Angry Boys
Encyclopedia
Angry Boys is an Australian television mockumentary
series written by and starring Chris Lilley
. Continuing the mockumentary style of his previous series, the show explores the issues faced by young males in the 21st century – their influences, their pressures, their dreams and ambitions. In Angry Boys, Lilley plays multiple characters: S.mouse, an American rapper; Jen, a manipulative Japan
ese mother; Blake Oakfield, a champion surfer; Ruth "Gran" Sims, a guard at a juvenile detention facility; and her grandchildren, South Australia
n twins Daniel and Nathan Sims.
The series is a co-production between the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
and US cable channel HBO, with a pre-sale to BBC Three
in the United Kingdom. Filmed in Australia, Los Angeles and Tokyo, Angry Boys premièred on 11 May 2011 at 9:00 pm on ABC1
.
and We Can Be Heroes
to create six characters for the series. This included the casting director, director of photography, camera operators, art department, costume designer, make-up artist, location scout, 1st assistant director, composer and editor. On 25 August 2009, The Daily Telegraph
reported that Lilley had planned to release a follow-up series to Summer Heights High, after years of working on the format. A casting call was held on 30 September 2009 for roles of an African-American female (aged 18–25) to play a model called LaFonda, an African-American male, (aged 50–65) to play a character called Carter, and a male Japanese-American professional skateboarder, aged (aged 16–20) to play Corey. On 2 October 2009, it was revealed that Lilley was searching for several American actors to appear in the series. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation
(ABC) also released details about the series, confirming that it would be called Angry Boys, and that it would be co-produced by the ABC and American network HBO.
More than 3,500 people auditioned for roles, both actors and non-actors from Australia and overseas to find a wide range of looks, attitudes, races and ages for 89 main roles and 1,228 extras. Angry Boys was filmed over seven months in more than 70 locations across Australia, Los Angeles
and Tokyo
. The series was edited over a period of 12 months. A preview of the series premiered on 16 March 2011, introducing some of the new characters, and the return of identical twins Daniel and Nathan Sims from We Can Be Heroes. A preview was also shown during the Comic Relief
benefit in the United Kingdom on 18 March 2011. During an interview with The Age
in May 2011, Waters said that they wanted the series to be a "challenge" to make it more "fun" and believes that they have "taken everything to the next level". Angry Boys premiered on 11 May 2011 at 9:00 pm on ABC1
.
to Angry Boys was written and produced by Lilley. Bryony Marks helped Lilley arrange the theme music and produced all the incidental music
in it. It was recorded over a number of sessions with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
, with Lilley on grand piano
for some pieces.
Lilley also wrote and produced all the songs for the series, including S.mouse's rap songs, and recorded them in his home studio.
, Nathan and Daniel are identical twins. The 17 year-old twins live on a small farm with their family, located in the fictional rural town of Dunt, South Australia
. Daniel has been the man of the house, ever since their dad died. His dream is to rebuild the farm as a working sheep farm and to run it with Nathan. Daniel and his mates, enjoy doing mainies up and down the main street of Dunt, using his mum's Nissan Pulsar
car. Nathan is quiet and lonely, and is constantly harassed by Daniel. His response to everything is giving the finger
. Nathan is deaf and only has 10 percent of hearing. In their bedroom are the "Wall of Legends", pictures of the people they consider their heroes – surfer Blake Oakfield, Japanese skater Tim Okazaki, US rapper S.mouse
, bikini model Emily Chase, their late dad, and their grandmother, Gran.
During the show, Nathan makes a tribute video to S.mouse's song, "Poo on You" and gets himself in trouble with the local Dunt police. His hearing condition worsens and the authorities suggest that he should be sent to a deaf school in Adelaide
for a two-year course. Daniel organises a "Legendary Farewell Party" for Nathan before he leaves for deaf school. Daniel plans to invite all of the legends from their "Wall of Legends" to the party. Gran is tasked to arrange the legends attendance, however later in the show, its revealed she forgot to invite them due to her mental health and tells this to Daniel via Skype
. However, much to everyone's surprise, Oakfield, Okazaki, and S.mouse turn up at Nathan's farewell party.
(born Shwayne Jnr.), is a 24 year-old African-American rap artist from Los Angeles
, California
. He is known for releasing the biggest selling hip hop
single of all time, "Slap My Elbow". S.mouse claims he was an "underprivileged black kid from the slums", however its revealed he comes from a wealthy suburban background in Calabasas. His father, Shwayne Snr. (Richard Lawson), reveals that he went to a predominantly white private school
, sang gospel music
at church, and begged him for the Wicked soundtrack. S.mouse's spends most of his time hanging out with his best friend, Danthony (Clyde Boraine).
