The Chaser's War on Everything
Encyclopedia
The Chaser's War on Everything is an Australian television satirical
comedy series broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
(ABC) television station ABC1
. It has won an AFI Award
. The cast perform sketches mocking social and political issues, and often feature comedic publicity stunts. The series is produced by the Australian satirical group, The Chaser
, consisting of Chris Taylor
, Julian Morrow
, Craig Reucassel
, Andrew Hansen
, and Chas Licciardello
. Fellow Chaser members Dominic Knight
and Charles Firth are not part of the regular on-screen cast. However, Knight is a writer, and Firth compiled roving reports for the show from the United States, until he left the group to start a satirical newspaper in mid-2007.
The show premiered on 17 February 2006 and has since produced 58 episodes, broadcast over three seasons between 2006 to 2007 as well as during 2009. The first season was broadcast at an unstable late timeslot on Friday nights. The second and third seasons were broadcast in a more favourable timeslot of Wednesdays at . The show did not return in 2008, but returned on 27 May 2009 for the third season featuring only ten episodes. Following the controversy of the "Make a Realistic Wish Foundation" sketch, the third season was reduced to 8 episodes, being suspended for 2 weeks.
The stunts displayed on the show have often been controversial. For example, on 14 July 2006, Licciardello was charged (being later acquitted) after selling fake knives to Bulldogs fans outside one of their rugby league
games. Licciardello was again arrested, alongside Morrow and nine crew members, on 6 September 2007 after breaching security
at the 2007 APEC summit
.
The last episode of the series was aired on 29 July 2009, and rated an average national audience of 1.45 million.
The Chaser
was formed by Dominic Knight
, Charles Firth, Craig Reucassel
, and Julian Morrow
, and in 1999 ran a fortnightly newspaper entitled The Chaser
. The group later added Chas Licciardello
, Andrew Hansen
, and Chris Taylor
, to assist with its publication. Through the help of Andrew Denton
, the Chaser team produced various shows for the ABC
: most notably CNNNN. In 2005, The Chaser began filming a pilot for a new television series for the ABC, with the working title The Age of Terror Variety Hour. The Chaser team signed a contract with the ABC to produce 27 half-hour episodes for 2006, which would be based on news reviews, studio monologues and confrontations with politicians, celebrities, and business leaders. The show was to be presented by Morrow, Hansen, Reucassel, Taylor and Licciardello.
The ABC rejected the name The Age of Terror Variety Hour and other names including Thank Allah It's Friday. ABC did accept The Chaser is Right, although it was later rejected by Morrow, while the title Hey Hey, it's the Chaser was rejected after a pilot under that name was filmed in 2005. They eventually selected The Chaser's War on Everything as the title. The show was to be performed in front of a live audience, in a more relaxed format than CNNNN and other Chaser television productions.
on 17 February 2006 at . The series aired late on Friday evenings where it developed a cult following, getting an average national audience of between 591,000 and 821,000 viewers each episode. The show broadcast two 'best of' shows in the mid year. The last episode of the 2006 season was broadcast on 8 September 2006.
Due to its popularity, The Chaser's War on Everythings timeslot changed to Wednesday for the 2007 season. In the lead-up to the second season, The Chaser team produced a live webcast
of people counting down to the first episode of the season. New segments had been developed and the opening sequence was reworked. After the move to prime time the ratings increased to almost 1.5 million viewers each week. This was despite direct competition with well-rated programs on commercial networks. The Chaser finished their 24th and final episode of the show for the 2007 season on 14 November 2007. They then produced The Chaser Decides
for the remaining two episodes of the 26-episode production, based on the Australian federal election.
After the controversial APEC motorcade stunt, the show's profile was greatly increased and international broadcasts expanded. Countries which broadcast the show include Finland
, Israel
, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Norway
, Belgium
, South Korea, and Poland
. Twenty other countries are already in negotiations with ABC1
to transmit the series including Canada, Denmark
, Japan, the Netherlands
, Spain, Thailand
, and the United States. The show may be re-edited to eliminate references to Australian politics which are irrelevant or confusing to overseas audiences.
After the last episode of The Chaser Decides, The Chaser ruled out doing any television productions in the first half of 2008. This included The Chaser's War on Everything, with the group opting to do a stage production of their antics around Australia, called The Chaser's Age of Terror Variety Hour.
The American cable network
G4 acquired the rights to the program in the United States, and premiered 28 January 2009 at 9PM ET. The show will then be transmitted every Wednesday night at 11PM ET within their international block of programming called Duty Free TV. Ads of the program have capitalised on its controversial nature in Australia, with the tagline "Do you know what it takes to be controversial in Australia?"
Similarly in the UK, BBC Four
are airing six compilation episodes, taking sketches and highlights from the first two series from 23 June 2009.
A third season of The Chaser's War on Everything began airing on 27 May 2009, returning to its timeslot of Wednesday at 9:00pm on ABC1
. The third series consists of only 10 episodes and is the final series of the program.
The final episode was broadcast on ABC1
on 29 July 2009.
The second DVD for the first season contained the latter thirteen episodes. It was in the same format of the first DVD, containing commentary and unaired scenes, and was released on 1 November 2006. The first thirteen episodes of the second season were released on DVD on 14 August 2007, with similar features to the two prior releases.
The second DVD set for the later half of the second season was released on 7 August 2008. It contains similar features to the previous DVD releases.
The third and last season was released on DVD on 5 November 2009.
podcasting directory, the show took the number one position. The last four episodes of the first season averaged approximately 175,000 viewers of the vodcast, and 25,000 downloads, which ABC stated was a success.
The episodes of the second series of The Chaser's War on Everything were the most popular downloaded vodcasts in 2007. Almost nine million vodcasts were downloaded, more than half of the ABC's online vodcasts served in the year.
Season one of The War on Everything is now also available for purchase and download from the iTunes Store
in Australia and is one of the first TV shows the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
added to iTunes.
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The following segments were introduced in Season Two.
The following segments were introduced in Season Two.
The following segments were introduced in Season Two.
Traditional segments were incredibly rare in episodes of the third season, with no 'What Have We Learnt from Current Affairs This Week?' or 'Ad Road Test' segments, despite them being the most popular. An online blog written by the Chaser said they wanted to try new things and they thought they would just be repeating themselves.
, A Current Affair and some talkback radio stations for displaying stunts and sketches that they claim are dangerous, unfunny, cruel, offensive and tasteless. Many of the pieces below have had significant news coverage and been the subject of debates and opinion pieces.
Julian Morrow's novelty cheque
On 8 February 2006, before the first episode of the show had screened, Morrow approached Australian Wheat Board executive Charles Stott with a fake novelty cheque made out to Saddam Hussein
and asked Stott to sign it. Stott's lawyer said his client felt intimidated by the stunt and the footage of it was not shown in the first episode as scheduled due to "legal reasons". In the first episode to go to air, Morrow responded by raising the point that Stott has done business with Saddam Hussein, a brutal dictator, yet he is intimidated by a novelty cheque. The footage of this stunt does appear as a bonus on the show's first DVD.
Chris Taylor on Sunrise
On the ninth episode of the show, Taylor announced that he planned to break-up with his partner of seven years, but he did not want to ask her "the usual boring way", but do "something special, something she'll remember". The segment shows several of Taylor's attempts to "pop the question", including hanging a sign over a freeway and "proposing" on a big screen at an outdoor festival. For the finale, Taylor introduces the interview of him on the morning television program Sunrise
. In the interview, Taylor asks the host if he can send a quick message to his partner, he then proceeds and says "Jo, get the fuck out of my life. And if you don't get this fucking message right now, you never will." This finale from the segment was leaked onto the internet without the break-up plan and has been widely distributed by email. Many viewers believed the segment was actually real but Taylor admitted on national radio station Triple J
that it was set up. It was actually filmed after Sunrise went to air, with Channel Seven
editing on screen graphics for realism. The hosts of Sunrise admitted it was a set up. However, they did not know what Taylor was going to say because he only asked if he could do a bit for the show.
