''Enough Rope with Andrew Denton'' (often shortened to ''Enough Rope'') is a television interview show originally broadcast on
ABC1
ABC TV, formerly known as ABC1, is an Australian national public television network. It is owned and operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is the flagship ABC Television network. The headquarters of the ABC TV channel an ...
in Australia. The title of the show came from the phrase "
give someone enough rope and they'll hang themselves".
The program was the brainchild of Australian comedian, social critic, producer and media personality
Andrew Denton, who hosted the show. The hour-long chat show aired from 2003 to 2008.
Overview
The show was based around in-depth interviews Denton held with a celebrity or person of note, usually before a studio audience. Many high-profile guests would comment on Denton's meticulous research in interview preparation.
In addition to celebrities, Denton's interviewees have included people who are perceived to have extraordinary life stories or to hold interesting professions. An occasional feature of the show was "Show & Tell", in which Denton interviewed members of the studio audience, who revealed unusual stories about themselves.
The show initially competed against the
Nine Network
The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...
's ''
Micallef Tonight
''Micallef Tonight'' was a short-lived Aria Award-winning Australian variety show that aired on the Nine Network in 2003. It was hosted by comedian Shaun Micallef and also featured the talents of Francis Greenslade, Jason Geary, Livinia Nixon ...
'' in the Monday 9:30 pm timeslot, and critics have claimed that ''Enough Rope'' high ratings forced Nine to axe their program. Throughout 2004 and 2005 ''Enough Rope'' continued to dominate, averaging well over a million viewers weekly. At the beginning of both 2007 and 2008, the series began with several ''More Than Enough Rope'' specials, a series that revisited interviews with past guests along with behind the scenes footage. In 2008, the series had a series of interviews with people who are of 'older age', and these interviews were re-titled ''Elders with Andrew Denton'' instead of the usual 'Enough Rope' banner. Elders also aired in 2009. The show also included three 'On the Road' specials in which Denton travelled to a small country town and interviewed some of the local residents about their lives and experiences. The towns which the show visited were
Rainbow, Victoria
Rainbow is a town in the Shire of Hindmarsh in northwest Victoria, Australia, from Melbourne. The nearest large towns are Warracknabeal, Dimboola and Nhill, all to the south. At the , Rainbow had a population of 683.
History
In 1899 the railwa ...
(2006),
Mount Isa
Mount Isa ( ) is a city in the Gulf Country region of Queensland, Australia. It came into existence because of the vast mineral deposits found in the area. Mount Isa Mines (MIM) is one of the most productive single mines in world history, bas ...
, Queensland (2007) and
Kununurra, Western Australia
Kununurra is a town in far northern Western Australia located at the eastern extremity of the Kimberley approximately from the border with the Northern Territory. Kununurra was initiated to service the Ord River Irrigation Scheme.
Kununurr ...
(2008).
In an interview with ''
The Sydney Morning Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...
'' in October 2008, Denton announced that the 2008 season would be the last. He claims to have ended the show because he thought "It's a good time to finish." and saw his television future behind the camera.
In a 2018 interview he said it was because he believed more of his guests were putting on an act instead of being themselves.
Notable guests
Some of the high-profile international guests that appeared on the show include former U.S. President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
,
David Attenborough
Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, the nine natural histor ...
,
Al Gore
Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...
,
Jerry Seinfeld
Jerome Allen Seinfeld ( ; born April 29, 1954) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for playing a Jerry Seinfeld (character), semi-fictionalized version of himself in the sitcom ''Seinfeld'', which he ...
,
Jim Carrey
James Eugene Carrey (; born January 17, 1962) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian and artist. Known for his energetic slapstick performances, Carrey first gained recognition in 1990, after landing a role in the American sketch comedy te ...
,
Bob Geldof
Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof (; born 5 October 1951) is an Irish singer-songwriter, and political activist. He rose to prominence in the late 1970s as lead singer of the Rock music in Ireland, Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats, who achieved ...
,
Antonio Banderas
José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born 10 August 1960), known professionally as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish actor and singer. Known for his work in films of several genres, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Antonio Ba ...
,
Helen Mirren
Dame Helen Mirren (born Helen Lydia Mironoff; born 26 July 1945) is an English actor. The recipient of numerous accolades, she is the only performer to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting in both the United States and the United Kingdom. ...
