''Newstopia'' (stylised as ''NEWStopiä'') was an Australian half-hour satirical comedy programme hosted by

Shaun Micallef Shaun Patrick Micallef (; born 18 July 1962) is an Australian comedian, actor, writer and television presenter. He is currently the host of the satirical news comedy series ''Shaun Micallef's Mad as Hell'' on the ABC. He also hosted the game sh ...

. The first series premiered at on

SBS TV SBS may refer to: Broadcasting * SBS Broadcasting Group, Belgium, formerly many countries * Talpa TV, formerly SBS Broadcasting B.V., Netherlands ** SBS6, Dutch television channel ** SBS9, Dutch television channel * Special Broadcasting Service ...

on 10 October 2007 and concluded on 3 December 2007. A second season began on 27 February 2008. and concluded on 30 April 2008. A third season of the show screened from 1 October to 3 December 2008.. The show was developed by Micallef, Gary McCaffrie, Michael Ward and Jason Stephens, with McCaffrie and Ward working as writers on the programme. A fourth series in 2009 was planned, but cancelled due to production clashes with ''

Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation ''Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation'' is an Australian game show produced by Granada Productions which premiered on Network Ten on 5 May 2009. It is hosted by Shaun Micallef. History Original run The first series ran on Network Ten for 18 episode ...

. The show's contributors include

Matt Cameron Matthew David Cameron (born November 28, 1962) is an American musician who is the drummer for the rock band Pearl Jam. He first gained fame as the drummer for Seattle-based rock band Soundgarden, which he joined in 1986. He appeared on each of ...

, Doug MacLeod,

Dave O'Neil David O'Neil (born 8 May 1965) is an Australian stand-up comedian, actor, bass guitarist, writer, television and radio presenter with unusually large thumbs. Early career Dave was a Cub, Scout, Venturer and Rover. His late father Kevin was th ...

Tony Moclair Tony Moclair (born 4 September 1969 in Cork, Ireland) is an Australian comedy actor, writer, performer and radio broadcaster. He has worked on various Australian radio networks, often appearing in character rather than as himself. Radio Mocl ...

and

Richard Marsland Richard Kemble Marsland (5 September 1976 – 6 December 2008) was an Australian comedy writer, actor, comedian and radio personality. Career Radio Marsland started his radio career in Adelaide on the SAFM breakfast show with Greg Fleet, ...

Format

The show was presented in the style of a

news bulletin Breaking news, interchangeably termed late-breaking news and also known as a special report or special coverage or news flash, is a current issue that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming or current news in orde ...

, with

acting as

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄγ ...

. It began with a statement by Micallef about history and/or news and its relation to the show. The rest of the program featured segments often detailing factual events, but told from a humorous or satirical angle. Like much of Micallef's earlier work, the humour depicted was mostly

surreal Surreal may refer to: *Anything related to or characteristic of Surrealism, a movement in philosophy and art * "Surreal" (song), a 2000 song by Ayumi Hamasaki * ''Surreal'' (album), an album by Man Raze *Surreal humour, a common aspect of humor ...

, with some social

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

. The program included several fictional advertisements placed throughout the real commercial breaks, dressed up to appear as authentic commercials for SBS programs, for example, ''Inspektor Herring'', a parody of ''

Inspector Rex ''Inspector Rex'' (German: ''Kommissar Rex''; Italian: ''Il commissario Rex'') is an Austrian-Italian police procedural comedy-drama television series created by Peter Hajek and Peter Moser. Originally an Austrian series aired from 1994 to 2004 ...