During the show, S.mouse finds himself under pressure from his record company over his self-penned YouTube
released song, "Poo on You". The song's music video
sees S.mouse defecating on a police car. He later makes an online apology to his fans and is put under house arrest at his parents' house for two months. During his house arrest, S.mouse receives a demo
of the record company's song, "Gingerbread S.mouse", and he expresses great dislike of the track. He then decides to release a new single called "Grandmother Fucker". The song's music video features an appearance by S.mouse's grandmother, which angers his father. S.mouse later receives a phone call from his manager that he has been dropped from the record company due to the video receiving a large number of complaints.
S.mouse then sets up a home studio
to work on his own music for his new album, The Real Me. The album was released independently and was executively produced
by Danthony. Following the album's launch to a crowd who are less than pleased, S.mouse realises that he isn't really expressing the real him, and decides to read Daniel's letter about an Aborigine
child named Wally who was crushed by a truck. He writes a song about the incident called "Squashed Nigga
", and decides to sing the song instead of rapping it. Following the song's release, S.mouse re-invents himself under the name, Shwayne Jnr..
wife and mother of three, who moved with her family from Japan
to Santa Barbara, California
in the United States
for a better life. She focuses mainly on her son Tim Okazaki to become a skateboarding champion. She decides that Tim's career can be better promoted from Tokyo
, so she moves with the family back to Japan. Jen markets him not only as a cute Japanese boy, but also as a homosexual. She owns a successful empire shaped around Tim's skateboarding success called, "GayStyle Enterprises", in which she sells penis-shaped whistles, perfume dispensers, water bottles, and scrubbing brushes.
During the show, Jen takes Tim to see the doctors, and finds out that he is overworked and depressed. She tries to get Tim more relaxed and decides to take some of his responsibilities. She also gets Tim a dog named Gay Dog, which she claims is "the first ever gay dog". Jen wants Tim to become best friends with the dog and to teach it how to skate. Later on the show, Tim reveals to his fans on his website that he is straight and has a girlfriend, with whom he has been having a relationship with secretly for several months. Much to Jen's anger, she later runs away from home, and leaves a note behind mentioning that she will kill herself and Gay Dog if Tim doesn't reclaim he is gay. Jen is later dumped as Tim's manager, and is replaced by Bruce (Billy Loh). They move back to Santa Barbara, California, and lives in a separate house from Tim. She does not enjoy the suburban lifestyle and hates being a household mum. Never to be defeated, Jen begins training her second son, Luke, to become the next golfing superstar.
Garingal Juvenile Justice Centre for teenage boys. Gran has been employed there for 25 years. She lives in a house within the premises with her co-worker Penny (Alison Roy). Gran describes herself as being "tough", and likes to think she is a mother figure for the inmates. However, she shows her love in many awful ways. Gran looks after 23 guinea pig
s and her favourite is named after television presenter, Kerri-Anne
.
During the show, she displays a lack of political correctness as she divides the inmates into two teams of "light skins" and "dark skins" for a football game. Gran also plays her favourite game with the boys called "gotcha", in which she tricks one of the inmates into believing that he's about to be released. She also keeps them entertained with "Friday Night Song Night", where she performs various songs. Gran forms a close bond with new inmate, Talib (Jake Glass), who hardly talks and constantly gets bullied by the other inmates. Gran reveals to Talib that she has Alzheimer's disease
.
Later on the show, her guinea pig, Kerri-Anne, is found dead near the guinea pig hutches. Talib is believed to be the cause of her death by the other inmates, who bully him even more. He is finally pushed to his limit and beats up inmate Marlon, forcing Gran to give him two days in the Isolation Unit. Gran mistakenly gives Talib and Justin, another inmate in the Isolation Unit, extra bedsheets, resulting in a suicide attempt by Justin. Worried that Talib will do the same thing, Gran removes him from the Isolation Unit early. She is later informed by the head officer of Garingal that she must retire due to her disease. Gran then moves to Dunt to live with her family.
. He is a husband and a step-father of two children. Oakfield is dedicated to the surf
gang he founded as a young man, the Mucca Mad Boys. Many of the locals within Narmucca Bay dislike Oakfield and his gang because they are known to cause trouble. After having his testicles shot and amputated as a result of a gang fight with their enemy, the Fennel Hell Men, Oakfield felt his surfing career wasn't the same anymore and decided to quit. He claims that his current occupation is keeping Narmucca Bay safe from the Fennel Hell Men.
