fbpx
Wikipedia

The Chaser's War on Everything

The Chaser's War on Everything is an Australian television satirical comedy series broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) television station ABC1. It has won an Australian Film Institute Award for Best Television Comedy Series. The cast perform sketches mocking social and political issues, and often feature comedic publicity stunts. The series is produced by The Chaser, an Australian satirical group consisting of Chris Taylor, Julian Morrow, Craig Reucassel, Andrew Hansen, and Chas Licciardello. Fellow Chaser members Dominic Knight and Charles Firth are not part of the regular on-screen cast. However, Knight is a writer, and Firth compiled roving reports for the show from the United States, until he left the group to start a satirical newspaper in mid-2007.[citation needed]

The Chaser's War on Everything
The Chaser's War on Everything season two intertitle
GenreComedy, satire
Created byThe Chaser
Directed byCraig Melville, Nathan Earl, Bradley J. Howard,[1] Mark Fitzgerald, Trent O'Donnell
StarringAndrew Hansen
Chas Licciardello
Julian Morrow
Craig Reucassel
Chris Taylor
Charles Firth (until 2007)
Country of originAustralia
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes58 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producerJulian Morrow
ProducersAndy Nehl, Nathan Earl, Craig Melville, Mark Fitzgerald
Running time26 minutes per episode
Original release
NetworkABC1
Release17 February 2006 (2006-02-17) –
29 July 2009 (2009-07-29)

The show premiered on 17 February 2006 and has since produced 58 episodes, broadcast over three seasons between 2006 and 2007 as well as during 2009. The first season was broadcast at a late timeslot on Friday nights. The second and third seasons were broadcast in a more favourable timeslot of Wednesdays at 9 pm. The show did not return in 2008, but returned on 27 May 2009 for the third season featuring only ten episodes.[2][3] Following the controversy of the "Make a Realistic Wish Foundation" sketch, the third season was reduced to 8 episodes, being suspended for 2 weeks.[4]

The stunts displayed on the show have often been controversial. For example, on 14 July 2006, Licciardello was charged (being later acquitted) after selling fake knives to Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs fans outside one of their rugby league games. Licciardello was again arrested, alongside Morrow and nine crew members, on 6 September 2007 after breaching security at the 2007 APEC summit.

The last episode of the series was aired on 29 July 2009, and rated an average national audience of 1.45 million.[5][6]

Origins edit

 
The entire team of The Chaser (from left, Morrow, Knight, Firth, Reucassel, Licciardello, Taylor, and Hansen) on The Chaser's War on Everything on 14 July 2006

The Chaser was formed by Dominic Knight, Charles Firth, Craig Reucassel, and Julian Morrow, and in 1999 ran a fortnightly newspaper entitled The Chaser. The group later added Chas Licciardello, Andrew Hansen, and Chris Taylor, to assist with its publication. Through the help of Andrew Denton, the Chaser team produced various shows for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, most notably CNNNN. In 2005, The Chaser began filming a pilot for a new television series for the ABC, with the working title The Age of Terror Variety Hour.[7] The Chaser team signed a contract with the ABC to produce 27 half-hour episodes for 2006, which would be based on news reviews, studio monologues and confrontations with politicians, celebrities, and business leaders.[8] The show was to be presented by Morrow, Hansen, Reucassel, Taylor and Licciardello.[7]

The ABC rejected the name The Age of Terror Variety Hour and other names including Thank Allah It's Friday. ABC did accept The Chaser is Right, although it was later rejected by Morrow,[9] while the title Hey Hey, it's the Chaser was rejected after a pilot under that name was filmed in 2005.[10] They eventually selected The Chaser's War on Everything as the title. The show was to be performed in front of a live audience, in a more relaxed format than CNNNN and other Chaser television productions.[8]

Release and popularity edit

Broadcast edit

The first season of The Chaser's War on Everything premiered on ABC1 on 17 February 2006 at 9:45 pm.[11] The series aired late on Friday evenings where it developed a cult following, getting an average national audience of between 591,000 and 821,000 viewers each episode.[12] The show broadcast two 'best of' shows in the mid-year.[13][14] The last episode of the 2006 season was broadcast on 8 September 2006.

Due to its popularity, The Chaser's War on Everything's timeslot changed to Wednesday 9 pm for the 2007 season.[12] In the lead-up to the second season, The Chaser team produced a live webcast of people counting down to the first episode of the season. New segments had been developed and the opening sequence was reworked. After the move to prime time the ratings increased to almost 1.5 million viewers each week. This was despite direct competition with well-rated programs on commercial networks.[15][16] The Chaser finished their 24th and final episode of the show for the 2007 season on 14 November 2007. They then produced The Chaser Decides for the remaining two episodes of the 26-episode production, based on the 2007 Australian federal election.[17]

After the controversial APEC motorcade stunt, the show's profile was greatly increased and international broadcasts expanded. Countries which broadcast the show include Finland, Israel, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Norway, Belgium, South Korea, and Poland.[18]

After the last episode of The Chaser Decides, The Chaser ruled out doing any television productions in the first half of 2008. This included The Chaser's War on Everything, with the group opting to do a stage production of their antics around Australia, called The Chaser's Age of Terror Variety Hour.

 
Four Chaser's War on Everything DVDs from the first two seasons

The American cable network G4 acquired the rights to the program in the United States, and premiered it on 28 January 2009 at 9PM ET. The show then was aired every Wednesday night at 11PM ET within the network's international block of programming called Duty Free TV.[19] Ads of the program have capitalised on its controversial nature in Australia, with the tagline "Do you know what it takes to be controversial in Australia?"

Similarly, in the United Kingdom, BBC Four was airing six compilation episodes, taking sketches and highlights from the first two series from 23 June 2009.

A third season of The Chaser's War on Everything began airing on 27 May 2009,[20] returning to its timeslot of Wednesday at 9:00pm on ABC1.[20] The third series consists of only 10 episodes[20] and is the final series of the program.

The final episode was broadcast on ABC1 on 29 July 2009.[21]

The entire catalogue of the Chaser's War on Everything was secured by the Comedy Channel Programming Director Darren Chau in 2009 and premiered on 3 December 2009 as part of the channel's Biggest Thursday Ever.[22]

DVD release edit

The first 13 episodes of the first season were released on DVD on 17 August 2006. The release included commentary by The Chaser and the show's crew. Bonus features and unaired scenes were also included.[23][24]

The second DVD for the first season contained the latter thirteen episodes. It was in the same format of the first DVD, containing commentary and unaired scenes, and was released on 1 November 2006.[25] The first thirteen episodes of the second season were released on DVD on 14 August 2007, with similar features to the two prior releases.[26]

The second DVD set for the later half of the second season was released on 7 August 2008. It contains similar features to the previous DVD releases.[27]

The third and last season was released on DVD on 5 November 2009.

Vodcast edit

On 27 July 2006, the ABC announced that entire episodes of The Chaser's War on Everything, along with jtv, would be made available for download via a vodcasting system.[28] Just 45 days after appearing on the Australian iTunes podcasting directory, the show took the number one position.[29] The last four episodes of the first season averaged approximately 175,000 viewers of the vodcast, and 25,000 downloads, which ABC stated was a success.[30]

The episodes of the second series of The Chaser's War on Everything were the most popular downloaded vodcasts in 2007. Almost nine million vodcasts were downloaded, more than half of the ABC's online vodcasts served in the year.[31]

Season one of The War on Everything is now also available for purchase and download from the iTunes Store in Australia and is one of the first TV shows the Australian Broadcasting Corporation added to iTunes.[citation needed]

Show format edit

  • Credits – The opening credits show the five starring members of the show, but through that there are images of notable politicians and celebrities which are targeted in the titles. The titles are always the same except for two changeable titles, which targets persons in recent events. The closing credits simply read all the cast and crew of the show, though commonly a video is played over half the credits, which is explained in the Conclusion. The closing credits are a frequent (if bizarre) source of humour. For example, Andrew Hansen once sang a song during the credits about how the credits are always played over his song. Another time the credits were shown in Ukrainian. On one episode the credits of the show were replaced with the credits of The New Inventors. In another episode from Season 3, Chas Licciardello, who in a sketch had changed his name to Gvhftr Kijl, was credited as such in the closing credits for that episode, and in the opening credits of the following episode.
  • Introduction – Each episode begins with Reucassel and Taylor opening the show. The pair discuss the major recent events, present their opinions, and often show a pre-produced stunt or sketch.
  • Andrew Hansen's hair – Each episode starting from the last episode of season 1, member Andrew Hansen changes his hair weekly for the show (e.g. Mohawks, coloured hair and at one instance, a small clock)
  • Name changes – During season 2, the credits of names as displayed during the program have been replaced in various manners. Normally they were changed to people in recent events or a simple addition to the name. Examples included "Julian bin Morrow" and "Posh Chaser" and even the translation of the boys names in Arabic.
  • Dialogues – In almost every episode, the Chaser members discuss a various recent event or generalised stunt. Most of these dialogues lead to a pre-produced stunt, ad or trailer. Most of this material doesn't fall into one of the various Segments, where most of their recurring material is shown. In the first season, Monologues were also common.
  • Old Woman – As a running gag during Season 3, a photo of an old woman with a trolley would appear during sketches. Originally appeared during a stunt during Season 2, during an Ad Road Test for Riva Coffee, the footage subsequently placed occasionally in segments during Season 3. However, after the final episode was broadcast, she came in contact with The Chaser and requested her image be removed from future broadcasts. Images of Dom Knight now appear as such in the DVD of Season 3.
  • ABC Complainer (Dear ABC) – This segment began in the third season. After one of the sketches, Andrew Hansen, dressed as his persona Philip Harley, writes an angry letter to the ABC with a typewriter. The letter always begins with the phrase "Dear ABC", followed by a complaint about the latest sketch. Harley then presents his (usually biased) opinion, and concludes with "What a waste of taxpayer's money! Philip Harley, Adelaide." Harley appeared four times in episode 5 – the highest to date.
  • Conclusion – To end each episode the whole team gathers together, with one of the group members saying the closing joke. And Chris would read a Webpoll for their site.