Chas Licciardello's Bulldogs incident
On 14 July 2006, Licciardello was charged with offensive conduct after attempting to sell fake Canterbury Bulldogs
merchandise outside an NRL
game. The merchandise included plastic knuckledusters and balaclavas in the Bulldogs' colours, and was supposed to satirise the anti-social and hooligan behaviour of some Bulldogs fans. Several Bulldogs fans took offence and as a result he was charged for offensive behaviour. On the broadcast following his arrest, Licciardello appeared onstage in handcuffs and within an iron cage. On that same episode, he apologised for his actions, claiming to understand why the Bulldogs fans were offended: because Canterbury Bulldogs fans much prefer to use their fists. This statement was accompanied by footage of Bulldog's supporters assaulting opposing team supporters during a match. After appearing in court with Morrow, Licciardello pleaded not guilty and the matter was adjourned. On 23 January 2007, Licciardello was found not guilty of the offensive behaviour charge. He was interviewed after the case draped in an Australian flag, and said he would appeal "to the Supreme Court
, to the High Court
, to the UN, to the Jedi Council
and the Snickometer
." After being reminded he had won, he said "I didn't actually prepare any material for the off-chance that we won."
Craig Reucassel's axe stunt
On 2 August 2006, Reucassel responded to a news story about a private school student who had hugged former Prime Minister John Howard
while holding a screwdriver
during one of the PM's morning walks. To test the Prime Minister's security arrangements, he approached John Howard during a morning walk and asked for a hug while holding a large plastic battle axe
. Reucassel did receive the hug, but a later approach while holding a running chainsaw
was not so successful. Cut out from this segment was an unsuccessful attempt that took place between the axe and the chainsaw, in which Reucassel was holding a four-point-star mace.
Julian Morrow's ticket prank
On 16 August 2006, Morrow purchased two airline tickets on the airline Virgin Blue under the names "Al Kyder
" and "Terry Wrist", checked in using the automated check-in at Sydney Airport
, and then did not show up for boarding, so that the names would be read out in a final boarding call over the public address system. The prank was acknowledged by Virgin Blue who criticised the use of taxpayer dollars in the "childish humour".
Craig Reucassel's speedos
On 19 March 2007, during a campaign appearance for the New South Wales State Election, the then opposition leader
Peter Debnam
was confronted by Reucassel wearing nothing but Speedos and a baseball cap, making fun of Debnam's campaign appearances in the swimwear. When TV cameras remained focused on Reucassel rather than Mr Debnam, he said, "Sorry, I'm not Peter Debnam, he's over there. Just because I'm wearing this doesn't mean I'm Peter Debnam". Reucassel stuck around for the press conference but failed to draw a response from the opposition leader, and was again ignored when he went to shake Mr Debnam's hand.
YouTube video removals
In 2007, a 15-year-old Australian boy managed to get YouTube to delete over 200 YouTube videos belonging to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation using a fake DMCA take down notice. When the fake DMCA notice arrived, the ABC already had in place a long-standing deal with YouTube to freely share its videos. In his hand-written letter, the boy claimed that he was acting on behalf of the "Australian Broddcasting [sic] Corperation [sic]", giving his own Hotmail address as his business contact and demanded that hundreds of videos from ABC's The Chaser's War on Everything television program be deleted from YouTube's servers. YouTube deleted all of the videos at the boy's request despite his not having any affiliation with the ABC and the spelling errors on his hand-written form, and was replaced with a message stating "This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Australian Broadcasting Corporation". The boy was subsequently referenced on the program, when, upon closing, Hansen said, "If you're quick, why not watch some highlight clips on YouTube, before some fifteen year old kid deletes them all".
APEC prank and arrest
During the APEC Leaders Summit
in Sydney, on 6 September 2007, Morrow and Licciardello along with nine other production crew members were arrested after they drove a fake Canadian motorcade
down Macquarie Street
and successfully breached the APEC restricted zone. Police only realised that the motorcade was a hoax when Licciardello, dressed as Osama bin Laden
, stepped out of the car replete with bonnet-mounted Canadian flag and complained in-character about not being invited.
Licciardello, Morrow and the nine crew members were immediately detained by the NSW Police, questioned and charged with entering a restricted area without special justification under the APEC Meeting (Police Powers) Act 2007. All were released on bail to appear in court on 4 October 2007; and subsequently ABC lawyers requested for all matters to be adjourned until 5 December 2007. If they were found guilty they could have faced a maximum penalty of 6 months imprisonment, or up to 2 years if they were in possession of a "prohibited item". NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione
stated that the Chaser stars risked being targeted by snipers during the prank.
The stunt was planned and approved by ABC lawyers under the assumption that the motorcade would be stopped and discovered at the first security checkpoint. However, they managed to pass through two police security checkpoints, using a fake convoy of hired limousines. According to Licciardello, he "never intended to get that far" but played along with it to make their stunt better. The footage of the prank, which was seized by the police, was returned to the ABC and featured in their next episode the following week.
Despite condemnations by various public officials, the Sydney correspondent to the BBC reported that the Chaser team had become 'folk heroes' following the stunt. Indeed, Alexander Downer
, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, appeared amused when asked to comment.
Later on 7 September 2007, three members of the Chaser and their film crew were questioned and released over a follow-up stunt involving running near the protected APEC zone dressed in cardboard cars topped with Canadian flags. The following Chaser episode ended up giving The Chaser's War on Everything their highest ever ratings for an episode with 2.245 million viewers tuning in across Australia.
On 28 April 2008, the charges against all eleven members were dropped by the New South Wales Director of Public Prosecutions (DOPP) as it was considered that the police gave "tacit" permission for the group to enter the restricted zone by failing to identify the fake security badges. The ABC welcomed the dropping of the charges, with Morrow saying "I think it's just great that justice hasn't been done". The police were unapologetic for their actions.
"The Eulogy Song"
On 17 October 2007 episode, Hansen sang a song which satirised the lives of several deceased celebrities, including Peter Brock
, Princess Diana, Donald Bradman
, Steve Irwin
, Stan Zemanek
, Jeff Buckley
, John Lennon
, and Kerry Packer
, expressing the view that people with flaws during life are often disproportionately hailed as "top blokes" after death. He also said that Martin Bryant
would look a saint after death. The song, whose lyrics were written by Chris Taylor, became the target of significant media attention, with several radio and television personalities saying the song was in "bad taste", and both then Prime Minister John Howard
and then opposition leader Kevin Rudd
expressing negative views. A few days later, the team approached John Howard on his morning walk, dressed as rabbits, and sparked a reaction from the Prime Minister, with him saying: "You blokes are a lot funnier when you pick on someone who's alive".
A number of news programs reported that the ABC's switchboard was jammed with calls from "disgusted viewers" immediately following the show. It was later revealed that only six calls had been made that night about the show, three of them in a positive light. Although a number of complaints were received the next day the ABC alleged that a large number were listeners of a Melbourne radio show, and that when asked many said they hadn't seen the show. In response some shows such as Today Tonight claimed many more complaints would follow.
In response to the attention, Taylor defended his song, stating that it was a legitimate skit and that although the song mentioned recently deceased breast cancer victim Belinda Emmett
, the rest of the cast pretending to cut off Hansen before he completed his verse was "making a joke about the inappropriateness of making a joke about Belinda Emmett." He also revealed it was a "watered down" version of the song which was previously performed twice on stage in his musical Dead Caesar.
Seven Network
Injunction
On 14 November 2007, The Chaser made an attempt to poke fun at Today Tonight and the way that they re-enact procedures and events which they base their stories on. As they had done several times before, they infiltrated the Seven Network's news headquarters at Martin Place and requested for the Today Tonight presenter Anna Coren
, where they came dressed as pretend cameos for the re-enactment segments. However, within the headquarters, they were confronted by the staff of the building for alleged trespassing. Both Today Tonight and their rival A Current Affair broadcast reports of the stunt, the Today Tonight broadcast claiming that they had finally caught the Chaser red-handed. However, A Current Affair did a relatively lighter report on the incident, seeming to take side with the Chaser. Channel Seven got an injunction to stop The Chaser showing the segment; however, The Chaser planned on challenging the injunction. In place of their planned stunt, they shot a "hasty and dubious" reenactment of it.
Channel 7 boss David Leckie
exclaimed in an outburst at waiting photographers outside Channel 7's offices that The Chaser were "...nothing but a bunch of tossers, they're fucking wankers". Morrow responded, "I interpret those comments as David making overtures to us. Calling us wankers and tossers must mean he wants [to hire] us."
