''Micallef Tonight'' was a short-lived Aria Award-winning

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp� ...

that aired on the

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 ...

in 2003. It was hosted by comedian

Shaun Micallef Shaun Patrick Micallef (; born 18 July 1962) is an Australian comedian, actor, writer, television presenter, and formerly a lawyer. He was the host of the satirical news comedy series '' Shaun Micallef's Mad as Hell'' on the ABC. He also hoste ...

and also featured the talents of

Francis Greenslade Francis Greenslade (born 3 October 1962) is an Australian comedic actor and acting teacher. Early life Greenslade was born in Honiara, Solomon Islands to Australian parents. In the 1980s, Greenslade studied at the University of Adelaide where ...

, Jason Geary,

Livinia Nixon Livinia Helen Nixon (born 19 March 1975) is an Australian television presenter and actress. Nixon is the chief weather presenter for '' Nine News Melbourne'' and presenter on travel program '' Getaway''.Pete Smith.

Show content

Much like a typical variety show, each episode of ''Micallef Tonight'' featured a number of interviews with celebrities bookended by regular segments (such as "Shaun on his High Horse", which featured Micallef ranting against

pop culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art pop_art.html" ;"title="f. pop art">f. pop artor mass art, some ...

while straddling a gymnast vaulting horse) and a musical performance. However at times the show also delved into the realm of

parody A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...

, such as introducing guest

Jamie Durie Jamie Paul Durie (born 3 June 1970) is an Australian horticulturalist and landscape designer, modern furniture, furniture designer, television host, television producer, and author of eleven books on landscape architecture, garden design and ...

with a long-winded opening only to dismiss him immediately afterwards since there was nothing left to discuss, and requesting that guest Alison Whyte hold an inflatable fish while Micallef himself danced on his desk, in an otherwise unrelated interview. Shaun Micallef in ABC Studio 31

Other in-show shenanigans included stealing musical guest

Delta Goodrem Delta Lea Goodrem Order of Australia, AM (born 9 November 1984) is an Australian singer, songwriter, television personality and actress based in Sydney. Goodrem signed a recording contract with Sony Music at the age of 15. Her debut studio album ...

's shoes as she played the piano, deliberately leaving actress Melissa George, live via satellite from

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

, on hold for over five minutes (she had guest starred in a supersized episode of ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane (producer), David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting List of Friends episodes, ten seasons. With an ensemble cast ...

'' earlier that night, effectively delaying the broadcast of ''Micallef Tonight'' by several minutes), and requesting singers insert random words in to their musical performances to prove they weren't lip-synching. Notable examples were David Campbell inserting the word "

lamington A lamington is an Australian cake made from squares of butter cake or sponge cake coated in an outer layer of chocolate sauce and rolled in desiccated coconut. The thin mixture is absorbed into the outside of the sponge cake and left to set, ...

" into his performance and Amiel inserting the word "

dolphinarium A dolphinarium is an aquarium for dolphins. The dolphins are usually kept in a pool, though occasionally they may be kept in pens in the open sea, either for research or public performances. Some dolphinariums (sometimes called dolphinaria in plu ...

". Micallef would end each episode with the line "See you in the Monkey House Australia!" and the show would usually close with a musical performance from Greenslade that was never quite what the audience expected; such as a rendition of

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has ha ...

's " Piano Man" played on the

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

. Micallef previously parodied the variety show format with 1998's '' The Micallef Program''.

