The Big Gig
| The Big Gig | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | 'Tuesday Night Live: The Big Gig' |
| Starring |
Wendy Harmer, Glynn Nicholas, Jean Kittson, Doug Anthony All-Stars, Anthony Ackroyd |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| No. of episodes | 63 (plus 3 specials) |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC TV |
| Original release | 28 February 1989 – 16 July 1991 (plus specials on 31 March 1992, 19 May 1992 and 14 July 1992) |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | DAAS Kapital |
The Big Gig was a popular Australian television sketch comedy music/variety series based on the British TV series Saturday Live. It was produced and broadcast on ABC TV in the late 1980s and early 1990s and was produced and directed by Ted Robinson, who started his career as the director of the second series of the acclaimed The Aunty Jack Show in the early 1970s and Neil Wilson.
Largely based around performers sourced from the thriving Melbourne stand-up comedy scene of that time, the series brought a number of new comedy acts to national prominence and made major stars of its host, stand-up comedian Wendy Harmer, who later became a top-rating host on morning radio in Sydney in the 1990s, and the regularly featured act, the Doug Anthony All-Stars.
Starting in 1989 and running until 1992 and originally named Tuesday Night Live, The Big Gig showcased both comedy and music and offered opportunities not available to the performers otherwise.
The show typically started with a monologue from host Wendy Harmer (or, from mid-1989 to mid-1990, Glynn Nicholas) before launching into a musical act. Regulars on the show included the house band The Swinging Sidewalks, the Bachelors From Prague or Zydeko Jump; the same band would also close the show while the credits played over them.
A regular feature of The Big Gig was the character 'Veronica Glenhuntly' (played by comedian Jean Kittson), an acid-tongued newsreader. Many storylines would run through her, including her on-air wooing, marriage and birth of twins (named Veronica, after herself, and Wayne, after her husband, golf-star Wayne "Lightning" Truscott). She was later joined by weather reporter Clinton Funt, played by musician and comedian Phillip Scott. The character partly parodied contemporary ABC (Victoria) newsreader Mary Delahunty, but her surname was also a reference to the elite Melbourne suburb of Glenhuntly. Kittson also played several other characters, including ditzy gym nut Candida Royale and sinister flight attendant Rose McCloud.
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