Recap: Mad As Hell, May 18th 2016

Thriller in which a man wakes to discover that his left kidney has been removed & replaced with a nuclear bomb set to go off at 1800 hours, exactly when he’s supposed to be at his son’s school concert.

Mad As Hell S6Ep2 - Door Knocking for the ABCAt the house of an average family, a doorknocker arrives collecting for the ABC – the triennial funding has fallen through, and the tin is being rattled. Why pay for something that’s free? For all the panel shows where people talk about various things? Or a bit of drama with men who have beards and maybe a lesbian? If it’s satire you want – look for Mad As Hell, it’s like a comedy version of The Weekly.

The battle lines have been drawn for the reckoning (ie. the election), and with 45 days still to go, there has been a debate at an western suburbs RSL. Everybody of course watched the debate, no more so than Larry & Evagnie Sideburns, although they couldn’t hear it over the pokies. Bill Shorten was declared the winner, and it was due to his experience with his 20 second (or 22nd) town hall meetings. He’s also a man of people, not worrying about complicated word-talkage, making him very relatable.

Spore Cut (Roz), an extraordinarily average voter, likes that Bill drinks beer, because she does, so naturally she likes him, and he’s only dull when you actually listen to the way he’s talking. He’s not over-promising either, fighting for ‘reasonable’ conditions and ultimately for the election – will he defeat it, or will he defeat the government and not the election? Send your entries to… never mind.

“Who are you?” is how people are greeting Malcolm Turnbull, while Peta Credlin prefers “Mr Harbourside-mansion”. It’s been a tough week for him, with many issues requiring his attention, including having to refute Labor’s claim that increasing education funding improves productivity, by saying the impact won’t be felt till 2095.

Mad As Hell S6Ep2: Snoring from MathiasMatias Korman got very “riled up” at Bill’s assertions, although his “animated” response was snore inducing. Darius Horsham (Stephen) helped clarify the issues, asserting that jobs and growth should be the focus of the election – although unpaid internships count as jobs, and most of the interest in growing the economy through cheap labour has come from 7 Eleven.

Davey Plumb (Tosh), disgraced financial adviser, thinks that its fine companies like Wilson Security can claim 1% tax by shifting their profits to an offshore tax haven, since they shift asylum seekers to offshore detention. He also clarified tax evasion vs avoidance: you can evade a question during an interview, but to avoid it you just don’t turn up.

Coming soon to the ABC: one woman, 16 deputy commissioners, $150 million dollars to fund a royal commission into the building industry. Enid Swink.

Offshore processing is receiving a lot of bi-partisan “meh”, and Cluck Flapwurst (Roz) from the Labor party says her party are just pretending to be in-humane to the asylum seekers to stop people from arriving, but they will be less in-humane than the government is. M3rglin (Stephen… ish), spokesperson for the Immigration Minister, is committed to pretending that asylum seekers pose a threat to national security – it’s a much stronger message to the voters. Sebastian Munge (Francis), an accountant, is suggesting we negatively gear the recently freed asylum seekers on Manus Island – it’s not refugee evasion, it is refugee avoidance.

Mad As Hell S6 Ep2 - Piano falls on CasparThis opened up the MadAsDebate topic of negative gearing of property, and Fabiona Bastion (Emily), a Liberal voter, has negatively geared a rental property so that essentially her 8 year old daughter is a landlord. If abolishing negative gearing will reduce her rent, she’s voting Labor. Caspar Jonquil has his own opinions, but a lightening strike and a few pianos put him out of his misery.

News from Countries other than Australia is brought to you by the Colour Me Canberra colouring book. The newly crowned oldest woman in the world has said the secret to her success is the previous record holder dying. The CSIRO is closing its ice lab in Antarctica, and good thing too – the crystal meth trade is more efficient when you cut out the middle penguin. The Unaoil scandal has so far not claimed any Australian scalps, as according to Commissioner Max Payne (Francis) from the Australian Federal Police, they have employed their non-pursuit policy – mainly because it’s too hard. And Japan is planning to launch an invisible train, which Shaun thinks might be a good idea for Turnbull’s smart cities plan – although he can’t see it happening.

Mad As Hell S6Ep2: Making an AnzacThe true story of cooking them just right: The Making of an Anzac (biscuit), Sunday 3:30pm

Shaun thinks the Apex gang who have terrorised the streets of Melbourne get only painted in a negative light – but what about the positive aspects of the Apex (Clubs of Australia): helping the homeless, holding community BBQ’s…

Dolly Levi (Emily), matchmaker, thinks that the Greens and Labor are destined for each other, and that they each protest too much, despite feeble attempts by the Greens to flirt with their rivals, the Liberals.

