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=== Chris Taylor on Sunrise === |
=== Chris Taylor on Sunrise === |
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[[Image:Taylorsunrise.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Chris Taylor on Sunrise]] |
[[Image:Taylorsunrise.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Chris Taylor on Sunrise]] |
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⚫ | On the ninth episode of the show, Chris Taylor announced that he planned to break-up with his partner of seven years, but he didn't 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 (TV program)|Sunrise]]''. In the interview, Taylor asks the host if he can send a quick message to his partner, he then proceeds to tell her to "get the fuck out of my life". This finale from the segment was leaked onto the internet 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/tv--radio/chasing-down-the-powerful/2007/03/20/1174153069543.html?page=5|title=Chasing down the powerful|publisher=[[The Age]]|accessdate=2007-10-15|work=Debi Enker|date=[[March 22]] [[2007]]|quote=May: Chris Taylor appears on Seven's Sunrise and plays nice until the end of the segment when he asks to send a special message to his partner of seven years: "Get the f--- out of my life!" he bellows on live television.}}</ref> |
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⚫ | On the ninth episode of the show, Chris Taylor announced that he planned to break-up with his partner of seven years, but he didn't 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 (TV program)|Sunrise]]''. In the interview, Taylor asks the host if he can send a quick message to his partner, he then proceeds to tell her to "get the fuck out of my life". This finale from the segment was leaked onto the internet 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. |
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=== Chas Licciardello's Bulldogs incident === |
=== Chas Licciardello's Bulldogs incident === |
Revision as of 08:01, 15 October 2007
The Chaser's War on Everything | |
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Starring | Andrew Hansen Chas Licciardello Julian Morrow Craig Reucassel Chris Taylor |
Country of origin | Australia |
No. of episodes | 45 (as of October 10, 2007) (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Running time | 26 minutes per episode |
Original release | |
Network | ABC TV |
Release | February 17, 2006 |
The Chaser's War on Everything, often shortened to The War, is a satirical television comedy series broadcast on ABC TV in Australia.
The series is produced by satire group The Chaser consisting of Chris Taylor (who is also the show's script editor), Julian Morrow (now acting as executive producer), Craig Reucassel, Andrew Hansen and Chas Licciardello. Dominic Knight is a writer, but does not play an on-screen role. Charles Firth does roving reports for the show from the United States.
The program is currently airing the second half of the second season, which premiered on September 5 2007 after an extended ten-week break. The show is currently airing on Wednesdays at 9 pm on the main ABC TV channel. Repeated episodes are shown on Fridays, at 11:15 pm, and Sundays at 8:30 pm on the digital channel ABC2.
Production
Origins
During the pre-production period of the The Chaser's War on Everything numerous names were suggested for the program, most notably 'Thank Allah It's Friday!' and 'The Chaser's Age Of Terror Variety Hour', which were rejected by the ABC.[1] The show's studio segments are performed panel-style in front of a live audience, on a set reminiscent of where the group used to meet. These segments are interspersed with pre-produced location items and fake advertisements. The series looks at all issues and attacks a wide range of current topics in politics and the media.
In December 2006 The Chaser's War on Everything won an Australian Film Institute Award for 'Best Television Comedy Series' and Andrew Hansen won an AFI Award for 'Best Performance in a Television Comedy.'[2] In May 2007, the program was nominated for the TV Week Logie award "Most Outstanding Comedy Program".[3]
Broadcast
The first season of The Chaser's War on Everything premiered on ABC TV in Australia on February 17, 2006 at 11 pm. The series aired late on Friday evenings where it developed a cult following, which prompted a move to the more high-profile timeslot of Wednesdays at 9 pm (AEST) for Season Two. [4] 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 have also been developed and the opening sequence was reworked. The move to a prime time position ultimately resulted in an increase in the show's ratings, despite being in direct competition with high performing shows on commercial networks, with ratings close to 1.5 millions viewers.[5][6]
Vodcast
On July 27 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.[7] Just days after appearing on the Australian iTunes podcasting directory, the show took the number one position. The first season vodcast episodes contained all material originally broadcast but some shows in the second season featured copyrighted music (such as the famous theme to Cops, "Bad Boys"), which had to be removed from the podcast.
Since the sixth episode of the second season, which was first broadcast on May 2, 2007, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation has blocked visitors from outside Australia from accessing the vodcast. An actual IP-based ban was also instated on the podcast, banning non-Australian RSS clients from getting the podcast. This had the side effect of US Web-based RSS readers, such as Google Reader and My Yahoo, being unable to reach the podcast. As of June 7 2007, the ABC has reinstated limited access to download episodes of the show for viewers in the United States and Singapore, among others.
