WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.240 Imagine going to a very expensive, highly predictable 00:00:03.240 --> 00:00:05.780 dinner party. You know, the host is going to 00:00:05.780 --> 00:00:07.719 smile warmly, the guests are going to share polite 00:00:07.719 --> 00:00:10.179 anecdotes, the background music will be pleasant, 00:00:10.759 --> 00:00:13.429 and everyone will go to sleep feeling well. Comfort 00:00:13.429 --> 00:00:15.730 it right like a very safe curated experience 00:00:15.730 --> 00:00:19.489 exactly But tonight you sit down at the meticulously 00:00:19.489 --> 00:00:22.789 set table the lighting is perfect and your host 00:00:22.789 --> 00:00:26.190 simply serves you a plastic fish and Starts tap 00:00:26.190 --> 00:00:29.149 dancing on the mahogany table for literally no 00:00:29.149 --> 00:00:31.649 discernible reason I mean you would immediately 00:00:31.649 --> 00:00:34.929 wonder how on earth this person got the budget 00:00:34.929 --> 00:00:37.909 to host the party in the first place yeah, and 00:00:38.380 --> 00:00:40.460 probably how long it would take before the neighbors 00:00:40.460 --> 00:00:42.200 call the authorities to shut the whole thing 00:00:42.200 --> 00:00:45.460 down. Exactly. And that collision of high budget 00:00:45.460 --> 00:00:48.159 expectations and absolute creative absurdity 00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:50.500 is exactly what we're exploring in today's Deep 00:00:50.500 --> 00:00:52.479 Dive. It really is the perfect analogy for it. 00:00:52.520 --> 00:00:54.820 Right. So if you have ever wondered just how 00:00:54.820 --> 00:00:56.939 far someone can stretch the boundaries of mass 00:00:56.939 --> 00:00:59.100 media before the rubber band violently snaps 00:00:59.100 --> 00:01:02.859 back, this is for you. We are looking at a 2003 00:01:02.859 --> 00:01:05.799 Australian television series called McAuliffe 00:01:05.799 --> 00:01:09.390 Tonight. Ah, yes. a truly bizarre piece of television 00:01:09.390 --> 00:01:11.909 history. It really was. It was a variety show 00:01:11.909 --> 00:01:14.569 airing on the notoriously mainstream Nine Network, 00:01:14.849 --> 00:01:18.030 hosted by comedian Sean McCall. And it ran for 00:01:18.030 --> 00:01:21.150 a grand total of only 13 episodes. Yes, 13. Yeah. 00:01:21.230 --> 00:01:24.150 It premiered on May 12th and was completely dead 00:01:24.150 --> 00:01:26.909 and buried by August 4th. So barely three months. 00:01:27.109 --> 00:01:30.349 Barely three months. Yet despite that fleeting 00:01:30.349 --> 00:01:33.549 lifespan, it left a massive cultural legacy and 00:01:33.549 --> 00:01:36.569 even won an ARA award, which is essentially the 00:01:36.569 --> 00:01:39.049 Australian an equivalent of a Grammy. Which is 00:01:39.049 --> 00:01:41.870 wild for a canceled TV show. Totally wild. OK, 00:01:41.870 --> 00:01:44.849 let's unpack this. How did a show with such a 00:01:44.849 --> 00:01:47.530 fleeting lifespan make such a lasting, award 00:01:47.530 --> 00:01:49.829 -winning dent in the television landscape? Well, 00:01:49.870 --> 00:01:52.250 it begins with how brilliantly the show disguised 00:01:52.250 --> 00:01:54.150 itself to get on the air in the first place. 00:01:54.629 --> 00:01:57.230 McAuliffe Tonight established itself visually 00:01:57.230 --> 00:02:00.510 and structurally as a completely standard, big 00:02:00.510 --> 00:02:02.790 -budget variety show. Like it had all the bells 00:02:02.790 --> 00:02:04.469 and whistles. Oh, absolutely. When you look at 00:02:04.469 --> 00:02:06.719 the mechanics of primetime television, there 00:02:06.719 --> 00:02:09.479 is a very strict formula designed to keep viewers 00:02:09.479 --> 00:02:12.139 comfortable and keep advertisers happy. You know, 00:02:12.219 --> 00:02:14.620 you need a shiny desk, a monologue, celebrity 00:02:14.620 --> 00:02:17.759 interviews, musical performances. And Michael 00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:20.939 Lefkarev built a set that looked entirely indistinguishable 00:02:20.939 --> 00:02:23.659 from any other glossy talk show you might find 00:02:23.659 --> 00:02:27.219 at 9 30 p .m. The disguise was just immaculate. 