Mediaweek Industry Awards 2018: Best Television Comedy

• We have our second television award

In day two of results from the inaugural Mediaweek Industry Awards, we have our second television award.

Best Television Comedy 2018

Winner: Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell
First Runner-up: True Story with Hamish & Andy
Second Runner-up: Rosehaven

Winner: Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell

The Melbourne-based comedian has a long list of comedy shows on his CV with five of them using his name. None of them, or any of his other projects, have been quite as successful or enjoyed as long a run as this series.

Made for the ABC by ITV Studios, Shaun’s Micallef’s Mad As Hell this year wrapped up its ninth season during which the 100th episode went to air.

Second place: True Story with Hamish & Andy

The comedy duo moved out of radio last year to focus on their TV career after a successful first season of True Story With Hamish & Andy. The second season numbers were down significantly on the first season, although the series moved from 7.30pm on a Monday to later in the evening on a Tuesday – never a recipe for audience growth.

Nine hasn’t recommissioned the series for 2019, but it has said it will return some time in the future. Nothing wrong with that, of course. At the ABC, Working Dog’s Utopia has had four seasons over six years, with a new season commissioned for 2019.

True Story With Hamish & Andy is made for Nine by their production company Radio Karate.

While True Story takes a break – the hosts will be busy on other projects at Nine.

Hamish Blake is hosting the new 2019 series Lego Masters and Andy Lee will be working with Blake on the refreshed travel format Hamish And Andy’s Perfect Holiday.

While not on radio, the duo has kept a link with SCA via the Hamish And Andy podcast, which lives on the PodcastOne platform.

See also:

True Story with Hamish & Andy: Turning 8,000 stories into the best 10
• Director/producer Tim Bartley tells Mediaweek about making 10 different movies

Third place: Rosehaven

The third worthy finalist in this section is the ABC comedy Rosehaven with season three screening earlier this year.

In the Guesswork Television comedy Luke McGregor (Luke Warm Sex, Utopia) is Daniel McCallum, who returned to his rural Tasmanian hometown, Rosehaven, to help his domineering mother with her real estate business. He got a surprise when his best friend from the mainland, Emma (Celia PacquolaUtopia, A Beautiful Lie), turned up on his doorstep on the run from a marriage so fresh her husband was still on their honeymoon.

Screen Tasmania, Screen Australia and The Australian Broadcasting Corporation funded that Guesswork Television/What Horse? Production.

The series is written and created by its stars Luke McGregor and Celia Pacquola.

The executive producer is Kevin Whyte and the producer is Andrew Walker.

See also:

Tassie-set Rosehaven follows Kettering’s footsteps
• By Dan Barrett

Monday in the Mediaweek Industry Awards: Best Television reality series

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