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ABC comedy Fisk, created, written, directed by and starring Kitty Flanagan, follows Helen Tudor-Fisk, a corporate contract lawyer forced to take a job at a shabby suburban law firm specialising in wills and probate.

Helen (Flanagan) is not good with people. When her personal and professional lives implode spectacularly in Sydney, Helen runs home to Melbourne and takes a job at the suburban Gruber & Gruber. Helen is brought in to replace Roz Gruber (Julia Zemiro), a recently-suspended solicitor who has temporarily appointed herself the office manager. No longer allowed to sit in with clients, Roz now has nothing else to do but get all up in Helen’s business.

Ray Gruber (Sheargold), Roz’s brother, hires Helen in a fit of laziness but also because Helen is a ‘mature lady’ which has proven to be the preferred option for clients who are grieving. Unfortunately, Helen is not that kind of mature lady.

Matchbox Pictures/Dirty Films’ Stateless dominated the Aacta Industry Awards on Friday evening, scooping up all of the television drama prizes.

The six gongs the ABC production received were for: cinematography, for the work of Bonnie Elliott; costume design, to Mariot Kerr; editing, to Mark Atkin; production design, to Melinda Doring; score, to composer Cornel Wilczek, and sound, going to Tom Heuzenroeder, Pete Smith, Michael Darren and Des Kenneally.

This year’s craft and technical awards were a little different thanks to Covid-19, presented virtually in a ceremony hosted by Claire Hooper.

Presenters included Rachel Griffiths, Ed Kavalee, Rhys Nicholson, Dilruk Jayasinha, Celia Pacquola and Bernard Curry.

In film, The Invisible Man and True History of the Kelly Gang each scooped three awards, and Babyteeth two.

Kirsty McGregor and Stevie Ray took home Best Casting for assembling the cast of Babyteeth, which boasts Eliza Scanlen, Toby Wallace, Ben Mendelsohn and Essie Davis.

Rebel Wilson's latest project, an Amazon series titled Lol: Last One Laughing, already has us cackling into our morning coffees. The six-episode comedy series (which was filmed in 2019) is being touted as a "comedic social experiment" and involves 10 Australian comedians being locked in a house together for a six-hour competition that has no rules. Oh, except one: if they laugh, they're cut.

Each comedian will participate in a series of skits where they can say and do whatever they like, except laugh. If a comedian laughs softly, they'll receive a yellow card violation (just like in football). A second offense will earn the comedian a red card elimination, and they'll be eliminated from the game and miss out on $100,000 cash prize.

If you're not familiar with the Australian comedy scene, you'll just have to trust me when I say that you're in for a treat. With Rebel Wilson as host,...

CBS Studios International has snapped up the global format rights to Network Ten’s quiz show Have You Been Paying Attention?

Created by Working Dog Productions, the show is in its sixth season and ranks as the CBS-owned network’s third-highest rating series behind MasterChef Australia and The Bachelor Australia.

It’s the first Australian format acquired by the sales division of the Us studio, which will sell the format to global broadcasters alongside Wheel of Fortune and America’s Next Top Model.

In the current series host Tom Gleisner and regulars Ed Kavalee and Sam Pang are joined by The Project’s Pete Helliar, Jane Kennedy and stand-up comedian Anne Edmonds.

Last night’s episode won its timeslot, averaging 1.02 million viewers nationally, and was Ten’s most watched show of the night.

“This agreement is a terrific example of the new synergies we have in Australia since acquiring...

Jimeoin, Paul Hogan, Fiona O’Loughlin and others cracking lazy jokes – 86 of them – around a campfire. It really is his dog

A bunch of people coming around for dinner and cracking jokes over a few beers and wines ... is that a compelling idea for a feature film? The director Dean Murphy and his ubiquitous star/producer, Shane Jacobson – who is increasingly giving the impression of being a person happy not just to attend the opening of an envelope but to star in a feature film about such an event – believe the answer is a firm yes.

The twist is that the guests of the true-blue soirée held in That’s Not My Dog! are well-known Australian comedians, instructed to bring with them their three funniest jokes of all time. The guest list is impressive – including Jacobson, Paul Hogan, Jimeoin, Paul Fenech, Michala Banas, Steve Vizard, Fiona O’Loughlin, Tim Ferguson,...

It.s not surprising that comedic actor Ed Kavalee.s debut telemovie Scumbus is about to hit screens. What is surprising is that he used his life savings to self-fund the project, which was strong enough to attract come of the biggest names in Australian comedy including Glenn Robbins, Tony Martin, Peter Helliar and Dave Hughes.