00:02:27.340 --> 00:02:29.000 I mean, he employed a traditional supporting 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:31.919 cast, right? Featuring Frances Greenslade, Jason 00:02:31.919 --> 00:02:35.319 Geary, and Lavinia Nixon. Plus, he had this classic, 00:02:35.439 --> 00:02:37.819 booming voiceover announcer in Pete Smith. Yeah, 00:02:37.960 --> 00:02:40.319 the legendary Pete Smith. Exactly. If you watched 00:02:40.319 --> 00:02:42.520 the broadcast on mute, you would assume you were 00:02:42.520 --> 00:02:45.219 watching a completely conventional, network -approved 00:02:45.219 --> 00:02:47.840 promotional vehicle. Which was exactly the point. 00:02:48.259 --> 00:02:49.860 And Michael Fett had actually played with this 00:02:49.860 --> 00:02:53.169 format before. parodying variety television in 00:02:53.169 --> 00:02:56.889 his 1998 series, The McCall Program. Oh, right. 00:02:56.990 --> 00:02:59.150 So he had a history of this. He did. But this 00:02:59.150 --> 00:03:01.110 time on the Nine Network, which was a channel 00:03:01.110 --> 00:03:04.009 known for highly commercial, very middle of the 00:03:04.009 --> 00:03:06.560 road programming. the container was built to 00:03:06.560 --> 00:03:09.120 absolute perfection. So it was basically a Trojan 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:11.439 horse. Like, they built this shiny, expensive 00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:14.000 -looking container just to, I don't know, sneak 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:16.120 in and sabotage the format from the inside out. 00:03:16.539 --> 00:03:19.020 That is exactly what they did. Once the audience 00:03:19.020 --> 00:03:21.400 was settled in, you know, anticipating the usual 00:03:21.400 --> 00:03:24.099 late -night rhythms, the show would just introduce 00:03:24.099 --> 00:03:28.379 pure, unfiltered, deadiest comedy. Just total 00:03:28.379 --> 00:03:30.759 nonsense. Right, the kind of anti -logic absurdity 00:03:30.759 --> 00:03:33.020 you expect in an underground art house, not on 00:03:33.020 --> 00:03:35.650 mainstream network television. What's fascinating 00:03:35.650 --> 00:03:39.469 here is how these choices actively mocked the 00:03:39.469 --> 00:03:42.330 hollow, manufactured nature of traditional television. 00:03:42.569 --> 00:03:45.150 The bits were legendary for their aggressive 00:03:45.150 --> 00:03:47.530 literalness. Like, take the segment called Sean 00:03:47.530 --> 00:03:49.789 on his high horse. Oh, I love this one. It's 00:03:49.789 --> 00:03:52.469 so good. So normally, if a late night host gets 00:03:52.469 --> 00:03:54.289 on their high horse, it means they are delivering 00:03:54.289 --> 00:03:57.729 this poignant, slightly preachy monologue about 00:03:57.729 --> 00:04:00.250 pop culture or politics. Right, a very standard 00:04:00.250 --> 00:04:02.789 late night trope. Yeah. And McAuliffe delivered 00:04:02.789 --> 00:04:05.590 the rant, but he did it while literally straddling 00:04:05.590 --> 00:04:07.789 a gymnast's vaulting horse. in the middle of 00:04:07.789 --> 00:04:09.810 the studio. It's just so literal. Think about 00:04:09.810 --> 00:04:12.189 the standard celebrity interview too. It's a 00:04:12.189 --> 00:04:15.689 highly orchestrated PR approved exchange of pleasantries 00:04:15.689 --> 00:04:18.370 designed to sell a book or a movie. Totally. 