'Make a Realistic Wish Foundation' skit
On 3 June 2009 episode, Taylor and Hansen were involved in a skit which was set in a terminally ill children's ward of a hospital, which centered around a spokesman (Taylor) portraying himself along with a doctor (Hansen), from the fictional 'Make a Realistic Wish Foundation' (a spoof
of the Make-a-Wish Foundation
). The premise of the skit was that if the terminally ill children are only going to live for a few more months before passing away, it is not worth spending money on lavish gifts for them. The one minute long sketch featured Taylor giving one girl a pencil case instead of a trip to Disneyland. Then along the same lines, Hansen gave another girl a stick instead of a meeting with Zac Efron
. The skit concluded with Taylor stating "Why go to any trouble, when they're only gonna die anyway".
The publicised reaction to the sketch the next day from the general public and media commentators was almost universally negative. Among widespread reported disapproval from the public, especially from the families that the Make-a-Wish Foundation has helped, Prime Minister
Kevin Rudd
stated that The Chaser team "should hang their heads in shame". He went on to say that "I didn't see that but it's been described to me....But having a go at kids with a terminal illness is really beyond the pale, absolutely beyond the pale." That morning, the Chaser team along with the ABC managing director Mark Scott apologised for airing the skit, with Scott stating that "We have unreservedly apologised for airing that skit,...It's very clear today from the reaction that it's caused considerable offence and distress, particularly to parents of children that are seriously ill....I've spoken to Julian Morrow from The Chaser and my understanding is that certainly wasn't the intention of the script, but that's the consequences of it." The ABC will now change their procedures for reviewing episode content which gets broadcast. Scott continued, "We're going to look at those processes ... I mean we all know that The Chaser push the edges and it's a tightrope that we walk, and I suppose there are many, many skits that they've put to air that have offended someone along the way – that's part of the nature of the satirical and black comedy that they do," The full episode was initially available for downloading or online viewing from the official website but was taken down while the skit was edited out of the episode, the edited version was then made available for download. The skit has also been cut from any further television airings and DVD releases. The ABC suspended The Chaser's War on Everything for two weeks. This was relayed via a message by The Chaser on their website, who stated that whilst they disagree with the decision to suspend the show, they apologise for making the skit, acknowledging that it went too far. When the show returned two weeks later, the controversy was referenced by the show being introduced as "The Chaser's Waste of Taxpayers' money", a reference to the fact that the show is on the Government funded ABC channel.
's Today Tonight
and Channel 9
's A Current Affair, have run pieces critical of The Chaser team. A Current Affair ran segments covering rumours of the program moving to a commercial network, and the use of Osama bin Laden for humour, highlighting dangerous stunts and overstepping the mark.
Today Tonight ran segments demonstrating contrivances in Chaser's stunts and criticising their breakthrough of APEC's security. However, when Today Tonight asked if they could follow The Chaser team on one of their stunts, The Chaser agreed. The Chaser chose a stunt that would embarrass the Channel 7 television program. They did so by having a "Meakin Booze Bus"; in reference to Channel 7 boss Peter Meakin
, who had recently been convicted of driving whilst under the influence of alcohol. In the shoot, The Chaser members kept bringing up the topic of Peter Meakin to reporter James Thomas. It was revealed later that The Chaser did eventually answer enough of Thomas’ questions so that Today Tonight received what they wanted, but Today Tonight did not end up running that footage. Channel 7 broadcast scenes that they judged made the Chaser crew look arrogant, although it was stated in The Chaser's season 2 DVD commentary that James Thomas later called The Chaser team and apologised for the way Today Tonight depicted them in the report.
Channel 7
began airing repeats of The Chaser in September 2011.
(AFI) Award for 'Best Television Comedy Series' and Hansen won an AFI Award for 'Best Performance in a Television Comedy.' Hansen also won the APRA / AGSC award for 'Best Television Theme' for his original theme on The Chaser's War on Everything.
In May 2007, the program was nominated for the TV Week
Logie
award "Most Outstanding Comedy Program" for the 2006 series. The show was nominated for the 2007 AFI award in the category of 'Best Television Comedy Series' for the 2007 series. In late February 2008, the show was nominated for the Rose D'Or
international television award for Comedy.
In June 2008, The Chaser received the Atheist Foundation of Australia
's Tom Paine Award for "Exemplary service to humanity", and "...outstanding promotion of ideals conducive to human contentment and survivability".
In 2010, the program was nominated for the TV Week
Logie
award "Most Outstanding Light Entertainment Program" for the 2009 series.
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
comedy series broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
(ABC) television station 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...
. It has won an AFI Award
Australian Film Institute Awards
The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award, known as the AACTA Award , is an accolade presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts . The awards recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry and television industry, including directors,...
. The cast perform sketches mocking social and political issues, and often feature comedic publicity stunts. The series is produced by the Australian satirical group, The Chaser
The Chaser
The Chaser are an Australian satirical comedian group, known for their television programmes on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation channel. The group take their name from their production of satirical newspaper, a publication known to challenge conventions of taste...
, consisting of Chris Taylor
Chris Taylor (comedian)
Christopher Thornton "Chris" Taylor is an Australian comedian, writer and former radio host from Sydney. As a member of The Chaser, he is best known for co-writing and appearing on satirical ABC Television shows CNNNN and The Chaser's War on Everything...
, Julian Morrow
Julian Morrow
Julian Francis Xavier Morrow is an Australian comedian and television producer from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He is best known for being a member of the satirical team The Chaser...
, Craig Reucassel
Craig Reucassel
Craig Bruce Reucassel is a television and radio comedian from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He is best known for being a member of satirical team The Chaser...
, Andrew Hansen
Andrew Hansen
Andrew John Hansen is an Australian comedian and musician, best known for being a member of satirical team The Chaser...
, and Chas Licciardello
Chas Licciardello
Chas John Licciardello is a comedian from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, best known for being a member of satirical team The Chaser...
. Fellow Chaser members Dominic Knight
Dominic Knight
Dominic Sebastian Knight is an Australian comedy writer, best known as a member of the Australian political satire comedy group The Chaser, as well as being an independent writer and former blogger for the Sydney Morning Herald...
and Charles Firth are not part of the regular on-screen cast. However, Knight is a writer, and Firth compiled roving reports for the show from the United States, until he left the group to start a satirical newspaper in mid-2007.
The show premiered on 17 February 2006 and has since produced 58 episodes, broadcast over three seasons between 2006 to 2007 as well as during 2009. The first season was broadcast at an unstable late timeslot on Friday nights. The second and third seasons were broadcast in a more favourable timeslot of Wednesdays at . The show did not return in 2008, but returned on 27 May 2009 for the third season featuring only ten episodes. Following the controversy of the "Make a Realistic Wish Foundation" sketch, the third season was reduced to 8 episodes, being suspended for 2 weeks.
The stunts displayed on the show have often been controversial. For example, on 14 July 2006, Licciardello was charged (being later acquitted) after selling fake knives to Bulldogs fans outside one of their rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
games. Licciardello was again arrested, alongside Morrow and nine crew members, on 6 September 2007 after breaching security
The Chaser APEC pranks
The Chaser APEC pranks were a series of comic stunts that targeted the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders Summit , in Sydney, Australia. They were coordinated and performed by the Australian satire group The Chaser for the television series The Chaser's War on Everything...
at the 2007 APEC summit
APEC Australia 2007
APEC Australia 2007 was a series of political meetings held around Australia between the 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation during 2007...
.
The last episode of the series was aired on 29 July 2009, and rated an average national audience of 1.45 million.
Origins
The Chaser
The Chaser are an Australian satirical comedian group, known for their television programmes on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation channel. The group take their name from their production of satirical newspaper, a publication known to challenge conventions of taste...
was formed by Dominic Knight
Dominic Knight
Dominic Sebastian Knight is an Australian comedy writer, best known as a member of the Australian political satire comedy group The Chaser, as well as being an independent writer and former blogger for the Sydney Morning Herald...
, Charles Firth, Craig Reucassel
Craig Reucassel
Craig Bruce Reucassel is a television and radio comedian from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He is best known for being a member of satirical team The Chaser...
, and Julian Morrow
Julian Morrow
Julian Francis Xavier Morrow is an Australian comedian and television producer from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He is best known for being a member of the satirical team The Chaser...
