If, like me, you're a television viewer who still believes Australia is capable of creating cracking sketch comedy for TV, you will have tuned in to Seven's Double Take earlier this year with at least a modicum of optimism.

After all, this is the country that produced The Comedy Company, Fast Forward and Full Frontal, right? How hard could it be to keep the sketch comedy fires burning?

The answer, as it turned out for those who did watch Double Take, was: "very".

Here's a taste of the scintillating satire the show served up - and yes, the subtitles did originally go to air (you know, just in case you missed the hilarious parody lyrics like "Dykes are salivating"):


Geddit? GEDDIT? Wait, there's more where that came from!


Gay jokes! Hilarious!

(Even more grim is the fact that they'd actually paid for the rights to the melodies to all these hits, which can't have been cheap - so with a budget like that, well, wha' happen'?)

Just to cleanse your palate before we continue, this is how you do a parody:


The few times I managed to endure an episode of Double Take while it was actually on television (either the show was quietly euthanised, or everyone just pretended it didn't exist), the subtitles were key to the show's (massive) failings.

They say, "Hey, we're heaps funny, but we don't trust that our audience is actually smart or quick enough to understand these gags, so we're going to feed it to you on a drip."

It was a profoundly depressing experience.

How did it come to this? 

Aussie sketch comedy seems to be a dying format - other aborted attempts over the past decade or so include Let Loose Live (axed after two episodes!), The Ronnie Johns Half Hour (two mystifying seasons on Ten before phonecalls stopped being returned!), and skitHOUSE (crap name, crap ratings!).

Of all the "Noughties" efforts, only Big Bite had any real promise - despite disappointing ratings, the show was produced by Ted Emery and launched a number of genuine Australian comedy/entertainment talents, including Chris Lilley and my personal god, Andrew O'Keefe. 

Here's Lilley as "Extreme Darren":



The most frustrating thing about the continued efforts of commercial networks to kickstart yet more sketch shows is that they ignore the unbelievable depth of comic talent in Australia. It's not enough to write a reasonably funny skit or easy parody, and then fax it in through some good looking actors who are okay at comedy.

Comedy shows need comedians, believe it or not.

They also need decent directors and producers, and while we can't rely on Ted Emery to swoop in and save every sketch show from doom, it's difficult to believe that the best the networks can come up with - particularly considering the high production values of shows like Double Take - is the dross we've been served for much of the decade.

This isn't an Australian Idol situation - we haven't even begun to scrape the bottom of the barrel as far as Australian comedy talent is concerned.

My guess is that the network assumes that because Double Take et al failed as ratings saviours, there's no point trying to revive the sketch genre. Well, that is where they're wrong.

If you feed viewers shit, they won't watch it. The first network to come up with a sketch show that doesn't insult its viewers will be blessed with killer ratings, Logies - the lot.

I know, because I'm Bobby Battista.



Good morning, everyone.