Category: News

Catching up on the news

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It has been fairly quiet on Shaun news in the past few months, but with Mad As Hell back on our screens in less than 2 weeks (May 11th), it’s time to catch up on a few tidbits. So here’s the run down:

AACTA award for Mad As Hell

Late last year, Mad As Hell won an AACTA award for “Best Television Comedy Series” (which is slightly ironic, considering the ABC fund it via Light Entertainment department, which is why it only got one season last year!) Previously, Shaun won an AACTA for his performance, but this is the first for the show itself.

Logie Nomination

Mad As Hell has also been nominated for the Most Outstanding Comedy award at the Australian TV awards, the Logies. This is an industry voted award, but it’s still tough competition, with Utopia also nominated.

The awards ceremony is on May 8th.

Sucker It And See

Comedian Lawrence Leung took his successful stage show about a young Asian-Australian turning against all of his parents expectations to become a travelling conman, and made it into a movie.

In Sucker, Shaun plays Harry, a small cameo role of a bug-eyed second-hand record store proprietor.

The movie had a small release, and got mixed reviews, but if it has your interest (even to see Shaun), it is now available on DVD, iTunes, and Netflix (if you’re in the US).

Mad As Hell, back February 11th

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It’s official – Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell is confirmed to return for its fifth season on Wednesday February 11th on ABC. This time, it’s shifted back half and hour, to 8:30pm.

The team really hit their stride last year, so expect more comedy gold, although Veronica has moved to a full time role on Triple J, so there may be a new cast member.

This will be the only season for 2015, with Shaun working on “The Ex-PM” later in the year. We’re yet to see what the future will hold after that.

Just one Mad as Hell series in 2015

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As previously hinted here, and reported by TV Tonight recently, Mad as Hell is only returning for the one series next year. Although budget cuts have been touted as a reason, the most likely explanation is that Shaun will be working on his other big project for the ABC: “The Ex-PM”. So it’s not all bad news!

This is not unprecedented though: in 2013, Shaun took most of the second half of the year off after two seasons of Mad As and one of Mr & Mrs Murder, giving himself time to finish his book “The President’s Desk”.

On the topic of The Ex-PM, TV Tonight spoke to Rick Kalowski, Head of Comedy at the ABC, about the show:

“It’s a great concept and the quality of the idea has really come along in the development process. The scripts are so funny. I think you’ll see a more humanistic side to Shaun’s comedy. It’s not just about a person struggling with relevance deprivation syndrome –which in and of itself is funny at a very high stakes level,” he explains.

“But there’s something about what happens to men when they get to the end of their careers, running around like whirling dervishes, convincing themselves they are doing it for their families or countries. They get to the end of their careers and they are faced with the question: Was it all worth it? Or to put it even more painfully: Have I Led a Worthwhile Life? I think the show has the potential to open up the way people see Shaun as a comedian.”

Stairway to Heaven this Sunday

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Shaun with his Guru

As if Santa had set his clock forward, a Micallef-sized gift has come early. Shaun Micallef’s Stairway to Heaven was originally announced by SBS to air next year, but luckily for us, it will actually air this Sunday 7:30pm!

After his experience on Who Do You Think You Are, he was invited to travel to India and immerse himself in the Hindu world of Gods, Gurus and the Ganges. He’ll travel away from the crowds and the polluted Ganges, to meet a Guru who encourages him to challenge his beliefs, confront his fears, strip back his ego and examine the ‘Self’. Eventually Shaun will find himself heading deep into the Himalayas, towards the ultimate source of the Ganges and maybe the source of life.

This is sure to be more than just another “comedian discovers spirituality” story, with a good dose of the Shaun deprecating style to make it unmissable.

 

Shaun’s Stairway to Heaven

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Ganges at sunriseIn addition to his ABC shows, in 2015 SBS will also air Shaun Micallef’s Stairway to Heaven, a one-hour documentary where Shaun heads to India to immerse himself in the Hindu world of Gods, Gurus and the Ganges, on his quest for the meaning of life.

