''Housos'' (titled ''Housos of the Housing Commission'' from seasons 1 to 2, ''Housos vs Virus: The Lockdown'' from season 3, and ''Housos: The Thong Warrior'' from season 4) is an Australian

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

television series created by Paul Fenech for SBS, that screened on SBS One. The series is a

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

parody of low income Australian residents of fictional suburb Sunnyvale, New South Wales, who are living in Housing Commission

public housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...

. In 2014, the series won the

Logie Award The TV Week Logie Awards (known colloquially as The Logies) is an annual ceremony celebrating and honouring the best shows and stars in Television in Australia, Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine ''TV Week''. The eve ...

for Most Outstanding Light Entertainment Program. On 1 November 2012, a film based on the series was released in Australian cinemas, titled '' Housos vs. Authority''. On 9 September 2012 it was announced that ''Housos'' would return for a second series, which premiered 22 July 2013. On 27 November 2014 another film based on and continuing the storyline of the series entitled '' Fat Pizza vs. Housos'' was released. In May 2020, a third season was announced to be airing on 7mate titled ''"Housos vs Virus: The Lockdown"'' and centred around how the characters dealt with the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, which premiered on 26 October 2020. In February 2021, the series was renewed for a fourth season, titled ''"Housos: The Thong Warrior"'', which premiered on 7mate on 25 May 2022.

Cast

The majority of the cast of ''Housos'' are from Fenech's two previous series,

Pizza Pizza is an Italian cuisine, Italian, specifically Neapolitan cuisine, Neapolitan, dish typically consisting of a flat base of Leavening agent, leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomato, cheese, and other ingredients, baked at a high t ...

and Swift and Shift Couriers. Some of the cast went on to star in the successful series Bogan Hunters on 7mate. * Elle Dawe as Sharon "Shazza" Jones, Dazza's de facto & mother of Holden. * Paul Fenech as Frank "Franky" Falzoni, Dazza's Best Friend **Fenech also appears as Franky's cousin, Pauly Falzoni from

during series 2. * Jason "Jabba" Davis as Darren "Dazza" Smith, Shazza's de facto & Franky's Best Friend (series 1 and 2, flashbacks in series 3 and 4) * Kevin Taumata as Kevin Takamata, Franky & Dazza's Friend & Vanessa's de facto *Kyrah Brock-Fenton as Holden Jones, Shazza's grown-up daughter (series 3 & 4) * Vanessa Davis as Vanessa "Nessa" Talawahoo, Kevin's painful de facto. *

Ian Turpie Ian Bruce Turpie (6 November 1943 – 11 March 2012), sometimes referred to as Turps, was an Australian performer, actor (theatre, television, film), pop singer and presenter (television, radio). He was the host of the teen pop music TV show, ...

