Good News Week
| Good News Week | |
|---|---|
Good News Week logo
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| Genre |
Comedy Satire |
| Written by | Ian Simmons, Simon Dodd, Bruce Griffiths, Dave Bloustien, Warwick Holt, Mat Blackwell, Patrick Cook |
| Directed by | Martin Coombes |
| Presented by | Paul McDermott (1996–2000, 2008–2012) |
| Starring |
Mikey Robins (1996–2000, 2008–2012) Claire Hooper (2008–2012) Julie McCrossin (1996–2000) |
| Opening theme | "It's Good News Week" by Hedgehoppers Anonymous |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 9 |
| No. of episodes | 217 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Ted Robinson |
| Producer(s) | Jordan Robinson |
| Running time | 30–90 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network |
ABC (1996–1998) Network Ten (1998–2000, 2008–2012) |
| Picture format |
576i SDTV (2009–2012) 1080i (HDTV) (2008–2009) |
| Original release | 19 April 1996–27 May 2000 11 February 2008 – 28 April 2012 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows |
Good News Weekend GNW Night Lite Good News World |
Good News Week was an Australian satirical panel game show hosted by Paul McDermott that aired from 19 April 1996 to 27 May 2000, and 11 February 2008 to 28 April 2012. The show's initial run aired on ABC until being bought by Network Ten in 1999. The show was revived for its second run when the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike caused many of Network Ten's imported US programmes to cease production.
Good News Week drew its comedy and satire from recent news stories, political figures, media organisations, and often, aspects of the show itself. The show opened with a monologue by McDermott relating to recent headlines, after which two teams of three panellists competed in recurring segments to gain points.
The show has spawned three short-lived spin-off series, the ABC's Good News Weekend (1998), Ten's GNW Night Lite (1999) and Ten's skit-based Good News World (2011).
Good News Week's format is based on that of the British programme Have I Got News For You, although host Paul McDermott says that the idea behind the show, "of looking at the news in a satirical way, the week's events, 'this is the week that was', goes back to early radio programmes." Executive producer Ted Robinson has said that the show's humour is usually less genteel than Have I Got News For You as the British series is aimed at an older, over-fifty audience whereas Good News Week is most popular among the 18 to 39 age group. "We are at the rabid mongrel end of the market," he says.
McDermott opens each show with a scripted monologue in which he dissects newsworthy events in a humorous manner. He concludes by declaring, "and that's the good news!" and throwing his newspaper clippings in the air, after which an air cannon expels more newspaper clippings all over the stage. The episode's six panellists, divided into two teams, are then introduced. Teams are captained by the two regular panellists, radio comedian Mikey Robins and stand-up comedian Claire Hooper. The four guest panellists consist of a combination of comedians, media personalities and occasionally politicians.
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Wikipedia