During the show, Oakfield sets up a Fat Boys Surf School to not only teach young boys to enjoy the beauty of the ocean, but also to improve their confidence. However, when one of the boys in the surf school gets injured, Oakfield decides to put the school to rest. Later in the show, Oakfield ends up getting arrested after being wrongly accused of shooting Packo (Gareth Haeberle), the leader of the Fennel Hell Men gang. His pregnant wife, Kareena (Sarah Sutherland), eventually leaves him and goes to Sydney
, taking their children with her. Oakfield's mate, Hunter (Paul Pearson), moves in with him and he and the other Mucca Mad Boys attempt to cheer Oakfield up, who is upset at losing his family.
After attending the court case hearing with Packo, its revealed that Oakfield's mate and former Mucca Mad Boy member, Ashley (Christian Stack), was responsible for the shooting, and is sent back to prison. Oakfield undergoes the artificial testicles operation, and reopens the Fat Boys Surf School with the other Mucca Mad Boys members helping out. Kareena also returns and has already given birth to their third child, Tyrone. Oakfield decides to surf again and wants to do the Billabong Legends of Surfing Tour. He believes that his artificial balls has made him confident again.
on the Australian iTunes Store
on 26 May 2011. Another one of his songs, "Slap My Elbow" was released on 8 June 2011. The song debuted at number 93 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart
on 13 June 2011, and peaked at number 37 the following week. It also peaked at number 13 on the ARIA Urban Singles Chart
. S.mouse's third single, "Squashed Nigga
", was released on 21 July 2011. It debuted at number 22 on the ARIA Urban Singles Chart, and has since peaked at #18.
Following the broadcast of the last episode on 27 July 2011, the series' soundtrack was released the next day. It featured seventeen of S.mouse's songs, as well as the Angry Boys opening theme song, and nineteen videos. The album debuted at number 75 on the ARIA Albums Chart (on which it has since entered the top 50 and peaked at #36), and number 16 on the ARIA Urban Albums Chart, where it has since peaked at #9. The series was also released on DVD, featuring twelve of its episodes, deleted scenes, bloopers, and S.mouse music videos.. The soundtrack would win the ARIA Award
for Best Original Soundtrack Album on November 27, 2011.
as the first episode went to air. It was met with enthusiasm by many, who declared it "worth the wait", however others complained about excessive swearing and a general lack of funniness. It was also criticised on talkback radio the next day, with some callers describing it as "racist, homophobic and offensive". Among critics, the premiere episode also garnered a mixed reception. Karl Quinn of The Age
wrote, "Chris Lilley's Angry Boys is bold, aggressive, unafraid to trample on some very shaky ground. But on the basis of last night's opening episode, it's hard to conclude that it's especially funny. Yet." Darren Devlyn of News.com.au said that it had "flashes of artistic brilliance" but felt "disappointed that there weren't more laughs." Holly Byrnes and Shoba Rao of The Daily Telegraph
praised the show, writing, "pushing the boundaries of political correctness
to breaking point, Lilley has delivered exactly what his fans expect – and why TV critics have hailed him an 'outrageous comic genius'." However, they also expressed concerns that younger viewers would not grasp the show's satirical nature.
's most popular program of 2011 to date. The second episode saw a slight drop in ratings with 1,346,000 viewers, although the series remained the highest-rating show in its timeslot. The third episode only managed 805,000 viewers and placed fourteenth overall for the night. It aired simultaneously with the State of Origin Rugby League
, which topped the nights overall ratings.
The fourth episode reached an audience of 920,000. The fifth episode only managed 848,000 viewers and placed sixteenth overall for the night. The sixth episode had 569,000 viewers tuning in. The seventh episode picked up slightly in viewers from the previous week with 634,000 tuning in, however, the eighth episode dropped to 591,000 viewers. The ninth episode reached an audience of 391,000, becoming the lowest ratings for an episode of the series, although it aired against the third and final State of Origin
game for 2011, which achieved close to 2.5 million viewers nationwide. The tenth episode picked up slightly with 453,000 viewers and was ranked twenty-third overall. The eleventh episode achieved an audience of 465,000. The twelfth and final episode picked up slightly in viewers from the previous four weeks, with 612,000 viewers tuning in.
