The Weekly with Charlie Pickering

Repeat Rehash Rinse Repeat. That's now the regular cycle of every episode. Once upon a time this guy was a genuine comedian. Now just a low effort repeater of media agendas. Avoid. Sad and embarrassing.

Much of this show is very mediocre. Pedestrian and obvious. Guests help to lift it at times, guests like Rhys Nicholson, Judith Lucy, Margaret Pomeranz help and almost make it worth watching. Charlie has lost his edge, that is if ever had one. I usually watch in the hope that Rhys Nicholson will be on. Tom Gleeson was funnier than Charlie but he's gone. The ' you're cancelled' slot is silly and worn out. I think Charlie Pickering has done his dash and ought to call it a day. Utopia is real satire. For this show to call itself satire is stretching the definition to its limits. I'm over it. Zzzzz.

Funny and watchable only because of Kitty Flanagan and Tom Gleeson.

Charlie Pickering's role seems to be to score cheap points and applauses from the shallow left-leaning ABC audience. He seems to fancy himself as another John Oliver, mixing (attempted) humour with reporting and analysis of problems in society. However, his humour is of the cheap, one-dimensional shots variety (as, unfortunately, Oliver's has become) and the reporting is incredibly shallow.

The real stars of the show are Kitty Flanagan and Tom Gleeson. Both are incredibly funny in an over-the-top sort of way and don't have to rely on political bs to make an impression. Fast forward through Charlie Pickering, watch Kitty and Tom.

This used to be satire and comparable to Shaun Micalleff's Mad as Hell or Sammy J. Not this year. There's barely any satire anymore and the jokes are low-brow. Sad.

This show is the only one I will sit down and watch live. It is perhaps the Highlight of my week. It's hilarious and the cast is fantastic.