00:04:18.870 --> 00:04:22.060 The host introduces the guest. with hyperbolic 00:04:22.060 --> 00:04:25.720 praise. The guest feigns humility. They launch 00:04:25.720 --> 00:04:28.920 into a rehearsed anecdote. Exactly. And McColf 00:04:28.920 --> 00:04:31.620 took a sledgehammer to that entire psychological 00:04:31.620 --> 00:04:33.920 contract. Oh, his treatment of the guest was 00:04:33.920 --> 00:04:37.000 entirely bizarre. Like, take the appearance of 00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:39.980 television personality Jamie Dury. McColf gives 00:04:39.980 --> 00:04:43.579 him this master, glowing, incredibly long -winded 00:04:43.579 --> 00:04:45.699 introduction. Just builds up an absurd amount 00:04:45.699 --> 00:04:48.279 of hype. Unbelievable hype. So Dury walks out 00:04:48.279 --> 00:04:50.689 onto the set, waves to the crowd. down in the 00:04:50.689 --> 00:04:53.410 guest chair, and McCall instantly dismisses him. 00:04:53.509 --> 00:04:55.829 He just tells him to leave. Yeah. He essentially 00:04:55.829 --> 00:04:57.930 says that the introduction was so thorough there 00:04:57.930 --> 00:05:00.250 was absolutely nothing left to discuss. Which 00:05:00.250 --> 00:05:02.689 is brilliant, because it perfectly highlights 00:05:02.689 --> 00:05:04.889 the inherent emptiness of the talk show format. 00:05:05.449 --> 00:05:07.410 I mean, the intro is often the only substantive 00:05:07.410 --> 00:05:09.449 part of a late night segment anyway. Right, the 00:05:09.449 --> 00:05:11.490 rest is just fluff. Yeah, the actual conversation 00:05:11.490 --> 00:05:14.000 is usually just filler. So, McColl logically 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:16.060 concluded the segment right there, denying the 00:05:16.060 --> 00:05:17.779 audience the familiar rhythm of the interview 00:05:17.779 --> 00:05:20.220 and completely denying the guests their promotional 00:05:20.220 --> 00:05:23.000 airtime. And then, in another episode, he brings 00:05:23.000 --> 00:05:25.970 out the actress Allison White. The interview 00:05:25.970 --> 00:05:28.269 proceeds like a standard, completely mundane 00:05:28.269 --> 00:05:31.029 chat, except McCall requests that she hold an 00:05:31.029 --> 00:05:33.189 inflatable fish while he dances on his desk. 00:05:33.189 --> 00:05:36.250 Naturally. With absolutely zero context, he just 00:05:36.250 --> 00:05:38.810 dances. And the conclusion of every episode featured 00:05:38.810 --> 00:05:41.829 a similarly jarring disconnect. Oh, the sign 00:05:41.829 --> 00:05:44.209 -off. Yeah, he would deliver this bizarre sign 00:05:44.209 --> 00:05:47.509 -off. See you in the monkey house, Australia. 00:05:47.730 --> 00:05:50.569 Which makes no sense. None. And this was immediately 00:05:50.569 --> 00:05:52.970 followed by supporting cast member Francis Greenslade 00:05:52.970 --> 00:05:55.519 performing musical closers that just they defied 00:05:55.519 --> 00:05:57.699 all audience expectations. Right, like the Billy 00:05:57.699 --> 00:06:00.459 Joel bit. Yes. Greenslave would come out to play 00:06:00.459 --> 00:06:03.040 Billy Joel's Piano Man, a song globally famous 00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:05.779 for its iconic piano melody, and he would play 00:06:05.779 --> 00:06:08.759 the entire thing on an acoustic guitar. Providing 00:06:08.759 --> 00:06:12.079 an acoustic guitar for Piano Man is just a tiny, 00:06:12.360 --> 00:06:14.740 hilarious betrayal of the viewer's brain. It 00:06:14.740 --> 00:06:17.439 really is. You hear the title, your brain immediately 00:06:17.439 --> 00:06:20.040 anticipates the piano keys, and the show actively 00:06:20.040 --> 00:06:22.459 refuses to give you that sensory payoff. It is 00:06:22.459 --> 00:06:26.060 the ultimate Trojan horse. He invited this massive 00:06:26.060 --> 00:06:28.139 mainstream audience into their living rooms with 00:06:28.139 --> 00:06:30.699 the comforting promise of a talk show and then 00:06:30.699 --> 00:06:32.920 smuggled in this confusing, boundary -pushing 00:06:32.920 --> 00:06:40.939 performance art. the celebrity guests are willing 00:06:40.939 --> 00:06:42.920 to play along. Or at least if they're caught 00:06:42.920 --> 00:06:46.339 so off guard that their authentic confused reactions 00:06:46.339 --> 00:06:49.480 become the actual entertainment. Exactly. Because 00:06:49.480 --> 00:06:52.540 moving from mocking the structural format to 00:06:52.540 --> 00:06:55.339 actively involving the guests requires a totally 00:06:55.339 --> 00:06:57.819 different level of audacity. Oh, for sure. If 00:06:57.819 --> 00:07:00.240 you want to dismantle the artificiality of television, 00:07:00.620 --> 00:07:02.800 You have to target the most artificial element 00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:05.339 of all, which is the live promotional performance. 