Mockumentary
A mockumentary , is a type of film or television show in which fictitious events are presented in documentary format. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues by using a fictitious setting, or to parody the documentary form itself...
series written by and starring Chris Lilley
Chris Lilley (comedian)
-External links:****...
. Continuing the mockumentary style of his previous series, the show explores the issues faced by young males in the 21st century – their influences, their pressures, their dreams and ambitions. In Angry Boys, Lilley plays multiple characters: S.mouse, an American rapper; Jen, a manipulative Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese mother; Blake Oakfield, a champion surfer; Ruth "Gran" Sims, a guard at a juvenile detention facility; and her grandchildren, South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
n twins Daniel and Nathan Sims.
The series is a co-production between the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
and US cable channel HBO, with a pre-sale to BBC Three
BBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...
in the United Kingdom. Filmed in Australia, Los Angeles and Tokyo, Angry Boys premièred on 11 May 2011 at 9:00 pm on ABC1
ABC1
ABC1 was a United Kingdom based television channel from Disney using the branding of the Disney owned American network, ABC.The channel initially launched exclusively on the British digital terrestrial television platform Freeview on 27 September 2004. On 10 December 2004 it was launched on...
.
Development
Chris Lilley and producer Laura Waters brought together the same team of collaborators from Summer Heights HighSummer Heights High
Summer Heights High is a Logie Award-winning Australian television mockumentary series written by and starring Chris Lilley. It is a parody of high-school life epitomised by its three protagonists: effeminate and megalomaniacal "Director of Performing Arts" Mr G; self-absorbed, privileged teenager...
and We Can Be Heroes
We Can Be Heroes: Finding The Australian of the Year
We Can Be Heroes: Finding The Australian of the Year is an Australian mockumentary TV series created, written and starring Chris Lilley and directed by Matthew Saville.It follows the story of five unique Australians, who have each made a large achievement...
to create six characters for the series. This included the casting director, director of photography, camera operators, art department, costume designer, make-up artist, location scout, 1st assistant director, composer and editor. On 25 August 2009, The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph (Australia)
The Daily Telegraph is an Australian tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, by Nationwide News, part of News Corporation.The Tele, as it is also known, was founded in 1879. From 1936 to 1972, it was owned by Frank Packer's Australian Consolidated Press. That year it was sold to...
reported that Lilley had planned to release a follow-up series to Summer Heights High, after years of working on the format. A casting call was held on 30 September 2009 for roles of an African-American female (aged 18–25) to play a model called LaFonda, an African-American male, (aged 50–65) to play a character called Carter, and a male Japanese-American professional skateboarder, aged (aged 16–20) to play Corey. On 2 October 2009, it was revealed that Lilley was searching for several American actors to appear in the series. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
(ABC) also released details about the series, confirming that it would be called Angry Boys, and that it would be co-produced by the ABC and American network HBO.
More than 3,500 people auditioned for roles, both actors and non-actors from Australia and overseas to find a wide range of looks, attitudes, races and ages for 89 main roles and 1,228 extras. Angry Boys was filmed over seven months in more than 70 locations across Australia, Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
. The series was edited over a period of 12 months. A preview of the series premiered on 16 March 2011, introducing some of the new characters, and the return of identical twins Daniel and Nathan Sims from We Can Be Heroes. A preview was also shown during the Comic Relief
Comic Relief
Comic Relief is an operating British charity, founded in 1985 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Lenny Henry in response to famine in Ethiopia. The highlight of Comic Relief's appeal is Red Nose Day, a biennial telethon held in March, alternating with sister project Sport Relief...
benefit in the United Kingdom on 18 March 2011. During an interview with The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
in May 2011, Waters said that they wanted the series to be a "challenge" to make it more "fun" and believes that they have "taken everything to the next level". Angry Boys premiered on 11 May 2011 at 9:00 pm on ABC1
ABC1
ABC1 was a United Kingdom based television channel from Disney using the branding of the Disney owned American network, ABC.The channel initially launched exclusively on the British digital terrestrial television platform Freeview on 27 September 2004. On 10 December 2004 it was launched on...
.
Music
The theme musicTheme music
Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...
to Angry Boys was written and produced by Lilley. Bryony Marks helped Lilley arrange the theme music and produced all the incidental music
Incidental music
Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film or some other form not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as the "film score" or "soundtrack"....
in it. It was recorded over a number of sessions with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Melbourne, Australia. It has 100 permanent musicians. Melbourne has the longest continuous history of orchestral music of any Australian city and the MSO is the oldest professional orchestra in Australia...
, with Lilley on grand piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
for some pieces.
