''Tonightly with Tom Ballard'' is an Australian comedy entertainment show presented by comedian

Tom Ballard Thomas Ballard (1630–1689) was a colonial Virginia landowner and politician. Thomas or Tom Ballard may also refer to: * Thomas Ballard Jr. (1654–1710), member of the Virginia House of Burgesses * Thomas Ballard (MP for Coventry), member of P ...

and regular contributors Bridie Connell, Greg Larsen, Greta Lee Jackson and Nina Oyama. It aired on

ABC Comedy ABC Family is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and part of its ABC Television network. The channel broadcasts a range of family and teen entertainment programming. The channel oper ...

from 4 December 2017 until 7 September 2018. The show was described as an "irreverent, fast-paced" look at the day in news and culture, with Ballard calling it "undergraduate filth". ''Tonightly with Tom Ballard'' was filmed a few hours before broadcast from the studios of the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

's Ultimo headquarters.

Reception

An early review of ''Tonightly with Tom Ballard'' was positive, saying "the writing is top notch, the performances strong and getting stronger, and the filmed inserts are beautifully realised." The show was criticised after a skit called Kevin Bailey, the candidate for the

Australian Conservatives Australian Conservatives was a conservative political party in Australia formed in 2017. It was led by Cory Bernardi, who had been elected to the Senate for the Liberal Party, but resigned citing disagreements with the Liberal/National Coa ...

in the 2018 Batman by-election, a "

cunt "Cunt" () is a vulgar word for the vulva in its primary sense, and it is used in a variety of ways, including as a term of disparagement. "Cunt" is often used as a disparaging and obscene term for a woman in the United States, an unpleas ...

", with the leader of the party,

Cory Bernardi Cory Bernardi (born 6 November 1969) is an Australian conservative political commentator and former politician. He was a Senator for South Australia from 2006 to 2020, and was the leader of the Australian Conservatives, a minor political party h ...

, and the Education Minister,

Simon Birmingham Simon John Birmingham (born 14 June 1974) is a former Australian politician who was a Senator for South Australia between May 2007 to January 2025. A member of the Liberal Party, he served in the Morrison government as Minister for Finance from ...

calling for someone to lose their job over it, and the Minister for Communications,

Mitch Fifield Mitchell Peter Fifield (born 16 January 1967) is an Australian politician and diplomat who last served as the Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations. He previously served as a Senator for Victoria from 2004 to 2019, repre ...

asking for an investigation and an apology to Mr Bailey. The ABC later personally apologised to Mr Bailey, but defended the decision to air the segment, while expressions of support for the show were made by Joe Hildebrand, Wil Anderson and

Annabel Crabb Annabel Crabb is an Australian political journalist, commentator and television host who is the ABC's chief online political writer. She has worked for Adelaide's '' The Advertiser'', ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', ''The Age'', the '' Sunday A ...

. In August 2018, the show received criticism for a musical segment which highlighted perceived contradictions between Prime Minister

Scott Morrison Scott John Morrison (born 13 May 1968) is an Australian former politician who served as the 30th prime minister of Australia from 2018 to 2022. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party and was ...

's Christian faith and his actions as a politician. The ABC rejected the suggestion that the segment "attack d Morrison's religion or religious beliefs, stating that " st viewers would understand the skit to be a satirical way of examining the relationship between such beliefs and government policies on asylum seekers". 'Sex Pest', a song from the series performed by Bridie Connell and Wyatt Nixon-Lloyd, won the 2018

ARIA In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...

Award for Best Comedy Release. ''Tonightly Albumly'', a collection of original songs from the series' run, was released on all digital services via

ABC Music ABC Music is Australia's largest independent record label. It operates under the ABC Commercial division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It covers a wide range of music genres, including classical, children’s and adult contempo ...

Discontinued

In mid-August 2018 it was announced that ''Tonightly with Tom Ballard'' would be dropped from the ABC line up and would air for the last time on 7 September 2018.

Episodes

This is a list of episodes for ''Tonightly with Tom Ballard'' which aired on

from 4 December 2017, to 7 September 2018.

Discography

Albums

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards 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 ...

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 The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions o ...

. They commenced in 1987. ! , - ,

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, , "Sex Pest" (by Bridie and Wyatt & Tonightly with Tom Ballard) , , Best Comedy Release , , , , , -

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tonightly Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming 2010s Australian comedy television series 2017 Australian television series debuts 2018 Australian television series endings Australian English-language television shows