''Newstopia'' (stylised as ''NEWStopiä'') is an Australian half-hour satirical comedy programme hosted by

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 ...

. The first season premiered at on

SBS TV SBS TV (Seoul Broadcasting System Television) is a South Korean free-to-air television channel operated by Seoul Broadcasting System. The channel was launched on 9 December 1991. Unlike competing network MBC, SBS operates using a federalized ...

on 10 October 2007 and concluded on . A second season began on 27 February 2008. and concluded on 30 April 2008. A third season of the show screened from 1 October to 3 December 2008.. The show was developed by Micallef,

Gary McCaffrie Gary McCaffrie is an Australian television comedy writer and producer, best known for his work on ''Fast Forward (Australian TV series), Fast Forward'' and ''Full Frontal (Australian TV series), Full Frontal'', and his many collaborations with com ...

, Michael Ward and Jason Stephens, with McCaffrie and Ward working as writers on the programme. A fourth season in 2009 was planned, but cancelled due to production clashes with ''

Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation ''Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation'' is an Australian game show produced by Granada Productions. The first four seasons aired on Network 10 from 2009-12, before moving to the Nine Network in 2018 for two seasons. The show was originally hosted b ...

. The show's contributors include

Matt Cameron Matthew David Cameron (born November 28, 1962) is an American musician who is the drummer for the rock band Pearl Jam. He first gained fame as the drummer for Seattle-based rock band Soundgarden, which he joined in 1986, appearing on each of the ...

, Doug MacLeod,

Dave O'Neil David O'Neil (born 8 May 1965) is an Australian stand-up comedian, actor, bass guitarist, writer, television and radio presenter. Early life O'Neil was a Cub, Scout, Venturer and Rover. His late father Kevin was the Group Leader at the 1st/ ...

Tony Moclair Tony Moclair (born 4 September 1969, Cork, Ireland) is an Australian comedian, actor, writer, performer, and radio broadcaster. Renowned for his versatility, Moclair has contributed to numerous Australian radio networks, frequently showcasing ...

and

Richard Marsland Richard Kemble Marsland (5 September 1976 – 6 December 2008) was an Australian comedian, radio and television personality, and writer. He was known for his work on several radio shows, including ''Get This'' on Triple M, and for writing and ...

Format

The show was presented in the style of a

news bulletin Breaking news, also called late-breaking news, a special report, special coverage, or a news flash, is a current issue that warrants the interruption of a scheduled broadcast in order to report its details. News broadcasters also use the term ...

, with

acting as

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ', which itself comes from the Greek (). Anch ...

. It began with a statement by Micallef about history and/or news and its relation to the show. The rest of the program featured segments often detailing factual events, but told from a humorous or satirical angle. Like much of Micallef's earlier work, the humour depicted was mostly surreal, with some social

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...

. The program included several fictional advertisements placed throughout the real commercial breaks, dressed up to appear as authentic commercials for SBS programs, for example, ''Inspektor Herring'', a parody of ''

Inspector Rex ''Inspector Rex'' (German: ''Kommissar Rex''; Italian: ''Il commissario Rex'') is an Austrian-Italian police procedural television series created by Peter Hajek and Peter Moser. Originally an Austrian series aired from 1994 to 2004 on ORF 1, in ...

''. Because the commercials were fictional creations of ''Newstopia'', for the first two seasons, SBS broadcast them with the SBS

watermark A watermark is an identifying image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light (or when viewed by reflected light, atop a dark background), caused by thickness or density variations i ...

at the bottom right corner, whereas genuine commercials did not show the watermark. Starting in the third season, the show removed the SBS watermark during the fictional advertisements. The show also featured subliminal parodies of

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

in which his image was replaced with one of ''

Nosferatu ''Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror'' () is a 1922 silent film, silent German Expressionism (cinema), German Expressionist vampire film directed by F. W. Murnau from a screenplay by Henrik Galeen. It stars Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a vampire who ...

'', long enough to be noticed, but not long enough for the viewer to have a clear idea of what they had just seen.

Cast

Regular cast

* Ben Anderson *

Nicholas Bell Nicholas Bell (born 15 August 1958) is an English actor who has worked in Australia for more than 30 years. Bell works regularly with the Melbourne Theatre Company as well as with all the major television broadcasters in Australia, most notabl ...

Julie Eckersley Julie Eckersley is an Australian actress, comedian, writer, producer and former Head of Scripted at SBS Australia. Career Screen Eckersley has appeared in comedy televisions shows including ''Let Loose Live'', '' The Wedge'', '' Newstopia'' an ...

* Miyuki Watanabe * Peter Houghton *

Kat Stewart Katherine Louise Stewart (born 30 November 1972) is an Australian actress who has made numerous appearances in television series, movies and on-stage. Early life Kat Stewart is the daughter of Tony and Kitty Stewart and was born and raised in B ...

* Imat Akelo-Opio

Special guests

Ed Kavalee Edward Robert Kavalee (born 30 June 1979) is an Australian comedian, actor, writer, podcaster, radio and television presenter and association football commentator. He is a recurring panellist on Network 10's '' Have You Been Paying Attention?'' ...

Roz Hammond Rosalind Hammond, often credited as Ros or Roz, is an Australian actress and writer who has worked in theatre, film, and television. Hammond's television appearances include the role of Heather in ABC's '' Bay of Fires'', Claudia in '' The Hei ...

as Lindy Spern * Les Murray * Bob Franklin * Daina Reid *

Lee Lin Chin Lee Lin Chin (born 1953) is an Indonesian-born Australian television, radio presenter and journalist. She is best known for her association with the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) network, and presented ''SBS World News'' on weekends. Lee ...

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 ...

* Barry Jones * Tony Martin * Anton Enus * Chris Taylor *

Andrew Hansen Andrew John Hansen (born 18 September 1974) is an Australian comedian, musician and author, best known for being a member of satirical team The Chaser. As a member of The Chaser, Hansen's television work includes co-writing and starring in A ...

Internet streaming

Following the conclusion of each episode's initial broadcast, the ''Newstopia'' website featured a web stream of the current week's episode. This was only available for 7 days, and only to Australian residents, after which it was taken down and replaced by the latest broadcast. International visitors were blocked by an IP blocker. A guestbook was also available for commenting on the newest episode.

References

External links

''Newstopia'' SBS TV program Website
(Not accessible everywhere; se
SBS TV official "Program Sites"
for link) * {{IMDb title, id=1099236 2000s Australian comedy television series Special Broadcasting Service original programming 2007 Australian television series debuts 2008 Australian television series endings Australian satirical television shows News parodies Television series by Fremantle (company) Television shows set in Melbourne