00:07:05.459 --> 00:07:08.100 A lip syncing. Right. The music industry in the 00:07:08.100 --> 00:07:11.120 early 2000s heavily relied on artists lip syncing 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:14.300 their television appearances to ensure a pristine 00:07:14.300 --> 00:07:16.920 album quality sound. They didn't want to risk 00:07:16.920 --> 00:07:19.379 embarrassing the artist or the network. And McCaff 00:07:19.379 --> 00:07:21.980 went on an absolute crusade against this practice. 00:07:22.120 --> 00:07:24.439 He didn't just casually ask his musical guests 00:07:24.439 --> 00:07:26.899 to sing live. He demanded they prove it to the 00:07:26.899 --> 00:07:29.879 audience in real time. The word insertions. Yes. 00:07:30.089 --> 00:07:33.790 He forced them to insert completely random, absurd 00:07:33.790 --> 00:07:36.310 words right into the middle of their hit songs. 00:07:36.949 --> 00:07:39.629 The singer David Campbell had to seamlessly weave 00:07:39.629 --> 00:07:43.089 the word lambington, which is a classic Australian 00:07:43.089 --> 00:07:45.930 sponge cake, into his emotional performance. 00:07:46.290 --> 00:07:49.810 And pop singer Emil had to somehow passionately 00:07:49.810 --> 00:07:52.689 deliver the word dolphinarium without breaking 00:07:52.689 --> 00:07:56.269 character. It's so funny. It serves as an incredibly 00:07:56.269 --> 00:08:00.180 effective, unavoidable, real -time audit. a live 00:08:00.180 --> 00:08:03.079 performance. It strips away the protective layer 00:08:03.079 --> 00:08:05.639 of the PR machine. Yeah. You cannot hide behind 00:08:05.639 --> 00:08:07.660 a pre -recorded backing track if you suddenly 00:08:07.660 --> 00:08:09.800 have to sing about marine parks in the chorus. 00:08:10.139 --> 00:08:12.720 Exactly. But he didn't stop at verbal tests either. 00:08:12.980 --> 00:08:15.759 He escalated to physical pranks. Right. The Delta 00:08:15.759 --> 00:08:18.180 Goodrum incident. Yeah. During a performance 00:08:18.180 --> 00:08:20.360 by musical guest Delta Goodrum, who was seated 00:08:20.360 --> 00:08:23.819 at a piano, they literally stole her shoes. While 00:08:23.819 --> 00:08:25.560 she was playing. While she was playing. She was 00:08:25.560 --> 00:08:27.519 completely trapped to the instrument or her footwear 00:08:27.519 --> 00:08:29.550 was just hijacked. And then there were the meta 00:08:29.550 --> 00:08:32.149 -television pranks. Hollywood actress Melissa 00:08:32.149 --> 00:08:34.389 George was booked for an interview, appearing 00:08:34.389 --> 00:08:37.269 live via satellite from the United States. And 00:08:37.269 --> 00:08:39.990 satellite time is a notoriously stressful and 00:08:39.990 --> 00:08:42.429 expensive commodity in television production. 00:08:43.370 --> 00:08:46.169 Producers panic over a single second of dead 00:08:46.169 --> 00:08:49.289 air because every moment costs money. Because 00:08:49.289 --> 00:08:51.549 television is built on constant momentum. Right. 00:08:51.870 --> 00:08:54.009 Well, McCall completely ignores that momentum. 00:08:54.350 --> 00:08:58.149 He leaves Melissa George on hold, live on screen. 00:08:58.320 --> 00:09:01.379 for over five minutes. It's excruciating to watch. 