Monday, May 14, 2007

Master of illusion

Thanks to the marvel of DVD technology, the nostalgic can now revisit their favourite TV shows from years gone by. The good people at Shock have released the Aussie sketch comedy series Full Frontal, which ran from 1993-1997. My brother Scott and I watched this show regularly when it aired on Thursday nights on Channel 7. It was pretty uneven at times, as most comedy shows are, but it always provided a bit of light relief, which our household needed a bit of at that time, but that's another story. We certainly weren't going to watch ER, which was on Channel 9 in the same timeslot.



Seasons 1 to 3 have been released so far, and it was in Season 3 (1995) that the series hit its stride. Each season has been broken up into 2 volume, 2 disc sets. I started by buying Season 3, Volume 1, which I bought using a discount voucher I received from Borders. Watching this set helped to bring me back in touch with my less serious side.

The show was usually a mixture of sketches that were TV, movie, and music send ups, character based sketches, and others that parodied famous celebrities, such as illusionist David Copperfield. Here's a sample clip from the show, which unlike some of the other material on this set, still holds up well today, ten years after it was first broadcast. Bring on the release of Series 4.

8 comments:

Ross said...

My friend Arran had this to say in response to this posting:

5 years of full frontal and david cooperfield is the best you could find?

Kitty Cheng said...

you seem to enjoy quite a bit of tv, comedy or movie Ross.

James Garth said...

This is scary stuff... I actually saw David Copperfield's show one night at Flinders Park (before you heap scorn on me - I had free tickets to it... seriously!)

The most spectacular part of the performance was undoubtedly his ego, which magically grew and grew to unbelievable proportions as the night progressed.

Apart from that there was one genuinely spectacular stunt where he - poof - disappeared and reappeared in the centre of the stadium.

It actually got me thinking... if he had an identical twin, most of his tricks would be child's play...

Ross said...

I'm an avid viewer of movies, but don't watch that much TV these days. The good thing about DVD is that you can watch shows that you used to like years ago. Some of these are more entertaining than many current offerings.

Ross said...

James, if David Copperfield's show was as big a monument to his ego as you say, then little wonder comedians decided he needed to be cut down to size. Mick Molloy stuck his boots in on one of the Martin/Molloy albums.

I wonder if Copperfield worked as a consultant on that movie The Prestige, which is about two rival stage magicians in late 19th century London, played by Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale? This movie features a similar disappearing trick, which each magician accomplished by using a double and a cabinet with a secret trap door beneath it.

James Garth said...

Gotta see that movie. It looks good. Dark, but good.

Moses said...

Talk about Full Frontal and ER... don't you think Shaun Micallef is a spitting image of George Clooney?!? :P

Ross said...

Yeah, I guess if you squint there's a passing resemblance.