It’s time to bring back Good News Week.
There. I said it.
The satirical panel show covering all the hits and misses in the news and society needs to be resurrected and give the Australian audiences laughs again. The world has gone to shit, and it needs to be torn a new one.
Top: Mikey Robins, Paul McDermott, Julie McCrossin.
Bottom: Mikey, Paul, Claire Hooper.
If you’re unfamiliar with the show, you can look up the entire history on Wikipedia as it’s very rich in history, and I am too lazy writing it out here. But I will say that it was hosted by Paul McDermott and originally ran from 1996 to 2000 with team captains Mikey Robins and Julie McCrossin (ABC / Channel 10). It was then axed due to low ratings. Then, brought back from 2008 to 2012 with Mikey and Claire Hooper (Channel 10). The show was axed again after low ratings.
Hey mr. man, apparently I’m back. Time to get the ol’ gang together – and save TV? https://t.co/u3zzVHOGIc
— Paul McDermott (@YoungMasterPaul) November 16, 2022
After than being host, McDermott is known for his amazing vocal talents (read: Doug Anthony Allstars), which his performances occasionally popped up on the spin-off shows Good News Weekend, Good News Week Night Lite, and the standard versions down the track (Let’s not talk about Good News World). These performances became a treat to the fans, especially when the songs performed were done with passion and soul. Usually assisted with his co-host team players Robins, McCrossin, Hooper, The Sandman, Flacco and any guests.
Other than books and t-shirt merchandise, there were two albums released: Paul McDermott Unplugged – Good News Week Tapes Volume 1 which consisted of opening monologues and two song tracks, as well as Live Songs – Good News Week Tapes Volume 2 which was full of songs and no monologues. Those CDs are long out of print, and you have to rely on shonky low-grade YouTube rips to hear some of the fantastic performances by McDermott and Co (guests and houseband The Gadflys and Paul Mac ((yes, his name is Paul McDermott too.. what are the odds!)) ).
Here’s 10 songs that we remember that sound freaking amazing (some even better than the original). So click through and enjoy memory lane.
1 comment
I love Paul McDermott and his voice is phenomenal! A performance on Good News Week that I always look up on YouTube is Elana Stone’s version of ‘Shook me all night long’. She does a short version on the accordion and a longer one with Tripod at the end. You have to fast forward through the whole episode, but it’s worth it!!