, and in 1999 ran a fortnightly newspaper entitled The Chaser
The Chaser (newspaper)
The Chaser was a newspaper, published in Australia by political satire group The Chaser from 1999 to 2005.The newspaper, first published on 9 May 1999, was The Chaser team's most famous enterprise. Among other things, they have published Australian Prime Minister John Howard's private, unlisted...
. The group later added Chas Licciardello
Chas Licciardello
Chas John Licciardello is a comedian from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, best known for being a member of satirical team The Chaser...
, Andrew Hansen
Andrew Hansen
Andrew John Hansen is an Australian comedian and musician, best known for being a member of satirical team The Chaser...
, and Chris Taylor
Chris Taylor (comedian)
Christopher Thornton "Chris" Taylor is an Australian comedian, writer and former radio host from Sydney. As a member of The Chaser, he is best known for co-writing and appearing on satirical ABC Television shows CNNNN and The Chaser's War on Everything...
, to assist with its publication. Through the help of Andrew Denton
Andrew Denton
Andrew Christopher Denton is an Australian television producer, comedian, Gold Logie-nominated television presenter and former radio host, and was the host of the ABC's weekly television interview program Enough Rope. He is known for his comedy and interviewing technique...
, the Chaser team produced various shows for the ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
: most notably CNNNN. In 2005, The Chaser began filming a pilot for a new television series for the ABC, with the working title The Age of Terror Variety Hour. The Chaser team signed a contract with the ABC to produce 27 half-hour episodes for 2006, which would be based on news reviews, studio monologues and confrontations with politicians, celebrities, and business leaders. The show was to be presented by Morrow, Hansen, Reucassel, Taylor and Licciardello.
The ABC rejected the name The Age of Terror Variety Hour and other names including Thank Allah It's Friday. ABC did accept The Chaser is Right, although it was later rejected by Morrow, while the title Hey Hey, it's the Chaser was rejected after a pilot under that name was filmed in 2005. They eventually selected The Chaser's War on Everything as the title. The show was to be performed in front of a live audience, in a more relaxed format than CNNNN and other Chaser television productions.
Broadcast
The first season of The Chaser's War on Everything premiered on 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...
on 17 February 2006 at . The series aired late on Friday evenings where it developed a cult following, getting an average national audience of between 591,000 and 821,000 viewers each episode. The show broadcast two 'best of' shows in the mid year. The last episode of the 2006 season was broadcast on 8 September 2006.
Due to its popularity, The Chaser's War on Everythings timeslot changed to Wednesday for the 2007 season. In the lead-up to the second season, The Chaser team produced a live webcast
Webcast
A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand...
of people counting down to the first episode of the season. New segments had been developed and the opening sequence was reworked. After the move to prime time the ratings increased to almost 1.5 million viewers each week. This was despite direct competition with well-rated programs on commercial networks. The Chaser finished their 24th and final episode of the show for the 2007 season on 14 November 2007. They then produced The Chaser Decides
The Chaser Decides
The Chaser Decides is a Logie Award-winning Australian political satire based comedy program produced by The Chaser. The show provides commentary on Australian federal elections and has been broadcast in 2001, 2004 and 2007 on ABC TV...
for the remaining two episodes of the 26-episode production, based on the Australian federal election.
After the controversial APEC motorcade stunt, the show's profile was greatly increased and international broadcasts expanded. Countries which broadcast the show include Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, South Korea, and Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. Twenty other countries are already in negotiations with 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...
to transmit the series including Canada, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Japan, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Spain, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, and the United States. The show may be re-edited to eliminate references to Australian politics which are irrelevant or confusing to overseas audiences.
After the last episode of The Chaser Decides, The Chaser ruled out doing any television productions in the first half of 2008. This included The Chaser's War on Everything, with the group opting to do a stage production of their antics around Australia, called The Chaser's Age of Terror Variety Hour.
Cable network
A cable channel is a television channel available via cable television. Such channels are usually also available via satellite television, including direct broadcast satellite providers such as DirecTV, Dish Network and BSkyB...
G4 acquired the rights to the program in the United States, and premiered 28 January 2009 at 9PM ET. The show will then be transmitted every Wednesday night at 11PM ET within their international block of programming called Duty Free TV. Ads of the program have capitalised on its controversial nature in Australia, with the tagline "Do you know what it takes to be controversial in Australia?"
Similarly in the UK, BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
are airing six compilation episodes, taking sketches and highlights from the first two series from 23 June 2009.
A third season of The Chaser's War on Everything began airing on 27 May 2009, returning to its timeslot of Wednesday at 9:00pm 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...
. The third series consists of only 10 episodes and is the final series of the program.
The final episode was broadcast 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...
on 29 July 2009.
DVD release
The first 13 episodes of the first season were released on DVD on 17 August 2006. The release included commentary by The Chaser and the show's crew. Bonus features and unaired scenes were also included.The second DVD for the first season contained the latter thirteen episodes. It was in the same format of the first DVD, containing commentary and unaired scenes, and was released on 1 November 2006. The first thirteen episodes of the second season were released on DVD on 14 August 2007, with similar features to the two prior releases.
The second DVD set for the later half of the second season was released on 7 August 2008. It contains similar features to the previous DVD releases.
The third and last season was released on DVD on 5 November 2009.
Vodcast
On 27 July 2006, the ABC announced that entire episodes of The Chaser's War on Everything, along with jtv, would be made available for download via a vodcasting system. Just 45 days after appearing on the Australian iTunesITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
podcasting directory, the show took the number one position. The last four episodes of the first season averaged approximately 175,000 viewers of the vodcast, and 25,000 downloads, which ABC stated was a success.
The episodes of the second series of The Chaser's War on Everything were the most popular downloaded vodcasts in 2007. Almost nine million vodcasts were downloaded, more than half of the ABC's online vodcasts served in the year.
Season one of The War on Everything is now also available for purchase and download from the 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...
in Australia and is one of the first TV shows the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
added to iTunes.
Show format
- Credits – The opening credits show the five starring members of the show, but through that there are images of notable politicians and celebrities which are targeted in the titles. The titles are always the same except for two changeable titles, which targets persons in recent events. The closing credits simply read all the cast and crew of the show, though commonly a video is played over half the credits, which is explained in the Conclusion. The closing credits are a frequent (if bizarre) source of humour. For example Andrew Hansen once sang a song during the credits about how the credits are always played over his song. Another time the credits were shown in UkrainianUkrainian languageUkrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
. On one episode the credits of the show were replaced with the credits of The New InventorsThe New InventorsThe New Inventors is an Australian television show, broadcast on ABC1, and hosted by broadcaster and comedian James O'Loghlin. Each episode features three Australian inventions and short video tape packages...
. In another episode from Season 3, Chas LicciardelloChas LicciardelloChas John Licciardello is a comedian from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, best known for being a member of satirical team The Chaser...
, who in a sketch had changed his name to Gvhftr Kijl, was credited as such in the closing credits for that episode, and in the opening credits of the following episode.
- Introduction – Each episode begins with Reucassel and Taylor opening the show. The pair discuss the major recent events, present their opinions, and often show a pre-produced stunt or sketch.
- Andrew Hansen's hair – Each episode starting from the last episode of season 1, member Andrew Hansen changes his hair weekly for the show (e.g Mohawks, coloured hair and at one instance, a small clock)
- Name changes – During season 2, the credits of names as displayed during the program have been replaced in various manners. Normally they were changed to people in recent events or a simple addition to the name. Examples included "Julian binArabic nameLong ago, Arabic names were based on a long naming system; most Arabs did not simply have given/middle/family names, but a full chain of names. This system was in use throughout the Arab world. Today however, Arabic names are similar in structure to those of Modern and Western names...
Morrow" and "Posh ChaserSpice GirlsThe Spice Girls were a British pop girl group formed in 1994. The group consisted of Victoria Beckham , Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell. They were signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe" in 1996, which hit number-one in more than 30...
" and even the translation of the boys names in Arabic .
- Dialogues – In almost every episode, the Chaser members discuss a various recent event or generalised stunt. Most of these dialogues lead to a pre-produced stunt, ad or trailer. Most of this material doesn't fall into one of the various Segments, where most of their recurring material is shown. In the first season, Monologues were also common.
- Old Woman – As a running gag during Season 3, a photo of an old woman with a trolley would appear during sketches. Originally appeared during a stunt during Season 2, during an Ad Road Test for Riva Coffee, the footage subsequently placed occasionally in segments during Season 3. However, after the final episode was broadcast, she came in contact with The Chaser and requested her image be removed from future broadcasts. Images of Dom Knight now appear as such in the DVD of Season 3.