Lilley also wrote and produced all the songs for the series, including S.mouse's rap songs, and recorded them in his home studio.
Characters
There are six main characters featured in Angry Boys, all portrayed by Chris Lilley.Daniel and Nathan Sims
Recurring characters from an earlier Chris Lilley series, We Can Be HeroesWe Can Be Heroes: Finding The Australian of the Year
We Can Be Heroes: Finding The Australian of the Year is an Australian mockumentary TV series created, written and starring Chris Lilley and directed by Matthew Saville.It follows the story of five unique Australians, who have each made a large achievement...
, Nathan and Daniel are identical twins. The 17 year-old twins live on a small farm with their family, located in the fictional rural town of Dunt, South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
. Daniel has been the man of the house, ever since their dad died. His dream is to rebuild the farm as a working sheep farm and to run it with Nathan. Daniel and his mates, enjoy doing mainies up and down the main street of Dunt, using his mum's Nissan Pulsar
Nissan Pulsar
The Nissan Pulsar is an automobile that was produced by the Japanese automaker Nissan from 1978, when it debuted as a subcompact car, to 2007, when it was replaced in all markets by the Nissan Tiida. It was originally conceived as a replacement for Nissan's first front-wheel drive platform, the...
car. Nathan is quiet and lonely, and is constantly harassed by Daniel. His response to everything is giving the finger
Finger (gesture)
In Western culture, the finger , also known as the middle finger, is an obscene hand gesture, often meaning the phrases "fuck off" , "fuck you" or "up yours"...
. Nathan is deaf and only has 10 percent of hearing. In their bedroom are the "Wall of Legends", pictures of the people they consider their heroes – surfer Blake Oakfield, Japanese skater Tim Okazaki, US rapper S.mouse
S.mouse
Shwayne Booth Jr., better known mononymously as S.mouse , is a fictional character from the Australian mockumentary series, Angry Boys. The character is portrayed by Chris Lilley, and has appeared in Angry Boys since the second episode. He is an African American rapper who lives in Calabasas,...
, bikini model Emily Chase, their late dad, and their grandmother, Gran.
During the show, Nathan makes a tribute video to S.mouse's song, "Poo on You" and gets himself in trouble with the local Dunt police. His hearing condition worsens and the authorities suggest that he should be sent to a deaf school in Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
for a two-year course. Daniel organises a "Legendary Farewell Party" for Nathan before he leaves for deaf school. Daniel plans to invite all of the legends from their "Wall of Legends" to the party. Gran is tasked to arrange the legends attendance, however later in the show, its revealed she forgot to invite them due to her mental health and tells this to Daniel via Skype
Skype
Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice and video calls and chat over the Internet. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free, while calls to both traditional landline telephones and mobile phones can be made for a fee using a debit-based user account system...
. However, much to everyone's surprise, Oakfield, Okazaki, and S.mouse turn up at Nathan's farewell party.
S.mouse
S.mouseS.mouse
Shwayne Booth Jr., better known mononymously as S.mouse , is a fictional character from the Australian mockumentary series, Angry Boys. The character is portrayed by Chris Lilley, and has appeared in Angry Boys since the second episode. He is an African American rapper who lives in Calabasas,...
(born Shwayne Jnr.), is a 24 year-old African-American rap artist from Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. He is known for releasing the biggest selling hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
single of all time, "Slap My Elbow". S.mouse claims he was an "underprivileged black kid from the slums", however its revealed he comes from a wealthy suburban background in Calabasas. His father, Shwayne Snr. (Richard Lawson), reveals that he went to a predominantly white private school
Private school
Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...
, sang gospel music
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
at church, and begged him for the Wicked soundtrack. S.mouse's spends most of his time hanging out with his best friend, Danthony (Clyde Boraine).
During the show, S.mouse finds himself under pressure from his record company over his self-penned YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
released song, "Poo on You". The song's music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
sees S.mouse defecating on a police car. He later makes an online apology to his fans and is put under house arrest at his parents' house for two months. During his house arrest, S.mouse receives a demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
of the record company's song, "Gingerbread S.mouse", and he expresses great dislike of the track. He then decides to release a new single called "Grandmother Fucker". The song's music video features an appearance by S.mouse's grandmother, which angers his father. S.mouse later receives a phone call from his manager that he has been dropped from the record company due to the video receiving a large number of complaints.