,
Bono
Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by his stage name Bono (), is an Irish singer-songwriter, activist, and philanthropist. He is the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band U2.
Born and raised in Dublin, he attended M ...
,
Dave Grohl
David Eric Grohl (born January 14, 1969) is an American musician. He is the founder of the rock band Foo Fighters, in which he is the lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter. Prior to forming Foo Fighters, he was the drummer of gru ...
, Dr
Jane Goodall
Dame Jane Morris Goodall (; born Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall on 3 April 1934), formerly Baroness Jane van Lawick-Goodall, is an English primatologist and anthropologist. Seen as the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best kn ...
,
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...
,
Crown Princess Mary of Denmark
Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark, Countess of Monpezat, (born Mary Elizabeth Donaldson; 5 February 1972) is the wife of Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark. Frederik is the heir apparent to the throne, which means that should he succeed, Mary w ...
,
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie (; born Angelina Jolie Voight; June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, humanitarian and former Special Envoy to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award ...
,
Clint Eastwood
Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "''Doll ...
,
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. He began h ...
, and
Michael Parkinson
Sir Michael Parkinson (born 28 March 1935) is an English broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his television talk show '' Parkinson'' from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007, as well as other talk shows and programmes both in the U ...
. Denton sometimes flew to international destinations to conduct his interviews.
On a local level, comedian
Dave Hughes opened up about what led him to give up alcohol, and lifestyle television pioneer
Don Burke
Donald William Burke (born 16 July 1947) is an Australian television presenter, television producer, author and horticulturist. He is best known as the longtime host of '' Burke's Backyard'', a lifestyle program produced by his wife's company ...
shed some light on the axing of his show, ''
Burke's Backyard
''Burke's Backyard'' was an Australian gardening and lifestyle series presented by horticulturist Don Burke, broadcast on both radio and television. On television, it was a regular weekly series on the Nine Network from 12 September 1987 to 26 ...
''. A highly publicised interview with disgraced
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
Wayne Carey
Wayne Francis Carey (born 27 May 1971) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the North Melbourne Football Club and Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
A dual-premiership captain at North Melbou ...
conducted in the weeks after a series of controversies drew in a television audience of 1.5 million viewers. Other Australian guests of note include
Bernie Banton
Bernard Douglas Banton AM (13 October 1946 – 27 November 2007) was an Australian social justice campaigner. He was the widely recognized face of the legal and political campaign to achieve compensation for the many sufferers of asbestos-relat ...
and
Kevin Bloody Wilson
Kevin Bloody Wilson (born Dennis Bryant; 13 February 1947) is an Australian musical comedian who performs comical songs with his heavy Australian English accent and often including sexual themes. He has won one ARIA Music Award.
Early career ...
.
''Enough Rope'' was at the centre of political controversy in 2005 due to a controversial interview with former
ALP opposition leader
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
Mark Latham
Mark William Latham (born 28 February 1961) is an Australian politician and media commentator, currently serving as a member in the New South Wales Legislative Council. He previously served as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and ...
which almost did not make it to air (Latham was also interviewed for ''
Lateline
''Lateline'' was an Australian television news program which ran from 1990 until 2017. The program initially aired weeknights on ABC TV. In later years it was also broadcast internationally throughout Asia and the Pacific on the Australia Plu ...
''). In 2004, Denton interviewed the controversial anti-immigration figure from Australian politics,
Pauline Hanson
Pauline Lee Hanson (''née'' Seccombe, formerly Zagorski; born 27 May 1954) is an Australian politician who is the founder and leader of One Nation, a right-wing populist political party. Hanson has represented Queensland in the Australian ...
, who argued that she was not a racist.
For the final program, aired on 8 December 2008, the guests were
Ben Stiller
Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is the son of the comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. Stiller was a member of a group of comedic actors colloquially known ...
and
Wendy Whiteley
Wendy Susan Whiteley (; 1941) is best known as the former wife of the Australian artist Brett Whiteley, and as the mother of their daughter, actress Arkie Whiteley (1964–2001). She has become a notable cultural figure, particularly since her ...
.
Curtain comes down on Enough Rope
/ref>
See also
* List of Australian television series
* Publication of ''Latham's Diaries'' and public appearances
References
External links
* {{IMDb title, id=0358316, title=Enough Rope with Andrew Denton
Australian television talk shows
Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming
2003 Australian television series debuts
2008 Australian television series endings
Television shows set in Sydney