.What do they tell you not to do? Don.t put your own money in,. Kavalee says. .But I didn.t have a choice . what am I going to do? Ring up a funding body and say I have this idea for a comedy telemovie? They would have hung up straight away. You know you get to this point where you say .I.ve got to do something.....

Kavalee has been winning fans over the past six years on radio and as a host and performer on TV shows such Thank God You.re Here; TV Burp; Santo,...

It.s not surprising that comedic actor Ed Kavalee.s debut telemovie Scumbus is about to hit screens. What is surprising is that he used his life savings to self-fund the project, which was strong enough to attract come of the biggest names in Australian comedy including Glenn Robbins, Tony Martin, Peter Helliar and Dave Hughes.

.What do they tell you not to do? Don.t put your own money in,. Kavalee says. .But I didn.t have a choice . what am I going to do? Ring up a funding body and say I have this idea for a comedy telemovie? They would have hung up straight away. You know you get to this point where you say .I.ve got to do something.....

Kavalee has been winning fans over the past six years on radio and as a host and performer on TV shows such Thank God You.re Here,...

Comedian and film-maker Ed Kavalee is seeking a theatrical distributor for his second feature film Border Protection Squad, which takes aim at shows like Seven’s Border Security and the characters behind it.

Kavalee wrote and directed Border Protection Squad with producing duties shared between himself and Christian Clarke, who produced Scumbus, Nick Thompson and Rachel Millar.

Kavalee told Mumbrella’s sister title Encore: “The idea is what would happen if the guys who ran Border Security were more interested in the ratings than what actually came in and out of Australia.”

Last week Encore revealed that Kavalee’s first film Scumbus would be broadcast on Network Ten.

Kavalee said he hoped to talk to distributors about the opportunities of using Twitter to promote Border Protection Squad via his cast’s own followers. He said: “My question is going to be, ‘what’s the best way to get the most...

Ed Kavalee: writer, producer, actor of Scumbus

Network Ten has picked up first rights to a debut comedy feature by Ed Kavalee starring some of Australia’s best known comedians.

Scumbus is Kavalee’s first film, written, produced and funded by the comedian and directed by Luke Tierney.

The film, an idea of Kavalee’s and friend Josh Lawson, will be broadcast on Saturday 10 November at 9.30pm and later on Ten’s catch up service.

Kavalee told Encore: “It was conceived by myself and Josh Lawson before he got taken under the wing of Will Ferrell.”

“It was made for TV. No one is making comedy telemovies. So I thought let’s give this a go. Ten saw it, loved it and said they’d love to play it,” he said.

“It’s basically a little comedy about two life-long best friends who are also cops. One is a...

Australian film Any Questions for Ben has opened with mild box office results over its opening weekend.

The film, directed by Rob Sitch for Working Dog Productions, took $609,000 across 235 screens for a screen average of $2,500.

It’s a disappointing first week for the Working Dog team who also wrote, directed and produced box office hit The Castle and The Dish.

The fast-paced romantic comedy follows Ben (Josh Lawson) as he suffers from a quarter-life crisis and struggles to keep a girlfriend for longer than a month. It also stars Rachael Taylor and co-stars Daniel Henshall, Ed Kavalee, Felicity Ward and Lachy Hulme.

The cumulative total gross is $677,000. The film is distributed by Roadshow.

Meanwhile A Few Best Men, directed by Stephan Elliott, took $539,000 from 237 screens in its third week out, for a screen average of $2274, for a cumulative total of $4,669,000. A Few Best Men is distributed by Icon Films.

Elsewhere Shame,...

We take a look at this week's TV news, channel by channel!

Seven

Fans of Santo, Sam and Ed's World Cup Fever! (aired on Sbs during the 2010 FIFA World Cup) will be excited to hear that the three are getting a new, comedic sports-review show. Santo, Sam and Ed's Sports Fever! will be an hour-long show wherein hosts Santo Cilauro, Sam Pang and Ed Kavalee will discuss worldwide sports events and news, including live and pre-filmed sketches and interviews, in front of a studio...  More >>...

Sbs gets World Cup fever with a live nightly show hosted by Santo Cilauro, Sam Pang and Ed Kavalee.

With the FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa coming soon to Sbs, the excitement is building.

But few will be more excited than Santo Cilauro, Sam Pang and Ed Kavalee.

The three will be hosting a live nightly show for sports fans across the...  More >>...