The Micallef Program

I knew very little about Shaun Micallef prior to watching his show on cable last week: yet now I feel like lobbying the UK TV channels to demand they buy and show everything he's ever done. Combining elements of Monty Python, Alan Partridge, Chris Morris and the Fast Show, this show is excellent and very amusing, with a truly talented bunch of performers in evidence.

I regret to say I have seen only two shows so far, so I'm hankering desperately for more instalments. One sketch in particular, simply involving Shaun as a rather tipsy host braving his cellar to fetch a bottle of wine, had me convulsing with merriment.

It's evident that Shaun and his co-writers are well steeped in many comedy influences, yet they still create a show that feels wonderfully fresh and hilariously original. Top marks!

Thank God for the Paramount Comedy Channel for bringing The Micallef Program to these comedy starved shores. In anticipation of the new series of the only homegrown comedy shows worth talking about (Spaced, Black Books), I thought I would give Micallef a try and see if those kind souls at Paramount were telling the whole truth about how good it was.

At first, I wasn't sure; but, after 20 seconds or so, I was laughing. By the time Spiffington Manse came on, I was on the floor, holding my sides in convulsions: this is one show that should definitely carry a public health warning!!!

Maybe it's because I'm so jaded with so-called comic talent here in Britain and Ireland, or maybe (and more likely), the standards of British TV comedy recently has (with very few exceptions) fallen alarmingly low, but Shaun Micallef is like a blast of fresh air on the scene. I would love to see his live show; I'm eager to see his work on the Aussie show, SeaChange; and I wish Paramount would show all three, original series uncut instead of a series of best of shows. Micallef combines all the best elements of Steve Coogan, Monty Python, The Fast Show, but puts his own spin on proceedings which makes even the most basic comic premises (the quiz show, the sarcastic interviewer, the cop documentary) refreshing.

Aided and abetted by a brilliant cast (Francis Greenslade, Roz Hammond, and Wayne Hope should all hold master classes in how to be funny over here), the viewer is spoiled for choice when trying to pick a favourite moment or performance. The telekinetic peasant woman; the Nazi encouraged to kayak off a building and die on "I Bloody Dare You"; the death of the Australian funeral industry; the blasphemous Fat-o-gram sketch; the AmWay selling gameshow host, and so on are all classics which deserve mention in the same breath as other classic comedy moments like The Dead Parrot Sketch, Fork Handles, and the little bit of car trouble Basil has in Fawlty Towers.

I've already ordered my Micallef video from the ABC online shop, and eagerly await any repeats and new material that Paramount (or any other channel) may have in store for us. If you have seen Shaun's show, you'll understand why I'm raving so much about it; if you haven't, then I can only feel sorry for you.

10 / 10

The world's not short of half-hour sketch shows, but this is one of the best I've seen in a long time (On the UK's Paramount Comedy Channel). Satirical, surreal, and wonderfully played by a small regular cast (Wayne Hope, Francis Greenslade, Roz Hammond... and Miron, he's made of plasticine, but no less funny for it). Imagine an Australian "A Bit Of Fry And Laurie" if you know it, with elements of Monty Python & Kids In The Hall. Shaun Micallef in his role as chat show host/presenter/interviewer would be among the highlights; a cringe-inducingly smug, bitter, inept and offensive man - he is the Australian Alan Partridge. Despite being an Australian show, there's very rarely a joke of reference that I don't 'get' here in the UK. I ordered the DVDs online, the shows really stand up to repeated viewing.

The Micallef Program/Programme/Pogram really is quite a unique show. It is unlike American sitcoms, classic British comedy or, to a good degree, the television show that spawned Shaun Micallef, "Full Frontal".

Micallef and his crew (Francis Greenslade, among others) pursue this unique style of humour that can perhaps be described as taking things literally and then turning them on their head. Some of the sketches are classics- the Sergeant and the Constable for instance. On occasions the strange sense of humour fails to hit its mark, but when it does, it is, to many people, very funny.

Shaun Micallef is truly a talented comedian, and it can be hoped that there will be a fourth season of The Micallef Program.

Incredibly funny. In fact behind Jimoin and Seinfeld and the Simpsons, the funniest show of all time. Just cut to them "ducks on Lake" Mr Micallef. Well Done. (my favourite bit is the game show segment "I BLOODY DARE YOU". Great stuff.