We Can Be Heroes

What a great show this is, a real surprise, but not to fans of Chris Lilley who have known his comic genius for a while. Five nominees for Australian of the Year, and every one of them undeserving of any such accolade! He makes us cringe at the self-absorbed Phil Olivetti, he makes us laugh at his Chinese PhD-cum-musical performer Ricky Wong, and he makes us ashamed of being an Australian when ignorant Ja'mie King graces the screen. Despite the many positive reviews in most of the newspapers around the country, people are unaware of this show and the fact it's a mockumentary. Some people have complained on radio about each of the nominee's behaviour on the show, thinking it's a genuine documentary, despite the fact Chris Lilley plays all five nominees! I think that's the ultimate testament to his talents as a comic. Well done.

Australia is lucky enough to call many great comic actors and comedians their own - Gina Riley, Jane Turner, Glenn Robbins, Eric Bana - and has produced such fine comedies like "Kath & Kim", "Big Girl's Blouse", "Fast Forward" and "Full Frontal". Joining the list of greats is Chris Lilley and his terrific 6-part mockumentary "We Can Be Heroes: Finding the Australian of the Year".

In the tradition of "Best in Show" and "Drop Dead Gorgeous", "We Can Be Heroes" follows the lives of several contestants, in this case, for the Australian of the Year award. Lilley plays all of the 5 nominees himself, and does a great job of showcasing his acting abilities, as well as brining life to some memorable characters, most of all school girl Ja'mie who really deserves a show of her own. Each of the nominees that Lilley plays are very different from one another. The outgoing Ricky, the stuck-up Ja'mie, the modest Pat, the arrogant Phil and the hilarious Daniel.

Each of the 5 nominees have all been nominated for various reasons, some more convincing than others, and some totally absurd. But that just adds to the humour of the show. The characters are not all likable, but it's better that way. Lilley is backed-up by a terrific group of supporting cast who play the friends and family of the nominees, and each of them do a great job given the short periods of time they are on screen for. The narration from Jennifer Byrne gives the show an authentic feel. A great show, would be awesome to see a second season with some outrageous new characters, or Ja'mie in her own show!

We Can Be Heroes is the greatest Australian comedy to be released in the past decade. Many would give Kath and Kim that credit but Chris Lilley truly goes above and beyond in this masterpiece. Every character he plays has the perfect blend of subtlety and caricature. His characterization stays sharp all throughout the series, which is full of hilarious situations and even some sad ones. Every Australian who watches this show will feel as though they have met the characters personally, so astute is Chriss Lilley with his observations and performances. The production values are high throughout with the show looking just like an ABC local interest documentary series. I truly hope that Chris Lilley will go from this project on to many more and keep showing all Australians how funny we really are.

We can be Heroes:Finding the Australian of the year is without a doubt the funniest,reasonably realistic and best show on Australian Television.

Ja'mie King was so hilarious and even my favourite character because some of her opinions about everything makes you think about what it can really be inside the surface.The skateboarder blond twins were funny,the Chinese man(played by Chris Lilley)wasn't an exaggerated stereotype,he was accurately natural and also pretty hilarious,and the guide to Ja'mie's bedroom,school,house and lifestyle was amusing to watch.And the part where Ja'mie has a meltdown when she hears the African people she sponsored in Africa were 90% killed by a flood was funny as hell and even true to how a teenage girl would act if she was upset.

We can be heroes will always be my favourite show to enjoy when there's nothing else to find on TV anymore,except for Summer Heights High. Really hilarious show.

We can be heroes is one of the funniest shows of all time. the show is about six people(played by Chris Lilley)who have been nominated for Australian of the year award. One of the characters are two outback teenages, Daniel and Nathan Sims who are my favorite but they are all still very funny. i also thought it was really cool that Chris Lilley could played all the characters so well. I rated it ten because i think it's so well done and incredibly funny i would give it one hundred. Chris Lilley comes up with great ideas like a 47 year old woman rolling from Perth to Uluru and a Chinese 23 year man who has a PHD in physics and loves acting and spells fun with a ph(phun),a teenage boy going to give his deaf brother one of his ear drums so he can hear again,a teenage girl who has 87 sponsor kids and the most popular girl in school and a man who saved nine kids fro a flying jumping castle.