Maggie Bathysphere is waiting at the Rio stadium ahead of the Olympics, where new sports like bareback skeet shooting, involuntary diving, capsicum spray dodging, witch hat hurling, the burning of infected uniforms and the 100m dysentery are all being trialed.

Effigy quality is an important thing. Maureen Shostakovich (Roz) is an effigy maker, and believes it is very important the effigy looks like the intended target. She tries to make them as flammable as possible, using the stuffing from toys made in China. Once Maureen made an effigy of Kevin Rudd, and he was so vain he posed for it/ However it was too realistic, and the organisers got confused and set fire to the real Kevin – luckily he’s his own retardant.

Finally, there is an increase in obesity in children, but the silver lining is that it will mean more Biggest Loser contestants. Shaun doesn’t agree that The Biggest Loser is all about humiliating people for our entertainment – if you’ve ever watched it, you’ll know it isn’t entertainment.

Recap: Mad As Hell, May 11th 2016

Let’s see how we go with bringing back the recaps….

To raise money for charity the San Antonio Spurs basketball team is miniaturised, injected into Iggy Pop’s head & given just 60 minutes to find five living brain cells which it can challenge to a game of ‘hoops’.

Mad As Hell S6Ep1: The statueThe Abbott statue has been overturned, and there’s 52 sleeps (or 54 if they do a couple of debates) until the election. Shaun wasn’t sure that he was Mad As Hell, not Glad As Hell, but perhaps Sad As Hell, especially about those whinging about the election. Moof Pupper, lecturer at Box Hill Tafe, disagreed with the Stephen Conroy’s assertion that Sir John Kerr’s ghost would be turning at his grave over the double-dissolution – crawling perhaps.

Shaun is going to miss some casualties of this election, like Clive Palmer, who’s easy to call an idiot (just add the caption “Idiot” to any photo of him) and Ricky Muir, who is great at describing when a gun doesn’t go off. Sophie Mirabella is likely to lose her seat even more, with her bold strategy of encouraging people to vote for you by not telling them what you’re going to do for them until after they haven’t voted for you. Gorg Van Der McKenzie from The Institute of Whoever is Providing the Funding thinks that the strain on Wangaratta Hospital was eased when people felt less sick when Ms Mirabella didn’t win, so there was no need to fund it.

Shaun’s really going to miss the old Bill, who is doing “no more zingers” – imagine how that makes Shaun feel! As Shaun is an expert on comic timing (he was Fabio), he felt he could judge Jason Clare’s zinger attempts, but they’re shithouse compared to Bill. Bill has however been employing a vocal coach, even though it may mean he turns up sound like a Nepalese musician, or Ian Macfarlane.

Mad As Hell S6Ep1: Fingers crossedOn the topic of Malcolm Turnbull, Shaun likes him, and hopes he wins the next election, and will do everything he can to make him look good. ABC viewers are a whiney lot, complaining about the poor use of their 8c a day, and Shaun is unapologetic about his biased respect for Malcolm. (His Malcolm rant should be shared on Facebook, as the ABC loves that shit.)

On Father Brown this week, another priest is going around shooting people, and despite all the evidence, Father Brown recalls nothing of the incident and promptly moves the priest to another parish – mystery solved.

The federal budget has been digested, but Financy Boy can’t be the one to present it due to editorial policy, so Wilhemena Diiferent did – looking at Febu / Fudget / Debudget, and its benefits for CEO’s and Bankers.

Mad As Hell - S6 Ep1 Financy BoyThe budget has brought Malcolm and Scott Morrison together, and they are using tax to discourage people from doing certain activities – according to Draymella Burt, this includes smoking, eating (consumption tax), earning income (income tax) and leaving (departure tax).

War is still Hell, and the government is spending a lot of budget money on submarines. Rear Admiral Bob Gargle thinks it is money well spent, and that it’s not politically motivated – “There’s no reason to stuff more pork in the barrel than you need… if you catch my drift.” Dr Eldon Tyrell thinks you can’t make the existing Collins class last longer – “it’s a little out of my jurisdiction”. Bobo says the Collins class has a good range – 3 octaves to be precise. You can hear them from quite a distance – and they go all the way to high C (high sea – geddit?) And despite Bobo wanting a limited release of the Kraken, the ABC had left the poor Kraken in his cupboard for a year, and he’d wasted away to his skeleton (impossible for a cephalopod).