00:09:01.519 --> 00:09:03.620 She is just sitting there staring into the camera 00:09:03.620 --> 00:09:05.460 monitor, waiting for the host to speak to her 00:09:05.460 --> 00:09:08.360 while the seconds literally just tick by in complete 00:09:08.360 --> 00:09:10.620 silence. Yeah. But wait, I have to jump in here. 00:09:10.740 --> 00:09:12.820 At what point does this stop being a clever critique 00:09:12.820 --> 00:09:15.419 of the artificial TV industry and start just 00:09:15.419 --> 00:09:17.559 being incredibly antagonistic? I mean, leaving 00:09:17.559 --> 00:09:19.779 an actress staring at a dead monitor for five 00:09:19.779 --> 00:09:22.620 minutes on live TV isn't really a profound statement 00:09:22.620 --> 00:09:25.000 on media. It's just bullying a guest who showed 00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:27.740 up to do her job. Well, it absolutely feels like 00:09:27.740 --> 00:09:29.879 bullying. if you look at it in isolation. It 00:09:29.879 --> 00:09:34.500 creates genuine, palpable discomfort. But the 00:09:34.500 --> 00:09:36.860 rationale behind the stunt is what elevates it 00:09:36.860 --> 00:09:40.159 to a piece of targeted systemic critique rather 00:09:40.159 --> 00:09:43.139 than just random cruelty. OK, what was the rationale? 00:09:43.799 --> 00:09:46.200 So Melissa George had just guest starred on a 00:09:46.200 --> 00:09:48.419 supersized episode of the American sitcom Friends. 00:09:48.620 --> 00:09:51.240 Oh, OK. And that specific episode of Friends 00:09:51.240 --> 00:09:53.919 had aired on the Nine Network immediately before 00:09:53.919 --> 00:09:56.789 McCall left tonight. Because it was an extended 00:09:56.789 --> 00:09:59.549 episode, it had pushed the network schedule back. 00:09:59.740 --> 00:10:02.220 effectively delaying the start of McCall's own 00:10:02.220 --> 00:10:05.700 broadcast by several minutes. Oh, wow. So as 00:10:05.700 --> 00:10:08.240 retaliation against the network scheduling executives 00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:10.919 and her pangential role in that delay, he delayed 00:10:10.919 --> 00:10:13.120 her interview by the exact same amount of time. 00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:15.240 Exactly. He was punishing the network schedule 00:10:15.240 --> 00:10:18.299 by halting his own show. Right. It forces the 00:10:18.299 --> 00:10:20.899 viewer to confront the rigid mechanics of television 00:10:20.899 --> 00:10:23.240 scheduling. For a mainstream audience looking 00:10:23.240 --> 00:10:25.899 to relax before bed, that five minutes of dead 00:10:25.899 --> 00:10:28.299 air just feels like a technical mistake or sheer 00:10:28.299 --> 00:10:30.870 arrogance. They'd just be confused. But for a 00:10:30.870 --> 00:10:33.909 viewer who understands the context, it completely 00:10:33.909 --> 00:10:37.070 punctures the manicured ego of the network. It 00:10:37.070 --> 00:10:39.590 takes the invisible inconveniences of television 00:10:39.590 --> 00:10:41.970 production and forces them into the spotlight. 00:10:42.279 --> 00:10:45.200 The guest lists themselves reflected this refusal 00:10:45.200 --> 00:10:47.220 to play by the rules of celebrity hierarchy, 00:10:47.539 --> 00:10:49.919 too. Like, in the very first episode, and again 00:10:49.919 --> 00:10:52.700 in episode four, you had massive, legitimate 00:10:52.700 --> 00:10:56.019 stars. Barry Humphreys was there. Jose Feliciano 00:10:56.019 --> 00:10:59.259 was there. Huge names. Yeah. And sitting right 00:10:59.259 --> 00:11:01.720 alongside them on the official billing, treated 00:11:01.720 --> 00:11:04.720 with the exact same level of reverence, was a 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:08.139 $10 .90 chicken parmigiana. A literal pub meal. 00:11:08.269 --> 00:11:10.370 It was officially billed as a guest. Treating 00:11:10.370 --> 00:11:13.029 a chicken parma with the same gravitas as a music 00:11:13.029 --> 00:11:15.710 legend completely flattens the concept of celebrity 00:11:15.710 --> 00:11:17.509 worship. Yeah, it really does. But, you know, 00:11:17.730 --> 00:11:19.429 constantly mocking the medium, confusing the 00:11:19.429 --> 00:11:21.409 guest, and actively sabotaging the broadcast 00:11:21.409 --> 00:11:23.090 schedule comes with a price. Oh, the big time. 00:11:23.429 --> 00:11:26.370 Eventually, a highly commercial network is going 00:11:26.370 --> 00:11:29.110 to prioritize its advertisers and its mass audience 00:11:29.110 --> 00:11:33.009 over avant -garde comedy. Yeah. The