''Big Bite'' was an Australian

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

which ran on the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

from 8 May 2003 to 4 March 2004 in a prime time

timeslot Broadcast programming is the practice of organizing or ordering (scheduling) of broadcast media shows, typically radio and television, in a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or season-long schedule. Modern broadcasters use broadcast automation ...

on Thursdays. Since the end of the series, episodes have been repeated on the

Foxtel Foxtel is an Australian pay television company—operating in cable television, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April 2018, superseding an earlier company from 1995. The service was establi ...

cable channel,

The Comedy Channel The Comedy Channel (promoted on air as comedy) is a defunct Australian subscription television channel available on Foxtel, and Optus Television. The channel ceased broadcasting on 1 September 2020. History A joint venture between Artist Servi ...

and 7Two.

Overview

Only moderately successful on its initial broadcast and despite an initially mixed reception, the show has gradually developed something of a cult following, due to having begun the careers of a number of now prominent performers, directors and writers.

Andrew O'Keefe Andrew Patrick O'Keefe AM (born 1 October 1971) is an Australian former television presenter and lawyer. He is best known for being the host of the game shows ''Deal or No Deal'' and ''The Chase Australia''. He was also the co-host of ''Weeke ...

started his television career on the show and went on to host ''

Deal or No Deal ''Deal or No Deal'' is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which (launching the format) was the Dutch ''Miljoenenjacht (Netherlands), Miljoenenjacht'' (''Hunt/Chase for Millions''). The centerpiece of this f ...

'', ''

Dragons' Den ''Dragons' Den'' is a reality television program format in which entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists in the hope of securing investment finance from them. The program originated in 2001 in Japan, where it is k ...

'', '' The Rich List'', ''

Weekend Sunrise ''Weekend Sunrise'' is an Australian breakfast television program, broadcast on the Seven Network and currently hosted by Monique Wright and Matt Doran. History In 2005 the Seven Network replaced its struggling Sunday morning program ''Sunday ...

'' and ''

The Chase Australia ''The Chase Australia'' is an Australian television quiz show based on the British program of the same name. It is broadcast on the Seven Network and premiered on 14 September 2015. Four contestants play against an opponent, known as the "chas ...

''. Chris Lilley's character

Mr G Hellen "Greg" Gregson, best known as Mr G, is a fictional character portrayed by Chris Lilley in the Australian mockumentary series '' Summer Heights High''. The character also appeared in the sketch comedy series ''Big Bite''. Storylines So ...

first appeared here; he subsequently appeared in ''

Summer Heights High ''Summer Heights High'' is an Australian mockumentary television sitcom written by and starring Chris Lilley. Set in the fictional Summer Heights High School in an outer suburb of Sydney (based on Summer Hill), it is revolves around high scho ...

'' and released a novelty single. Other performers on the show included improvisational comedian

Rebecca De Unamuno Rebecca De Unamuno is an Australian actress and comedian. She has written and performed for a number of television comedy series, short films and stand up comedy shows. In 2013 she starred in '' Spank! The Fifty Shades Parody''. Career In 2 ...

, experimental theatre star Melissa Madden Gray (now known internationally for her cabaret character 'Meow Meow'), Kate McCartney (who would go on to star in '' The Katering Show'' and ''

Get Krack!n ''Get Krack!n'' is an Australian comedy series which was created by and stars comedians Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan. The series is a satire of breakfast television and features McCartney and McLennan playing versions of themselves hosting ''G ...

''), Richard Pyros (today a member of

The Sydney Theatre Company Sydney Theatre Company (STC) is an Australian theatre company based in Sydney, New South Wales. The company performs in The Wharf Theatre at Dawes Point in The Rocks area of Sydney, as well as the Roslyn Packer Theatre (formerly Sydney Theatre) ...

's 'Residents' acting ensemble) and Jake Stone, former lead singer of popular Australian funk pop rock band

Bluejuice Bluejuice was an Australian band based in Sydney, active between 2000 and 2014. The group's final line-up consisted of lead vocalist Jake Stone, backing vocalist Stavros Yiannoukas, bassist Jamie Cibej and drummer James Hauptmann. The band rele ...