''. Because the commercials were fictional creations of ''Newstopia'', for the first two seasons, SBS broadcast them with the SBS

watermark A watermark is an identifying image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light (or when viewed by reflected light, atop a dark background), caused by thickness or density variations ...

at the bottom right corner, whereas genuine commercials did not show the watermark. Starting in the third season, the show removed the SBS watermark during the fictional advertisements. The show also featured

subliminal Subliminal may refer to: * Subliminal stimuli, sensory stimuli below an individual's threshold for conscious perception * Subliminal channel, in cryptography, a covert channel that can be used over an insecure channel * Subliminal (rapper) (born ...

parodies of Pope

Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

in which his image was replaced with one of

Nosferatu ''Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror'' (German: ''Nosferatu – Eine Symphonie des Grauens'') is a 1922 silent German Expressionist horror film directed by F. W. Murnau and starring Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a vampire who preys on the wife ...

, long enough to be noticed, but not long enough for the viewer to have a clear idea of what they had just seen.

Cast

Regular cast

* Ben Anderson *

Nicholas Bell Nicholas Bell (born 15 August 1958) is an English actor who has worked in Australia for more than 20 years. He works regularly with the Melbourne Theatre Company as well as with all the major television broadcasters in Australia, most notably th ...

* Julie Eckersley *

Miyuki Watanabe is a former member of multiple Japanese idol girl groups. She is a former member of NMB48's Team BII, and a former member of SKE48's Team S. She was also on AKB48 Team B. Career Watanabe passed NMB48's first-generation auditions on 20 Septem ...

Peter Houghton Peter Houghton (20 August 1938 – 25 November 2007) was the longest surviving artificial heart transplant patient in the UK. Houghton was implanted with a Jarvik 2000 heart pump at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, England, by professor Steph ...

Kat Stewart Katherine Louise Stewart (born 30 November 1972) is an AACTA and Logie Award-winning Australian actress who has made numerous appearances in television series, movies and on-stage. Early life Kat Stewart is the daughter of Tony and Kitty Stewar ...

* Imat Akelo-Opio

Special guests

Ed Kavalee Edward Robert Kavalee (born 30 June 1979) is an Australian comedian, actor, writer, podcaster radio and television presenter. He is a recurring panellist on Network 10's ''Have You Been Paying Attention?'' with Sam Pang and co-hosts ''Hughesy, ...

Roz Hammond Rosalind Hammond, often credited as Ros or Roz, is an Australian actress and writer with an extensive career in theatre, film and television. Career Hammond's television appearances include the role of Claudia in the award-winning drama '' The ...

* Les Murray * Bob Franklin *

Daina Reid Daina Reid (born 1964) is an Australian director and actress who has been acting since the early 1990s. She began directing in 1999. Career She is known for '' Full Frontal'' from 1995 to 1997. Her directing credits include ''Sunshine'' for Aus ...

Lee Lin Chin Lee Lin Chin is an Indonesian-born Australian television, radio presenter and journalist, best known for her association with the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) network and was the weekend presenter of ''SBS World News''. Lee Lin has been ...

Francis Greenslade Francis Greenslade (born 3 October 1962 in Honiara, Solomon Islands) is an Australian comedic actor. He also teaches acting. Early life In the 1980s, Greenslade studied at the University of Adelaide where he first met Shaun Micallef. They per ...

* Barry Jones * Tony Martin *

Anton Enus Anton Albert Enus is a South African-born Australian news presenter. He is currently co-host of ''SBS World News'' on Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). Career Enus presented ''SBS World News Australia'' late edition, which aired on weeknight ...

* Chris Taylor *

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 ABC ...

Internet streaming

Following the conclusion of each episode's initial broadcast, the ''Newstopia'' website featured a web stream of the current week's episode. This was only available for 7 days, and only to Australian residents, after which it was taken down and replaced by the latest broadcast. International visitors were blocked by an IP blocker. A guestbook was also available for commenting on the newest episode.

References

External links

''Newstopia'' SBS TV program Website
(Not accessible everywhere; se
SBS TV official "Program Sites"
for link) * {{IMDb title, id=1099236 Australian comedy television series Special Broadcasting Service original programming 2007 Australian television series debuts 2008 Australian television series endings Australian satirical television shows News parodies Television series by Fremantle (company) Television shows set in Melbourne