doomed trajectory 00:11:33.009 --> 00:11:35.450 of the show is almost as fascinating as the comedy 00:11:35.450 --> 00:11:38.250 itself. You cannot bite the hand that feeds you 00:11:38.250 --> 00:11:40.389 on prime time television and expect them to keep 00:11:40.389 --> 00:11:42.909 buying the dog food. No, you really can't. The 00:11:42.909 --> 00:11:45.610 show premiered strong on May 12th, likely coasting 00:11:45.610 --> 00:11:48.250 on Michel F's existing popularity and the network's 00:11:48.250 --> 00:11:51.070 heavy promotional push. But the ratings quickly 00:11:51.070 --> 00:11:53.950 began to slide. The Trojan horse had opened, 00:11:54.409 --> 00:11:56.769 the daddyism was out, and the mainstream audience 00:11:56.769 --> 00:11:58.970 simply did not want a plastic fish served to 00:11:58.970 --> 00:12:02.200 them at nine thirty p .m. The competitive landscape 00:12:02.200 --> 00:12:04.600 of Australian television at the time made this 00:12:04.600 --> 00:12:07.879 decline even more glaring, too. Great. McAuliffe 00:12:07.879 --> 00:12:09.940 Tonight was steadily bleeding its audience to 00:12:09.940 --> 00:12:12.879 a rival program on a different network, an interview 00:12:12.879 --> 00:12:15.500 series called Enough Rope, hosted by the highly 00:12:15.500 --> 00:12:18.720 respected broadcaster Andrew Denton. Ah. Enough 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:21.340 Rope offered intimate, deeply researched, conventional 00:12:21.340 --> 00:12:24.779 interviews. It provided exactly the kind of satisfying 00:12:24.779 --> 00:12:27.080 payoff that McAuliffe was actively withholding 00:12:27.080 --> 00:12:29.799 from his viewers. So normally, a network host 00:12:29.799 --> 00:12:32.039 losing in the ratings would try to counter -program. 00:12:32.500 --> 00:12:35.320 They might book bigger celebrities, or dial back 00:12:35.320 --> 00:12:38.100 the weirdness to win back the audience. But here's 00:12:38.100 --> 00:12:40.679 where it gets really interesting. Mike Olveth 00:12:40.679 --> 00:12:43.240 leaned directly into his own defeat. Oh, the 00:12:43.240 --> 00:12:46.460 Danny Minogue incident. Yes. During a live musical 00:12:46.460 --> 00:12:48.980 performance by pop star Danny Minogue on his 00:12:48.980 --> 00:12:51.519 own stage, McCall's had the control room cut 00:12:51.519 --> 00:12:54.940 to a camera showing his own face. And he wasn't 00:12:54.940 --> 00:12:57.379 watching Danny Minogue perform. No, he wasn't. 00:12:57.480 --> 00:13:00.220 He was watching Andrew Denton's show on a monitor, 00:13:00.919 --> 00:13:03.399 actively tuning into the rival program that was 00:13:03.399 --> 00:13:05.620 destroying him in the ratings. If we connect 00:13:05.620 --> 00:13:08.000 this to the bigger picture... It becomes clear 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:10.139 that McCall wasn't just accepting cancellation. 00:13:10.600 --> 00:13:13.399 He was actively accelerating it as part of the 00:13:13.399 --> 00:13:15.360 performance. It's like you wanted to crash the 00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:18.159 car. Exactly. The internal culture of the show 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:20.600 seemed to understand that their days were severely 00:13:20.600 --> 00:13:23.360 numbered on a network like Nine. There was this 00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:26.360 palpable sense of impending doom, and they began 00:13:26.360 --> 00:13:28.779 vocalizing it directly to the audience. They 00:13:28.779 --> 00:13:30.980 practically invited the cancellation. I mean, 00:13:31.080 --> 00:13:33.820 during a live cross to promote an upcoming movie, 00:13:34.200 --> 00:13:37.690 the comedian Mick Malloy, who, uh, a peeve visibly 00:13:37.690 --> 00:13:40.389 intoxicated during the broadcast, flat -out warned 00:13:40.389 --> 00:13:43.149 McCull to watch his arse when he realized the 00:13:43.149 --> 00:13:45.389 show was airing on the Nine Network. Yeah, Mick 00:13:45.389 --> 00:13:48.190 Malloy had