Primary segments edit

The primary segments form the backbone of the show. These segments normally focus on key issues in a range of topics. They are generally presented by the cast members, live in front of the audience, and may be accompanied with pre-produced stunts and sketches relating to the topics.

 
Chaser member Chas Licciardello along with Chris Taylor (right) and ABC crew, doing an Ad Road-Test on Godfrey's vacuum cleaners
  • "What Have We Learned from Current Affairs This Week?" – Presented by Hansen and Licciardello, the segment pokes fun at the sensationalism used in competing weeknight current affairs programs Today Tonight and A Current Affair. All segments feature a lesson on their reporting techniques, such as how to spot "dodgy" guys and how to identify the different types of "experts". Both shows are regularly criticised for their tendency to come to fast and inaccurate conclusions.[32]
  • "Firth in the USA" – Firth, now living in the United States, performs a stunt or conducts an interview, with obvious references to USA culture. Stunt examples include meeting Hillary Clinton to offer his services as her presidential intern; a satire of the Lewinsky scandal.[33]
  • "The Ad Road-Test" – The team recreate situations shown in television advertisements to see if they would work in real life. Examples include whether male cheerleaders can convince a random person to stop smoking.[34]
  • "In Other News ..." – A former segment, presented by Morrow and Reucassel, which focused on current news stories and events, and sometimes showed a pre-produced stunt related to the news item. This was the only segment to appear in every episode of Season One.

The following segments were introduced in Season Two.

  • "The Fixers" – Seeming to replace "In Other News ...", Morrow and Reucassel examine problems in the community, and present their idea for a fix. This is usually accompanied by a pre-produced item.

Supporting segments edit

The supporting segments are usually pre-produced stunts and sketches, supplementing the primary segments of the show. They are generally much shorter in length.

  • "Surprise Spruiker" – Hansen plays a shop "spruiker" who attempts to help various institutions having trouble selling a particular item or idea. The stunt usually concludes when he is ordered by security guards to switch off his speakers.
  • "Scenes from the Life of the Crazy Warehouse Guy" – Hansen plays a stereotypical announcer from a warehouse television advertisement uses his unique speaking style in everyday situations, such as ordering McDonald's. Hansen originally performed the character that would become the Crazy Warehouse Guy in parodies of frantic rug warehouse commercials.
  • "Pursuit Trivia" – Morrow tests the general knowledge of a politician or celebrity by asking a Trivial Pursuit question from a game card in his hand at an interview or press conference. Prominent in the first season though not in the second.
  • "Mr Ten Questions" – Hansen poses as a journalist at a press conference and, when prompted, proceeds to ask ten questions without letting the interviewee speak until he has read out all ten. Questions can relate to the subject or be about completely obscure topics, such as Peru's industrial output and the makeup of the Czech Legislature.
  • "A Message From Osama Bin Laden" / Subtitles – An existing video of the infamous terrorist Osama bin Laden is subbed with incorrect and humorous subtitles, often declaring a Jihad on various people for arbitrary irritations. Videos of Saddam Hussein, Abu Bakar Bashir and Kevin Rudd (Chinese speech) have also been used in a similar manner, but not as common.
  • "Citizens' Infringement Officer" – Morrow pretends to be an officer and hands out fake fines to people for absurd reasons; such as "wanker" number plates, "low-strung pants", parking inspectors being annoying due to giving out fines themselves, inappropriate babies' names, and wearing clothes (including hats and shoes) at nude beaches.

The following segments were introduced in Season Two.

  • "If Life Were A Musical" – Members of the cast go to the public, targeting a specific person in an everyday life scenario, and behave as though they are in a Broadway-esque musical. The segment is referred to as a "Taylor Hansen Morrow" production, a spoof of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
  • "Clive The Slightly-Too-Loud Commuter" – Hansen plays Clive, a man who travels on public transport and talks loudly on his mobile phone about very personal or taboo issues.

Occasional segments edit

These segments support the show, however do not feature prominently.

  • "What Have We Learnt From History?" – In this segment Hansen, Taylor and Reucassel test whether people today have learnt a lesson from events in the past; for example the Trojan Horse.
  • "Famous Face Off" – A former segment, presented by Hansen, in which two "masters" in a particular field competed to be the best in an endeavour such as tongue-twisting newsreading or sportscasting.
  • "The 2:30 Report" – A former segment, presented by Licciardello and Morrow, which reviewed the worst of late-night television, including late night game shows such as Quizmania and early morning Christian programmes.

The following segments were introduced in Season Two.

  • "The News According To Fox" – Licciardello and Hansen criticise the bias of the popular American Fox News Channel.
  • "What You Missed on Cable" – Presented by Licciardello and Morrow, this segment highlights the oddities on pay television programs, and occasionally compares them to the bland programming on ABC1. Licciardello and Morrow pointed out that it was intended to replace the 2:30 Report segment from Season One.[35]
  • "Anna Coren's Segue/Meaningless Gibberish of the Week" – Integrated into "What Have We Learnt from Current Affairs This Week?", this segment looks at either Coren's extremely complicated transitions between unrelated stories, or the strange and meaningless introductions she says on Today Tonight.
  • "Nut Job of the Week" – Licciardello and Taylor take a look at the "special people in our society"; people who have "alternative views". For example, The Secret's theory on how to acquire your deepest desires by the Law of Attraction was examined.
  • "Open Mic" – A segment, derived from a stunt from the first half of the second series, where Morrow goes to various businesses and uses their Public Address Systems to make humorous community announcements or random statements.
  • "Election Watch" – Licciardello and Taylor observe a certain topic in relation to the federal election. This segment was only seen in the weeks leading up to the 2007 federal election and often made reference to subjects not related to the election.
  • "Middle east TV" – Licciardello and Taylor take a look at Middle Eastern T.V. This Segment only appeared in season 3.

Traditional segments were incredibly rare in episodes of the third season, with no 'What Have We Learnt from Current Affairs This Week?' or 'Ad Road Test' segments, despite them being the most popular. An online blog written by the Chaser said they wanted to try new things and they thought they would just be repeating themselves.

Segments appearing once or twice edit

  • "Say What?!" - In Season 1, Andrew Hansen did a short segment of a few photos that had swear words in them from other countries which involved food.
  • "Rudd.I.Am song" - In Season 3, The Chaser did a music video on speeches from Kevin Rudd, like American celebrities did a song on Barack Obama's speech "Yes We Can".

Recurring material edit

  • Stunts – A staple of the show, stunts can vary from confronting celebrities or politicians to testing staff reactions in shops and department stores. The stunts must be approved by the ABC Legal Department, to prevent breach of the law. In the 2007 DVD of the first half of the season, it is stated that the basic formula for the stunts is "go in, get our footage and get kicked out".
  • Sketches – These include fake ads, longer mockumentaries or traditional comedy sketches.
  • Songs – Hansen, or sometimes other members, perform songs with a humorous theme. The songs are usually written by Hansen, with Taylor providing lyrics for many songs.
  • Television Advertisements – Throughout the series the team create satirical television advertisements, which either advertise a false item or mock existing ads.
  • Movie Trailers – The team creates parody trailers for existing movies or new movie ideas.
  • Vox Pop – One of the team members conduct vox pops with people on the street asking for their opinions.

Controversies and well-known stunts edit

The Chaser has been regularly criticised by tabloids such as Today Tonight, A Current Affair and some talkback radio stations for displaying stunts and sketches that they claim are dangerous, unfunny, cruel, offensive and tasteless. Many of the pieces below have had significant news coverage and been the subject of debates and opinion pieces.

Julian Morrow's novelty cheque

On 8 February 2006, before the first episode of the show had screened, Morrow approached Australian Wheat Board executive Charles Stott with a fake novelty cheque made out to Saddam Hussein and asked Stott to sign it. Stott's lawyer said his client felt intimidated by the stunt and the footage of it was not shown in the first episode as scheduled due to "legal reasons". In the first episode to go to air, Morrow responded by raising the point that Stott has done business with Saddam Hussein, a brutal dictator, yet he is intimidated by a novelty cheque. The footage of this stunt does appear as a bonus on the show's first DVD.[36]

Chris Taylor on Sunrise
 
Taylor on Sunrise

On the ninth episode of the show, Taylor announced that he planned to break up with his partner of seven years, but he did not want to ask her "the usual boring way", but do "something special, something she'll remember". The segment shows several of Taylor's attempts to "pop the question", including hanging a sign over a freeway and "proposing" on a big screen at an outdoor festival. For the finale, Taylor introduces the interview of him on the morning television program Sunrise. In the interview, Taylor asks the hosts if he can send a quick message to his partner, proceeding to say "Jo, get the fuck out of my life. And if you don't get this fucking message right now, you never will." This finale from the segment was leaked onto the internet without the break-up plan and has been widely distributed online as a viral video. Many viewers believed the segment was actually real but Taylor admitted on national radio station Triple J that it was set up. It was actually filmed after Sunrise went to air, with Channel Seven editing on screen graphics with current news at the time for realism. The hosts of Sunrise admitted it was a set up and apologised. However, they did not know what Taylor was going to say because he only asked if he could do a bit for the show and as a result, their interaction with Taylor was unscripted, as well as their reaction to his profane message.[37]

Chas Licciardello's Bulldogs incident

On 14 July 2006, Licciardello was charged with offensive conduct after attempting to sell fake Canterbury Bulldogs merchandise outside an NRL game.[38] The merchandise included plastic knuckledusters and balaclavas in the Bulldogs' colours, and was supposed to satirise the anti-social and hooligan behaviour of some Bulldogs fans. Several Bulldogs fans took offence and as a result he was charged for offensive behaviour.[39] On the broadcast following his arrest, Licciardello appeared onstage in handcuffs and within an iron cage. On that same episode, he apologised for his actions, claiming to understand why the Bulldogs fans were offended: because Canterbury Bulldogs fans much prefer to use their fists. This statement was accompanied by footage of Bulldogs supporters assaulting an opposing team's supporters during a match. After appearing in court with Morrow, Licciardello pleaded not guilty and the matter was adjourned.[40] On 23 January 2007, Licciardello was found not guilty of the offensive behaviour charge.[41] He was interviewed after the case draped in an Australian flag, and said he would appeal "to the Supreme Court, to the High Court, to the UN, to the Jedi Council and the Snickometer." After being reminded he had won, he said "I didn't actually prepare any material for the off-chance that we won."[42]