Segments
Segments in purple were in Season One, but so far have not been in Season Two. Segments in green denote a new segment introduced in Season Two. Segments in black have been in both seasons.
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 normally presented by the cast members, live in front of the audience, and can be accompanied with pre-produced stunts and sketches relating to the topics.
- "What Have We Learnt from Current Affairs This Week?" – Presented by Hansen and Licciardello, the segment pokes fun at competing weeknight current affair programs Today Tonight and A Current Affair. All segments feature a lesson on their reporting techniques, such as how to spot 'dodgy' guys, how to identify the different types of experts, and the art of network cross-promotion. Both shows are reguarly criticised for their tendency to come to fast and inaccurate conclusions. The tallyboard, featured in Season One, of the different types of stories presented, such as "Menaces To Society", has been all but abandoned in Season Two.
- "Firth in the USA" – Charles Firth, now living in the America, performs a stunt or conducts an interview, with obvious references to USA culture. Stunt examples include attempting to enter Yale University's 'Skull and Bones' secret society and meeting Hillary Clinton to offer his services as her presidential intern; an obvious satire of the Lewinsky scandal[8]. Furthermore, Firth has also posed as a travel agent, managing to convince some Americans that world landmarks such as the Great Wall of China and Mount Rushmore were actually in Australia.
- "The Ad Roadtest" – The team recreate situations shown in advertisements to see if they would work in real life. Examples include whether vacuum cleaners can really lift up bowling balls (Godfrey's), whether dancing can result in getting a job (Carlton Draught), and that male cheerleaders can convince a random person to stop smoking.(Nicorette)[9]
- "Citizens' Infringement Officer" – Morrow acts as an officer who hands out fake fines on behalf of general citizens. Reasons for fines are often very unusual, such as fines to parking inspectors, people with "wanker" number plates, bad mobile phone ringtones and parents with inappropriate babies' names.
- "The Fixers" – This segment replaced "In Other News" for Season Two, and is focussed primarily on current news stories and events. Morrow and Reucassel examine problems in the community, whether trivial or otherwise, and present their idea for a fix. Usually there is an accompanying pre-produced location item.
Supporting Segments
The supporting segments are usually pre-produced stunts and sketches, supplementing the primary segments of the show. They are generally shorter in length.
- "Surprise Spruiker" – A shop "spruiker" (played by Hansen) attempts to help various institutions having trouble selling a particular item or idea. An example includes, such as Giorgio Armani suits, WorkChoices (outside their government offices), and Dell laptops, satirising the battery controversy. Often, the stunt will conclude when his wireless speaker is carried out of range of the microphone by security.
- "Pursuit Trivia" – Julian Morrow tests the general knowledge of a politician or celebrity by asking a Trivial Pursuit question from a game card in his hand at an interview or press conference. As yet only three people have successfully answered a question: Kevin Rudd, Shannon Noll, and Helen Clark. In the show's DVD deleted scenes, Alex Lloyd repeatedly asked for more questions, until he also got one right.
- "Scenes from the Life of the Crazy Warehouse Guy" – A stereotypical announcer (played by Hansen) from a warehouse television advertisement uses his unique speaking style in everyday situations, such as ordering McDonald's, asking for help in a public library or talking on a mobile phone in public transport. Originally, Hansen performed the character that would become the Crazy Warehouse Guy in parodies of frantic rug warehouse commercials. In the August 11 2006 episode the Crazy Warehouse Guy appeared in the studio, playing the piano and singing a duet with Emily Taheny from Comedy Inc.
- "Mr Ten Questions" – Andrew Hansen poses for a journalist at a press conference and, when prompted, proceeds to ask ten questions (which vary in degrees of relevance) without letting the interviewee speak until he has read out all ten. Questions range from being related to the subject on hand to being completely obscure, such as 'will daylight saving bring down our society?' So far Anthony LaPaglia (who received prompts) and Kerri-Anne Kennerley are the only people to successfully answer all the questions.
- "A Message From Osama Bin Laden" – An existing video of the infamous terrorist Osama Bin Laden is subbed with incorrect and humorous subtitles, often declaring a Jihad on various people for arbitrary irritations. Videos of Saddam Hussein, Abu Bakar Bashir and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have also been used in a similar manner.
