Thank God You're Here

Living here in Australia, settling down in front of the television each night is a somewhat tedious task, knowing you have to chose to watch either a repeat of CSI or another damned reality show! To turn on the TV one Wednesday night I was shocked to see that a new show had appeared - all the cast had Australian accents and the show was actually funny! It's basically an hours worth of improv acting - 4 guest stars (who have also dabbed in comedy) have around 4 minutes to turn sheer terror into comedy. They walk through a blue door, and are greeted by an ensemble cast member (usually unknown) and greeted by the tag line "Thank God You're Here". There are all different scenarios which the actors are greeted with - medieval times, cruise ships, Cleopatra, circus etc. Its just an awesome show to sit back and really watch the actors struggle or have a great time. And the actors are actually funny which is a real change from those sometimes boring American sitcoms. Some of the regular cast members are Angus Sampson, Peter Rosethorn, Akmal Saleh, Shaun Macalif and Frank Woodley. Ten out of ten, an awesome show! Bring on Season Two!

I didn't see the first episode of Thank God You're Here. My father did, and he told me he enjoyed it, and found it amusing. My father finds many things amusing, but I decided to watch it on the station it began on.

I fell in love.

Thank God You're Here brings out some of the best of Australian comedy. It brings out some of our greatest comedians and let's them take a scene and run wild with it. It is full of great improvisation, and it's definitely material for a thoroughly entertaining evening.

The concept of the show is marvelously simple: a contest gets dressed up in a costume, then walks through a door, completely unaware of what scene lay beyond. They then do their best to improvise the scene before them, frequently answering questions provided by the actual crew of the show. The costumes are great, sometimes a little bit iffy, but it just adds to the hilarity of the show.

One of the flaws of the show is it's Judge, Tom Gleisner. I can quite happily say his role is completely unnecessary, and, in choosing the winner, and criticising the contestants, he is always saying positive things - never a negative thing spills from his mouth. Rather than a judge, Gleisner appears to be what I'd call a "feel-good" instructor - because that's all he seems to actually do.

Regardless, watch the show, and just mute it whenever Gleisner speaks. You'll be much happy that way.

Its mix of different guests is clever ,Adam hills is a genius host .Just full of great ideas ,good laugh never get sick of it.

Thank God You're Here is a great concept for a show and it's obvious that a lot of work goes into its preparation. It's good to see such a broad range of Australian talent having a go at this kind of improvisational comedy. The episodes with Shaun Micallef are exceptionally funny.

One of the things that I don't like about the show is the lack of creativity when it comes to involving the guest into the pre-written script that the ensemble cast are following. There is a little too much of the fill-in-the-blanks kind of thing happening in which the ensemble cast member starts a sentence, and then stops before the end so that the guest can complete it.

Here's a few examples of what I mean, from the segment Dailan Evans did as co-host on a "The Movie Show"-style film review program:

Ensemble Cast Member: "We're also looking at a great new Australian Classic, The Story of..." (turns to guest star to fill in the blank) Ensemble Cast Member: "At Canne this year it didn't win the Palme d'Or but it did win the..." (turns to guest star to fill in the blank) Ensemble Cast Member: "Which goes to the film for..." (turns to guest star to fill in the blank)

Very unimaginative. To make the show more believable (and more funny) they could perhaps leave it more open for the guest to do a little more improvising by means of starting and finishing their own sentences instead of just adding the punchline to something that's already been scripted.

Great show otherwise and I'm sure we'll see it improve immensely as it evolves.

I don't think I can say any more than what people have already said about this show. It is groundbreaking, the best show on TV. It has an appeal for absolutely everyone. I have no doubt that in a few years' time the concept will be picked up by networks from other countries.

One thing I'd like to comment on is everyones' attitude towards the "judge" of the show. Now, is it just me or is this aspect merely another part of the comedy? Tom Gleisner is there simply to send up the Reality TV concept of a judge and to inspire more laughs. He's not a real judge. It's not a real contest. This is a sketch comedy show, pure and simple. Perhaps the closest thing to it is "Who's Line Is It Anyway?" Even then, it's in a genre all its own.

And, damn, it's funny.