Craig Reucassel's axe stunt

On 2 August 2006, Reucassel responded to a news story about a private school student who had hugged then-prime minister John Howard while holding a screwdriver during one of the PM's morning walks. To test his security arrangements, Reucassel approached the prime minister during a morning walk and asked for a hug while holding a large plastic battle axe. Howard obliged, but a later approach while holding a running chainsaw was not so successful.[43][44] Cut out from this segment was an unsuccessful attempt that took place between the axe and the chainsaw, in which Reucassel was holding a four-point-star mace.[45]

Julian Morrow's ticket prank

On 16 August 2006, Morrow purchased two airline tickets on the airline Virgin Blue under the names "Al Kyder" and "Terry Wrist", checked in using the automated check-in at Sydney Airport, and then deliberately failed to show up for boarding, so that the names would be broadcast in a final boarding call over the public address system. The prank was acknowledged by Virgin Blue who criticised the use of taxpayer dollars in the "childish humour".[46]

Craig Reucassel's speedos

On 19 March 2007, during a campaign appearance for the New South Wales State Election, the then opposition leader Peter Debnam was confronted by Reucassel wearing nothing but Speedos and a baseball cap,[47] making fun of Debnam's campaign appearances in the swimwear. When TV cameras remained focused on Reucassel rather than Mr Debnam, he said, "Sorry, I'm not Peter Debnam, he's over there. Just because I'm wearing this doesn't mean I'm Peter Debnam". Reucassel stuck around for the press conference but failed to draw a response from the opposition leader, and was again ignored when he went to shake Mr Debnam's hand.

APEC prank and arrest
 
Imitation insecurity passes used by The Chaser to breach the APEC Australia 2007 restricted zone

During the APEC Leaders Summit in Sydney, on 6 September 2007, Morrow and Licciardello along with nine other production crew members were arrested after they drove a fake Canadian motorcade down Macquarie Street and successfully breached the APEC restricted zone.[48] Police only realised that the motorcade was a hoax when Licciardello, dressed as Osama bin Laden, stepped out of the car replete with bonnet-mounted Canadian flag and complained in-character about not being invited.[49]

Licciardello, Morrow and the nine others were immediately detained by the NSW Police, questioned and charged with entering a restricted area without special justification under the APEC Meeting (Police Powers) Act 2007.[50] All were released on bail to appear in court on 4 October 2007; and subsequently ABC lawyers requested for all matters to be adjourned until 5 December 2007.[51] If they were found guilty they could have faced a maximum penalty of six months' imprisonment, or up to two years if they were in possession of a "prohibited item".[52] NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione stated that the Chaser stars risked being targeted by snipers during the prank.[53]

The stunt was planned and approved by ABC lawyers under the assumption that the motorcade would be stopped and discovered at the first security checkpoint.[54] However, they managed to pass through two police security checkpoints, using a fake convoy of hired limousines.[55] According to Licciardello, he "never intended to get that far" but played along with it to make their stunt better. The footage of the prank, which was seized by the police, was returned to the ABC and featured in their next episode the following week.

Despite condemnations by various public officials, the Sydney correspondent of the BBC reported that the Chaser team had become 'folk heroes' following the stunt.[56] Indeed, Alexander Downer, the minister for foreign affairs, appeared amused when asked to comment.[55]

Later on 7 September 2007, three members of the Chaser and their film crew were questioned and released over a follow-up stunt involving running near the protected APEC zone dressed in cardboard cars topped with Canadian flags.[57] The following Chaser episode ended up giving The Chaser's War on Everything their highest ever ratings for an episode with 2.245 million viewers tuning in across Australia.[58]

On 28 April 2008, the charges against all 11 were dropped by the New South Wales Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) as it was considered that the police gave "tacit" permission for the group to enter the restricted zone by failing to identify the fake security badges.[59] The ABC welcomed the dropping of the charges, with Morrow saying "I think it's just great that justice hasn't been done".[60] The police were unapologetic for their actions.[61]

"The Eulogy Song"

On 17 October 2007 episode, Hansen sang a song which satirised the lives of several deceased celebrities, including Peter Brock, Princess Diana, Donald Bradman, Steve Irwin, Stan Zemanek, Jeff Buckley, John Lennon, and Kerry Packer, expressing the view that people with flaws during life are often disproportionately hailed as "top blokes" after death. He also sang that mass murderer Martin Bryant would look a saint after death. The song, whose lyrics were written by Chris Taylor, became the target of significant media attention, with several radio and television personalities saying the song was in "bad taste",[62] and both then prime minister John Howard and then opposition leader Kevin Rudd expressed negative views. A few days later, the team approached John Howard on his morning walk, dressed as rabbits, and sparked a reaction from the prime minister, with him saying: "You blokes are a lot funnier when you pick on someone who's alive".[63]

A number of news programs reported that the ABC's switchboard was jammed with calls from "disgusted viewers" immediately following the show. It was later revealed that only six calls had been made that night about the show, three of them in a positive light. Although a number of complaints were received the next day, the ABC alleged that a large number were listeners of a Melbourne radio show, and that, when asked, many said they hadn't seen the show. In response, some shows such as Today Tonight claimed many more complaints would follow.[64]

In response to the attention, Taylor defended his song, stating that it was a legitimate skit and that although the song mentioned recently deceased breast cancer victim Belinda Emmett, the rest of the cast pretending to cut off Hansen before he completed his verse was "making a joke about the inappropriateness of making a joke about Belinda Emmett."[65] He also revealed it was a "watered-down" version of the song, which was previously performed twice on stage in his musical Dead Caesar.[66]

Seven Network Injunction

On 14 November 2007, The Chaser made an attempt to poke fun at Today Tonight and the way that they re-enact procedures and events which they base their stories on. As they had done several times before, they infiltrated the Seven Network's news headquarters at Martin Place and asked for the Today Tonight presenter Anna Coren, where they came dressed as pretend cameos for the re-enactment segments. However, within the headquarters, they were confronted by the staff of the building for alleged trespassing. Both Today Tonight and their rival A Current Affair broadcast reports of the stunt, the Today Tonight broadcast claiming that they had finally caught the Chaser red-handed. However, A Current Affair did a relatively lighter report on the incident, seeming to take side with the Chaser. Channel Seven got an injunction to stop The Chaser showing the segment; however, The Chaser planned on challenging the injunction.[67][68] In place of their planned stunt, they shot a "hasty and dubious" reenactment of it. Channel 7 boss David Leckie exclaimed in an outburst at waiting photographers outside Channel 7's offices that The Chaser were "... nothing but a bunch of tossers, they're fucking wankers".[69] Morrow responded, "I interpret those comments as David making overtures to us. Calling us wankers and tossers must mean he wants [to hire] us."[70]

'Make a Realistic Wish Foundation' skit

On 3 June 2009 episode, Taylor and Hansen were involved in a skit which was set in a terminally ill children's ward of a hospital, which centred around a spokesman (Taylor) portraying himself along with a doctor (Hansen), from the fictional 'Make a Realistic Wish Foundation' (a spoof of the Make-a-Wish Foundation). The premise of the skit was that if the terminally ill children are only going to live for a few more months before passing away, it is not worth spending money on lavish gifts for them. The one-minute-long sketch featured Taylor giving one girl a pencil case instead of a trip to Disneyland. Then along the same lines, Hansen gave another girl a stick instead of a meeting with Zac Efron. The skit concluded with Taylor stating "Why go to any trouble, when they're only gonna die anyway".

The publicised reaction to the sketch the next day from the general public and media commentators was almost universally negative. Among widespread reported disapproval from the public, especially from the families that the Make-a-Wish Foundation has helped, prime minister Kevin Rudd stated that The Chaser team "should hang their heads in shame". He went on to say that "I didn't see that but it's been described to me ... But having a go at kids with a terminal illness is really beyond the pale, absolutely beyond the pale."[71] That morning, the Chaser team along with the ABC managing director Mark Scott apologised for airing the skit, with Scott stating that "We have unreservedly apologised for airing that skit, ... It's very clear today from the reaction that it's caused considerable offence and distress, particularly to parents of children that are seriously ill ... I've spoken to Julian Morrow from The Chaser and my understanding is that certainly wasn't the intention of the script, but that's the consequences of it." The ABC will now change their procedures for reviewing episode content which gets broadcast. Scott continued, "We're going to look at those processes ... I mean we all know that The Chaser push the edges and it's a tightrope that we walk, and I suppose there are many, many skits that they've put to air that have offended someone along the way – that's part of the nature of the satirical and black comedy that they do," The full episode was initially available for downloading or online viewing from the official website but was taken down while the skit was edited out of the episode, the edited version was then made available for download. The skit has also been cut from any further television airings and DVD releases.[72] The ABC suspended The Chaser's War on Everything for two weeks. This was relayed via a message by The Chaser on their website, who stated that whilst they disagree with the decision to suspend the show, they apologise for making the skit, acknowledging that it went too far.[73] When the show returned two weeks later, the controversy was referenced by the show being introduced as "The Chaser's Waste of Taxpayers' money", a reference to the fact that the show is on the government-funded ABC channel.

Reception and impact edit

Current affairs programs edit

Current affairs programs, notably Channel 7's Today Tonight and Channel 9's A Current Affair, have run pieces critical of The Chaser team. A Current Affair ran segments covering rumours of the program moving to a commercial network, and the use of Osama bin Laden for humour, highlighting dangerous stunts and overstepping the mark.[74][75]

Today Tonight ran segments demonstrating contrivances in Chaser's stunts and criticising their breakthrough of APEC's security.[76] However, when Today Tonight asked if they could follow The Chaser team on one of their stunts, The Chaser agreed. The Chaser chose a stunt that would embarrass the Channel 7 television program. They did so by having a "Meakin Booze Bus"; in reference to Channel 7 boss Peter Meakin, who had recently been convicted of driving whilst under the influence of alcohol. In the shoot, The Chaser members repeatedly raised the topic of Peter Meakin to reporter James Thomas.[77] It was revealed later that The Chaser did eventually answer enough of Thomas' questions so that Today Tonight received what they wanted, but Today Tonight did not end up running that footage. Channel 7 broadcast scenes that they judged made the Chaser crew look arrogant, although it was stated in The Chaser's season 2 DVD commentary that James Thomas later called The Chaser team and apologised for the way Today Tonight depicted them in the report.[78]Channel 7 began airing repeats of The Chaser in September 2011.