- Dear ABC – This segment began in the third season. After one of the sketches, Andrew Hansen, dressed as his persona Philip Harley, writes an angry letter to the ABC with a typewriter. The letter always begins with the phrase "Dear ABC", followed by a complaint about the latest sketch. Harley then presents his (usually biased) opinion, and concludes with "What a waste of taxpayer's money! Philip Harley, Adelaide." Harley appeared four times in episode 5 – the highest to date.
- Conclusion – To end each episode the whole team gathers together, with one of the group members saying the closing joke.
Primary segments
The primary segments form the backbone of the show. These segments normally focus on key issues in a range of topics. They are generally presented by the cast members, live in front of the audience, and may be accompanied with pre-produced stunts and sketches relating to the topics.- "What Have We Learned from Current Affairs This Week?" – Presented by Hansen and Licciardello, the segment pokes fun at the sensationalism used in competing weeknight current affairsCurrent affairs (news format)Current Affairs is a genre of broadcast journalism where the emphasis is on detailed analysis and discussion of news stories that have recently occurred or are ongoing at the time of broadcast....
programs Today TonightToday TonightToday Tonight is a controversial Australian News and Current Affairs program, produced by the Seven Network and shown weeknightly at in direct competition with rival Nine Network program A Current Affair....
and A Current Affair. All segments feature a lesson on their reporting techniques, such as how to spot "dodgy" guys and how to identify the different types of "experts". Both shows are regularly criticised for their tendency to come to fast and inaccurate conclusions.
- "Firth in the USA" – Firth, now living in the United States, performs a stunt or conducts an interview, with obvious references to USA culture. Stunt examples include meeting Hillary Clinton to offer his services as her presidential internInternInternship is a system of onthejob training for white-collar jobs, similar to an apprenticeship. Interns are usually college or university students, but they can also be high school students or post graduate adults seeking skills for a new career. They may also be as young as middle school or in...
; a satire of the Lewinsky scandalLewinsky scandalThe Lewinsky scandal was a political sex scandal emerging in 1998 from a sexual relationship between United States President Bill Clinton and a 25-year-old White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. The news of this extra-marital affair and the resulting investigation eventually led to the impeachment of...
.
- "The Ad Road-Test" – The team recreate situations shown in television advertisements to see if they would work in real life. Examples include whether male cheerleaders can convince a random person to stop smoking.
- "In Other News ..." – A former segment, presented by Morrow and Reucassel, which focused on current news stories and events, and sometimes showed a pre-produced stunt related to the news item. This was the only segment to appear in every episode of Season One.
The following segments were introduced in Season Two.
- "The Fixers" – Seeming to replace "In Other News ...", Morrow and Reucassel examine problems in the community, and present their idea for a fix. This is usually accompanied by a pre-produced item.
Supporting segments
The supporting segments are usually pre-produced stunts and sketches, supplementing the primary segments of the show. They are generally much shorter in length.- "Surprise Spruiker" – Hansen plays a shop "spruiker" who attempts to help various institutions having trouble selling a particular item or idea. The stunt usually concludes when he is ordered by security guards to switch off his speakers.
- "Scenes from the Life of the Crazy Warehouse Guy" – Hansen plays a stereotypical announcer from a warehouseWarehouseA warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns. They usually have loading docks to load and unload...
television advertisement uses his unique speaking style in everyday situations, such as ordering McDonald'sMcDonald'sMcDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
. Hansen originally performed the character that would become the Crazy Warehouse Guy in parodies of frantic rug warehouse commercials.
- "Pursuit Trivia" – Morrow tests the general knowledge of a politician or celebrity by asking a Trivial PursuitTrivial PursuitTrivial Pursuit is a board game in which progress is determined by a player's ability to answer general knowledge and popular culture questions. The game was created in 1979 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, by Canadian Chris Haney, a photo editor for Montreal's The Gazette and Scott Abbott, a sports...
question from a game card in his hand at an interviewInterviewAn interview is a conversation between two people where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from the interviewee.- Interview as a Method for Qualitative Research:"Definition" -...
or press conference. Prominent in the first season though not in the second.
- "Mr Ten Questions" – Hansen poses as a journalist at a press conference and, when prompted, proceeds to ask ten questions without letting the interviewee speak until he has read out all ten. Questions can relate to the subject or be completely obscure.
- "A Message From Osama Bin Laden" / Subtitles – An existing video of the infamous terrorist Osama Bin LadenOsama bin LadenOsama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
is subbed with incorrect and humorous subtitlesSubtitle (captioning)Subtitles are textual versions of the dialog in films and television programs, usually displayed at the bottom of the screen. They can either be a form of written translation of a dialog in a foreign language, or a written rendering of the dialog in the same language, with or without added...
, often declaring a JihadJihadJihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...
on various people for arbitrary irritations. Videos of Saddam HusseinSaddam HusseinSaddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
, Abu Bakar BashirAbu Bakar BashirAbu Bakar Bashir Abu Bakar Bashir Abu Bakar Bashir (also Abubakar Ba'asyir, Abdus Somad, and Ustad Abu ("Teacher Abu"), born 17 August 1938, is an Indonesian Muslim cleric and leader of the Indonesian Mujahedeen Council (MMI)....
and Kevin Rudd (ChineseStandard MandarinStandard Chinese or Modern Standard Chinese, also known as Mandarin or Putonghua, is the official language of the People's Republic of China and Republic of China , and is one of the four official languages of Singapore....
speech) have also been used in a similar manner, but not as common.
- "Citizens' Infringement Officer" – Morrow pretends to be an officer and hands out fake fines to people for absurd reasons; such as "wanker" number platesVehicle registration plateA vehicle registration plate is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identification purposes. The registration identifier is a numeric or alphanumeric code that uniquely identifies the vehicle within the issuing region's database...
, "low-strung pants", parking inspectors being annoying due to giving out fines themselves, inappropriate babies' names, and wearing clothes (including hats and shoes) at nude beaches.
The following segments were introduced in Season Two.
- "If Life Were A Musical" – Members of the cast go to the public, targeting a specific person in an everyday life scenario, and behave as though they are in a BroadwayBroadway theatreBroadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
-esque musical. The segment is referred to as a "Taylor Hansen Morrow" production, a spoof of Metro-Goldwyn-MayerMetro-Goldwyn-MayerMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
.
- "Clive The Slightly-Too-Loud Commuter" – Hansen plays Clive, a man who travels on public transportPublic transportPublic transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
and talks loudly on his mobile phoneMobile phoneA mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
about very personal or taboo issues.
Occasional segments
These segments support the show, however do not feature prominently.- "What Have We Learnt From History?" – In this segment Hansen, Taylor and Reucassel test whether people today have learnt a lesson from events in the past; for example the Trojan HorseTrojan HorseThe Trojan Horse is a tale from the Trojan War about the stratagem that allowed the Greeks finally to enter the city of Troy and end the conflict. In the canonical version, after a fruitless 10-year siege, the Greeks constructed a huge wooden horse, and hid a select force of men inside...
.
- "Famous Face Off" – A former segment, presented by Hansen, in which two "masters" in a particular field competed to be the best in an endeavour such as tongue-twisting newsreading or sportscasting.
- "The 2:30 Report" – A former segment, presented by Licciardello and Morrow, which reviewed the worst of late-night television, including late night game shows such as QuizmaniaQuizmania (Australia)Quizmania was an Australian phone-in quiz show, based on the British program of the same name, and broadcast on the Nine Network in the late night time slot . The show was produced from Nine's Richmond studios in Melbourne. Its main Director was Rick Maslan.Quizmania was first broadcast on GTV-9,...
and early morning Christian programmes.
The following segments were introduced in Season Two.
- "The News According To Fox" – Licciardello and Hansen criticise the bias of the popular American Fox News ChannelFox News ChannelFox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
.
- "What You Missed on Cable" – Presented by Licciardello and Morrow, this segment highlights the oddities on pay television programs, and occasionally compares them to the bland programming on ABC1ABC1ABC1 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...
. Licciardello and Morrow pointed out that it was intended to replace the 2:30 Report segment from Season One.