Next on ABC: Farmer wants a Chinese Investor, Bob’s Deeply Personal Journey, and Over-Correcting the Perception of Bias – a full night’s viewing!

There’s plans for a nuclear waste dump on the property of an ex-Liberal MP, which is one hell of a parting gift. But speaking of sport, its sport, and the sport of banking is one Australia would win. Zenzy (Hawke Screech) reported on how stupidly bankers allowed people like the Macallisters to over extend themselves to audacious levels, and how unscrupulous brokers like Davey Plumb rorted them all, easily and proudly. And the Australian government is only repeating them same mistakes.

To wrap up, Shaun feels that Lee Lin Chin was robbed of the Gold Logie – she’s the only one gutsy enough to say penises on TV.

Mad As Hell won a Logie! And is Back!

The cast with their 2016 Logie for Mad As HellAfter what seems like an eternity (actually one whole year), Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell is back for season 6, each Wednesday for the next 12 weeks.

And it’s back after winning the 2016 Most Outstanding Comedy Logie award!

All the cast from last season is back, although Stephen may disappear towards the end due to his Fawlty Towers stage show commitments.

It’s going to be an interesting season, as this is the first to run during an election campaign. Feel pity for the writers and cast, who will have to be changing and re-learning lines as the election cycle ramps up.

For us, it’s going to be exactly what we need on TV.

Catching up on the news

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 in May

Mad as Hell S5E9 Grun on the TellyIn case you’ve been panicked recently over the lack of Shaun on TV, we’re definitely sure Mad As Hell will return this year, and we’re almost reasonably, maybe, likely, probably positive that it will be the 11th May, after the conclusion of The Weekly’s run.

It’s also looking more and more likely it will be election season, so Shaun should have plenty of material to play with!

Shaun’s 2016 dance card

David McGahan dancingThanks to a number of announcements over the last few months, we now have a fairly good idea of where/what/how you can see Shaun right through until the end of 2016:

The Ex-PM
No doubt you’re already aware, but Shaun’s new sitcom is all wrapped up and ready to air on Wednesday October 14th on ABC. Expect to see (or more accurately, hear) Shaun on radio over the preceding week promoting it. The show will air over 6 weeks.

Shooting of the “Stairway to Heaven” specials
There will be three new Stairway to Heaven specials to air on SBS in 2016, so Shaun will spend time filming these over the following few months. He has already been spotted in Salt Lake City, so there’s a fair bet Mormonism will be one of the faith’s explored. [Update: he revealed to The Advertiser that the other two would be about Catholicism in Brazil and another about apocalyptic churches preaching The Rapture in the US.]

Mad As Hell – May 2016
The ABC have given the first part of next year to Charlie Pickering’s show, so Mad As Hell is likely to slot in after it (the reverse of what happened this year). Shaun has pretty much confirmed its return, so hopefully the sixth season will line up with an election announcement to add some additional gold…

MTC Production: The Odd Couple – November 2016
For the latter half of the year, Shaun will join Francis Greenslade on the Melbourne Theatre Company stage for “The Odd Couple”. Neil Simon’s classic comedy about divorced men living together has been adapted and performed in many guises, and might be, perversely, the world’s funniest play about marriage. Watch the video to see Shaun and Francis discuss working together:

Interview with Shaun on his 2015 projects

As Mad As Hell was wrapping up a few months ago, Shaun spoke to me about his projects through to next year, including The Ex-PM, Stairway to Heaven and the return of Mad As Hell. I’ve finally written it up, so enjoy!


I can’t think of anybody who’s so heavily involved in so many TV projects at one time (Mad As Hell, The Ex-PM and Stairway to Heaven) – you must be pretty busy at the moment!

I would have been busy anyway, because the plan was to do Mad As Hell at the beginning and the end of the year, and for one reason or another the Mad As Hell at the end of the year was vacated, and I think that was to do with funding generally. [Note: Mad As Hell comes from the Light Entertainment budget].

That meant that the back end of the year was free, so I said why don’t we have a look at doing the documentaries – we’re doing (the filming of) two at the end of the year and one at the beginning of next year. I’m still to have talks about what they are; (the production company) probably know, but they haven’t told me yet.