- "If Life Were A Musical" – Members of the cast go to the public, targeting a specific person with a problem, and behave as though they are in a Broadway-esque musical. The segment is referred to as a "Taylor Hansen Morrow" production, a spoof of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
- "Clive The Slightly-Too-Loud Commuter" – Clive (played by Hansen) goes onto public transport and begins to talk extremely loudly on his mobile phone about very personal or taboo issues, such as drugs or genital health.
Occasional Segments
These segments support the show, however do not feature prominently.
- "What Have We Learnt From History?" – In this segment the cast test whether people today have learnt a lesson from events in the past; for example the invasion of the Trojan Horse and the German Invasion of Poland in World War II.
- "Famous Face Off" – Two "masters" in a particular field compete to be the best in an endeavour such as tongue-twisting newsreading or "blocking" reforms in the Senate.
- "The 2:30 Report" – In this segment Chas and Julian review the worst of late-night television, such as late night game shows such as Quizmania and Christian programming.
- "The News According To Fox" – In a similar fashion to "What Have We Learnt from Current Affairs This Week?", Chas and Andrew criticise the bias of the popular American Fox News Channel.
- "What You Missed on Cable" – An occasional segment highlighting the oddities in cable TV programs, and comparing them to the bland programming on the ABC On the dvd commentary, Chas points out that it is intended to replace the 2:30 Report from Season 1.
- "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 Coren's extremely complicated transitions between unrelated stories, or the strange and funny meaningless introductions she says on Today Tonight.
- "Nut Job of the Week" – The team takes 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 tested in the general public.
- "Open Mic" – A segment derived from a stunt by Julian from the first half of the second series, where he goes to various businesses and uses their Public Address Systems to make humorous community announcements.
- "The Lab" – Julian and Chas host this Mythbusters style segment, which also contains elements of "The Ad Roadtest" segment. The team tests the validity of promises made by a range of products.
- "Election Watch" – Looks at the week's issues related to the upcoming Federal Election.
Recurring Themes
- Songs – Andrew Hansen performs songs with a humorous theme. Some include Prolix Songwriter (a songwriter who is prolix); Hill$ong (a parody of Hillsong); boyBand (a parody on boybands); Scottish Comedian (a parody of Billy Connolly) and The Filler Song. Although all the music and vocals are by Andrew, the lyrics are usually written by Chris Taylor, and the other members often appear to be singing or playing but they are in fact miming or pretending to play.
- Television Advertisements – Throughout the series the team create satirical television advertisements. These advertise a false item or mock existing ads. Some notable ones include 'Sandy' toilet paper (toilet paper made out of sandpaper), and a parody of the government ad, 'Violence Against Women - Australia Says No', in which they changed it to, 'Appearing In Government Ads - Australia Says No'. This was also used to promote the second season of the show on the ABC, where they changed it to state that they had no new material. The satirical advertisements introduced the character of the Crazy Warehouse Guy before the "Scenes from the Life of the Crazy Warehouse Guy" segment was first made.
- Movie Trailers – The team creates parody trailers for existing movies. Some include When a Telemarketer Calls (When a Stranger Calls), Brokeback Mountain: Christian Edition (Brokeback Mountain), American Baguette and American π (both based on American Pie), and Carlton United 93 (United 93). They have also made up their own absurd ideas, most memorably Avogadro's Number.
- Vox Pop – One of the team members conduct vox pops with people on the street asking for their opinions. One vox pop includes Craig asking tourists about the new Australian tourist campaign, 'So where the bloody hell are you?', which has the subject of much media attention of the use of the word "bloody". Instead, Craig asked opinions on 'new' campaigns, including; 'Don't be a prick, visit Australia,', 'Australia, it shits all over everywhere else' and 'Fuck, Australia's fucking great so why the fuck aren't you here motherfucker?'. In another segment, Julian asked people if they thought iPods were anti-social, while listening to an iPod himself.
- Door to Door – One or two members go door-knocking around the neighbourhood. Some sketches include asking people if they want to join Al-Qaeda, if they can keep homeless people at their house for the duration of the Commonwealth Games and door to door spam.
- Chas' Challenge – A challenge is put forward to Chas. Some include boneheading at the Logies and achieving the world's shortest taxi fare (under 20 metres).