- "Anna Coren's Segue/Meaningless Gibberish of the Week" – Integrated into "What Have We Learnt from Current Affairs This Week?", this segment looks at either CorenAnna CorenAnna Coren is an Australian journalist who is a reporter and a presenter for CNN International, based in Hong Kong, where she anchors the 1 a.m. CET/7 a.m. HKT and the 6 a.m. CET/12 p.m. HKT editions of World Report...
's extremely complicated transitions between unrelated stories, or the strange and meaningless introductions she says on Today Tonight.
- "Nut Job of the Week" – Licciardello and Taylor take a look at the "special people in our society"; people who have "alternative views". For example, The Secret's theory on how to acquire your deepest desires by the Law of Attraction was examined.
- "Open Mic" – A segment, derived from a stunt from the first half of the second series, where Morrow goes to various businesses and uses their Public Address SystemsPublic addressA public address system is an electronic amplification system with a mixer, amplifier and loudspeakers, used to reinforce a sound source, e.g., a person giving a speech, a DJ playing prerecorded music, and distributing the sound throughout a venue or building.Simple PA systems are often used in...
to make humorous community announcements or random statements.
- "Election Watch" – Licciardello and Taylor observe a certain topic in relation to the federal election. This segment was only seen in the weeks leading up to the 2007 federal election and often made reference to subjects not related to the election.
- "Middle east TV" – Licciardello and Taylor take a look at Middle Eastern T.V. This Segment only appeared in season 3.
Traditional segments were incredibly rare in episodes of the third season, with no 'What Have We Learnt from Current Affairs This Week?' or 'Ad Road Test' segments, despite them being the most popular. An online blog written by the Chaser said they wanted to try new things and they thought they would just be repeating themselves.
Recurring material
- Stunts – A staple of the show, stunts can vary from confronting celebrities or politicians to testing staff reactions in shops and department stores. The stunts must be approved by the ABC Legal Department, to prevent breach of the law. In the 2007 DVD of the first half of the season, it is stated that the basic formula for the stunts is "go in, get our footage and get kicked out".
- Sketches – These include fake ads, longer mockumentaries or traditional comedy sketches.
- Songs – Hansen, or sometimes other members, perform songs with a humorous theme. The songs are usually written by Taylor and Hansen.
- Television Advertisements – Throughout the series the team create satirical television advertisements, which either advertise a false item or mock existing ads.
- Movie Trailers – The team creates parody trailers for existing movies or new movie ideas.
- Vox Pop – One of the team members conduct vox pops with people on the street asking for their opinions.
Controversies and well-known stunts
The Chaser has been regularly criticised by media such as Today TonightToday Tonight
Today Tonight is a controversial Australian News and Current Affairs program, produced by the Seven Network and shown weeknightly at in direct competition with rival Nine Network program A Current Affair....
, A Current Affair and some talkback radio stations for displaying stunts and sketches that they claim are dangerous, unfunny, cruel, offensive and tasteless. Many of the pieces below have had significant news coverage and been the subject of debates and opinion pieces.
Julian Morrow's novelty cheque
On 8 February 2006, before the first episode of the show had screened, Morrow approached Australian Wheat Board executive Charles Stott with a fake novelty cheque made out to Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
and asked Stott to sign it. Stott's lawyer said his client felt intimidated by the stunt and the footage of it was not shown in the first episode as scheduled due to "legal reasons". In the first episode to go to air, Morrow responded by raising the point that Stott has done business with Saddam Hussein, a brutal dictator, yet he is intimidated by a novelty cheque. The footage of this stunt does appear as a bonus on the show's first DVD.
Chris Taylor on Sunrise
Sunrise (TV program)
Sunrise is an Australian breakfast television program, broadcast on the Seven Network. On weekdays the programme follows Seven Early News, and runs from 6am through to 9am.-History:...
. In the interview, Taylor asks the host if he can send a quick message to his partner, he then proceeds and says "Jo, get the fuck out of my life. And if you don't get this fucking message right now, you never will." This finale from the segment was leaked onto the internet without the break-up plan and has been widely distributed by email. Many viewers believed the segment was actually real but Taylor admitted on national radio station Triple J
Triple J
triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
that it was set up. It was actually filmed after Sunrise went to air, with Channel Seven
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
editing on screen graphics for realism. The hosts of Sunrise admitted it was a set up. However, they did not know what Taylor was going to say because he only asked if he could do a bit for the show.
Chas Licciardello's Bulldogs incident
On 14 July 2006, Licciardello was charged with offensive conduct after attempting to sell fake Canterbury Bulldogs
Canterbury Bulldogs
The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the National Rugby League premiership, as well as New South Wales Rugby League junior competitions...
merchandise outside an NRL
National Rugby League
The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...
game. The merchandise included plastic knuckledusters and balaclavas in the Bulldogs' colours, and was supposed to satirise the anti-social and hooligan behaviour of some Bulldogs fans. Several Bulldogs fans took offence and as a result he was charged for offensive behaviour. On the broadcast following his arrest, Licciardello appeared onstage in handcuffs and within an iron cage. On that same episode, he apologised for his actions, claiming to understand why the Bulldogs fans were offended: because Canterbury Bulldogs fans much prefer to use their fists. This statement was accompanied by footage of Bulldog's supporters assaulting opposing team supporters during a match. After appearing in court with Morrow, Licciardello pleaded not guilty and the matter was adjourned. On 23 January 2007, Licciardello was found not guilty of the offensive behaviour charge. He was interviewed after the case draped in an Australian flag, and said he would appeal "to the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of New South Wales
The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian State of New South Wales...
, to the High Court
High Court of Australia
The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...
, to the UN, to the Jedi Council
Jedi Council
The Jedi High Council is a fictional institution from the Star Wars film series. The Jedi Council are the strongest members of the Jedi Order, and are elected to lead the Jedi.-History:...
and the Snickometer
Snickometer
A Snickometer, commonly known as Snicko, is used in televising cricket to graphically analyse sound and video, and show whether a fine noise, or snick, occurs as ball passes bat. It was invented by English computer scientist Allan Plaskett in the mid-1990s...
." After being reminded he had won, he said "I didn't actually prepare any material for the off-chance that we won."
Craig Reucassel's axe stunt
On 2 August 2006, Reucassel responded to a news story about a private school student who had hugged former Prime Minister John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
while holding a screwdriver
Screwdriver
A screwdriver is a tool for driving screws and often rotating other machine elements with the mating drive system. The screwdriver is made up of a head or tip, which engages with a screw, a mechanism to apply torque by rotating the tip, and some way to position and support the screwdriver...
during one of the PM's morning walks. To test the Prime Minister's security arrangements, he approached John Howard during a morning walk and asked for a hug while holding a large plastic battle axe
Battle axe
A battle axe is an axe specifically designed for combat. Battle axes were specialized versions of utility axes...
. Reucassel did receive the hug, but a later approach while holding a running chainsaw
Chainsaw
A chainsaw is a portable mechanical saw, powered by electricity, compressed air, hydraulic power, or most commonly a two-stroke engine...
was not so successful. Cut out from this segment was an unsuccessful attempt that took place between the axe and the chainsaw, in which Reucassel was holding a four-point-star mace.
Julian Morrow's ticket prank
On 16 August 2006, Morrow purchased two airline tickets on the airline Virgin Blue under the names "Al Kyder
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
" and "Terry Wrist", checked in using the automated check-in at Sydney Airport
Sydney Airport
Sydney Airport may refer to:* Sydney Airport, also known as Kingsford Smith International Airport, in Sydney, Australia* Sydney/J.A. Douglas McCurdy Airport, in Nova Scotia, Canada...
, and then did not show up for boarding, so that the names would be read out in a final boarding call over the public address system. The prank was acknowledged by Virgin Blue who criticised the use of taxpayer dollars in the "childish humour".
Craig Reucassel's speedos
On 19 March 2007, during a campaign appearance for the New South Wales State Election, the then opposition leader
Opposition (Australia)
Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition in Australia fulfils the same function as the official opposition in other Commonwealth of Nations monarchies. It is seen as the alternative government and the existing administration's main opponent at a general election...
