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Good News Week was a satirical news-based comedy quiz show on Australian television during the 1990s. Hosted by former Doug Anthony Allstars member Paul McDermott, GNW (as the show was known to all) had a similar format to the British show Have I Got News For You. The show aired first on the ABC, before a move to the Ten Network and the adoption of a more light-entertainment feel.
Format
GNW was a game show in name only. Over a series of rounds, the two competing teams would attempt to score "points" by answering questions about the week's news events. One game, for example, would have the teams attempting to identify a picture from a zoomed-in detail, while another game would feature team members conveying news headlines in charades form. Points were awarded, but the emphasis was on banter and satire as well as interaction with the live studio audience.
McDermott opened each show with a monologue in the style of an American late-night host. These monologues would begin with the line "Welcome to Good News Week, and the big news?" and would then dissect newsworthy events in a humorous manner.
6 panellists appeared on each show, divided into two teams. Teams were captained by former radio comedian Mikey Robbins (frequently referred to as "The Fatman" for his girth) and humorist Julie McRossin and consisted of a combination of comedians, media personalities, politicians and "special guests" (often from overseas). The rivalry between Robbins and McRossin was always played to maximum effect, with each captain objecting vocally to any points McDermott awarded the opposition.
Regular Guests
Adam Spencer
Mathematician, comedian and television personality Adam Spencer was a frequent guest, often teamed with Natasha Stott Despoja and McRossin.
Natasha Stott Despoja
As the then-youngest Australian federal politician, Natasha Stott Despoja was often called on to lend an air of gravitas to the show. Teamed with Spencer, she rarely achieved this aim. Stott Despoja's appearances are often excerpted on Australian television to demonstrate the youth appeal of the Australian Democrats of the day.
Margaret Scott
Tasmanian author Margaret Scott was an audience favourite, frequently appearing on Robbins' team and remaining silent for most of the show. At a key moment, however, she would reveal a depth of knowledge on the subject and leave McDermott comically annoyed that the correct answer had been reached and no more jokes could be made. Robbins often made light of this, at one point commenting that "We could have saved five minutes if we'd just asked Margaret".
Games
Charades
The Charades game featured one team member attempting to convey a convoluted news story in charades form, generally to gales of laughter from the audience. One famous topic involved Dolly the cloned sheep and resulted in a charades version of in vitro fertilisation being performed. While the game nominally adhered to the rules of charades, Irish comedian Ed Byrne famously assisted Julie McRossin's team on one episode by giving verbal clues. Mikey Robbins complained that, "He's talking!" McDermott's response was the line, "Yes, but he's doing it in an Irish accent!"
Who Wants to Sit Down the Front...In A Chair?
Near the end of the show's run, this game was created as a parody of the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire concept. Interestingly, despite her noted abilities, Margaret Scott never participated in this game.
WARREN
Arguably the favourite game of the audience, Warren involved the teams being given three newspaper headlines with the same name in them. The name had been blanked out and replaced with the name Warren and the aim of the game was to guess what name had previously existed. The introduction of this game evolved to have McDermott announce, "And now, it's time for our favourite game..." to which the audience would respond "WARREN!" McDermott would then explain the rationale behind the game, ending with the line "And the name has been replaced with..." eliciting the same response from the audience as before. This opening resulted in one guest commenting that, "We don't want a rabbit warren here", after a particularly raucous welcome for the game.
The humour of the game was also contained in the bizarre choice of headlines, often along the lines of "Warren gives birth to twins" or other impossibilities for someone named Warren. As a result, the suggestions as to who Warren may be were often well off track.
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