his own history of spectacular television 00:13:48.190 --> 00:13:50.929 cancellations. He knew exactly how unforgiving 00:13:50.929 --> 00:13:53.570 that corporate environment could be. Right. And 00:13:53.570 --> 00:13:56.450 that warning leads us to the incredibly eerie 00:13:56.450 --> 00:13:59.850 coincidence of episode 12. Oh, man. Episode 12 00:13:59.850 --> 00:14:02.669 features a piece of television history that sounds 00:14:02.669 --> 00:14:06.159 entirely fabricated but is completely true. It 00:14:06.159 --> 00:14:09.019 is. The broadcast included a pre -taped segment 00:14:09.019 --> 00:14:11.820 featuring a specific actor, a little person, 00:14:12.139 --> 00:14:14.639 who was hired to go around hassling random patrons 00:14:14.639 --> 00:14:17.659 in a restaurant for comedic effect. Okay. Later 00:14:17.659 --> 00:14:19.659 in that same episode, the comedian Tony Martin 00:14:19.659 --> 00:14:21.840 was sitting in the guest chair. He had watched 00:14:21.840 --> 00:14:24.500 the restaurant segment, and he pointed out, live 00:14:24.500 --> 00:14:26.799 on air, that the very last show he had worked 00:14:26.799 --> 00:14:29.620 on which featured that exact same actor was the 00:14:29.620 --> 00:14:32.679 McMilloy Show. Oh, wow. And immediately after 00:14:32.679 --> 00:14:34.519 that actor appeared on the McMilloy show, the 00:14:34.519 --> 00:14:37.480 network axed it. So Tony Martin essentially calls 00:14:37.480 --> 00:14:40.919 out a cancellation curse live on television. 00:14:41.019 --> 00:14:43.960 He points out the omen. And sure enough, the 00:14:43.960 --> 00:14:47.059 television gods demand their sacrifice. The very 00:14:47.059 --> 00:14:50.000 next week, McCall of tonight is officially canceled. 00:14:50.259 --> 00:14:52.639 The curse of the restaurant hassling actor strikes 00:14:52.639 --> 00:14:55.600 perfectly on schedule. It really did. But, you 00:14:55.600 --> 00:14:57.940 know, while declining viewership and spoken curses 00:14:57.940 --> 00:15:01.190 make for fantastic entertainment lore, The reality 00:15:01.190 --> 00:15:03.789 of network television is heavily dictated by 00:15:03.789 --> 00:15:06.129 corporate politics. Yeah, that's the real reason. 00:15:06.409 --> 00:15:09.070 Right. The ratings were the official public excuse 00:15:09.070 --> 00:15:11.929 for the show's demise. But there was a specific, 00:15:12.169 --> 00:15:14.710 deeply personal clash with the network's hierarchy 00:15:14.710 --> 00:15:17.289 that guaranteed the axe would fall. Because you 00:15:17.289 --> 00:15:19.110 can mess with the format and you can mess with 00:15:19.110 --> 00:15:21.090 the guests, but you do not mess with the billionaire 00:15:21.090 --> 00:15:23.549 owner's friends. Never. The Nine Network was 00:15:23.549 --> 00:15:26.289 owned by Cary Packer, a notoriously powerful, 00:15:26.549 --> 00:15:29.870 intimidating media baron in Australia. McCall 00:15:29.870 --> 00:15:32.110 tonight decided to do a parody segment targeting 00:15:32.110 --> 00:15:34.970 a very prominent, highly influential morning 00:15:34.970 --> 00:15:37.389 radio and television broadcaster named Alan Jones. 00:15:37.889 --> 00:15:40.129 Right, who did segments on the Network's Today 00:15:40.129 --> 00:15:43.509 Show. Now, we're not taking sides on any political 00:15:43.509 --> 00:15:46.090 commentary here. We are strictly just reporting 00:15:46.090 --> 00:15:48.309 on the source material and what the show broadcasted. 00:15:48.490 --> 00:15:50.409 Right, exactly. We're just looking at the mechanics 00:15:50.409 --> 00:15:53.730 of the prank. Exactly. Because cross -promotion 00:15:53.730 --> 00:15:57.149 and brand synergy are the lifeblood of a television 00:15:57.149 --> 00:16:00.379 network. You do not use a late night show to 00:16:00.379 --> 00:16:03.019 openly mock the morning show host on the exact 00:16:03.019 --> 00:16:05.559 same channel. No, you don't. But Mike Ulf didn't 00:16:05.559 --> 00:16:08.200 just mock him, he turned him into a surreal nightmare. 