S.mouse then sets up a home studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
to work on his own music for his new album, The Real Me. The album was released independently and was executively produced
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
by Danthony. Following the album's launch to a crowd who are less than pleased, S.mouse realises that he isn't really expressing the real him, and decides to read Daniel's letter about an Aborigine
Australian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...
child named Wally who was crushed by a truck. He writes a song about the incident called "Squashed Nigga
Squashed Nigga
"Squashed Nigga" is a song performed by fictional character, S.mouse , of the Australian television series Angry Boys...
", and decides to sing the song instead of rapping it. Following the song's release, S.mouse re-invents himself under the name, Shwayne Jnr..
Jen Okazaki
Jen Okazaki is a softly spoken JapaneseJapanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
wife and mother of three, who moved with her family from Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
to Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for a better life. She focuses mainly on her son Tim Okazaki to become a skateboarding champion. She decides that Tim's career can be better promoted from Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, so she moves with the family back to Japan. Jen markets him not only as a cute Japanese boy, but also as a homosexual. She owns a successful empire shaped around Tim's skateboarding success called, "GayStyle Enterprises", in which she sells penis-shaped whistles, perfume dispensers, water bottles, and scrubbing brushes.
During the show, Jen takes Tim to see the doctors, and finds out that he is overworked and depressed. She tries to get Tim more relaxed and decides to take some of his responsibilities. She also gets Tim a dog named Gay Dog, which she claims is "the first ever gay dog". Jen wants Tim to become best friends with the dog and to teach it how to skate. Later on the show, Tim reveals to his fans on his website that he is straight and has a girlfriend, with whom he has been having a relationship with secretly for several months. Much to Jen's anger, she later runs away from home, and leaves a note behind mentioning that she will kill herself and Gay Dog if Tim doesn't reclaim he is gay. Jen is later dumped as Tim's manager, and is replaced by Bruce (Billy Loh). They move back to Santa Barbara, California, and lives in a separate house from Tim. She does not enjoy the suburban lifestyle and hates being a household mum. Never to be defeated, Jen begins training her second son, Luke, to become the next golfing superstar.
Gran
Ruth Sims, commonly referred to as "Gran", is Daniel and Nathan's 65 year-old grandmother who works as a prison officer at the SydneySydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
Garingal Juvenile Justice Centre for teenage boys. Gran has been employed there for 25 years. She lives in a house within the premises with her co-worker Penny (Alison Roy). Gran describes herself as being "tough", and likes to think she is a mother figure for the inmates. However, she shows her love in many awful ways. Gran looks after 23 guinea pig
Guinea pig
The guinea pig , also called the cavy, is a species of rodent belonging to the family Caviidae and the genus Cavia. Despite their common name, these animals are not in the pig family, nor are they from Guinea...
s and her favourite is named after television presenter, Kerri-Anne
Kerri-Anne Kennerley
Kerri-Anne Wright Kennerley is an Australian television personality. She is one of Australia's most seasoned light entertainment hosts...
.
During the show, she displays a lack of political correctness as she divides the inmates into two teams of "light skins" and "dark skins" for a football game. Gran also plays her favourite game with the boys called "gotcha", in which she tricks one of the inmates into believing that he's about to be released. She also keeps them entertained with "Friday Night Song Night", where she performs various songs. Gran forms a close bond with new inmate, Talib (Jake Glass), who hardly talks and constantly gets bullied by the other inmates. Gran reveals to Talib that she has Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
.
Later on the show, her guinea pig, Kerri-Anne, is found dead near the guinea pig hutches. Talib is believed to be the cause of her death by the other inmates, who bully him even more. He is finally pushed to his limit and beats up inmate Marlon, forcing Gran to give him two days in the Isolation Unit. Gran mistakenly gives Talib and Justin, another inmate in the Isolation Unit, extra bedsheets, resulting in a suicide attempt by Justin. Worried that Talib will do the same thing, Gran removes him from the Isolation Unit early. She is later informed by the head officer of Garingal that she must retire due to her disease. Gran then moves to Dunt to live with her family.
Blake Oakfield
Blake Oakfield's is a 38 year-old former champion surfer from the fictional town of Narmucca Bay, New South WalesNew South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. He is a husband and a step-father of two children. Oakfield is dedicated to the surf
Surf
Surf is the wave activity in the area between the shoreline and outer limit of breakers. It may refer to a breaking wave in shallow water, upon the shore, or in the area in which waves breakSurf also may refer to:Commercial products...
gang he founded as a young man, the Mucca Mad Boys. Many of the locals within Narmucca Bay dislike Oakfield and his gang because they are known to cause trouble. After having his testicles shot and amputated as a result of a gang fight with their enemy, the Fennel Hell Men, Oakfield felt his surfing career wasn't the same anymore and decided to quit. He claims that his current occupation is keeping Narmucca Bay safe from the Fennel Hell Men.