Peter Debnam
Peter Debnam
Peter John Debnam , is a former Australian politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Vaucluse between 1994 and 2011. Debnam is a former Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister for Western Sydney,...
was confronted by Reucassel wearing nothing but Speedos and a baseball cap, making fun of Debnam's campaign appearances in the swimwear. When TV cameras remained focused on Reucassel rather than Mr Debnam, he said, "Sorry, I'm not Peter Debnam, he's over there. Just because I'm wearing this doesn't mean I'm Peter Debnam". Reucassel stuck around for the press conference but failed to draw a response from the opposition leader, and was again ignored when he went to shake Mr Debnam's hand.
YouTube video removals
In 2007, a 15-year-old Australian boy managed to get YouTube to delete over 200 YouTube videos belonging to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation using a fake DMCA take down notice. When the fake DMCA notice arrived, the ABC already had in place a long-standing deal with YouTube to freely share its videos. In his hand-written letter, the boy claimed that he was acting on behalf of the "Australian Broddcasting [sic] Corperation [sic]", giving his own Hotmail address as his business contact and demanded that hundreds of videos from ABC's The Chaser's War on Everything television program be deleted from YouTube's servers. YouTube deleted all of the videos at the boy's request despite his not having any affiliation with the ABC and the spelling errors on his hand-written form, and was replaced with a message stating "This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Australian Broadcasting Corporation". The boy was subsequently referenced on the program, when, upon closing, Hansen said, "If you're quick, why not watch some highlight clips on YouTube, before some fifteen year old kid deletes them all".
APEC prank and arrest
APEC Australia 2007
APEC Australia 2007 was a series of political meetings held around Australia between the 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation during 2007...
in Sydney, on 6 September 2007, Morrow and Licciardello along with nine other production crew members were arrested after they drove a fake Canadian motorcade
Motorcade
A motorcade is a procession of vehicles. The term motorcade was coined by Lyle Abbot , and is formed after cavalcade on the false notion that "-cade" was a suffix meaning "procession"...
down Macquarie Street
Macquarie Street, Sydney
Macquarie Street is the easternmost street of Sydney's central business district. Macquarie Street extends from Hyde Park at its southern end to the Sydney Opera House at its north.-Description:...
and successfully breached the APEC restricted zone. Police only realised that the motorcade was a hoax when Licciardello, dressed as Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
, stepped out of the car replete with bonnet-mounted Canadian flag and complained in-character about not being invited.
Licciardello, Morrow and the nine crew members were immediately detained by the NSW Police, questioned and charged with entering a restricted area without special justification under the APEC Meeting (Police Powers) Act 2007. All were released on bail to appear in court on 4 October 2007; and subsequently ABC lawyers requested for all matters to be adjourned until 5 December 2007. If they were found guilty they could have faced a maximum penalty of 6 months imprisonment, or up to 2 years if they were in possession of a "prohibited item". NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione
Andrew Scipione
Andrew Phillip Scipione APM is the Commissioner of the New South Wales Police Force in Australia, succeeding Ken Moroney on 31 August 2007.-Personal:...
stated that the Chaser stars risked being targeted by snipers during the prank.
The stunt was planned and approved by ABC lawyers under the assumption that the motorcade would be stopped and discovered at the first security checkpoint. However, they managed to pass through two police security checkpoints, using a fake convoy of hired limousines. According to Licciardello, he "never intended to get that far" but played along with it to make their stunt better. The footage of the prank, which was seized by the police, was returned to the ABC and featured in their next episode the following week.
Despite condemnations by various public officials, the Sydney correspondent to the BBC reported that the Chaser team had become 'folk heroes' following the stunt. Indeed, Alexander Downer
Alexander Downer
Alexander John Gosse Downer is a former Australian Liberal Party politician who was Foreign Minister of Australia from March 1996 to December 2007, the longest-serving in Australian history...
, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, appeared amused when asked to comment.
Later on 7 September 2007, three members of the Chaser and their film crew were questioned and released over a follow-up stunt involving running near the protected APEC zone dressed in cardboard cars topped with Canadian flags. The following Chaser episode ended up giving The Chaser's War on Everything their highest ever ratings for an episode with 2.245 million viewers tuning in across Australia.
On 28 April 2008, the charges against all eleven members were dropped by the New South Wales Director of Public Prosecutions (DOPP) as it was considered that the police gave "tacit" permission for the group to enter the restricted zone by failing to identify the fake security badges. The ABC welcomed the dropping of the charges, with Morrow saying "I think it's just great that justice hasn't been done". The police were unapologetic for their actions.
"The Eulogy Song"
On 17 October 2007 episode, Hansen sang a song which satirised the lives of several deceased celebrities, including Peter Brock
Peter Brock
Peter Geoffrey Brock, AM otherwise known as "Peter Perfect", "The King of the Mountain" or simply as "Brocky" was one of Australia's best-known and most successful motor racing drivers. Brock was most often associated with Holden for almost 40 years, although he raced vehicles of other...
, Princess Diana, Donald Bradman
Donald Bradman
Sir Donald George Bradman, AC , often referred to as "The Don", was an Australian cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time...
, Steve Irwin
Steve Irwin
Stephen Robert "Steve" Irwin , nicknamed "The Crocodile Hunter", was an Australian television personality, wildlife expert, and conservationist. Irwin achieved worldwide fame from the television series The Crocodile Hunter, an internationally broadcast wildlife documentary series which he co-hosted...
, Stan Zemanek
Stan Zemanek
Stan Zemanek was an Australian radio broadcaster who presented a popular night time show on 2UE Sydney and which was networked across parts of Australia via Southern Cross....
, Jeff Buckley
Jeff Buckley
Jeffrey Scott "Jeff" Buckley , raised as Scotty Moorhead, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was the son of Tim Buckley, also a musician...
, John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
, and Kerry Packer
Kerry Packer
Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer, AC was an Australian media tycoon. The son of Sir Frank Packer and Gretel Bullmore, the Packer family company owned controlling interest in both the Nine television network and leading Australian publishing company Australian Consolidated Press, which were later...
, expressing the view that people with flaws during life are often disproportionately hailed as "top blokes" after death. He also said that Martin Bryant
Martin Bryant
Martin Bryant is an Australian who has been convicted of murdering 35 people and injuring 21 others in the Port Arthur massacre, a shooting spree in Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia, in 1996. He is currently serving 35 life sentences plus 1,035 years without parole in the psychiatric wing of...
would look a saint after death. The song, whose lyrics were written by Chris Taylor, became the target of significant media attention, with several radio and television personalities saying the song was in "bad taste", and both then Prime Minister John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
and then opposition leader Kevin Rudd
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...
expressing negative views. A few days later, the team approached John Howard on his morning walk, dressed as rabbits, and sparked a reaction from the Prime Minister, with him saying: "You blokes are a lot funnier when you pick on someone who's alive".
A number of news programs reported that the ABC's switchboard was jammed with calls from "disgusted viewers" immediately following the show. It was later revealed that only six calls had been made that night about the show, three of them in a positive light. Although a number of complaints were received the next day the ABC alleged that a large number were listeners of a Melbourne radio show, and that when asked many said they hadn't seen the show. In response some shows such as Today Tonight claimed many more complaints would follow.
In response to the attention, Taylor defended his song, stating that it was a legitimate skit and that although the song mentioned recently deceased breast cancer victim Belinda Emmett
Belinda Emmett
Belinda 'Belle' Jane Emmett was an Australian actress and singer. She was married to television personality Rove McManus and was known for her roles in the TV drama series Home and Away and All Saints.-Early life:...
, the rest of the cast pretending to cut off Hansen before he completed his verse was "making a joke about the inappropriateness of making a joke about Belinda Emmett." He also revealed it was a "watered down" version of the song which was previously performed twice on stage in his musical Dead Caesar.
Seven Network
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
Injunction
On 14 November 2007, The Chaser made an attempt to poke fun at Today Tonight and the way that they re-enact procedures and events which they base their stories on. As they had done several times before, they infiltrated the Seven Network's news headquarters at Martin Place and requested for the Today Tonight presenter Anna Coren
Anna Coren
Anna Coren is an Australian journalist who is a reporter and a presenter for CNN International, based in Hong Kong, where she anchors the 1 a.m. CET/7 a.m. HKT and the 6 a.m. CET/12 p.m. HKT editions of World Report...