Controversies and well known stunts
Julian Morrow's novelty cheque
On February 8 2006, before the first episode of the show had screened, Julian 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 the stunt 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 Charles Stott has done business with Saddam Hussein, a brutal dictator, yet he is intimidated by a large novelty cheque. The footage of this stunt does appear as a bonus on the show's first DVD.[10]
Chris Taylor on Sunrise
On the ninth episode of the show, Chris Taylor announced that he planned to break-up with his partner of seven years, but he didn't 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 to tell her to "get the fuck out of my life". This finale from the segment was leaked onto the internet 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.[11]
Chas Licciardello's Bulldogs incident
On July 14 2006, Chas Licciardello was charged with offensive conduct after attempting to sell fake Canterbury Bulldogs merchandise outside an NRL game.[12] 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 offense and as a result he was charged for offensive behaviour.[13] 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 co-star Julian Morrow, Licciardello pleaded not guilty and the matter was adjourned.[14] On January 23, 2007, Licciardello was found not guilty of the offensive behaviour charge.[15] 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." [16]
Craig Reucassel's axe stunt
On 2 August 2006, Craig Reucassel responded to a news story about a private school student who had hugged 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. There was much debate surrounding whether or not to turn on the chainsaw and whether they would be shot at for doing this.[17][18] 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..[19]
Julian Morrow's ticket prank
On 16 August 2006, Julian Morrow purchased two airline tickets on the Virgin Blue airline 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".[20]
Craig Reucassel's speedos
On March 19 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,[21] 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.
Andrew Hansen's Mr. Ten Questions
On April 26 2007, Andrew Hansen posing as his character Mr. Ten Questions asked screen legend Sophia Loren 10 questions that seemed to have offended her.[22] Hansen was then taken from the building and Loren commented on Hansen as "terrible" and "silly". The incident made headlines that night.[23]
YouTube controversy
Hundreds of clips from the show were pulled from video sharing site YouTube after a fake DMCA take down notice.[24] The culprit, a 15 year old Australian boy, has since apologised.[25] The ABC permits its work to be shared. The stunt was referred to at the end of Episode 4 of Season Two, by the Chaser team, with Andrew Hansen saying: "If you're very quick, why not check out 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.[26] It was reported that the motorcade finally came to a halt just metres from the hotel of the President of the United States George W. Bush.[27] 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.[28]
Licciardello, Morrow and the nine crew members were immediately detained by NSW Police, taken to Surry Hills Police Station, questioned and charged with entering a restricted area without special justification under the APEC Meeting (Police Powers) Act 2007.[29]. All were released on bail to appear in court on 4 October 2007.[30] If found guilty they each face a maximum penalty of 6 months imprisonment, or up to 2 years if they were in possession of a "prohibited item".[31] NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione stated that the Chaser stars risked being targeted by snipers during the prank.[32]
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.[33] However, they managed to pass through two police security checkpoints, using a fake convoy of hired limousines, despite the fine print on the "APEC 2007 Official Vehicle" vehicle stickers reading "This vehicle belongs to a member of The Chaser's War on Everything. This dude likes trees and poetry and certain types of carnivorous plants excite him".[34]
Despite condemnations by various public officials, the Sydney correspondent to the BBC reported that the Chaser team had become 'folk heroes' following the stunt.[35] Furthermore, 87% of some 28,451 respondents to a web poll conducted by the Sydney Morning Herald found the stunt funny.[36] Indeed, Alexander Downer, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, appeared amused when asked to comment.[34]
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.[37] 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.[38]
The eleven members of the show charged were due to face court on October 4 2007, however ABC lawyers requested for all matters to be adjourned until December 5 2007.[39]
Tim Freedman parody
On 7 October 2007, Tim Freedman singer and songwriter for rock band The Whitlams posted a message on the band's website, citing a parody of him which had gone to air on 3 October.[40] The song, performed by Andrew Hansen, implied that Freedman was obsessed with the Sydney suburb of Newtown, and continually referred to the area in his songs. Freedman alluded that the lyrics had been written by Chris Taylor, and that the parody had been motivated by Taylor's break-up with a girl who had previously dated Freedman. This has in turn been denied by Taylor, having said the song had nothing to do with his relationship with her.[41]
Media impact
A Current Affair
On 19 April 2007, Nine Network's current affairs program A Current Affair aired a positive segment perpetuating rumours that the program was defecting to a commercial network.[42] They were getting (and still have) consistently high ratings each week and hence, commercial networks were interested in poaching them. Other ABC shows have defected to commercial networks in the past, including Good News Week, Shaun Micallef, and most recently, Kath & Kim. The Chaser mocked Channel 9 the following episode with a skit titled The Chaser's War On Everything (Except Sponsors), which essentially put forward the message that many of the attacks made on the show are on corporate sponsors of the commercial networks and as such would not be wanted on them.