It was Shaun’s first trip to India and was filmed in June/July of this year. The show is produced by Artemis International, the same people behind “Who Do You Think You Are“, which was how the whole thing came about.

New sitcom in 2015: The Ex-PM

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Shaun Micalled as "The Ex-PM"The name and details of Shaun’s new sitcom have been revealed: he will star and write “The Ex-PM” on ABC in 2015.

Andrew Dugdale, Australia’s third longest-serving Prime Minister, was a man who dined with presidents and kings, co-hosted world summits and changed the lives of millions of his fellow Australians. But since losing his grip on power, he now has far too much time on his hands and no one to waste it on. Described as a tale of redemption somewhere between House of Cards and One Foot in the Grave.

The show is a CJZ production in association with ABC TV, and will consist of 6 episodes.

We can’t wait!

It’s also been confirmed that Mad As Hell will return for an unprecedented (for Shaun) fifth season! Congratulations to everyone for a very successful show.

Shaun on Bowen

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Tosh Greenslade on Live On Bowen

Live on Bowen is a comedy and variety show produced by RMITV which airs on community TV station C31 in Melbourne and throughout Australia and NZ. The show has always featured up and coming comedians and performers, and the current host is Simon Taylor, who is also a writer on Mad As Hell!

For the fifth season finale, Simon’s guests will be Shaun himself and Stephen Hall (Darius and various other characters).

The episode airs on Friday 7th November on C31 Melbourne at 8:30pm, on 31 Digital (Queensland) Wednesday 12th 9pm, WTV (Perth) on Wednesday 12th 9.30pm and Face Television – Sky Channel 083 (New Zealand) Sunday, 10pm. It will appear on 44 Adelaide later in the year, but Sydney you’re going to have to wait till it appears on YouTube.

Thursday is a Date

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Screengrab from Shaun in It's a DatePeter Helliar’s all-star comedy “It’s a Date” is returning for a second season. Each episode features two short stories about a couple (or attempted coupling), based on a theme such as “How Important Is Honesty On A First Date?”

Last season, Shaun was unable to participate as a cast member, but did pen a story for the episode “Does Age Matter?”

This season he appears opposite Rove and Adrienne Pickering in an episode “Is It OK To Date A Friend’s Ex?”: “Declan receives the go ahead from theatre performer Roland (Shaun) to date his ex-lover Tess.”
The season starts this Thursday 16th at 9pm on ABC, but Shaun’s episode is the 2nd, airing on the 23rd.

All the Shaun you can find

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Shaun watching TelevisionIt’s been a publicly quiet few months for Shaun, but as we head towards the end of the year, be prepared for an explosion of Micallef appearances:

  • Most Importantly: Mad As Hell is back from Wednesday at 8pm on ABC (or replayed on ABC2 or on iView) for 10 weeks
  • To ‘promote it’ (or not) Shaun will join
    • Matt and Alex on Triple J Tuesday mornings, probably sometime after 8am
    • Red Symonds on ABC 774 Melbourne breakfast, about 7:20am.
    • Both can be heard using the ABC Radio app for your Android/iPhone
  • It’s a Date starts on ABC on October 16th, with Shaun appearing in one of the episodes.
  • The President’s Desk, his book about the alt-history of the most powerful piece of furniture in the world, is available in the first week of October. To publicise it, he will be appearing at:

So now you know!

And Francis’s knee will be doing a regional tour of RSL clubs on the 31st of November.

Mad As Hell returns for season 4

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Mad As Hell S3Ep10: Swimming poolsA fourth season of Mad As Hell has been confirmed for some time, but now we have a date: Wednesday September 24th, 8pm on ABC (no “1” this time). Like season three, it will run for 10 episodes. (or one and a half swimming pools)

It’s going to be a jam-packed end to the year for Shaun (and those who love Shaun’s work), with other work he’s been involved in likely to air, plus the launch of his book. More info to come!