Remember when Australia had a fresh variety of comedy shows in the 1980s and 1990s? They’re as rare as hens teeth these days, as we’re dominated by US and UK sitcoms in our libraries.
Back in 1990, there was a particular sitcom shown on Channel 10 which stood out from the crowd – particularly because it was a spin-off from another show.
Kim Gyngell as Col’n Carpenter.
Col’n Carpenter (or for the formal, “Colin” – he was that simple, he’d drop the “i”) was a simple, thick but loveable person who scraped through life with a naive attitude but positive outlook.
Produced by veteran comedy writer Doug MacLeod and played by Kim Gyngell, Col’n Carpenter originally appeared in sketches alongside any character Mark Mitchell performed as on The Comedy Company – a sketch comedy show that ran from 1988 to 1990. Mitchell would play the straight and realistic character, while Gyngell’s Carpenter would break reality with his odd-thinking and processes to achieve a similar result to a more simple and natural ending.
Carpenter was very popular, and was spun off into his own sitcom, broadcast on the same network. This time, Carpenter moves out of home from his Mum Dawn (Monica Maughan) and into a share-house, living with Michael (Stig Wemyss) and Julie (Vicki Blanche), who later moves out and is replaced by Linda (Kaarin Fairfax) further in the series.
The series ran for four seasons over 61 episodes, and spawned a “Best Of” DVD. However, this has been long out-of-print and highly over-priced on eBay. For anyone who wants their fix of the unemployed simpleton, you have to rely on worn VHS copies on YouTube. While it’s not a complete set, we’ve started you with the first couple of episodes. There has been attempts to get a full boxset released for years, but it has never come to fruition.
If you want more, you just have to dig a little deeper into YouTube.
