With the demise of Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell, The Weekly with Charlie Pickering became the ABC’s longest running news-based comedy. With the demise of Sammy J’s sketches at 6.55pm on Thursdays, The Weekly with Charlie Pickering became the ABC’s only regular news-based comedy. Now that it stands alone, is The Weekly with Charlie Pickering up to the task? That depends on what you think it’s on air to do.
Come to that, what news? This is a show with a segment titled ‘Celebrity Beefs’ that was just rehashing a fortnight-old interview Samuel Johnson gave breakfast television complaining about Molly Meldrum’s antics. There’s also a regular segment where Margaret Pomeranz recaps reality television – that’s the joke, that a retired film reviewer is reviewing trashy television. Presumably Lee Lin Chin was busy.