Awards edit

In December 2006 The Chaser's War on Everything won an Australian Film Institute (AFI) Award for 'Best Television Comedy Series' and Hansen won an AFI Award for 'Best Performance in a Television Comedy.'[79] Hansen also won the APRA / AGSC award for 'Best Television Theme' for his original theme on The Chaser's War on Everything.[80]

In May 2007, the program was nominated for the TV Week Logie award "Most Outstanding Comedy Program" for the 2006 series.[81] The show was nominated for the 2007 AFI award in the category of 'Best Television Comedy Series' for the 2007 series.[82] In late February 2008, the show was nominated for the Rose D'Or international television award for Comedy.[83]

In June 2008, The Chaser received the Atheist Foundation of Australia's Tom Paine Award for "Exemplary service to humanity", and "... outstanding promotion of ideals conducive to human contentment and survivability".[84]

In 2010, the program was nominated for the TV Week Logie award "Most Outstanding Light Entertainment Program" for the 2009 series.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "The Chaser's War on Everything (TV Series 2006–2009) - IMDb". IMDb.
  2. ^ . Australian Associated Press. 1 May 2009. Archived from the original on 5 May 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
  3. ^ Katherine Field (6 August 2008). . ninemsn. Archived from the original on 8 August 2008. Retrieved 7 August 2008.
  4. ^ . Dominic Knight. 25 June 2009. Archived from the original on 28 June 2009. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
  5. ^ Chaser's Chas bows out with botox – smh.com.au, 28 July 2009
  6. ^ Chaser bow out on a high – smh.com.au, 30 July 2009
  7. ^ a b Lawson, Annie (25 July 2005). "Dinner, Piers pressure and lots of red whine". The Age. Melbourne. Retrieved 14 November 2007.
  8. ^ a b Molitorisz, Sacha (14 February 2006). "Behind enemy lines". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 14 November 2007.
  9. ^ The Chaser's War on Everything (Commentary). ABC1. No. 5, season 1.
  10. ^ "Bradley J Howard CV". MonkeyHouse.tv. Retrieved 1 January 2008.
  11. ^ "ABC Television: Program summary – The Chaser War on Everything". ABC Television. Retrieved 1 December 2007.
  12. ^ a b Browne, Rachel (28 January 2007). "ABC pranksters slated for prime time". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 14 November 2007.
  13. ^ "ABC Television: Program summary – The Chaser War on Everything". ABC Television. Retrieved 1 December 2007.
  14. ^ "ABC Television: Program summary – The Chaser War on Everything". ABC Television. Retrieved 1 December 2007.
  15. ^ . The West Australian. 31 May 2007. Archived from the original on 24 December 2007. Retrieved 14 November 2007.
  16. ^ . eBroadcast Australia. 23 May 2007. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 14 November 2007.
  17. ^ "Chaser announces election specials". Brisbane Times. 24 October 2007. Retrieved 18 November 2007.
  18. ^ "The Chaser goes global". The Age. Melbourne. 30 October 2007. Retrieved 14 November 2007.
  19. ^ "G4tv.com - Video Games, Comedy, Creators & Culture".
  20. ^ a b c Molitorisz, Sacha (18 May 2009). "Chaser's world offensive". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 May 2009.
  21. ^ "Chaser series will be our last: Morrow". ABC News. 21 May 2009. Retrieved 24 May 2009.
  22. ^ . Archived from the original on 1 January 2010. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  23. ^ . Devoted DVD. Archived from the original on 1 December 2007. Retrieved 22 October 2007.
  24. ^ . Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 18 September 2007. Retrieved 22 October 2007.
  25. ^ . Archived from the original on 15 December 2007. Retrieved 22 October 2007.
  26. ^ . Devoted DVD. Archived from the original on 11 September 2007. Retrieved 22 October 2007.
  27. ^ . Archived from the original on 17 July 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2008.
  28. ^ "ABC launches Vodcasting". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 27 July 2006. Retrieved 28 March 2007.
  29. ^ "Downloads boost The Chaser's viral appeal". The Age. Melbourne. 23 August 2006. Retrieved 22 October 2007.
  30. ^ . The Courier-Mail. News.com.au. 17 November 2006. Archived from the original on 27 December 2007. Retrieved 22 October 2007.
  31. ^ Miller, Nick (20 December 2007). "ABC's Chaser comedians are officially 'top of the pods'". The Age. Melbourne. Retrieved 20 December 2007.
  32. ^ Funnell, Anthony (8 June 2006). . The Media Report. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 2 April 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2008.
  33. ^ "Chaser stunt turns heads in US". Brisbane Times. 12 April 2007. Retrieved 15 October 2007.
  34. ^ "No matter how well you plan, there's always a flea". The Sydney Morning Herald. 19 May 2006. Retrieved 3 January 2008.
  35. ^ The Chaser's War on Everything (Commentary). ABC1. No. 4, season 2.
  36. ^ . Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 8 February 2006. Archived from the original on 1 February 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2006.
  37. ^ Debi Enker (22 March 2007). "Chasing down the powerful". The Age. Melbourne. Retrieved 15 October 2007.
  38. ^ Jano Gibson (22 January 2007). "Chaser star leaves it to the video ref". The Age. Melbourne. Retrieved 4 January 2008.
  39. ^ Erin O'Dwyer, Daniel Dasey (16 July 2006). "Chaser Canterbury joke gets no laughs". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 February 2008.
  40. ^ "Chaser star pleads not guilty". The Age. Melbourne. 16 July 2006. Retrieved 24 February 2008.
  41. ^ . Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 23 January 2007. Archived from the original on 5 February 2008. Retrieved 24 February 2008.
  42. ^ Gibson, Jano (24 January 2007). "Chaser court victory hailed as triumph for free speech". The Age. Melbourne. Retrieved 27 June 2007.
  43. ^ "Australia's MOST WANTED – The Chaser's WAR ON COMEDY". The Australian. 17 March 2007.
  44. ^ . Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 23 January 2007. Archived from the original on 24 January 2007.
  45. ^ "Chaser axe stunt gets Howard going". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 August 2006.
  46. ^ "Al Kyder: Virgin on the ridiculous". The Age. Melbourne. 18 August 2006.
  47. ^ "Speedo wearing comedian confronts Debnam". The Age. Melbourne. 19 March 2007.
  48. ^ "Chaser duo held over APEC stunt". The Age. Melbourne. 6 September 2007. Retrieved 6 September 2007.
  49. ^ "Nation of larrikins? Well, yes and no ..." The Age. Melbourne. 9 September 2007. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
  50. ^ "11 charged over Chaser APEC stunt". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 6 September 2007. Retrieved 6 September 2007.
  51. ^ . News.com.au. 4 October 2007. Archived from the original on 13 October 2007. Retrieved 4 October 2007.
  52. ^ APEC Meeting (Police Powers) Act 2007 No 14. Retrieved 20 October 2007.
  53. ^ "Chaser pranksters 'could have been shot'". The Age. Melbourne. 6 September 2007. Retrieved 6 September 2007.
  54. ^ . news.com.au. 9 September 2007. Archived from the original on 13 October 2007. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
  55. ^ a b "Chaser comic convoy beats summit security". The Age. Melbourne. 6 September 2007. Retrieved 6 September 2007.
  56. ^ "Apec security leaves bitter taste in Sydney". bbc.co.uk. 9 September 2007. Retrieved 10 September 2007.
  57. ^ "Police question Chasers over second APEC stunt". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 10 September 2007. Retrieved 15 October 2007.
  58. ^ . ebroadcast.com.au. 13 September 2007. Archived from the original on 13 November 2007. Retrieved 13 September 2007.
  59. ^ . News.com.au. 28 April 2008. Archived from the original on 1 May 2008. Retrieved 28 April 2008.
  60. ^ "APEC charges dropped against Chaser satirists". ABC PM. 28 April 2008. Retrieved 9 April 2008.
  61. ^ NSW Police – Statement regarding DPP 'Chaser' decision
  62. ^ Schubert, Misha (18 October 2007). "Chaser song 'just wrong'". The Age. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  63. ^ . PerthNow. Archived from the original on 21 October 2007. Retrieved 21 October 2007.
  64. ^ . news.com.au. Archived from the original on 27 December 2007. Retrieved 18 October 2007.
  65. ^ "Chaser's war on good taste". ninemsn. Retrieved 18 October 2007.
  66. ^ McLean, Stuart (18 October 2007). "Offensive Chaser defends song war on dead celebs". The Daily Telegraph. news.com.au. Retrieved 18 October 2007.
  67. ^ "Seven Network (Operations) Ltd v Australian Broadcasting Corporation & 2 Ors [2007] NSWSC 1289". Lawlink. Archived from the original on 4 August 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2008.
  68. ^ . ninemsn. Archived from the original on 15 November 2007. Retrieved 14 November 2007.
  69. ^ Dylan Welch (15 November 2007). "Seven boss blows up at Chaser stunt". The Age. Melbourne. Retrieved 28 December 2007.
  70. ^ "Seven boss blows up at Chaser stunt". The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 November 2007. Retrieved 24 February 2008.
  71. ^ "'Hang your heads' Rudd tells Chaser boys". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 4 June 2009. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
  72. ^ "ABC boss sorry for Chaser 'wrong call'". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 4 June 2009. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
  73. ^ Overington, Caroline (6 June 2009). "ABC suspends Chaser for two weeks after dying kids skit". The Australian. News Limited. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
  74. ^ . whatsonthetube. 9 May 2007. Archived from the original on 3 April 2008. Retrieved 24 February 2008.
  75. ^ "Chasing the Chaser". The Herald Sun. news.com.au. 16 May 2007. Retrieved 24 February 2008.
  76. ^ Dyer, Glen (7 September 2007). . Crikey. Archived from the original on 18 January 2008. Retrieved 24 February 2008.
  77. ^ Episode 12, Season 2: The Chaser's War on Everything ABC
  78. ^ Episode 12, Season 2: The Chaser's War on Everything DVD Audio Commentary
  79. ^ "L'Oréal Paris 2006 AFI Award Winners Revealed". Australian Film Institute. Retrieved 24 February 2008.
  80. ^ . APRA. Archived from the original on 1 April 2008. Retrieved 24 February 2008.
  81. ^ . TV Week. ninemsn. Archived from the original on 28 December 2007. Retrieved 24 February 2008.
  82. ^ . AFI. Archived from the original on 6 February 2008. Retrieved 24 February 2008.
  83. ^ "Britcoms dominate international awards". Chortle. Retrieved 1 March 2008.
  84. ^ , Atheist Foundation of Australia

