Australia You're Standing In It

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Australia You're Standing In It was an Australian sketch comedy series produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, first screened in 1983 with a second series made in 1984.

1 Cast
2 Format
3 Spinoffs
4 See also
5 External link

[edit] Cast

The cast included: Rod Quantock, Steve Blackburn, Mary Kenneally, Geoff Brooks, Sue Ingleton, Evelyn Krape, Peter Browne, Tim Robertson.

[edit] Format

Much like the later and better-known Fast Forward and The Comedy Company, Australia You're Standing In It featured many recurring sketches and characters that parodied well known personalities, pop stars, music videos, television programs and advertisements of the day, or simply sent-up well-known social situations. These included:

two pretentious society matrons (Ingleton and Keneally) and a third (Krape) who could never quite make the grade much to the delight of the other two who mocked her. Catchphrase: "Helloo Daaaahlings!"
the Dodgy Brothers (Blackburn and Brooks), two badly dressed and dim businessmen who appeared in the low-budget and badly-produced television advertisements selling their dodgy products. Partly a parody of the then ubiquitous advertisements for the Saba furniture warehouse, and other cut-rate advertisements of its ilk.
"Brainspace", a new-age segment presented by Tim and Debbie (Keneally and Blackburn), two layabout university students whose convoluted and pretentious talk was a smokescreen for their ignorance. Their main catchphrase was "Amaaazing!"
Most episodes featured mock advertisements for fictional product "Chunky Custard". Most of these were parodies of familiar contemporary advertisements for real products, mimicking current commercials for such products as Big M or Four'N'Twenty pies. Half-way through the second series Chunky Custard was phased out and replaced by "Hot Yak Fat", which came in a can resembling a beer can. Viewers were exhorted to "crack a Fat today".
Many parodies of then-popular songs and music videos were screened, including Mary Keneally as Bonnie Tyler in "Total Eclipse of the Heart" ("Total Eclipse of the Brain").
Bruce Rump (Brooks) a parody of Bruce Ruxton. Bruce Rump would always end his skit by saying "And thats why we should keep the bloody flag the same, now clear out!"
Rod Quantock would appear in each episode in a traditional stand-up comedy type skit in which he would address the audience directly. In one episode he attempted to put Victorian viewers to sleep by hypnotizing them with an Australian Football League football.

[edit] Spinoffs

For a short time Tim and Debbie presented Reel To Real on the ABC, in which the pair presented old B-movies and proceeded to interrupt, deconstruct, and generally mock them.
A long-playing record of most of the Tim and Debbie sketches was released under the title Brainspace, Vol. II.
The Dodgy Brothers, again portrayed by Blackburn and Brooks, were resurrected in the later Fast Forward.