Behind the Madness

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Post-credits shot from Mad as Hell S4E1Over the course of a few discussions with members of the cast and crew of Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell, I’ve had some insight into how an episode comes together each week. So if you’ve ever wondered how a weekly TV satirical news show comes together – here goes!

All of the writers work mostly individually on their scripts and jokes, submitting them to Shaun, who works them all together to make a common “voice”. The cast get their scripts on Friday and sometimes Monday, with Shaun still editing scripts over the weekend. Monday is often used to shoot the pre-recorded/outdoor sketches.

Tuesday is a big day, with the rehearsals, then the live taping, with the audience arriving at 5:30pm, and filming soon after 6pm. It’s shot in Studio 31 at the ABC Studios in Elsternwick. The show is filmed roughly in the correct order as it would air on the TV, with taped pieces from the previous day (or week) being shown to the audience during cast or set changes. Usually more content is taped than required for the 28 minutes, to allow for flexibility with the pace of the show and adjustment to content, should news events of the following day dictate a change. So there is some content which never makes it to air.

After the taping, Shaun and Gary (McCaffrie, his writing partner) sit and compare notes on the show, and Shaun heads off to get the editing process started. This continues through on the Wednesday, with the finish touches put on before it airs at 8pm. All in the meantime, the writers have already begun on the content for next week.

There are many talented people who bring the show together each week, but it’s truly Shaun who acts as a linchpin to the whole process. Why wouldn’t he – it’s got his name on it!

Thanks to Anthony Morabito, David M. Green, Stephen Hall, Gary McCaffrie and of course Shaun – plus all the very friendly people who’ve shared their time with me.

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.

Got a question to ask?

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If you’ve got a question for one of the Mad as Hell cast or crew, this may be your opportunity!

Who is Veronica’s favourite character to play? Did Michael write the Kraken character for himself? Add it to the comments below and we’ll do our best to ask it. There’s of course no guarantee that anyone will be able to answer any of them, but there’s only one way to find out!

(Your question can also be for Shaun, obviously)

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.

The President’s Desk out now

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Shaun with my copy of the book

Finally, The President’s Desk is now available in all good, bad and indifferent bookshops.

Did you know that Woodrow Wilson was a Transvestite? FDR was killed on the orders of Churchill? Grover Cleveland almost married his own daughter? The White House was burned to the ground by Herbert Hoover? Bess Truman came from Outer Space?

Perhaps not, but if you like your history with a bit of spice, and a lot of humour, then this altered history of the American Presidency since the 1860’s, told through a piece of furniture – The Resolute Desk, is for you.

If not, look out of one of Shawn Micallef’s books, such as Stroll: Psychogeographic Walking Tours of Toronto.

 

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.

Shaun spills on…

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Shaun MicallefA little while ago, Shaun spoke (exclusively?) to this site about a number of things. Here’s a selection of the topics and Shaun’s responses:

Shaun was very happy with Mad As Hell season 3, felt it was a polished version of season 2. I asked if he’s become more comfortable with the show and he agreed, saying the show feels like it has more of an attitude about it, and that adding more writers has assisted in making it a bigger show. The third series was also allowed to use parliamentary footage, which made for some great zingers.

I congratulated him on reaching four seasons for MAH, equaling TAYG. He agreed it’s not something that happens often for him. Shaun nixed any chance of Talkin’ Bout Your Generation returning, saying it had ran its course; everyone has gone off and done their own thing with plenty of success. The show was a good mix of being a bit niche and nerdy, but with a bigger pond of content. Shaun says he stayed neutral on the generations, and didn’t pick on Josh because he was Gen Y  – it was because he was Josh.
Rosanne Barr did an international pilot version, but nothing came of it.

Mad As Hell S3E1: Micallef Tonight signWith the Micallef Tonight imagery and music appearing in Mad As Hell and Mr & Mrs Murder, I asked if 10 years made him more nostalgic about the show?
At the time, he couldn’t watch the episodes again, but would have another crack if the opportunity came around. He felt the New Year’s Eve special (on Channel 10 in 2009) demonstrated the concept had passed by, and couldn’t be revisited. The sign was rescued from Channel 9 when they sold their Bendigo Street studios; it looks good, and there is no where else to put it.

Other tid-bits he revealed:

  • Gary (McCaffrie, his writing partner) wrote the jokes for ABC’s New Year’s special; Shaun just delivered them when they couldn’t get anyone else. He wishes they kept some of those jokes for MAH!
  • He’s been asked on Q&A, but declined because he doesn’t really live and breath the news when MAH isn’t on. He watches the SBS news usually.
  • His pop culture isn’t really up to scratch; it stops at Blade Runner. For that reason he thinks he wouldn’t make a good panelist on Dirty Laundry Live (although was the after party host once)

More to reveal from our chat with Shaun!