During the show, Oakfield sets up a Fat Boys Surf School to not only teach young boys to enjoy the beauty of the ocean, but also to improve their confidence. However, when one of the boys in the surf school gets injured, Oakfield decides to put the school to rest. Later in the show, Oakfield ends up getting arrested after being wrongly accused of shooting Packo (Gareth Haeberle), the leader of the Fennel Hell Men gang. His pregnant wife, Kareena (Sarah Sutherland), eventually leaves him and goes to Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, taking their children with her. Oakfield's mate, Hunter (Paul Pearson), moves in with him and he and the other Mucca Mad Boys attempt to cheer Oakfield up, who is upset at losing his family.
After attending the court case hearing with Packo, its revealed that Oakfield's mate and former Mucca Mad Boy member, Ashley (Christian Stack), was responsible for the shooting, and is sent back to prison. Oakfield undergoes the artificial testicles operation, and reopens the Fat Boys Surf School with the other Mucca Mad Boys members helping out. Kareena also returns and has already given birth to their third child, Tyrone. Oakfield decides to surf again and wants to do the Billabong Legends of Surfing Tour. He believes that his artificial balls has made him confident again.
Other characters
- Kerry (Debbie Jones) – Daniel and Nathan's mother.
- Steve (Greg Fairall) – Kerry's husband, and Daniel and Nathan's step-father.
- Tyson (Liam Keltie) – Daniel and Nathan's younger brother.
- Jamie (Samuel Cooke) – Daniel and Nathan's younger brother.
- Julia (Virginia Cashmere) – Daniel and Nathan's younger sister.
- Tim Okazaki (Jordan Dang) – The son of Jen Okazaki. Jen is Tim's manager, and she trains and pushes him into becoming a skateboarding champion. Jen markets him as a cute Japanese boy, and a homosexual. However, during the show, Tim reveals he's actually American, speaks with a fake Japanese accent, and is not gay at all. Tim struggles to reconcile his mother with the desire to be a normal teenager.
- Danthony (Clyde Boraine) – S.mouse's best friend. He spends most of his time hanging out with S.mouse.
- Lasquisha (Kristin Dione Metoyer) – S.mouse's girlfriend until episode 10.
- Shwayne Senior (Richard Lawson) – S.mouse's father.
- Talib (Jake Glass) – A new inmate at the Garingal Juvenile Justice Centre who rarely speaks. He is constantly bullied by the other inmates for masturbating a dog. During the show, Talib forms a close bond with Gran.
- Kareena (Sarah Sutherland) – Blake's wife and mother of three. Kareena was pregnant over the majority of the series, but by the final episode she had already given birth to their third child, Tyrone.
- Hunter (Paul Pearson) – Blake's mate and a member of the Mucca Mad Boys.
- Penny (Alison Roy) – Works at the Garingal Juvenile Justice Centre. Penny is often nicknamed "Legs" due to her extreme height. She used to live and work with Gran, before Gran was forced to leave.
Merchandise
S.mouse's song "Animal Zoo" was made available for digital downloadMusic download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
on the Australian iTunes Store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
on 26 May 2011. Another one of his songs, "Slap My Elbow" was released on 8 June 2011. The song debuted at number 93 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
on 13 June 2011, and peaked at number 37 the following week. It also peaked at number 13 on the ARIA Urban Singles Chart
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
. S.mouse's third single, "Squashed Nigga
Squashed Nigga
"Squashed Nigga" is a song performed by fictional character, S.mouse , of the Australian television series Angry Boys...
", was released on 21 July 2011. It debuted at number 22 on the ARIA Urban Singles Chart, and has since peaked at #18.
Following the broadcast of the last episode on 27 July 2011, the series' soundtrack was released the next day. It featured seventeen of S.mouse's songs, as well as the Angry Boys opening theme song, and nineteen videos. The album debuted at number 75 on the ARIA Albums Chart (on which it has since entered the top 50 and peaked at #36), and number 16 on the ARIA Urban Albums Chart, where it has since peaked at #9. The series was also released on DVD, featuring twelve of its episodes, deleted scenes, bloopers, and S.mouse music videos.. The soundtrack would win the ARIA Award
ARIA Music Awards
The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Australian Recording Industry Association...
for Best Original Soundtrack Album on November 27, 2011.