External links edit

  • The Chaser's official website
  • The Chaser's official American website G4TV
  • The Chaser's War on Everything at IMDb  

chaser, everything, australian, television, satirical, comedy, series, broadcast, australian, broadcasting, corporation, television, station, abc1, australian, film, institute, award, best, television, comedy, series, cast, perform, sketches, mocking, social, . The Chaser s War on Everything is an Australian television satirical comedy series broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation ABC television station ABC1 It has won an Australian Film Institute Award for Best Television Comedy Series The cast perform sketches mocking social and political issues and often feature comedic publicity stunts The series is produced by The Chaser an Australian satirical group consisting of Chris Taylor Julian Morrow Craig Reucassel Andrew Hansen and Chas Licciardello Fellow Chaser members Dominic Knight and Charles Firth are not part of the regular on screen cast However Knight is a writer and Firth compiled roving reports for the show from the United States until he left the group to start a satirical newspaper in mid 2007 citation needed The Chaser s War on EverythingThe Chaser s War on Everything season two intertitleGenreComedy satireCreated byThe ChaserDirected byCraig Melville Nathan Earl Bradley J Howard 1 Mark Fitzgerald Trent O DonnellStarringAndrew HansenChas LicciardelloJulian MorrowCraig ReucasselChris TaylorCharles Firth until 2007 Country of originAustraliaNo of seasons3No of episodes58 list of episodes ProductionExecutive producerJulian MorrowProducersAndy Nehl Nathan Earl Craig Melville Mark FitzgeraldRunning time26 minutes per episodeOriginal releaseNetworkABC1Release17 February 2006 2006 02 17 29 July 2009 2009 07 29 The show premiered on 17 February 2006 and has since produced 58 episodes broadcast over three seasons between 2006 and 2007 as well as during 2009 The first season was broadcast at a late timeslot on Friday nights The second and third seasons were broadcast in a more favourable timeslot of Wednesdays at 9 pm The show did not return in 2008 but returned on 27 May 2009 for the third season featuring only ten episodes 2 3 Following the controversy of the Make a Realistic Wish Foundation sketch the third season was reduced to 8 episodes being suspended for 2 weeks 4 The stunts displayed on the show have often been controversial For example on 14 July 2006 Licciardello was charged being later acquitted after selling fake knives to Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs fans outside one of their rugby league games Licciardello was again arrested alongside Morrow and nine crew members on 6 September 2007 after breaching security at the 2007 APEC summit The last episode of the series was aired on 29 July 2009 and rated an average national audience of 1 45 million 5 6 Contents 1 Origins 2 Release and popularity 2 1 Broadcast 2 2 DVD release 2 3 Vodcast 3 Show format 3 1 Primary segments 3 2 Supporting segments 3 3 Occasional segments 3 4 Segments appearing once or twice 3 5 Recurring material 4 Controversies and well known stunts 5 Reception and impact 5 1 Current affairs programs 5 2 Awards 6 See also 7 References 8 External linksOrigins edit nbsp The entire team of The Chaser from left Morrow Knight Firth Reucassel Licciardello Taylor and Hansen on The Chaser s War on Everything on 14 July 2006The Chaser was formed by Dominic Knight Charles Firth Craig Reucassel and Julian Morrow and in 1999 ran a fortnightly newspaper entitled The Chaser The group later added Chas Licciardello Andrew Hansen and Chris Taylor to assist with its publication Through the help of Andrew Denton the Chaser team produced various shows for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation most notably CNNNN In 2005 The Chaser began filming a pilot for a new television series for the ABC with the working title The Age of Terror Variety Hour 7 The Chaser team signed a contract with the ABC to produce 27 half hour episodes for 2006 which would be based on news reviews studio monologues and confrontations with politicians celebrities and business leaders 8 The show was to be presented by Morrow Hansen Reucassel Taylor and Licciardello 7 The ABC rejected the name The Age of Terror Variety Hour and other names including Thank Allah It s Friday ABC did accept The Chaser is Right although it was later rejected by Morrow 9 while the title Hey Hey it s the Chaser was rejected after a pilot under that name was filmed in 2005 10 They eventually selected The Chaser s War on Everything as the title The show was to be performed in front of a live audience in a more relaxed format than CNNNN and other Chaser television productions 8 Release and popularity editBroadcast edit The first season of The Chaser s War on Everything premiered on ABC1 on 17 February 2006 at 9 45 pm 11 The series aired late on Friday evenings where it developed a cult following getting an average national audience of between 591 000 and 821 000 viewers each episode 12 The show broadcast two best of shows in the mid year 13 14 The last episode of the 2006 season was broadcast on 8 September 2006 Due to its popularity The Chaser s War on Everything s timeslot changed to Wednesday 9 pm for the 2007 season 12 In the lead up to the second season The Chaser team produced a live webcast of people counting down to the first episode of the season New segments had been developed and the opening sequence was reworked After the move to prime time the ratings increased to almost 1 5 million viewers each week This was despite direct competition with well rated programs on commercial networks 15 16 The Chaser finished their 24th and final episode of the show for the 2007 season on 14 November 2007 They then produced The Chaser Decides for the remaining two episodes of the 26 episode production based on the 2007 Australian federal election 17 After the controversial APEC motorcade stunt the show s profile was greatly increased and international broadcasts expanded Countries which broadcast the show include Finland Israel New Zealand United Kingdom Norway Belgium South Korea and Poland 18 After the last episode of The Chaser Decides The Chaser ruled out doing any television productions in the first half of 2008 This included The Chaser s War on Everything with the group opting to do a stage production of their antics around Australia called The Chaser s Age of Terror Variety Hour nbsp Four Chaser s War on Everything DVDs from the first two seasonsThe American cable network G4 acquired the rights to the program in the United States and premiered it on 28 January 2009 at 9PM ET The show then was aired every Wednesday night at 11PM ET within the network s international block of programming called Duty Free TV 19 Ads of the program have capitalised on its controversial nature in Australia with the tagline Do you know what it takes to be controversial in Australia Similarly in the United Kingdom BBC Four was airing six compilation episodes taking sketches and highlights from the first two series from 23 June 2009 A third season of The Chaser s War on Everything began airing on 27 May 2009 20 returning to its timeslot of Wednesday at 9 00pm on ABC1 20 The third series consists of only 10 episodes 20 and is the final series of the program The final episode was broadcast on ABC1 on 29 July 2009 21 The entire catalogue of the Chaser s War on Everything was secured by the Comedy Channel Programming Director Darren Chau in 2009 and premiered on 3 December 2009 as part of the channel s Biggest Thursday Ever 22 DVD release edit The first 13 episodes of the first season were released on DVD on 17 August 2006 The release included commentary by The Chaser and the show s crew Bonus features and unaired scenes were also included 23 24 The second DVD for the first season contained the latter thirteen episodes It was in the same format of the first DVD containing commentary and unaired scenes and was released on 1 November 2006 25 The first thirteen episodes of the second season were released on DVD on 14 August 2007 with similar features to the two prior releases 26 The second DVD set for the later half of the second season was released on 7 August 2008 It contains similar features to the previous DVD releases 27 The third and last season was released on DVD on 5 November 2009 Vodcast edit On 27 July 2006 the ABC announced that entire episodes of The Chaser s War on Everything along with jtv would be made available for download via a vodcasting system 28 Just 45 days after appearing on the Australian iTunes podcasting directory the show took the number one position 29 The last four episodes of the first season averaged approximately 175 000 viewers of the vodcast and 25 000 downloads which ABC stated was a success 30 The episodes of the second series of The Chaser s War on Everything were the most popular downloaded vodcasts in 2007 Almost nine million vodcasts were downloaded more than half of the ABC s online vodcasts served in the year 31 Season one of The War on Everything is now also available for purchase and download from the iTunes Store in Australia and is one of the first TV shows the Australian Broadcasting Corporation added to iTunes citation needed Show format editCredits The opening credits show the five starring members of the show but through that there are images of notable politicians and celebrities which are targeted in the titles The titles are always the same except for two changeable titles which targets persons in recent events The closing credits simply read all the cast and crew of the show though commonly a video is played over half the credits which is explained in the Conclusion The closing credits are a frequent if bizarre source of humour For example Andrew Hansen once sang a song during the credits about how the credits are always played over his song Another time the credits were shown in Ukrainian On one episode the credits of the show were replaced with the credits of The New Inventors In another episode from Season 3 Chas Licciardello who in a sketch had changed his name to Gvhftr Kijl was credited as such in the closing credits for that episode and in the opening credits of the following episode Introduction Each episode begins with Reucassel and Taylor opening the show The pair discuss the major recent events present their opinions and often show a pre produced stunt or sketch Andrew Hansen s hair Each episode starting from the last episode of season 1 member Andrew Hansen changes his hair weekly for the show e g Mohawks coloured hair and at one instance a small clock Name changes During season 2 the credits of names as displayed during the program have been replaced in various manners Normally they were changed to people in recent events or a simple addition to the name Examples included Julian bin Morrow and Posh Chaser and even the translation of the boys names in Arabic Dialogues In almost every episode the Chaser members discuss a various recent event or generalised stunt Most of these dialogues lead to a pre produced stunt ad or trailer Most of this material doesn t fall into one of the various Segments where most of their recurring material is shown In the first season Monologues were also common Old Woman As a running gag during Season 3 a photo of an old woman with a trolley would appear during sketches Originally appeared during a stunt during Season 2 during an Ad Road Test for Riva Coffee the footage subsequently placed occasionally in segments during Season 3 However after the final episode was broadcast she came in contact with The Chaser and requested her image be removed from future broadcasts Images of Dom Knight now appear as such in the DVD of Season 3 ABC Complainer Dear ABC This segment began in the