On May 9, 2007, A Current Affair back-flipped and aired a negative segment about The Chaser, about their jokes "overstepping the mark" and how dangerous their stunts are.[43] A Current Affair aired another segment about The Chaser on June 7, 2007, covering much the same material as previously, and featuring criticism by 2UE presenter Steve Price and a Vietnam veteran(However, the chaser reran the tape and it was shown the man was really laughing). The show satirised this by interviewing their own Vietnam vet: a veterinarian who was Vietnamese. [44]
Also on September 9, 2007, A Current Affair aired another segment about The Chaser, simply titled The Chaser, arguing that The Chaser shouldn't use messages from Osama Bin Laden to advertise their show. It included criticism from victims of the Bali Bombings but ended with 'We all enjoy a good laugh', from an entertainment reporter from the Sunday Telegraph.
Today Tonight
On 13 June 2007, the Seven Network current affairs program Today Tonight also aired a segment on The Chaser[45] showing Chas Licciardello admitting to staging some stunts and being reviewed by the ABC's legal team, despite that this was well known among fans of the show. This supposed exclusive was actually a side effect from the Chaser's prank on TT. Some of their better known setups include Chris swearing on Sunrise (see above), the Ford Focus Ad Road Test and the Sheik Hilaly/Anthony Mundine sketch.
The reporter, James Thomas, met with Chas and Andrew outside the ABC building in Ultimo, where they greeted him with a van that had a 'Meakin Booze Bus' stencil on the side, seemingly unaware of the stunt being pulled on them. Seven's head of News and Current Affairs, Peter Meakin had recently been convicted for a third time for drink driving.[46]
During the segment, Today Tonight attempted to ambush audience members who were outside the studio at the filming of a Chaser episode aired on 14 June 2007. The Chaser had tipped off the audience about Today Tonight's presence, and instructed anyone approached by the crew to bring up the subject of Peter Meakin.[47] Today Tonight only aired one interview with a young boy in attendance who was surprised that some of The Chaser's stunts were set up. Footage of Today Tonight being "stooged" by audience members is featured as extra material on the Season Two DVD.
Today Tonight itself has previously come under fire for set-up stunts for their own show.[48][49]
On the 6th September, 2007 Today Tonight aired a story titled "Dangerous Fools" after the Chaser's APEC stunt. Ironically, this was reported by Dave "Sluggo" Richardson[50], notorious for the In Barcelona Tonight incident. Unlike Richardson, The Chaser crew actually did go through roadblocks in their segment.On 27 September, Today Tonight had an interview with Charles Firth from The Chaser team. He stated that he had moved on from The Chaser and was writing a newspaper called The Manic Times with partner 'Pinky' from Australian band Machine Gun Fellatio.
DVD releases
The Chaser's War On Everything - Season 1 Vol. 1 | |
Set Details | Special Features |
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|
Release Dates | |
Australia | |
August 17, 2006 |
The Chaser's War On Everything - Season 1 Vol. 2 | |
Set Details | Special Features |
|
|
Release Dates | |
Australia | |
November 1 2006 |
The Chaser's War On Everything - Season 2 Vol. 1 | |
Set Details | Special Features |
|
|
Release Dates | |
Australia | |
August 14 2007 |
References
- ^ Molitorisz, Sacha (February 14, 2006), "Behind enemy lines", Sydney Morning Herald, p. 3
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ "Awards for "The Chaser's War on Everything"". IMDB Awards list.
- ^ "TV Week - Most Outstanding Comedy Program". ninemsn Pty Ltd. Retrieved 2007-05-07.
- ^
"ABC pranksters slated for prime time". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2007-01-28.
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(help) - ^
"ABC's Specks and Chasers rating well". West Australian Newspapers Limited. May 31, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - ^ "Commercial TV chases lost ratings". eNews. 2007-05-23.
- ^ "ABC launches Vodcasting". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2006-07-27. Retrieved 2007-03-28.
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(help) - ^ "Chaser stunt turns heads in US". Brisbane Times. 12 April 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-15.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - ^ "No matter how well you plan, there's always a flea". Sydney Morning Herald. 2006-05-19.
- ^ "AWB inquiry not laughing over 'The Chaser' stunt". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2006-02-08.