Reception
Angry Boys has received generally positive reviews. The show's premiere was highly anticipated, with "Angry Boys" and "Gran" becoming worldwide trending topics on TwitterTwitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
as the first episode went to air. It was met with enthusiasm by many, who declared it "worth the wait", however others complained about excessive swearing and a general lack of funniness. It was also criticised on talkback radio the next day, with some callers describing it as "racist, homophobic and offensive". Among critics, the premiere episode also garnered a mixed reception. Karl Quinn of The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
wrote, "Chris Lilley's Angry Boys is bold, aggressive, unafraid to trample on some very shaky ground. But on the basis of last night's opening episode, it's hard to conclude that it's especially funny. Yet." Darren Devlyn of News.com.au said that it had "flashes of artistic brilliance" but felt "disappointed that there weren't more laughs." Holly Byrnes and Shoba Rao of The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph (Australia)
The Daily Telegraph is an Australian tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, by Nationwide News, part of News Corporation.The Tele, as it is also known, was founded in 1879. From 1936 to 1972, it was owned by Frank Packer's Australian Consolidated Press. That year it was sold to...
praised the show, writing, "pushing the boundaries of political correctness
Political correctness
Political correctness is a term which denotes language, ideas, policies, and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social and institutional offense in occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, certain other religions, beliefs or ideologies, disability, and age-related contexts,...
to breaking point, Lilley has delivered exactly what his fans expect – and why TV critics have hailed him an 'outrageous comic genius'." However, they also expressed concerns that younger viewers would not grasp the show's satirical nature.
Ratings
The premiere episode of Angry Boys achieved an audience of 1,368,000. It also served as ABC1ABC1
ABC1 was a United Kingdom based television channel from Disney using the branding of the Disney owned American network, ABC.The channel initially launched exclusively on the British digital terrestrial television platform Freeview on 27 September 2004. On 10 December 2004 it was launched on...
's most popular program of 2011 to date. The second episode saw a slight drop in ratings with 1,346,000 viewers, although the series remained the highest-rating show in its timeslot. The third episode only managed 805,000 viewers and placed fourteenth overall for the night. It aired simultaneously with the State of Origin Rugby League
2011 State of Origin series
The 2011 State of Origin series was the 30th annual best-of-three series of interstate rugby league football matches between the Queensland and New South Wales representative teams contested under "State of Origin" selection rules. Game I was played in Brisbane, Game II was played in Sydney and...
, which topped the nights overall ratings.
The fourth episode reached an audience of 920,000. The fifth episode only managed 848,000 viewers and placed sixteenth overall for the night. The sixth episode had 569,000 viewers tuning in. The seventh episode picked up slightly in viewers from the previous week with 634,000 tuning in, however, the eighth episode dropped to 591,000 viewers. The ninth episode reached an audience of 391,000, becoming the lowest ratings for an episode of the series, although it aired against the third and final State of Origin
Rugby League State of Origin
State of Origin is an annual best of three series of rugby league football matches contested by the Maroons and the Blues, who represent the Australian states of Queensland and New South Wales respectively...
game for 2011, which achieved close to 2.5 million viewers nationwide. The tenth episode picked up slightly with 453,000 viewers and was ranked twenty-third overall. The eleventh episode achieved an audience of 465,000. The twelfth and final episode picked up slightly in viewers from the previous four weeks, with 612,000 viewers tuning in.
International syndication
| Country | Broadcasters | Time slot | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 Australia AustraliaAustralia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... |
ABC1 ABC1 ABC1 was a United Kingdom based television channel from Disney using the branding of the Disney owned American network, ABC.The channel initially launched exclusively on the British digital terrestrial television platform Freeview on 27 September 2004. On 10 December 2004 it was launched on... , ABC2 ABC2 ABC2 is a national public television channel in Australia. Launched on 7 March 2005, it is the responsibility of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's television division, and is available nationally to digital television viewers in Australia... , The Comedy Channel The Comedy Channel The Comedy Channel is an Australian subscription television channel available on Foxtel, Austar and Optus Television.-History:... |
Wednesdays 9:00 pm | Premiered 11 May 2011. Repeats are shown on ABC2 and The Comedy Channel. |
 New Zealand New ZealandNew Zealand New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga... |
Comedy Central | Premieres 2011. | |
| United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
BBC Three BBC Three BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent... |
Tuesdays 10:30 pm | Premiered 7 June 2011. |
 United States United StatesUnited States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
HBO | Sundays 10:00 pm | Premieres 8 January 2012. |
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