as Wazza Jones, Shazza's Dad / Narrator of the Show (series 1) *Kiri-Leigh Schmitt as Kylie Horfoot, Franky's de facto (series 1) *Sabeena Manalis as Sabeena, Franky's cousin (Series 1) *Crystal Sullivan as Crystal, Kylie's Sister & Franky's on and off (de facto Frank's friend with benefits) (series 1) * Amanda Keller as Christina Rees, Sunnyvale Mayor (series 1) * Barry Crocker as the premier (series 1) * Melissa Tkautz as Cheree, Franky's Ex de facto (series 1) **Liz Harper replaces Melissa Tkautz as Cheree in series 2 and 3. *Andrew Ausage as Junior, Cheree's Samoan de facto * Angry Anderson as Angry the Bikie, Leader of the Hunterz Bikie Gang *Davey Cooper as Johnno, Angry's Dwarf-Sized Brother *Maret Archer as Berryl, Dazza's Mum (series 1, 2 and 4, flashbacks in series 3) *Stuart Rawe as Reg, Berryl's mentally disabled de facto as well as being Dazza's de facto stepfather (series 1, 2 and 4, flashbacks in series 3) * Chris Franklin as Darryl "Dazza" James, Dazza's Smith's cousin and Shazza's former de facto. (series 1, flashback series 3) * Sam Greco as Dino Falzoni, Franky's gambling addicted brother who lives in Melbourne * George Kapiniaris as George, Franky's married in Greek cousin and Sabeena's father (series 1), later seen in series 2 as Donald Bradman's ghost as Dazza's Hallucinating *Giani Leon as Jaydog, Holden's boyfriend who is later revealed to be Franky and Cheree's son (series 3) * Alex Romano as Jimmy the Junkie, the leader of the junkie crew (series 2) * Tahir Bilgic as Habib, Sunnyvale Assassins Member (series 1 & 2) * Rob Shehadie as Rocky, Sunnyvale Assassins Member (series 1 & 2) *Ashur Simon as Abdul, Sunnyvale Assassins Member *Ara Natarian as Ara, Sunnyvale Assassins Member (series 1 & 2) *Mohammed Hammoud as Mo, Sunnyvale Assassins Member (series 1 & 2) *Joe Mifsud as Samira Shabaz, Habib's mum who wears a burqa * Anthony Salame as the service station worker and Thwayne the McDonald's manager who dates Kylie on and off in series 1. *Nicole Sharrock as Hayley, Franky's de facto / Barmaid who is also in '' Housos vs. Authority'' and '' Fat Pizza vs. Housos'' (series 2 & 4) *Amarli Inez as Candy, Franky's On-Off Girlfriend (series 2) * Derek Boyer as Bubbles, Junior's Cousin who harasses Dazza while in prison * John Mangos as himself (appearing as a news presenter) * Murray Harman as Officer Richard Head a Sunnyvale-based police officer * Garry Who as Officer Garry Kock a Sunnyvale-based police officer *James Thomas as himself (appearing as a current affairs reporter in series 2) *Renzo Renalto as Renzo, Centerlink employee *Waseem Khan as Waseem, Centerlink employee *Gregory King as Tank the bikie, Vice president of the Hunterz Bikie Gang (series 1 & 2) * Jordan Shanks as a current affairs reporter in series 4 * Krissy Stanley as pub patron

Episodes

Series 1 (2011)

Series 2 (2013)

Series 3: Housos vs Virus (2020)

Series 4: The Thong Warrior (2022)

Notes

* "Junkies" first aired on SBS Viceland and later on SBS One. * Viewers from broadcast airing on SBS Viceland.

Controversy

''Housos'' came under fire from a number of western

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

residents, who had called on SBS not to put the series on air. A petition which was initiated by residents on a housing commission property received thousands of signatures, and the efforts gained support from local politicians. Mount Druitt MP Richard Amery presented the petition in

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in late April 2011. ''Housos'' was also at the centre of a controversy in February 2011 when

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

's '' A Current Affair'', initially claimed that the series was "reality TV". Nine Network later said that the mistake originated from an 18-year-old woman working at ninemsn. SBS was also forced to defend the show by stating that the series was not receiving funding from the government, and it was instead being funded by the network's own revenue raising activities.

Movies

*'' Housos vs. Authority'' (2012) *'' Fat Pizza vs. Housos'' (2014) *'' Bogan Hunters'' (2015) *'' Dumb Criminals'' (2015) *'' Fat Pizza vs. Housos Live'' (2016)

Awards and nominations

Australian Writers' Guild *2011: Comedy – Situation or Narrative ("Pregnant", nominated)

Logie Awards The TV Week Logie Awards (known colloquially as The Logies) is an annual ceremony celebrating and honouring the best shows and stars in Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine ''TV Week''. The event is telecast live and ...

*2014: Most Outstanding Light Entertainment Program (won)

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards are a set of annual ceremonies presented by

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...

(ARIA), which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the music of Australia. They commenced in 1987. ! , - ,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, ''Housos Live'' , Best Comedy Release , , , -

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Housos 2011 Australian television series debuts Australian television sitcoms Australian English-language television shows Special Broadcasting Service original programming 7mate original programming Television controversies in Australia Television shows set in New South Wales