, where they came dressed as pretend cameos for the re-enactment segments. However, within the headquarters, they were confronted by the staff of the building for alleged trespassing. Both Today Tonight and their rival A Current Affair broadcast reports of the stunt, the Today Tonight broadcast claiming that they had finally caught the Chaser red-handed. However, A Current Affair did a relatively lighter report on the incident, seeming to take side with the Chaser. Channel Seven got an injunction to stop The Chaser showing the segment; however, The Chaser planned on challenging the injunction. In place of their planned stunt, they shot a "hasty and dubious" reenactment of it.
Channel 7 boss David Leckie
David Leckie
David John Leckie is the Chief Executive Officer of the Seven Media Group.David Leckie was educated at Newington College and is an Economics graduate of Macquarie University. Prior to his appointment by Kerry Stokes to Seven, he was associated with the Nine Network for 23 years...
exclaimed in an outburst at waiting photographers outside Channel 7's offices that The Chaser were "...nothing but a bunch of tossers, they're fucking wankers". Morrow responded, "I interpret those comments as David making overtures to us. Calling us wankers and tossers must mean he wants [to hire] us."
'Make a Realistic Wish Foundation' skit
On 3 June 2009 episode, Taylor and Hansen were involved in a skit which was set in a terminally ill children's ward of a hospital, which centered around a spokesman (Taylor) portraying himself along with a doctor (Hansen), from the fictional 'Make a Realistic Wish Foundation' (a spoof
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of the Make-a-Wish Foundation
Make-A-Wish Foundation
The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a 501 non-profit organization founded in the United States that grants wishes to children who have life-threatening medical conditions. The charity now operates in forty-seven countries around the world through thirty-six affiliate offices.The president & CEO of this...
). The premise of the skit was that if the terminally ill children are only going to live for a few more months before passing away, it is not worth spending money on lavish gifts for them. The one minute long sketch featured Taylor giving one girl a pencil case instead of a trip to Disneyland. Then along the same lines, Hansen gave another girl a stick instead of a meeting with Zac Efron
Zac Efron
Zachary David Alexander "Zac" Efron is an American actor. He began acting professionally in the early 2000s and became known with his lead roles in the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical, the WB series Summerland, and the 2007 film version of the Broadway musical Hairspray...
. The skit concluded with Taylor stating "Why go to any trouble, when they're only gonna die anyway".
The publicised reaction to the sketch the next day from the general public and media commentators was almost universally negative. Among widespread reported disapproval from the public, especially from the families that the Make-a-Wish Foundation has helped, Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...
stated that The Chaser team "should hang their heads in shame". He went on to say that "I didn't see that but it's been described to me....But having a go at kids with a terminal illness is really beyond the pale, absolutely beyond the pale." That morning, the Chaser team along with the ABC managing director Mark Scott apologised for airing the skit, with Scott stating that "We have unreservedly apologised for airing that skit,...It's very clear today from the reaction that it's caused considerable offence and distress, particularly to parents of children that are seriously ill....I've spoken to Julian Morrow from The Chaser and my understanding is that certainly wasn't the intention of the script, but that's the consequences of it." The ABC will now change their procedures for reviewing episode content which gets broadcast. Scott continued, "We're going to look at those processes ... I mean we all know that The Chaser push the edges and it's a tightrope that we walk, and I suppose there are many, many skits that they've put to air that have offended someone along the way – that's part of the nature of the satirical and black comedy that they do," The full episode was initially available for downloading or online viewing from the official website but was taken down while the skit was edited out of the episode, the edited version was then made available for download. The skit has also been cut from any further television airings and DVD releases. The ABC suspended The Chaser's War on Everything for two weeks. This was relayed via a message by The Chaser on their website, who stated that whilst they disagree with the decision to suspend the show, they apologise for making the skit, acknowledging that it went too far. When the show returned two weeks later, the controversy was referenced by the show being introduced as "The Chaser's Waste of Taxpayers' money", a reference to the fact that the show is on the Government funded ABC channel.
Current affairs programs
Current affairs programs, notably Channel 7Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
's Today Tonight
Today Tonight
Today Tonight is a controversial Australian News and Current Affairs program, produced by the Seven Network and shown weeknightly at in direct competition with rival Nine Network program A Current Affair....
and Channel 9
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
's A Current Affair, have run pieces critical of The Chaser team. A Current Affair ran segments covering rumours of the program moving to a commercial network, and the use of Osama bin Laden for humour, highlighting dangerous stunts and overstepping the mark.
Today Tonight ran segments demonstrating contrivances in Chaser's stunts and criticising their breakthrough of APEC's security. However, when Today Tonight asked if they could follow The Chaser team on one of their stunts, The Chaser agreed. The Chaser chose a stunt that would embarrass the Channel 7 television program. They did so by having a "Meakin Booze Bus"; in reference to Channel 7 boss Peter Meakin
Peter Meakin
Peter Meakin is an Australian journalist and the head of news and current affairs at the Seven Network.He worked at the Nine Network for three decades, eventually becoming director of current affairs in 1987 and the head of news and current affairs in 1993; he was credited with the ratings success...
, who had recently been convicted of driving whilst under the influence of alcohol. In the shoot, The Chaser members kept bringing up the topic of Peter Meakin to reporter James Thomas. It was revealed later that The Chaser did eventually answer enough of Thomas’ questions so that Today Tonight received what they wanted, but Today Tonight did not end up running that footage. Channel 7 broadcast scenes that they judged made the Chaser crew look arrogant, although it was stated in The Chaser's season 2 DVD commentary that James Thomas later called The Chaser team and apologised for the way Today Tonight depicted them in the report.
Channel 7
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
began airing repeats of The Chaser in September 2011.
Awards
In December 2006 The Chaser's War on Everything won an Australian Film InstituteAustralian Film Institute
The Australian Film Institute was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Australian film industry...
(AFI) Award for 'Best Television Comedy Series' and Hansen won an AFI Award for 'Best Performance in a Television Comedy.' Hansen also won the APRA / AGSC award for 'Best Television Theme' for his original theme on The Chaser's War on Everything.
In May 2007, the program was nominated for the TV Week
TV Week
TV Week is a weekly television magazine in Australia, first published as a Melbourne-only publication in December 1957 , and bearing a strong affiliation to television station GTV.The publication is still publishing weekly...
Logie
Logie Award
The TV Week Logie Awards are the Australian television industry awards, which have been presented annually since 1959. Renamed by Graham Kennedy in 1960 after he won the first 'Star Of The Year' award, the name 'Logie' awards honours John Logie Baird, a Scotsman who invented the television as a...
award "Most Outstanding Comedy Program" for the 2006 series. The show was nominated for the 2007 AFI award in the category of 'Best Television Comedy Series' for the 2007 series. In late February 2008, the show was nominated for the Rose D'Or
Rose d'Or
The Rose d’Or is one of the most important international festivals in entertainment television. It was founded in Montreux in 1961 and has taken place in Lucerne since 2004. Producers, executives from independent and public service broadcasters and heads of production companies from over 40...
international television award for Comedy.
In June 2008, The Chaser received the Atheist Foundation of Australia
Atheist Foundation of Australia
The Atheist Foundation of Australia, Inc. was established in South Australia in 1970, when The Rationalist Association of South Australia decided upon a name change to better declare their basic philosophy, namely atheism....
's Tom Paine Award for "Exemplary service to humanity", and "...outstanding promotion of ideals conducive to human contentment and survivability".
In 2010, the program was nominated for the TV Week
TV Week
TV Week is a weekly television magazine in Australia, first published as a Melbourne-only publication in December 1957 , and bearing a strong affiliation to television station GTV.The publication is still publishing weekly...
Logie
Logie Award
The TV Week Logie Awards are the Australian television industry awards, which have been presented annually since 1959. Renamed by Graham Kennedy in 1960 after he won the first 'Star Of The Year' award, the name 'Logie' awards honours John Logie Baird, a Scotsman who invented the television as a...
award "Most Outstanding Light Entertainment Program" for the 2009 series.
See also
- Mark ThomasMark ThomasMark Clifford Thomas is a left-wing English comedian, presenter, political activist and reporter from south London. He first became known as a guest comic on the BBC Radio 1 comedy show The Mary Whitehouse Experience in the late 1980s. He is best known for political stunts on his show, The Mark...
- Robert Newman
- The Yes MenThe Yes MenThe Yes Men are a culture jamming activist duo and network of supporters created by Jacques Servin and Igor Vamos. Through actions of tactical media, The Yes Men primarily aim to raise awareness about what they consider problematic social issues. To date, the duo has produced two films: The Yes Men...