Aunty Donna's Coffee Café

As a fan of the trio's content, I can happily say that this miniseries is a great step up from their previous show "Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun".

Unlike their Netflix series, in which each episode technically had a plot but it felt more like extremely thin threads to connect one sketch to the other (still funny and enjoyable though), Coffee Cafe succeeds in forming coherent stories and managing to develop both A and B plots while still keeping the creators' absurd/surreal sense of humor, making each episode a lot more enjoyable.

The 2023 show also shows off better lighting and photography for most of its scenes, although it suffers for an overabundance of digital zooms.

The main problem (if you can even call it such) that I have with the show is the underutilization of Gaby Seow's character "Stephanie" who in the first episode is introduced as apparently important but ends up sporadically appearing only in a few scenes, at best, each episode. I feel the character has a lot of unused potential.

Overall the show is extremely funny and a great way to spend your time, too bad it's only available in Australia, which limits the show's reach and forces their overseas fans to watch it by using a VPN or by illegally pirating it. I hope it gets a wider release soon.

Must watch TV, brilliant from start to finish.

There is so much to love about this show so I'll try to summarise its strengths as best I can:

• Laughs per minute: The show is so often funny at such a consistent pace that you find yourself holding in your laughter to ensure that you don't miss a step, and then at the end of the scene letting it all out at once.

• Physical and visual comedy: Under-utilised nowadays, Aunty Donna are masters of incorporating both physical and visual cues to heighten the viewer experience. I can only imagine that there were still plenty of things I missed on this front, which only makes me keen to watch the series again.

• Narrative structure: Compared to the Netflix series, I really enjoyed the fact that (while still absurd and boundary-pushing at all times), this felt like a genuine sitcom. The B-plots in each of the episodes were really effective in breaking up the high intensity of everything else going on, with the Episode 2 subplot a standout.

• Characters and Performers: Needless to say the array of characters featured were so ridiculous yet relatable throughout. Having Gaby Seow's character as more of a straight man and allowing the three boys to do their thing was a great choice. As usual, the extended cast of Donna-adjacent performers were brilliant, with a special shout out to Michelle Brazier and Patrick Durnan Silva. In addition to the usual suspects, the guest stars were a very welcome addition and added another dimension to a few of the episodes. Sally-Anne Upton in particular was outstanding.

• Music: The theme song and the catchiness of all of the musical numbers show the depth of talent within the Donna crew and deserve a mention.

• Production: The refinement in the production of the show while capturing the essence and absurdity of everything happening on screen is a difficult balance to find I imagine, though it was done to perfection.

• Self-awareness: The inclusion of Zac breaking character on a few occasions, poking fun at themselves by implying a bit or a joke only to abandon it as not funny, and the many deep cuts included for the fans shows that they aren't taking themselves too seriously and allowing themselves and their audience to have fun and be in on the whole process.

The only criticism of mine is perhaps that the first half of the first episode was a bit heavy with exposition as well as introduction to the boys and the concept, though I can understand that for viewers not familiar with their work, this sort of thing is pretty important.

It's great to see the ABC supporting genuine Australian talent and very clearly giving them the creative license to do what they do best.

This is comfortably one of the best television shows produced in Australia in a long time. This show and Kitty Flanagan's "Fisk" are helping to revive Australian comedy on TV in a manner it has so desperately needed for the last 10 years. Aunty Donna deserve all of the success and notoriety that the world can offer them, and hopefully enough people watch this for that to happen.

You love to see it.

Aunty Donna previously took the absurdity of their stage and web shows and cranked it up to 11 in BOHOF for Netflix. While I thoroughly enjoyed that show, its pure chaos could have potentially isolated new viewers and those not fully invested in Aussie specific absurdist comedy ricocheting from sketch to sketch.

Coffee Cafe fixes a lot of those problems for me. It brings the absurdity, the outlandish surprised laugh, and the spooky episode hijinks together in a more polished and pointed product.

Each episode plays out a sitcom structure to some extent, and allows cutaways and gags to take over the whole show for anywhere from a few seconds to a minute or two, but always gets back on topic. And for me, this thread of narrative holding the silliness together just worked harder than anything else the boys have put out.

Episode 2 is likely a favourite for most, and is the strongest for me, staying on topic and cutting away for very high quality goofs.

If you can forgive the odd joke that stays a few seconds too long, the 99 other gags coming at you in 25 minute blocks all land way harder than anything else the Boys have done so far.

Also Cowboy and Frogman tho.

Some of the best youth oriented Australian comedy going around. If you don't rate this 10/10 you are a filthy real estate agent and I hope your navy suit gets infested with wasps.

Full of incredible characterisation as always and it doesn't linger on an idea for too long, pushing for a joke after joke format. I cant wait to see what non-Australians think of this show when it has its broader release, because the specificity of some of these jokes are incredible.

As always the Donna extended universe is brilliant. Michelle Brasier, Mish Wittrup, Frankie McNair, Lena Moon, Patrick Durnan Silva.....

I moved to Australia in late 2022. I've been struggling with learning the humor and slag here and honestly this show and the Aunty Donna boys have helped me learn it. I have to say I love Broden, Zack, and Mark. And I definitely love the show.

Now the show is funny and definitely binge worthy. I've watched this season atleast 7 times by the time I'm writing this review. It also has some really catchy song that get stuck in your head. As well as some random characters that just make you laugh.

The guys really worked hard on the show and it shows but at the end of the day it's for you to watch. The Aunty Donna boys have definitely helped adjusting to living here easier and they are really amazing. I can't wait for hopefully a season 2.