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

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 com ...

that aired on the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, 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 five main free-to-air television ne ...

in 2003. It was hosted by comedian

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

and also featured the talents of Francis Greenslade, Jason Geary,

Livinia Nixon Livinia Helen Nixon (19 March 1975) is an Australian television presenter and actress. Nixon is the chief weather presenter for '' Nine News Melbourne''.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 Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ...

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

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its su ...

, such as introducing guest

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

with a long-winded opening only to dismiss him immediately afterwards since there was nothing left to discuss, and requesting that guest

Alison Whyte Alison Whyte (born 1968 in Tasmania) is an Australian actress best known for her roles on the Australian television series '' Frontline'' and '' Satisfaction''. Acting career A former student of classical ballet, Whyte graduated from the Victo ...

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 AM (born November 9, 1984) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Goodrem signed to Sony Music at the age of 15. Her debut album, '' Innocent Eyes'' (2003), topped the ARIA Albums Chart for 29 non-consecutive wee ...

'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) * Hollywoo ...

, on hold for over five minutes (she had guest starred in a supersized episode of '' Friends'' 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 consist of one pool where dolphins p ...

". 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, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the " Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo artist since th ...

's " Piano Man" played on the

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

. 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 ''The Mick Molloy Show'' was a television program that appeared on the Nine Network in Australia for just eight weeks during 1999. The host, Mick Molloy, was a widely acclaimed comedian from ''The Late Show'' and ''Martin/Molloy''. The progra ...

'') -- 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 Michael Molloy (born 11 July 1966) is an Australian comedian, writer, producer, actor and television and radio presenter who has been active in radio, television, stand-up and film. He currently hosts '' The Front Bar'' on the Seven Network. ...

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 Martín 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 discography spanning Latin pop, pop, dance, reggaeton ...

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 David O'Neil (born 8 May 1965) is an Australian stand-up comedian, actor, bass guitarist, writer, television and radio presenter with unusually large thumbs. Early career Dave was a Cub, Scout, Venturer and Rover. His late father Kevin was t ...

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 Andrew Christopher Denton (born 4 May 1960) is an Australian television producer, comedian, Gold Logie-nominated television presenter and former radio host, and was the host of the ABC's weekly television interview program '' Enough Rope'' a ...

's interview series ''

Enough Rope ''Enough Rope with Andrew Denton'' (often shortened to ''Enough Rope'') is a television interview show originally broadcast on ABC1 in Australia. The title of the show came from the phrase "give someone enough rope and they'll hang themselves" ...

''. In a memorable parody, whilst

Dannii Minogue Danielle Jane Minogue () is an Australian singer, television personality, and actress. She initially gained recognition for her appearances on the television show '' Young Talent Time'' (1982–1988) and for her role as Emma Jackson on t ...

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: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...

''. 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 kin ...

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 on 26 November 2007. On 19 October 2008 the DVD release won an

ARIA Award The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

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 The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

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