ABC issues pre-emptive apology for The Chaser’s Media Circus

chaser

The Chaser team are back this year, with their upcoming 8-part series The Chaser’s Media Circus starting on Wednesday October 15 on the ABC. The ABC has pre-emptively apologised for the series by releasing a statement to the press.

Below are some of the highlights:

“Looking forward a few weeks, we’ll definitely have to admit that in retrospect it could have been prevented,” said the ABC in a media release with an intentionally misleading headline.

“This is a group that not only does evil, it revels in evil,” said Prime Minister Tony Abbott in comments which appear to have been taken out of context.

“The Media Circus format is kind of like The Hamster Wheel… of Fortune,” said host Craig Reucassel. “It combines the Chaser team’s take on the week’s news and current affairs with the satirical comedy and media analysis of The Hamster Wheel and chucks it all together in the form of games. For the Chaser team, news really is a game now.”

“We’re hoping it will be a new low in the decline of news into entertainment,” said executive producer Julian Morrow. “We can’t destroy news, but degrading seems achievable.”

“It’s a shame that all the ABC’s good work for Mental Health Week (5-12 October) will be immediately cancelled out by the return of the Chaser team,” said ABC Director of Television Richard Finlayson.

The show will be filmed in front of a live studio audience and will include journalists, comedians and members of The Chaser (including writer/performers from The Checkout Ben Jenkins, Zoë Norton Lodge and Scott Abbot) discussing and dissecting the week’s news and media. Episodes will include the following games:

  • Out of Order: Where teams have to organise news stories in the order they appeared in a TV news bulletin. Which is deemed most important – Syria’s civil war, the AFL results, or a neighbourly dispute over a garage roller door?
  • Press Pack: Where a team member plays the part of a public figure at a press conference defending an embarrassing gaffe. Or whatever Jacqui Lambie said that particular week.
  • Evil Mastermind: A fun game for the whole family where you have to decide whether a quote about “evil” is by Tony Abbott or a cartoon super-villain.

The guys from The Chaser have been bringing us their unique brand of political comedy for many years now, and they have always managed to find the right blend of humour and insight. It’s always great fun to watch them at work and The Chaser’s Media Circus sounds like it will be another home run for the team.

The Chaser’s Media Circus starts on ABC on Wednesday October 15 and continues for 8 weeks.

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