third season After one of the sketches Andrew Hansen dressed as his persona Philip Harley writes an angry letter to the ABC with a typewriter The letter always begins with the phrase Dear ABC followed by a complaint about the latest sketch Harley then presents his usually biased opinion and concludes with What a waste of taxpayer s money Philip Harley Adelaide Harley appeared four times in episode 5 the highest to date Conclusion To end each episode the whole team gathers together with one of the group members saying the closing joke And Chris would read a Webpoll for their site Primary segments edit The primary segments form the backbone of the show These segments normally focus on key issues in a range of topics They are generally presented by the cast members live in front of the audience and may be accompanied with pre produced stunts and sketches relating to the topics nbsp Chaser member Chas Licciardello along with Chris Taylor right and ABC crew doing an Ad Road Test on Godfrey s vacuum cleaners What Have We Learned from Current Affairs This Week Presented by Hansen and Licciardello the segment pokes fun at the sensationalism used in competing weeknight current affairs programs Today Tonight and A Current Affair All segments feature a lesson on their reporting techniques such as how to spot dodgy guys and how to identify the different types of experts Both shows are regularly criticised for their tendency to come to fast and inaccurate conclusions 32 Firth in the USA Firth now living in the United States performs a stunt or conducts an interview with obvious references to USA culture Stunt examples include meeting Hillary Clinton to offer his services as her presidential intern a satire of the Lewinsky scandal 33 The Ad Road Test The team recreate situations shown in television advertisements to see if they would work in real life Examples include whether male cheerleaders can convince a random person to stop smoking 34 In Other News A former segment presented by Morrow and Reucassel which focused on current news stories and events and sometimes showed a pre produced stunt related to the news item This was the only segment to appear in every episode of Season One The following segments were introduced in Season Two The Fixers Seeming to replace In Other News Morrow and Reucassel examine problems in the community and present their idea for a fix This is usually accompanied by a pre produced item Supporting segments edit The supporting segments are usually pre produced stunts and sketches supplementing the primary segments of the show They are generally much shorter in length Surprise Spruiker Hansen plays a shop spruiker who attempts to help various institutions having trouble selling a particular item or idea The stunt usually concludes when he is ordered by security guards to switch off his speakers Scenes from the Life of the Crazy Warehouse Guy Hansen plays a stereotypical announcer from a warehouse television advertisement uses his unique speaking style in everyday situations such as ordering McDonald s Hansen originally performed the character that would become the Crazy Warehouse Guy in parodies of frantic rug warehouse commercials Pursuit Trivia Morrow tests the general knowledge of a politician or celebrity by asking a Trivial Pursuit question from a game card in his hand at an interview or press conference Prominent in the first season though not in the second Mr Ten Questions Hansen poses as a journalist at a press conference and when prompted proceeds to ask ten questions without letting the interviewee speak until he has read out all ten Questions can relate to the subject or be about completely obscure topics such as Peru s industrial output and the makeup of the Czech Legislature A Message From Osama Bin Laden Subtitles An existing video of the infamous terrorist Osama bin Laden is subbed with incorrect and humorous subtitles often declaring a Jihad on various people for arbitrary irritations Videos of Saddam Hussein Abu Bakar Bashir and Kevin Rudd Chinese speech have also been used in a similar manner but not as common Citizens Infringement Officer Morrow pretends to be an officer and hands out fake fines to people for absurd reasons such as wanker number plates low strung pants parking inspectors being annoying due to giving out fines themselves inappropriate babies names and wearing clothes including hats and shoes at nude beaches The following segments were introduced in Season Two If Life Were A Musical Members of the cast go to the public targeting a specific person in an everyday life scenario and behave as though they are in a Broadway esque musical The segment is referred to as a Taylor Hansen Morrow production a spoof of Metro Goldwyn Mayer Clive The Slightly Too Loud Commuter Hansen plays Clive a man who travels on public transport and talks loudly on his mobile phone about very personal or taboo issues Occasional segments edit These segments support the show however do not feature prominently What Have We Learnt From History In this segment Hansen Taylor and Reucassel test whether people today have learnt a lesson from events in the past for example the Trojan Horse Famous Face Off A former segment presented by Hansen in which two masters in a particular field competed to be the best in an endeavour such as tongue twisting newsreading or sportscasting The 2 30 Report A former segment presented by Licciardello and Morrow which reviewed the worst of late night television including late night game shows such as Quizmania and early morning Christian programmes The following segments were introduced in Season Two The News According To Fox Licciardello and Hansen criticise the bias of the popular American Fox News Channel What You Missed on Cable Presented by Licciardello and Morrow this segment highlights the oddities on pay television programs and occasionally compares them to the bland programming on ABC1 Licciardello and Morrow pointed out that it was intended to replace the 2 30 Report segment from Season One 35 Anna Coren s Segue Meaningless Gibberish of the Week Integrated into What Have We Learnt from Current Affairs This Week this segment looks at either Coren s extremely complicated transitions between unrelated stories or the strange and meaningless introductions she says on Today Tonight Nut Job of the Week Licciardello and Taylor take a look at the special people in our society people who have alternative views For example The Secret s theory on how to acquire your deepest desires by the Law of Attraction was examined Open Mic A segment derived from a stunt from the first half of the second series where Morrow goes to various businesses and uses their Public Address Systems to make humorous community announcements or random statements Election Watch Licciardello and Taylor observe a certain topic in relation to the federal election This segment was only seen in the weeks leading up to the 2007 federal election and often made reference to subjects not related to the election Middle east TV Licciardello and Taylor take a look at Middle Eastern T V This Segment only appeared in season 3 Traditional segments were incredibly rare in episodes of the third season with no What Have We Learnt from Current Affairs This Week or Ad Road Test segments despite them being the most popular An online blog written by the Chaser said they wanted to try new things and they thought they would just be repeating themselves Segments appearing once or twice edit Say What In Season 1 Andrew Hansen did a short segment of a few photos that had swear words in them from other countries which involved food Rudd I Am song In Season 3 The Chaser did a music video on speeches from Kevin Rudd like American celebrities did a song on Barack Obama s speech Yes We Can Recurring material edit Stunts A staple of the show stunts can vary from confronting celebrities or politicians to testing staff reactions in shops and department stores The stunts must be approved by the ABC Legal Department to prevent breach of the law In the 2007 DVD of the first half of the season it is stated that the basic formula for the stunts is go in get our footage and get kicked out Sketches These include fake ads longer mockumentaries or traditional comedy sketches Songs Hansen or sometimes other members perform songs with a humorous theme The songs are usually written by Hansen with Taylor providing lyrics for many songs Television Advertisements Throughout the series the team create satirical television advertisements which either advertise a false item or mock existing ads Movie Trailers The team creates parody trailers for existing movies or new movie ideas Vox Pop One of the team members conduct vox pops with people on the street asking for their opinions Controversies and well known stunts editThe Chaser has been regularly criticised by tabloids such as Today Tonight A Current Affair and some talkback radio stations for displaying stunts and sketches that they claim are dangerous unfunny cruel offensive and tasteless Many of the pieces below have had significant news coverage and been the subject of debates and opinion pieces Julian Morrow s novelty chequeOn 8 February 2006 before the first episode of the show had screened Morrow approached Australian Wheat Board executive Charles Stott with a fake novelty cheque made out to Saddam Hussein and asked Stott to sign it Stott s lawyer said his client felt intimidated by the stunt and the footage of it was not shown in the first episode as scheduled due to legal reasons In the first episode to go to air Morrow responded by raising the point that Stott has done business with Saddam Hussein a brutal dictator yet he is intimidated by a novelty cheque The footage of this stunt does appear as a bonus on the show s first DVD 36 Chris Taylor on Sunrise nbsp Taylor on SunriseOn the ninth episode of the show Taylor announced that he planned to break up with his partner of seven years but he did not want to ask her the usual boring way but do something special something she ll remember The segment shows several of Taylor s attempts to pop the question including hanging a sign over a freeway and proposing on a big screen at an outdoor festival For the finale Taylor introduces the interview of him on the morning television program Sunrise In the interview Taylor asks the hosts if he can send a quick message to his partner proceeding to say Jo get the fuck out of my life And if you don t get this fucking message right now you never will This finale from the segment was leaked onto the internet without the break up plan and has been widely distributed online as a viral video Many viewers believed the segment was actually real but Taylor admitted on national radio station Triple J that it was set up It was actually filmed after Sunrise went to air with Channel Seven editing on screen graphics with current news at the time for realism The hosts of Sunrise admitted it was a set up and apologised However they did not know what Taylor was going to say because he only asked if he could do a bit for the show and as a result their interaction with Taylor was unscripted as well as their reaction to his profane message 37 Chas Licciardello s Bulldogs incidentOn 14 July 2006 Licciardello was charged with offensive conduct after attempting to sell fake Canterbury Bulldogs merchandise outside an NRL game 38 The merchandise included plastic knuckledusters and balaclavas in the Bulldogs colours and was supposed to satirise the anti social and hooligan behaviour of some Bulldogs fans Several Bulldogs fans took offence and as a result he was charged for offensive behaviour 39 On the broadcast following his arrest Licciardello appeared onstage in handcuffs and within an iron cage On that same episode he apologised for his actions claiming to understand