Ask any Generation X or Y-er and they’ll tell you that ABC’s The Late Show was the best Australian comedy show on TV.
It’s not that “Late Show” with U.S. talk show hosts, but it was a late night sketch comedy show that screened Saturday nights on the ABC in 1992 and 1993.
The D-Generation / The Late Show cast
The Late Show ran for 40 episodes (plus a few specials) and made household names out of the members Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner, Jane Kennedy, Judith Lucy, Tony Martin, Mick Molloy, Rob Sitch and Jason Stephens. “Best Of” compilations were made and released on VHS (and down the track – DVD and digital), highlighting the comedic wares of failing stunt masters, shoddy commercials, song and movie parodies, shonky stand-up routines, and quotations galore that will last for “HANDS OFF!!“ years…
While the show was a slow ratings builder and attracted criticism from reviewers who weren’t really part of the demographic, but it wasn’t until the second season when the popularity skyrocketed – and to be in the audience was the coolest ticket money couldn’t buy.
When the series wrapped up in 1993, the audience waited until the show would pop up in the TV guide.. but nothing happened. The team went on to work on their own successful projects, such as Frontline, Martin/Molloy, Funky Squad, The Panel, The Castle... while others went behind-the-scenes and produced great quality television and movies for Australian audiences to digest with glee. For years, The Late Show had made such a mark in the Australian cultural landscape, it often appears in “Top 10” charts of best TV series of all time lists.
2022 will mark 30 years since the very first episode was broadcast on ABC TV on Saturday night – July 18th. Fans who run the Champagne Comedy site have been revisiting episodes from their VHS collection and unnecessarily over-analysing jokes and moments within the show, and have turned it into the Champagne Comedy Podcast. Due to this, questions have been raised about particular aspects of the show – especially ones that aren’t contained within the Best Bits collections – so they decided to pursuade cast member Jason Stephens to chat all things The Late Show, and politely demanded answers that fans need to know.
In the very healthy discussion, Stephens chats about his writing relationship with Mick Molloy, jokes going through the topicality filter, music parodies that are outranking the originals, the processes of churning out live television in the ’90s, Judith Lucy joining the team in Season Two, why wasn’t there a third season (“I thought there was another season in us“), and – the toughest question to answer – will there be a reunion of The Late Show.
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Disclaimer: The owner of My Geek Culture contributes to the podcast and ChampagneComedy.com.