So it’s more the process of they’ll come to you with a suggestion of “we think you should go here” and you’ll go?

We have talked about where we might go, so it won’t surprise me, it will just be a case of which three they pick.

Shaun in Stairway to HeavenWas that how the first one came about, was it their (Artemis’) suggestion to go to India and look at Buddhism?

It was one of the ones we talked about, and oddly enough, I think it was the easiest to get to and the most exotic. Maybe the other ones won’t be so far away. The US might be a good place to go.

You haven’t been to the States have you?

No. It was interesting having never been to India to go to Haridwar, a country town, instead of the big cities, and ditto in the US: I would be going somewhere that would be quite unusual to go to for a first visit.

Is there anything you are hoping to learn in the upcoming three episodes of Stairway to Heaven? Will it be a continuation of the journey in the original special?

Hopefully it’s a refinement, I don’t really know. I certainly didn’t answer every question, and I didn’t ask every question. So, if it is about Mormonism for example, it’s interesting because I’m connected to the basic bedrock of the Christian traditions, so it’s easier for me to follow. But “why is this relatively new strand been so embraced?” It’s not a venerable as Hinduism. It’s a different question. It still links to someone’s absolute certainty about this particular version of faith that people have. The question is the same, it’s probably more about perspective.

So you’ll be treating it as a continuing enlightenment experience, trying to learn from people?

Because it would be in the same family of faith that I grew up in (Catholic), it might be easier for me know what I’m talking about when I ask the questions. So it may be less reverent than it would be in a more foreign environment.

Shaun Micalled as "The Ex-PM"I’m very much looking forward to The Ex-PM, since you teased it so long ago. How is preparation going for it?

Downstairs from the Mad As Hell office is the ABC drama department, so we’re casting for it now. So occasionally on a Wednesday, after doing the edit for Mad As Hell, I’ll go back to the office and look at some of the scripts that are coming in, then pop downstairs and do a couple of auditions, then come back upstairs and sign off on the sound edit and the audio post and the shows finished. So I’ve been doing two things on the Wednesdays. Once we finish (Mad As Hell), I’ll re-write the scripts and we start shooting in late May maybe.

Will it be mostly a set piece, or a bit of outdoors and in-studio?

There won’t be any studio component; it will all be in the real world. We’ll find a house to shoot in.

I guess he (Andrew Dugdale) will be running a home office?

It will be a bit of an upstairs/downstairs sort of arrangement.

And it will air later in the year?

Probably about September; 6 episodes.

Will Francis be in it?

Yes, absolutely. We’ll try and get everyone guesting in it, but Francis will have a role written for him in it, as always.

What are the chances of more Mad As Hell in the future?

It will be next year. It’s a good show, we’re match fit, we know what we’re doing, we just need to wait a year. We’ve done that before, waited a year between the first and the second series. We don’t want to wear out our welcome.

So you’re enjoying it enough that you’d love to come back and do some more?

Yeah! [said emphatically]

Do you like to seek out these projects, or do these opportunities come along for you to pounce on?

These days I don’t have to do much chasing. Mr and Mrs Murder was easy to get up, harder to do. I’ve been really lucky. There have been projects which haven’t gotten up, you just draw a conclusion that it wasn’t the right time or it wasn’t a strong project. If the will isn’t there, no amount of pushing is going to get them to do it.

Milo Kerrigan on TAYGIs it endearing that people still request Milo?

It’s alright, I don’t mind. There are worse things to be remembered for.  No one is asking me to do Milo professionally on a TV show – if that was the only job I was being offered I’d be a bit bitter I suppose.  It will come to that maybe, turning up in someone’s short film and that’s all they’ll want me to do.

I think we the fans feel part of an in-joke when you reference your previous work, as you do a bit in Mad As Hell. You like to layer the jokes, so everyone can feel like there is a joke for them.

Like throwing in the clips from The Micallef P(r)ogram(me), it doesn’t hurt if you don’t know the reference. Maybe it’s a bit more of an interesting experience if you go: “I remember that when I was 15.” Everything I’ve done had references in it. It’s about the level of commitment to it; if it’s just a reference and it doesn’t matter here nor there, that’s the way to do it. We did a New Years Eve show which was just layered with references to the past, and that was probably a bit too much. You can’t visit the past too much or it looks indulgent.

Thanks to Shaun and all the Mad As Hell crew (Anthony specially) for their time and assistance.