{{cite news}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ "Chasing down the powerful". Debi Enker. The Age. March 22 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-15.
May: Chris Taylor appears on Seven's Sunrise and plays nice until the end of the segment when he asks to send a special message to his partner of seven years: "Get the f--- out of my life!" he bellows on live television.
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(help) - ^ "ABC to probe Chaser prank". News Limited. 2006-07-15.
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(help) - ^ "Chaser Canterbury joke gets no laughs". Sydney Morning Herald. 2006-07-16.
{{cite news}}
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(help) - ^ "Chaser star pleads not guilty". The Age. 2006-07-16.
{{cite news}}
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(help) - ^ "Chaser star cleared over Bulldogs stunt". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2007-01-23.
{{cite news}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ Gibson, Jano (January 24 2007). "Chaser court victory hailed as triumph for free speech". The Age. Retrieved 2007-06-27.
{{cite news}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ "Australia's MOST WANTED - The Chaser's WAR ON COMEDY". The Australian. 2007-03-17.
{{cite news}}
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(help) - ^ "Chaser star cleared over Bulldogs stunt". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2007-01-23.
{{cite news}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ "Chaser axe stunt gets Howard going". Sydney Morning Herald. 2006-08-02.
{{cite news}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ "Al Kyder: Virgin on the ridiculous". The Age. 2006-08-18.
{{cite news}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ "Speedo wearing comedian confronts Debnam". The Age. 2007-03-19.
{{cite news}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ Loren lashes The Chaser Sydney Morning Herald. Accessed on October 12 2007
- ^ Channel 7 News on YouTube
- ^ Jensen, Erik (2007-04-14). "Boy dupes YouTube to delete videos". The Sydney Morning Herald.
- ^ "YouTube teen makes apology". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2007-04-14.
- ^ "Chaser duo held over APEC stunt". The Age. 2007-09-06. Retrieved 2007-09-06.
- ^ "Police question Chaser duo over APEC stunt". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2007-09-06. Retrieved 2007-09-06.
- ^ "Nation of larrikins? Well, yes and no ..." The Age. 2007-09-09. Retrieved 2007-09-09.
- ^ "11 charged over Chaser APEC stunt". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2007-09-06. Retrieved 2007-09-06.
- ^ "11 people charged following TV stunt in APEC restricted zone". New South Wales Police Media Statement. 2007-09-06. Retrieved 2007-09-06.
- ^ APEC Meeting (Police Powers) Act 2007 No 14
- ^ "Chaser pranksters 'could have been shot'". The Age. 2007-09-06. Retrieved 2007-09-06.
- ^ "Chasers release new prank video". News.com.au. 2007-09-09. Retrieved 2007-09-09.
- ^ a b "Chaser comic convoy beats summit security". The Age. 2007-09-06. Retrieved 2007-09-06.
- ^ "Apec security leaves bitter taste in Sydney". bbc.co.uk. 2007-09-09. Retrieved 2007-09-10.
- ^ Rate the Chaser stunt - Sydney Morning Herald Online Poll
- ^ "Police question Chasers over second APEC stunt". ABC news. abc.net.au. September 10 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-15.
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(help) - ^ "Seven - Daily Ratings Report". ebroadcast.com.au. 2007-09-13. Retrieved 2007-09-13.
- ^ "Chaser APEC court hearing adjourned". News.com.au. 2007-10-04. Retrieved 2007-10-04.
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(help) - ^ I Love The Chaser, The Whitlams, 7 October 2007.
- ^ Tim Freedman hits back at Chaser, NineMSN, 10 October 2007.
- ^
"The Chase Is On". ninemsn. 2007-04-19.
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(help) - ^
"Pushing The Boundaries". ninemsn. 2007-05-09.
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(help) - ^
"Gone Too Far?". ninemsn. 2007-06-07.
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"Is the Chaser's War just a set-up?". Yahoo 7. 2007-06-13.
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"Meakin gets weekend jail". Sydney Morning Herald. 2007-05-31.
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(help) - ^
"Chaser outsmarts reporter". Herald Sun. 2007-06-15.
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(help) - ^
Gadd, Michael (2007-02-23). "Chain TV reporter gets the boot". News.com.au. News Limited. Retrieved 2007-02-23.
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(help) - ^ Gibson, Jano (2007-02-22). "Chain stunt truth unlocked". The Age Company Ltd.
- ^ Dyer, Glen (2007-09-07). "Today Tonight v The Chaser: who's got the credibility?". Crikey!.