Episodes

Cancellation

The series premiered on 12 May 2003 and thirteen episodes were aired. The first episode rated strongly and although ratings declined steadily thereafter, it was announced in June 2003 that the series would be extended for a further 20 weeks. Episode 12 (28 July) included a segment involving a midget hassling random restaurant patrons; after it screened, guest Tony Martin pointed out that the last show he had been involved in which featured the same midget actor -- ('' The Mick Molloy Show'') -- had been axed. In an example of history repeating itself, Micallef Tonight was cancelled the following week. In addition, on an earlier episode during a live cross to promote the movie '' Bad Eggs'', a visibly intoxicated Mick Molloy warned Micallef to "watch (his) arse" when he learned that the show was on the Nine Network. Micallef ended his series with an interview with

Ricky Martin Enrique Martin Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his Ricky Martin albums discography, discography incorporati ...

in which both he and Martin used an expletive on live television, then called Nine Network live on air to complain about the language used on his show. Ironically, the interview was pre-recorded in the previous week to fit in with Martin's schedule, a fact alluded to by both Micallef and comedian Dave O'Neil during the actual live segments of the episode. At the conclusion of what ended up being the final show, Micallef said that band The Dandy Warhols would be on the next week's show. The camera cut to the band on stage, ready to perform. Micallef informed the band that it was the next week they were meant to be on.

Critical reception

Similarly to the equally short-lived ''The Mick Molloy Show'' (also shown on Nine), ''Micallef Tonight'' was ostensibly cancelled because of dwindling ratings, in this case against fellow comedian Andrew Denton's interview series '' Enough Rope''. In a memorable parody, whilst

Dannii Minogue Dannii Minogue (; born 20 October 1971) is an Australian singer, television personality, and actress. As a child, she became known for her appearances on the television talent show ''Young Talent Time'' (1982–1988). She went on to play the r ...

was performing on Shaun's show, the camera cut to him only to see Shaun watching Andrew Denton's show (which aired simultaneously on another channel). Critics also claimed that the show may have been too sophisticated for most audiences on the notoriously "mainstream"

, and was an acquired taste. Others have said that part of the axing was due to a segment which made fun of Alan Jones' morning message segment on ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

''. The segment began with one video on screen then became two, then four, then eight, then sixteen, and so on until it reached dozens and although nothing said was comprehensible, they all ended at the same time with 'I'm Alan Jones'. This segment apparently angered Nine Network owner

Kerry Packer Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer (17 December 1937 – 26 December 2005) was an Australian media tycoon, and was considered one of Australia's most powerful media proprietors of the twentieth century. The Packer family company owned a controlling ...

(who was also a close friend of Jones), and he ordered the show to be axed after less-than-impressive ratings for what turned out to be the final episode. At the time of its airing, the show was critically acclaimed and became a cult favorite, even having followers internationally due to its irreverent humor and absurdity.

DVD releases

The ''Micallef Tonight'' show was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

as a "best of" compilation, that included some un-aired material. ''The Expurgated Micallef Tonight: The Very Best of Shaun Micallef's Short-Lived but Brilliant Tonight Show'' was released through

Shock Shock may refer to: Common uses Healthcare * Acute stress reaction, also known as psychological or mental shock ** Shell shock, soldiers' reaction to battle trauma * Circulatory shock, a medical emergency ** Cardiogenic shock, resulting from ...

on 26 November 2007. On 19 October 2008 the DVD release won an ARIA Award for best comedy release. The DVD included a commentary track on part of the contents, featuring Micallef and guest Tony Martin (who appeared in episode 12 and also in the un-aired pilot). The DVD is also available as part of the DVD box set ''The Collected Shaun Micallef'' which was released in 2011 by Shock Records. The set features 10 discs, containing ''The Expurgated Micallef Tonight'', ''The Incompleat Shaun Micallef'' (highlights of his work on ''Full Frontal'') and all three seasons of '' The Micallef Program'' as well as a bonus audio CD ''His Generation''.

Awards

* 2008 Aria Award Best Comedy Release - The Expurgated Micallef Tonight: The Very Best of Shaun Micallef's Short-Lived but Brilliant Tonight Show

References

External links

Information site for Shaun Micallef

* {{IMDb title, id=0353074, title=Micallef Tonight
The Rest of the World is Missing Out!
- A synopsis of the "alternative Harry Potter" sketch from the show. Australian variety television shows Nine Network original programming Television shows set in Melbourne 2003 Australian television series debuts 2003 Australian television series endings