''The Hamster Wheel'' is an Australian television
satirical comedy series broadcast on the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
(ABC) television station
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 ...
. It is created and presented by the satirical group
The Chaser
The Chaser are an Australian satirical comedy group, best known for their television programmes and satirical news masthead. The group take their name from their satirical newspaper, a publication known to challenge conventions of taste. Th ...
.
Production
In July 2011,
TV Tonight
TV Tonight is an Australian-based website which features reviews, news and programming information related to television in Australia as well as OzTAM ratings information.
The site was started by television critic David Knox in 2007 after list ...
reported that The Chaser were working on developing a new television show. In August 2011, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation announced the Chaser team would return in a new show titled ''The Hamster Wheel''. The first of eight episodes aired on 5 October 2011.
In November 2011, it was confirmed that The Chaser would return to television in 2012, however, it was not confirmed whether they would return with another season of ''The Hamster Wheel''.
On 31 August 2012, ABC announced ''The Hamster Wheel'' would return for a second series.
On 26 September 2012, the second series premiered on ABC1.
Show format
''The Hamster Wheel'' is set within a large hamster cage, with a small hamster, named after their desk Horace, is hidden in one of the scenes. The locations of Horace are revealed on The Hamster Wheel website shortly after the airing of the episode.
Segments
Primary
*News of the Week (Introduction) - This starts with
Julian Morrow
Julian Francis Xavier Morrow (born 1975) is an Australian comedian and television producer from Sydney. He is best known for being a member of the satirical team The Chaser. As a member of The Chaser, he has appeared on several ABC Television ...
,
Craig Reucassel
Craig Bruce Reucassel is an Australian television and radio comedian. He is best known for being a member of satirical team The Chaser. He hosted the Australian version of ''Balls of Steel'', which premiered in April 2011. Since 2013, Reucassel ...
and
Chris Taylor sitting at their Hamster-shaped desk, talking about stories that made headlines in the past week.
*Inside the Wheel - Usually followed by "News of the Week", a segment presented by
Andrew Hansen
Andrew John Hansen (born 18 September 1974) is an Australian comedian, musician and author, best known for being a member of satirical team The Chaser. As a member of The Chaser, Hansen's television work includes co-writing and starring in A ...
and
Chas Licciardello
Charles John "Chas" Licciardello (born 10 May 1977) is an Australian comedian and member of satirical team The Chaser. He's currently the co-host, with John Barron, of ''Planet America'' on ABC TV. Licciardello has appeared as a regular of '' ...
, on a particular topic on the latest headlines.
*Politics with Cats - A segment in season 1, Hansen describes a political story of the week using a selection of
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
cat videos.
*In the Media - A segment in season 2, Hansen and Licciardello talk about a topic on what's going on in the Australian media.
Recurring
*Standby Obituaries - Julian talks about the death of an Australian political or another famous person for when they die. Julian talks about from when they were born to the present day.
Episodes
Reception and ratings
Initially, the return of The Chaser team to television was welcomed; however, many criticised the lack of
Chaser-esque stunts in ''The Hamster Wheel''. Paul Kalina from the ''
Sydney Morning Herald'' stated ''The Hamster Wheel'' was "one of their best outings yet" and left him asking for more.
David Knox from TV Tonight commented that "by the time show was over I felt a bit exhausted but only having enjoyed a handful of laughs".
Throughout the first series, ''The Hamster Wheel'' retained an average viewing audience of approximately 860,000 viewers, ranking it first for its time slot for all but one of the aired episodes.
The second series debuted to a smaller audience of 784,000, ranking 3rd for the timeslot and 12th for the night.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamster Wheel, The
2011 Australian television series debuts
2010s Australian comedy television series
Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming
The Chaser