. Other television personalities associated with the show included

presenter

Cameron Knight Cameron "Cam" Knight is an Australian comedian and television personality, born in Cummins, South Australia. Career He studied at the South Australian Centre for the Performing Arts before making his break into television as a member of the ''Big ...

, comedian

Charlie Pickering Charlie Pickering (born 29 August 1977) is an Australian comedian, television and radio presenter, author and producer. Pickering currently hosts ''The Weekly with Charlie Pickering'', a weekly news satire television show on the ABC, as well ...

and actor

Charlie Clausen Charlie Clausen (born 31 July 1977) is an Australian actor most known for his role as Jake Harrison on ''McLeod's Daughters'' in 2003 and as Acting Sergeant Alex Kirby on the police drama series ''Blue Heelers'', which he starred in for the ma ...

. Many of the actors from this series would later appear on '' The Hamish and Andy Show''. Regular cast member

Tristan Jepson Tristan Jepson (1978 – 28 October 2004) was an Australian law graduate and writer. He was educated at Trinity Grammar School (New South Wales), Trinity Grammar School and the University of New South Wales. While still an undergraduate law studen ...

, who wrote and played

Tom Gleisner Thomas Edmund Gleisner (born 24 October 1962) is an Australian comedian, television presenter, producer, director, writer, occasional actor and author. Gleisner currently hosts Network 10's ''Have You Been Paying Attention?''. Early life and ...

in the show's acclaimed parody of '' The Panel'', committed suicide at the age of 26 in late 2004 after suffering from clinical depression. During the television broadcast of the 2005

Australian Film Institute Awards The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards recognise excellence in the film and television industry, ...

, he was honoured among the roll call of performers to have died in the previous year. The show's co-creators included Andrew Jones and head writer

Rick Kalowski Rick Kalowski (born 9 May 1972) is an Australian television and film writer/producer, best known for his work on the high-rating but controversial ABC1 sitcom '' At Home with Julia''. Before becoming a writer, Kalowski spent several years working ...

, who have gone to success as a sought-after writing team. The show's directors included Ted Emery (''

Fast Forward To fast-forward is to move forwards through a recording at a speed faster than that at which it would usually be played, for example two times or two point five times. The recordings are usually audio, video or computer data. It is colloquially ...

'', ''

The Micallef Program ''The Micallef P(r)ogram(me)'' is an Australian sketch comedy TV series hosted by Shaun Micallef, and written by Micallef and Gary McCaffrie, that ran from 1998 to 2001 on ABC TV. It was known as ''The Micallef Program'' in its first series, ...

'', ''

Kath & Kim ''Kath & Kim,'' (also written as ''Kath and Kim'') is an Australian sitcom created by Jane Turner and Gina Riley, who portray the title characters of Kath Day-Knight, a cheery, middle-aged suburban mother, and Kim, her self-indulgent daughter. ...

'') and

Matthew Saville Matthew Saville (born 1966) is an Australian television and film director, known for ''Noise (2007 Australian film), Noise'' (2007) and ''A Month of Sundays (2015 film), A Month of Sundays'' (2015). Early life and education Saville was born ...

(''

Noise Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference arise ...

'', '' We Can Be Heroes'', '' The King''). ''Big Bite'' was nominated for Best Television Comedy Series at the 2003

, becoming the first commercial network comedy series ever nominated in any category of those awards.

Media release

A two-DVD set of the entire series (13 half-hour episodes) was released in Australia on 6 November 2006. This included the so-called 'lost' final episode of the series, which had not aired on Australian television during the series' original run.

External links

* {{Chris Lilley Seven Network original programming Australian television sketch shows 2003 Australian television series debuts 2004 Australian television series endings 2000s Australian comedy television series Television shows set in Victoria (Australia)

Overview

Media release

See also

External links