Top 11 Moments from Mad As Hell Series 5

With a great repertoire of characters, an established style, and the best political satire on Australian TV, series 5 of Mad As Hell (not unexpectedly) continued the brilliance of the previous ones. And if the outpouring of grief when the series ended is any indication, most of you agree.

Here’s my list of the top 11 moments which were unique to this series:

Mad as Hell S5E9 Grun on the Telly11. Grun, adviser to Dio Wang (Ep 6) & Glenn Lazerous (Ep 9)
While he first appeared last season, Grun (Francis), an adviser to various members of Palmer United Party, got another chance to share his desire to be on the telly (and not much else). He also filled one gap of awkward silence with an old Micallef Program prop, the roaring dinosaur/alien.

10. House of Dick
With the popularity of House of Hancock, why wouldn’t the ABC want to try their hand at another epic drama? Dick Smith’s (Tosh) rise from electronics reseller to champion of the people, with the associated contradiction between his current causes vs. his original ethics, prompted some Mad As Hell ribbing in Eps 1 & 2. (Watch) (Dick actually later responded to it with a media statement.)

9. Food People, Lower Prices (Ep 9)
As easily as they send up the ridiculousness of Bill’s zingers, Mad As Hell took the topic of supermarket monopolisation through genericised branding and presented it in a similar manner to which the giants claim to “support genuine farmers” – but only if they meet every demand. (Watch)

Mad As Hell S5E5 Jezabell Scream8. Jezabell Scream (Ep 5)
Expertly dissecting Bill’s zingers against Abbott’s stingers, Jezabell (Emily) was a affectionate homage (more so than parody I felt) to Judith Lucy, who’s show was, not coincidentally, the follow on from Mad As Hell. Jezabell also got to turn her opinion to feminism, a slight dig at both Judith’s show and the way the media often handles female comedians. (Watch)

7. Caspar’s Future/TV show
Caspar Jonquil (Tosh), longtime AM radio talkback caller, has been a character since the second season, and his monologues are often the place where the writers one liners all get thrown. To shut Caspar up, Shaun usually has to have a piano dropped on him, but in Ep 6, Caspar managed to escape and we got a glimpse into his future – years hiding alone before a proposal from Spakfilla Vole gave him a heart attack.
But all was not lost, and the following week (Ep 7), Caspar got his own, Bolt Report-style, show: “Right Minded”.

Mas As Hell S5E9 Kevin Spacey6. Frank Underwood/Kevin Spacey impression
Channeling Frank Underwood from House of Cards, Shaun broke the fourth wall a few times after interviewing Dolly Norman (Roz) to deliver a quote directly to us:
“I love that woman. I love her more than sharks love blood.” (Ep 3)
“The [prime minister] is like a lone tree in an empty field – he leans whichever way the wind is blowing.” (Ep 5)
“A Cat likes to play with a Mouse before the killing blow. It’s a metaphor.” (Ep 7)
“Democracy isn’t what these people need. Hell it isn’t even what they want. People don’t want freedom, they want boundaries, rules, protection from invaders and from themselves.” (Ep 9) – that one wasn’t even from House of Cards, it was from the Call of Duty trailer!

Into the Bin!5. “Into the Bin!”
For Micallef fans, we love the subtle references to his previous much-loved works: the Tyrell Corp chair from TAYG, the Micallef Tonight sign, the odd-Milo sighting, the Micallef Program punch lines. And Shaun brought back part of the High Horse segment from Micallef Tonight, to banish a number of things “Into the Bin”: Freedom Crunchola bars (Ep 1), Vanilla Ice’s sampled pool heater (Ep 3) and the cover of Joe Hockey’s tax discussion paper (Ep 10).

Mad As Hell S5E8 Smooth Operator4. Being wooed by Malcolm Turnbull (Ep 8)
Shaun was particularly impressed by Malcolm’s smooth talking in an interview with David Speers on Sky, almost to the level of seduction, but soon realised it was all an act – he is the communications minister after all. But we did get to enjoy a bit of Smooth Operator. (Watch)

Mad As Hell S5E4 Cats of Corfu3. Shaun Micallef’s Other Shows
In a light dig at the ABC’s documentary programs and Shaun’s actual documentary hosting, we were treated to number of possible documentaries to look forward to:

Shaun Micallef’s Boring Pigs of the Southern Balkans (Ep 3)
Shaun Micallef’s The Flying Cats of Corfu (Ep 4)
Shaun Micallef’s Rise of the Machines (Ep 5)
Shaun Micallef’s Borneo’s Pretty Determined Drug-Fuelled Snails (Ep 5)
Shaun Micallef’s The Goldfish of 47 Harrow Road Brompton (Ep 6)
Shaun Micallef’s Aerophobic Flies of the Tierra Del Fuego (Ep 8)
Shaun Micallef’s Rancid Substitutes for the Putrid Stench of the Corpse Flower (Ep 10)

Mad As Hell S5E10 Cheese/Program Shop2. The ABC Program/Cheese Shop (Ep 10)
When Shaun gives treatment to Monty Python, one of his own comedy influences, it’s only good news for us – and the chance to dig at the ABC, its comedy lineup and the lack of budget (which essentially means we only get one series of Mad this year) must have been too good to miss, creating a great fantastic opener to the last episode. (Watch) (Original here)

1. “I’m not a commentator”
Media speak has become a major part of the political discourse, and Mad As Hell was quick to pick up on it, specifically the use of “cynical obfuscation” to confuse the meaning of political policy. This was summed up by spokesperson Draymella Burt (Emily): “What’s important is that people don’t know what you’re talking about so can’t form an opinion. It works with phrases: ‘I’m not going to answer that question you arsehole’, becomes “I’m not a commentator.'” (Ep 3) (Watch)
The commentator line had first been subtly peppered in Ep 2, then with Dolly Norman (Ep 3), Maggie Bathysphere (Ep 4) and Darius (Ep 7) using it as liberally as their real-life political counterparts.

Episode Synopses for Mad as Hell Season 5

There’s a joke in every nook and cranny of Mad As Hell, and this season continued the tradition of playing with the episode synopses – many of which were themed around a time and a place. For anyone who missed them in the TV guides, on iView or when scrolling through their digital TV listing, here they are:

Episode 1 – February 11th
Auckland, 1978. A young man with the wind in his hair, also nits, dreams of a better life by winning a dusco duncing competution. CAST: Shaun Micallef

Episode 2 – February 18th
Los Angeles, 2057. The future. A cyber-gigolo accused of post-meditated mind-murder travels back in time to 1958 to try and prevent the invention of the hula hoop. CAST: Shaun Micallef

Episode 3 – February 25th
Oklahoma, 1936. Tom, Ma, Pa, Uncle John and their crippled scientist friend Davros enjoy a hearty meal of dust. “Anyone for seconds?” laughs Tom.

Episode 4 – March 4th
Singapore, 1942, just before the fall of the tiny island state (when it was feeling a bit dizzy). A manticore, a chimera and a basilisk walk into a bar and have a quiet drink – nothing to see here.

Episode 5 – March  11th
Tibet, 1957. The Dalai Lama invites you to go rollerblading. If you accept his invitation, turn to Page 34. If you choose to denounce him as a capitalist roader, turn to Page 132. CAST: Shaun Micallef

Episode 6 – March 18th
A janitor accidentally trapped overnight at New York’s Grand Central Station is amazed when the men’s public toilets magically come to life (also the urinal cakes, hand dryers, toilet rolls etc.)

Episode 7 – March 25th
Kyoto, 1999. On the eve of National Udon Day, a love octagon develops between a flatulent geisha, a sumo wrestler, a yakuza flautist, a deaf samurai, a pedantic ninja and three other Japanese stereotypes.

Episode 8 – April 1st
You might think you know all about sugar, but how much do you really know about sugar? Tonight, everything you need to know about sugar – and some things you perhaps didn’t need to know! About sugar.

Episode 9 – April 8th
Drawing on old Super 8 footage, videotape, still photos, eyewitness accounts and police records, a former marine is able to piece together the final moments before his colonoscopy.

Episode 10 – April 15th
Terry’s not like you or me. You see, Terry hears voices in his head. Angry voices. Voices that tell him to kill. (Twist: Terry works in telemarketing and the voices are customers in his headphones.)

Hopeful as Hell for 2016

Mad As Hell S5E8 Cat HissThere is only two episodes left of this season of Mad As Hell, and sadly, also this year, as the ABC Light Entertainment budget can only stretch so far.

This is slightly strange, when you consider this week, the show was the top rated non-news show on Wednesday across all channels (6th with 782,000 viewers).

The good news is – the whole team and especially Shaun are optimistic about the show returning in 2016, believing it’s in a good rhythm with plenty more steam. So it may soon be on break, but it won’t be gone.