Aussie TV boasts new comedy genre

An Australian TV executive claims to have created a new way of presenting stand-up on TV.

In the new show Hit and Miss, comics undertake an unusual or difficult activity, then perform a live gig about the experience - all of which is recorded for broadcast.

Filming has just finished on the first eight half-hour shows, which are set to be screened on Australia's Comedy Channel in May.

Rory Callaghan, the director of programmes at makers Granada Media Australia, claims the show is a new TV genre.

He told broadcast industry website C21: "Comedy is always taken so literally. People say 'let's film a stand-up comedy gig for television' or 'let's make a sitcom' but I wanted to make a show shaped by the comedy."

Episodes in the first series included a mullet-haired comic getting a new style and a comedian with a water phobia taking a life-saving class.

Published: 13 Mar 2003