''Rubbery Figures'' was a satirical rubber puppet series and segment that screened in Australia in various forms from 1984 to 1990. The series ran on the
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
until 1988, when it was axed and subsequently revived as a segment on
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 ...
's ''
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 ...
'' in April 1989. It featured puppets of major political and social characters.
Production
The ''Rubbery Figures'' programs were made in the Melbourne film studio of
Peter Nicholson, who also made the puppets themselves. Almost all the character voices for the puppets were performed by Melbourne voice actor Paul Jennings.
Fast Forward's ''Rubbery Figures''
Steve Vizard, the man behind Channel Seven's ''Fast Forward'' had seen ''Rubbery Figures'' on the ABC and thought they would make a good point of difference from competing comedy sketch series. Due to budget constraints, Peter Nicholson semi autonomously produced five minute segments that could be inserted into the programme.
During this period the figures expanded into less current political satire; for example the puppets of Prime Minister
Bob Hawke
Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and union organiser who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (A ...
and then Treasurer
Paul Keating
Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He previously serv ...
played the parts of Captain Kirk and Mr Spock on board the enterprise.
Characters
Australian politicians
The primary characters of ''Rubbery Figures'' were politicians native to
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. The ''Rubbery Figures'' political characters included:
*
Bob Hawke
Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and union organiser who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (A ...
– portrayed as a self-centred, power-hungry opportunist
*
Paul Keating
Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He previously serv ...
– depicted as Hawke's down-to-earth but ambitious crony
*
John Howard
John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...
– an irritating, nerdy loser
*
Andrew Peacock
Andrew Sharp Peacock (13 February 193916 April 2021) was an Australian politician and diplomat. He served as a cabinet minister and went on to become leader of the Liberal Party on two occasions (1983–1985 and 1989–1990), leading the par ...
– vain and snobbish, often seen filing his nails
*
Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen
Sir Johannes Bjelke-Petersen (13 January 191123 April 2005), known as Joh Bjelke-Petersen, was a conservative Australian politician. He was the longest-serving and longest-lived premier of Queensland, holding office from 1968 to 1987, during ...
– senile and rambling, with a tendency for
malapropism
A malapropism (also called a malaprop, acyrologia, or Dogberryism) is the mistaken use of an incorrect word in place of a word with a similar sound, resulting in a nonsensical, sometimes humorous utterance. An example is the statement attributed to ...
("you mark my verbs")
*
John Elliott – a beer-swilling "yobbo", with his catchphrase of "pig's arse"
International politicians
''Rubbery Figures'' also satirised prominent world politicians of the time, among them were:
*
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...
– the then-
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pr ...
; an eccentric profiteer, eager to sell to the Australian government
*
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
– the then-
President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
; portrayed as a lumberjack, making decisions based on his
horoscope
A horoscope (or other commonly used names for the horoscope in English include natal chart, astrological chart, astro-chart, celestial map, sky-map, star-chart, cosmogram, vitasphere, radical chart, radix, chart wheel or simply chart) is an ast ...
*
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...
– former
General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED O ...
; an easygoing liberal who was always giving himself time off
*
Muammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...
– former ruler of
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
, whose puppet was permanently impaled by a missile with the letters ''"
USA
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
"'' painted on one side
Comparison with ''Spitting Image''
The ''Sunday Mail'' noted in 1988 that "People think creator Peter Nicholson borrowed the idea for Rubbery Figures from the British puppet show ''
Spitting Image
''Spitting Image'' is a British satirical television puppet show, created by Peter Fluck, Roger Law and Martin Lambie-Nairn. First broadcast in 1984, the series was produced by 'Spitting Image Productions' for Central Independent Television ov ...
''. But Nicholson quickly points out he created his puppets before ''Spitting Image'' was shown in Australia". Nicholson told the ''Herald'': "The programs are from slightly different traditions...Ours springs more from the newspaper political cartoon than the comedy tradition of ''Spitting Image''. They are probably more gratuitous. Their people are a bit unkind. They set out to deliberately make people look terrible, whereas I think our people should look a bit redeemable".
Music
In 1991, a music track called "The Recession Rap" with the rubbery figures was released. The music and lyrics were written by David Atkin, Peter Benson and Troy Hazard, the music was produced by David Atkin and Peter Benson and the characters were sung by Paul Jennings. It reached #60 on the ARIA Chart in August.
On Exhibition
Although no longer being viewed on television, the Figures appeared at several exhibitions in the 1990s. In 1993, they were recast and refurbished to take part in "The Exhibition We Had To Have" at the National Gallery of Victoria as part of the Melbourne Comedy Festival. In 1994, "The Rubbery Years" in conjunction with the National Museum ran for six months at Old Parliament House in Canberra.
Discography
Singles
Awards
ARIA Music Awards
The
ARIA Music Awards
The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...
are a set of annual ceremonies presented by
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing th ...
(ARIA), which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the
music of Australia
The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of ...
. They commenced in 1987.
!
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1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
, , "The Recession Rap" , ,
ARIA Award for Best Comedy Release
The ARIA Music Award for Best Comedy Release, is an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards, which recognises "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", since 1987. It is handed out by the Australian Recording Indu ...
, , , ,
, -
See also
*
List of Australian television series
Future shows
Seven
* ''The 1% Club'' (Seven Network game show 2023–)
* ''Apartment Rules'' (Seven Network reality 2023–)
* '' Animals Aboard with Dr Harry'' (Seven Network reality 2023–)
* ''Armchair Experts'' (Seven Network sports ...
References
External links
Official Site* {{IMDb title, id=0222622, title=Rubbery Figures
1984 Australian television series debuts
1990 Australian television series endings
Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming
Australian comedy television series
Australian satirical television shows
Australian television shows featuring puppetry