.
First game up was Franken-Face, which just like Cannibal Celebrity Masterchef, involved parts of celebrities. Taking a leaf out of the old Spicks and Specks book was ‘Look What They’ve Done To My Album Cover’, where part of the album cover was changed. For As Quick As, the trusty toaster came out again.
The magic window buttons were all people who look like Julia Gillard: Tilda Swinton, Endora from Bewitched, David Bowie and Roy Orbison.
- Gen X chose Tilda – playing 7 Degrees. In the end, they didn’t have to move anything, just identify the links between the actors.
- Gen Y decided on Roy which was HG Wells’ Time Machine.
- BB went for Endora, and the game was Name That Tune. All the tunes were solos from songs.
Eyes are the windows to the soul, and were the topic for the Your Gen round.
For end game, they decided ‘Which Generation is Best at Preparing a Horse for Dressage.’ Despite putting lipstick on her team’s horse and an un-elegant mount, Amanda (and Maggie) won the 2011 MVP Scarborough Sharks Mixed Netball trophy, donated by Simon Caruana.