why the Bulldogs fans were offended because Canterbury Bulldogs fans much prefer to use their fists This statement was accompanied by footage of Bulldogs supporters assaulting an opposing team s supporters during a match After appearing in court with Morrow Licciardello pleaded not guilty and the matter was adjourned 40 On 23 January 2007 Licciardello was found not guilty of the offensive behaviour charge 41 He was interviewed after the case draped in an Australian flag and said he would appeal to the Supreme Court to the High Court to the UN to the Jedi Council and the Snickometer After being reminded he had won he said I didn t actually prepare any material for the off chance that we won 42 Craig Reucassel s axe stuntOn 2 August 2006 Reucassel responded to a news story about a private school student who had hugged then prime minister John Howard while holding a screwdriver during one of the PM s morning walks To test his security arrangements Reucassel approached the prime minister during a morning walk and asked for a hug while holding a large plastic battle axe Howard obliged but a later approach while holding a running chainsaw was not so successful 43 44 Cut out from this segment was an unsuccessful attempt that took place between the axe and the chainsaw in which Reucassel was holding a four point star mace 45 Julian Morrow s ticket prankOn 16 August 2006 Morrow purchased two airline tickets on the airline Virgin Blue under the names Al Kyder and Terry Wrist checked in using the automated check in at Sydney Airport and then deliberately failed to show up for boarding so that the names would be broadcast in a final boarding call over the public address system The prank was acknowledged by Virgin Blue who criticised the use of taxpayer dollars in the childish humour 46 Craig Reucassel s speedosOn 19 March 2007 during a campaign appearance for the New South Wales State Election the then opposition leader Peter Debnam was confronted by Reucassel wearing nothing but Speedos and a baseball cap 47 making fun of Debnam s campaign appearances in the swimwear When TV cameras remained focused on Reucassel rather than Mr Debnam he said Sorry I m not Peter Debnam he s over there Just because I m wearing this doesn t mean I m Peter Debnam Reucassel stuck around for the press conference but failed to draw a response from the opposition leader and was again ignored when he went to shake Mr Debnam s hand APEC prank and arrestMain article The Chaser APEC pranks nbsp Wikinews has related news Australian TV show The Chaser breaches APEC security 11 charged nbsp Imitation insecurity passes used by The Chaser to breach the APEC Australia 2007 restricted zoneDuring the APEC Leaders Summit in Sydney on 6 September 2007 Morrow and Licciardello along with nine other production crew members were arrested after they drove a fake Canadian motorcade down Macquarie Street and successfully breached the APEC restricted zone 48 Police only realised that the motorcade was a hoax when Licciardello dressed as Osama bin Laden stepped out of the car replete with bonnet mounted Canadian flag and complained in character about not being invited 49 Licciardello Morrow and the nine others were immediately detained by the NSW Police questioned and charged with entering a restricted area without special justification under the APEC Meeting Police Powers Act 2007 50 All were released on bail to appear in court on 4 October 2007 and subsequently ABC lawyers requested for all matters to be adjourned until 5 December 2007 51 If they were found guilty they could have faced a maximum penalty of six months imprisonment or up to two years if they were in possession of a prohibited item 52 NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione stated that the Chaser stars risked being targeted by snipers during the prank 53 The stunt was planned and approved by ABC lawyers under the assumption that the motorcade would be stopped and discovered at the first security checkpoint 54 However they managed to pass through two police security checkpoints using a fake convoy of hired limousines 55 According to Licciardello he never intended to get that far but played along with it to make their stunt better The footage of the prank which was seized by the police was returned to the ABC and featured in their next episode the following week Despite condemnations by various public officials the Sydney correspondent of the BBC reported that the Chaser team had become folk heroes following the stunt 56 Indeed Alexander Downer the minister for foreign affairs appeared amused when asked to comment 55 Later on 7 September 2007 three members of the Chaser and their film crew were questioned and released over a follow up stunt involving running near the protected APEC zone dressed in cardboard cars topped with Canadian flags 57 The following Chaser episode ended up giving The Chaser s War on Everything their highest ever ratings for an episode with 2 245 million viewers tuning in across Australia 58 On 28 April 2008 the charges against all 11 were dropped by the New South Wales Director of Public Prosecutions DPP as it was considered that the police gave tacit permission for the group to enter the restricted zone by failing to identify the fake security badges 59 The ABC welcomed the dropping of the charges with Morrow saying I think it s just great that justice hasn t been done 60 The police were unapologetic for their actions 61 The Eulogy Song On 17 October 2007 episode Hansen sang a song which satirised the lives of several deceased celebrities including Peter Brock Princess Diana Donald Bradman Steve Irwin Stan Zemanek Jeff Buckley John Lennon and Kerry Packer expressing the view that people with flaws during life are often disproportionately hailed as top blokes after death He also sang that mass murderer Martin Bryant would look a saint after death The song whose lyrics were written by Chris Taylor became the target of significant media attention with several radio and television personalities saying the song was in bad taste 62 and both then prime minister John Howard and then opposition leader Kevin Rudd expressed negative views A few days later the team approached John Howard on his morning walk dressed as rabbits and sparked a reaction from the prime minister with him saying You blokes are a lot funnier when you pick on someone who s alive 63 A number of news programs reported that the ABC s switchboard was jammed with calls from disgusted viewers immediately following the show It was later revealed that only six calls had been made that night about the show three of them in a positive light Although a number of complaints were received the next day the ABC alleged that a large number were listeners of a Melbourne radio show and that when asked many said they hadn t seen the show In response some shows such as Today Tonight claimed many more complaints would follow 64 In response to the attention Taylor defended his song stating that it was a legitimate skit and that although the song mentioned recently deceased breast cancer victim Belinda Emmett the rest of the cast pretending to cut off Hansen before he completed his verse was making a joke about the inappropriateness of making a joke about Belinda Emmett 65 He also revealed it was a watered down version of the song which was previously performed twice on stage in his musical Dead Caesar 66 Seven Network InjunctionOn 14 November 2007 The Chaser made an attempt to poke fun at Today Tonight and the way that they re enact procedures and events which they base their stories on As they had done several times before they infiltrated the Seven Network s news headquarters at Martin Place and asked for the Today Tonight presenter Anna Coren where they came dressed as pretend cameos for the re enactment segments However within the headquarters they were confronted by the staff of the building for alleged trespassing Both Today Tonight and their rival A Current Affair broadcast reports of the stunt the Today Tonight broadcast claiming that they had finally caught the Chaser red handed However A Current Affair did a relatively lighter report on the incident seeming to take side with the Chaser Channel Seven got an injunction to stop The Chaser showing the segment however The Chaser planned on challenging the injunction 67 68 In place of their planned stunt they shot a hasty and dubious reenactment of it Channel 7 boss David Leckie exclaimed in an outburst at waiting photographers outside Channel 7 s offices that The Chaser were nothing but a bunch of tossers they re fucking wankers 69 Morrow responded I interpret those comments as David making overtures to us Calling us wankers and tossers must mean he wants to hire us 70 Make a Realistic Wish Foundation skitOn 3 June 2009 episode Taylor and Hansen were involved in a skit which was set in a terminally ill children s ward of a hospital which centred around a spokesman Taylor portraying himself along with a doctor Hansen from the fictional Make a Realistic Wish Foundation a spoof of the Make a Wish Foundation The premise of the skit was that if the terminally ill children are only going to live for a few more months before passing away it is not worth spending money on lavish gifts for them The one minute long sketch featured Taylor giving one girl a pencil case instead of a trip to Disneyland Then along the same lines Hansen gave another girl a stick instead of a meeting with Zac Efron The skit concluded with Taylor stating Why go to any trouble when they re only gonna die anyway The publicised reaction to the sketch the next day from the general public and media commentators was almost universally negative Among widespread reported disapproval from the public especially from the families that the Make a Wish Foundation has helped prime minister Kevin Rudd stated that The Chaser team should hang their heads in shame He went on to say that I didn t see that but it s been described to me But having a go at kids with a terminal illness is really beyond the pale absolutely beyond the pale 71 That morning the Chaser team along with the ABC managing director Mark Scott apologised for airing the skit with Scott stating that We have unreservedly apologised for airing that skit It s very clear today from the reaction that it s caused considerable offence and distress particularly to parents of children that are seriously ill I ve spoken to Julian Morrow from The Chaser and my understanding is that certainly wasn t the intention of the script but that s the consequences of it The ABC will now change their procedures for reviewing episode content which gets broadcast Scott continued We re going to look at those processes I mean we all know that The Chaser push the edges and it s a tightrope that we walk and I suppose there are many many skits that they ve put to air that have offended someone along the way that s part of the nature of the satirical and black comedy that they do The full episode was initially available for downloading or online viewing from the official website but was taken down while the skit was edited out of the episode the edited version was then made available for download The skit has also been cut from any further television airings and DVD releases 72 The ABC suspended The Chaser s War on Everything for two weeks This was relayed via a message by The Chaser on their website who stated that whilst they disagree with the decision to suspend the show they apologise for making the skit acknowledging that it went too far 73 When the show returned two weeks later the controversy was referenced by the show being introduced as The Chaser s Waste of Taxpayers money a reference to the fact that the show is on the government funded ABC channel Reception and impact editCurrent affairs programs edit Current