summer heights high

Jonah Takalua Takes Over London Underground

12:23PM Clem Bastow | After the initial reviews suggested that the Brits were not that keen on Chris Lilley’s masterful Summer Heights High, it seems The People have spoken, and perhaps our UK cousins do like the mockumentary series after all! Reports are filtering in from Old Blighty that have Jonah Takalua’s trademark tag popping up around London. So reporteth Confidential: Since the hit series has been airing on the BBC, the character’s “di-k-tation” graffiti tag has been spied on a sign in a Tube station on the northern line, while Confidential hears school kids in the Old Dart are repeating the naughty phrases uttered by the unruly teenager. Excellent work, children of the UK! After all, Jonah was the best thing about Summer Heights High and I hold out hopes that Lilley will create an entire series based on the character for his next project (for the love of god, no more Mr G!). All this means it’s only fair to remind you that August 10th, 2008 is National Sorry Ranga Day; as the official Facebook group says: Red-haired people across Australia have been unfavourably compared to orang-utans since Summer Heights High first aired across Australian television screens in 2007. “Ranga’ is now firmly entrenched in the vocabulary of ordinary people all over this country. So join the Australian nation on Sunday August 10th 2008, and let a Ranga know that you are sorry. Join up here; it’s the right thing to do. Defamer Australia says sorry, rangas. More »

Logie-Mad Chris Lilley Desperately Seeks Further Awards-Bait

9:32AM Clem Bastow | Well, not really – but he’s just so bloody nice, humble and well adjusted that I thought I’d have a little fantasy time in the title of this piece. Anyway, after winning two Logies at Sunday’s ceremony, Chris Lilley admitted he’s not ready to retire all of his Summer Heights High characters just yet. And then he probably helped an old lady out of her car, carried an expectant mother’s shopping for her, and donated 96% of his income to a charity that helps save adorable puppies. “I really like the idea of bringing characters back, like I did with (Ja’mie) from the previous series (We Can Be Heroes),” he said. “I’d love to bring them back because it’s really sad when you have to leave them behind.” Asked if he had a favourite, Lilley said he is “fond of them all”. Though it may seem like sacrilege (particularly after the genius of “Toby and The Special Kids” at the Logies), I hope he brings back Jonah and not Mr G. I’d had enough of Ja’mie by the end of We Can Be Heroes, and daresay the same fate would befall a Greg Gregson encore. But I could watch Jonah until kingdom come. Sorry, ranga! More »

What Do Tony Soprano, Brenda Chenoweth And Ja’mie King Have In Common?

12:50PM Clem Bastow | Australian comedy is usually received in one of two ways by our cousins across the pond(s): either wholeheartedly (Dame Edna) or bemusedly before forward-thinking execs decide they can do better (Kath & Kim). Hopefully the former will be the case when Chris Lilley’s masterful Summer Heights High hits HBO as part of the uber-cable channel’s 2008 comedy line-up. Unsurprisingly, the ABC is thrilled to bits with the deal. ABC TV’s head of content creation Courtney Gibson said the broadcaster was over the moon. “Mr G, Ja’mie and Jonah have been welcomed into the home of such immortals as Tony Soprano and Deadwood’s Al Swearengen in the US, and the home of groundbreaking comedy in the UK,” Ms Gibson said. If, however, the latter option (bemused “we’ll originate that joke tomorrow” adoption) turns out to be SHH’s fate, shall we all place bets on who’ll play who in the US adaptation? We’re going with Joey Fatone as Jonah, Hayden Panettiere as Ja’mie, and Steve Carrell as Mr. G. More »

Mr G To Launch Music Career; Hopefully Ja’mie To Follow By Entering ‘Dolly’ Model Contest

12:12PM Clem Bastow | We know more than a few people who actually took to listening to and/or playing Naughty Girl (”Ecstasy! Ecstasy! E, E, E, E, Ecstasy!”), the climactic club number from Mr G’s Summer Heights High magnum opus, back when the series was on the air. One Defamer Australia pal even went so far as to “drop” the track in the middle of an indie rock club’s DJ set. It goes without saying, then, that there will be a lot of very excited people around the country next week, when Mr G releases the track as an official single! The popular creation of satirist Chris Lilley, the drama teacher will break out of his small-screen stardom with the stand-out track from Mr G The Musical. … He plans a full-scale promotional assault to realise his dreams of achieving greater recognition of his talent. “I’m planning to use the song as the school bell for a week once it’s released. The Principal doesn’t know this yet but I’ve booked in with the PA ladies and I’m going to blast it all over the school. This should help sales,” Mr G said. The 36-year-old scene-stealer said he had already received a huge response to the single, including the remixes by Paul Mac, John Paul Talbot and Stylaz Fuego. We’re impressed to see Paul Mac is in on the joke; we thought he was only interested in playing extended prog jams with Silverchair these days, but it seems Mr “We’d like to thank the ecstasy dealers of Sydney” still has a sense of humour in him! The single will be available digitally on March 1st and on CD from the 8th. More »