affairs programs notably Channel 7 s Today Tonight and Channel 9 s A Current Affair have run pieces critical of The Chaser team A Current Affair ran segments covering rumours of the program moving to a commercial network and the use of Osama bin Laden for humour highlighting dangerous stunts and overstepping the mark 74 75 Today Tonight ran segments demonstrating contrivances in Chaser s stunts and criticising their breakthrough of APEC s security 76 However when Today Tonight asked if they could follow The Chaser team on one of their stunts The Chaser agreed The Chaser chose a stunt that would embarrass the Channel 7 television program They did so by having a Meakin Booze Bus in reference to Channel 7 boss Peter Meakin who had recently been convicted of driving whilst under the influence of alcohol In the shoot The Chaser members repeatedly raised the topic of Peter Meakin to reporter James Thomas 77 It was revealed later that The Chaser did eventually answer enough of Thomas questions so that Today Tonight received what they wanted but Today Tonight did not end up running that footage Channel 7 broadcast scenes that they judged made the Chaser crew look arrogant although it was stated in The Chaser s season 2 DVD commentary that James Thomas later called The Chaser team and apologised for the way Today Tonight depicted them in the report 78 Channel 7 began airing repeats of The Chaser in September 2011 Awards edit In December 2006 The Chaser s War on Everything won an Australian Film Institute AFI Award for Best Television Comedy Series and Hansen won an AFI Award for Best Performance in a Television Comedy 79 Hansen also won the APRA AGSC award for Best Television Theme for his original theme on The Chaser s War on Everything 80 In May 2007 the program was nominated for the TV Week Logie award Most Outstanding Comedy Program for the 2006 series 81 The show was nominated for the 2007 AFI award in the category of Best Television Comedy Series for the 2007 series 82 In late February 2008 the show was nominated for the Rose D Or international television award for Comedy 83 In June 2008 The Chaser received the Atheist Foundation of Australia s Tom Paine Award for Exemplary service to humanity and outstanding promotion of ideals conducive to human contentment and survivability 84 In 2010 the program was nominated for the TV Week Logie award Most Outstanding Light Entertainment Program for the 2009 series See also editThe Chaser Mark Thomas Robert Newman The Yes MenReferences edit The Chaser s War on Everything TV Series 2006 2009 IMDb IMDb Chaser team charged over Vatican stunt Australian Associated Press 1 May 2009 Archived from the original on 5 May 2009 Retrieved 1 May 2009 Katherine Field 6 August 2008 Chaser boys happy at the ABC for now ninemsn Archived from the original on 8 August 2008 Retrieved 7 August 2008 Chaser Episode 3 questions answered Dominic Knight 25 June 2009 Archived from the original on 28 June 2009 Retrieved 30 June 2009 Chaser s Chas bows out with botox smh com au 28 July 2009 Chaser bow out on a high smh com au 30 July 2009 a b Lawson Annie 25 July 2005 Dinner Piers pressure and lots of red whine The Age Melbourne Retrieved 14 November 2007 a b Molitorisz Sacha 14 February 2006 Behind enemy lines The Sydney Morning Herald Retrieved 14 November 2007 The Chaser s War on Everything Commentary ABC1 No 5 season 1 Bradley J Howard CV MonkeyHouse tv Retrieved 1 January 2008 ABC Television Program summary The Chaser War on Everything ABC Television Retrieved 1 December 2007 a b Browne Rachel 28 January 2007 ABC pranksters slated for prime time The Sydney Morning Herald Retrieved 14 November 2007 ABC Television Program summary The Chaser War on Everything ABC Television Retrieved 1 December 2007 ABC Television Program summary The Chaser War on Everything ABC Television Retrieved 1 December 2007 ABC s Specks and Chasers rating well The West Australian 31 May 2007 Archived from the original on 24 December 2007 Retrieved 14 November 2007 Commercial TV chases lost ratings eBroadcast Australia 23 May 2007 Archived from the original on 11 October 2007 Retrieved 14 November 2007 Chaser announces election specials Brisbane Times 24 October 2007 Retrieved 18 November 2007 The Chaser goes global The Age Melbourne 30 October 2007 Retrieved 14 November 2007 G4tv com Video Games Comedy Creators amp Culture a b c Molitorisz Sacha 18 May 2009 Chaser s world offensive The Sydney Morning Herald Retrieved 24 May 2009 Chaser series will be our last Morrow ABC News 21 May 2009 Retrieved 24 May 2009 FOXTEL the Comedy Channela s Biggest Thursday Ever Archived from the original on 1 January 2010 Retrieved 27 May 2012 Chaser s War on Everything The Vol 1 DVD Devoted DVD Archived from the original on 1 December 2007 Retrieved 22 October 2007 ABC Shop The Chaser s War on Everything Season 1 Vol 1 Australian Broadcasting Corporation Archived from the original on 18 September 2007 Retrieved 22 October 2007 Chaser s War on Everything The Vol 2 DVD Archived from the original on 15 December 2007 Retrieved 22 October 2007 Chaser s War on Everything The Series 2 Vol 1 DVD Devoted DVD Archived from the original on 11 September 2007 Retrieved 22 October 2007 The Chaser s War on Everything Season 2 Vol 2 DVD Archived from the original on 17 July 2008 Retrieved 27 June 2008 ABC launches Vodcasting Australian Broadcasting Corporation 27 July 2006 Retrieved 28 March 2007 Downloads boost The Chaser s viral appeal The Age Melbourne 23 August 2006 Retrieved 22 October 2007 Podcast TV starts to click The Courier Mail News com au 17 November 2006 Archived from the original on 27 December 2007 Retrieved 22 October 2007 Miller Nick 20 December 2007 ABC s Chaser comedians are officially top of the pods The Age Melbourne Retrieved 20 December 2007 Funnell Anthony 8 June 2006 The strange world of news satire The Media Report Australian Broadcasting Corporation Archived from the original on 2 April 2008 Retrieved 3 January 2008 Chaser stunt turns heads in US Brisbane Times 12 April 2007 Retrieved 15 October 2007 No matter how well you plan there s always a flea The Sydney Morning Herald 19 May 2006 Retrieved 3 January 2008 The Chaser s War on Everything Commentary ABC1 No 4 season 2 AWB inquiry not laughing over The Chaser stunt Australian Broadcasting Corporation 8 February 2006 Archived from the original on 1 February 2009 Retrieved 9 September 2006 Debi Enker 22 March 2007 Chasing down the powerful The Age Melbourne Retrieved 15 October 2007 Jano Gibson 22 January 2007 Chaser star leaves it to the video ref The Age Melbourne Retrieved 4 January 2008 Erin O Dwyer Daniel Dasey 16 July 2006 Chaser Canterbury joke gets no laughs The Sydney Morning Herald Retrieved 24 February 2008 Chaser star pleads not guilty The Age Melbourne 16 July 2006 Retrieved 24 February 2008 Chaser star cleared over Bulldogs stunt Australian Broadcasting Corporation 23 January 2007 Archived from the original on 5 February 2008 Retrieved 24 February 2008 Gibson Jano 24 January 2007 Chaser court victory hailed as triumph for free speech The Age Melbourne Retrieved 27 June 2007 Australia s MOST WANTED The Chaser s WAR ON COMEDY The Australian 17 March 2007 Chaser star cleared over Bulldogs stunt Australian Broadcasting Corporation 23 January 2007 Archived from the original on 24 January 2007 Chaser axe stunt gets Howard going The Sydney Morning Herald 2 August 2006 Al Kyder Virgin on the ridiculous The Age Melbourne 18 August 2006 Speedo wearing comedian confronts Debnam The Age Melbourne 19 March 2007 Chaser duo held over APEC stunt The Age Melbourne 6 September 2007 Retrieved 6 September 2007 Nation of larrikins Well yes and no The Age Melbourne 9 September 2007 Retrieved 9 September 2007 11 charged over Chaser APEC stunt Australian Broadcasting Corporation 6 September 2007 Retrieved 6 September 2007 Chaser APEC court hearing adjourned News com au 4 October 2007 Archived from the original on 13 October 2007 Retrieved 4 October 2007 APEC Meeting Police Powers Act 2007 No 14 Retrieved 20 October 2007 Chaser pranksters could have been shot The Age Melbourne 6 September 2007 Retrieved 6 September 2007 Chasers release new prank video news com au 9 September 2007 Archived from the original on 13 October 2007 Retrieved 9 September 2007 a b Chaser comic convoy beats summit security The Age Melbourne 6 September 2007 Retrieved 6 September 2007 Apec security leaves bitter taste in Sydney bbc co uk 9 September 2007 Retrieved 10 September 2007 Police question Chasers over second APEC stunt Australian Broadcasting Corporation 10 September 2007 Retrieved 15 October 2007 Seven Daily Ratings Report ebroadcast com au 13 September 2007 Archived from the original on 13 November 2007 Retrieved 13 September 2007 Police bungle sees Chaser charges binned News com au 28 April 2008 Archived from the original on 1 May 2008 Retrieved 28 April 2008 APEC charges dropped against Chaser satirists ABC PM 28 April 2008 Retrieved 9 April 2008 NSW Police Statement regarding DPP Chaser decision Schubert Misha 18 October 2007 Chaser song just wrong The Age Retrieved 14 February 2023 PM lashes Chaser crew when ambushed on morning walk PerthNow Archived from the original on 21 October 2007 Retrieved 21 October 2007 Howard Rudd lash out at Chaser song news com au Archived from the original on 27 December 2007 Retrieved 18 October 2007 Chaser s war on good taste ninemsn Retrieved 18 October 2007 McLean Stuart 18 October 2007 Offensive Chaser defends song war on dead celebs The Daily Telegraph news com au Retrieved 18 October 2007 Seven Network Operations Ltd v Australian Broadcasting Corporation amp 2 Ors 2007 NSWSC 1289 Lawlink Archived from the original on 4 August 2012 Retrieved 24 February 2008 Seven gets injunction against the Chaser ninemsn Archived from the original on 15 November 2007 Retrieved 14 November 2007 Dylan Welch 15 November 2007 Seven boss blows up at Chaser stunt The Age Melbourne Retrieved 28 December 2007 Seven boss blows up at Chaser stunt The Sydney Morning Herald 15 November 2007 Retrieved 24 February 2008 Hang your heads Rudd tells Chaser boys Australian Broadcasting Corporation 4 June 2009 Retrieved 5 June 2009 ABC boss sorry for Chaser wrong call Australian Broadcasting Corporation 4 June 2009 Retrieved 5 June 2009 Overington Caroline 6 June 2009 ABC suspends Chaser for two weeks after dying kids skit The Australian News Limited Retrieved 6 June 2009 ACA Back on The Chaser s Tail whatsonthetube 9 May 2007 Archived from the original on 3 April 2008 Retrieved 24 February 2008 Chasing the Chaser The Herald Sun news com au 16 May 2007 Retrieved 24 February 2008 Dyer Glen 7 September 2007 Today Tonight v The Chaser who s got the credibility Crikey Archived from the original on 18 January 2008 Retrieved 24 February 2008 Episode 12 Season 2 The Chaser s War on Everything ABC Episode 12 Season 2 The Chaser s War on Everything DVD Audio Commentary L Oreal Paris 2006 AFI Award Winners Revealed Australian Film Institute Retrieved 24 February 2008 Screen Awards Winners 2006 APRA Archived from the original on 1 April 2008 Retrieved 24 February 2008 50th annual TV Week Logie Awards TV Week ninemsn Archived from the original on 28 December 2007 Retrieved 24 February 2008 2007 nominees AFI Archived from the original on 6 February 2008 Retrieved 24 February 2008 Britcoms dominate international awards Chortle Retrieved 1 March 2008 Tom Paine Award Atheist Foundation of AustraliaExternal links edit nbsp Wikiquote has quotations related to The Chaser s War on Everything The Chaser s official website The Chaser s official American website G4TV The Chaser s War on Everything at IMDb nbsp Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Chaser 27s War on Everything amp oldid 1206481105, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.