00:16:08.299 --> 00:16:10.899 He really did. They put a video of Alan Jones 00:16:10.899 --> 00:16:12.879 delivering his morning message on the screen. 00:16:13.519 --> 00:16:16.200 Then, through editing, that video multiplies 00:16:16.200 --> 00:16:19.840 into two screens. Then four. then eight, then 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:22.700 16. It just keeps doubling. It keeps multiplying 00:16:22.700 --> 00:16:25.559 exponentially until the entire television screen 00:16:25.559 --> 00:16:28.559 is filled with dozens of tiny Alan Jones heads 00:16:28.559 --> 00:16:31.279 all speaking at once. The audio becomes completely 00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:33.720 incomprehensible, just a deafening wall of noise. 00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:36.779 And then, at the exact same time, all the heads 00:16:36.779 --> 00:16:39.220 stop talking, look at the camera, and say, in 00:16:39.220 --> 00:16:42.620 perfect unison, I'm Alan Jones. Which, from a 00:16:42.620 --> 00:16:45.980 comedic standpoint, is a brilliant visual escalation 00:16:45.980 --> 00:16:49.269 of absurdity. It highlights the inescapable, 00:16:49.629 --> 00:16:52.610 overwhelming nature of media pundits. But from 00:16:52.610 --> 00:16:55.929 a corporate standpoint, it was a fatal miscalculation. 00:16:55.970 --> 00:16:58.169 Oops. Yeah, Cary Packer was not just the owner 00:16:58.169 --> 00:17:00.269 of the network, he was a close personal friend 00:17:00.269 --> 00:17:02.909 of Alan Jones. Yeah, when the billionaire owner 00:17:02.909 --> 00:17:05.329 sees his close personal friend turned into a 00:17:05.329 --> 00:17:07.930 multiplying, incomprehensible art installation 00:17:07.930 --> 00:17:11.309 on his own dime, the leniency completely disappears. 00:17:11.450 --> 00:17:13.930 It's gone. Packer allegedly ordered the show 00:17:13.930 --> 00:17:16.609 to be axed directly after the less than stellar 00:17:16.609 --> 00:17:19.210 ratings came in for that episode. He finally 00:17:19.210 --> 00:17:21.849 had the statistical ammunition he needed to kill 00:17:21.849 --> 00:17:24.549 the program. And McAuliffe, knowing the execution 00:17:24.549 --> 00:17:28.029 was scheduled for episode 13, decided to absolutely 00:17:28.029 --> 00:17:30.190 burn the television studio to the ground on his 00:17:30.190 --> 00:17:33.069 way out. The sheer chaos of that final broadcast 00:17:33.069 --> 00:17:35.630 is a testament to the show's unwavering commitment 00:17:35.630 --> 00:17:38.230 to its own destruction. If you know you are being 00:17:38.230 --> 00:17:40.549 fired, you no longer have to worry about the 00:17:40.549 --> 00:17:43.009 network sensors. Not at all. McCall aired an 00:17:43.009 --> 00:17:45.690 interview with the massive global pop star Ricky 00:17:45.690 --> 00:17:48.890 Martin. And during this broadcast, both McCall 00:17:48.890 --> 00:17:51.950 and Ricky Martin openly used an expletive on 00:17:51.950 --> 00:17:54.650 television. Which is a huge deal. Broadcasting 00:17:54.650 --> 00:17:57.410 a swear word on primetime network television 00:17:57.410 --> 00:18:00.109 results in massive fines and a huge headache 00:18:00.109 --> 00:18:02.029 for the Broadcasting Standards Department. But 00:18:02.029 --> 00:18:04.089 McCall doesn't even wait for the angry executives 00:18:04.089 --> 00:18:06.950 to call down to the studio. While he is live 00:18:06.950 --> 00:18:09.670 on air hosting a show, he picks up a telephone 00:18:09.670 --> 00:18:12.650 on his desk and calls the nine network switchboard 00:18:12.650 --> 00:18:15.289 to officially lodge a viewer complaint about 00:18:15.289 --> 00:18:17.509 the foul language being used on his own program. 00:18:17.849 --> 00:18:20.390 It's amazing. It's the ultimate arrow barrows 00:18:20.390 --> 00:18:24.329 of television critique. He is playing the subversive, 00:18:24.470 --> 00:18:27.710 rule breaking host and the outraged pearl clutching 00:18:27.710 --> 00:18:30.690 viewer simultaneously. He is generating the controversy 00:18:30.690 --> 00:18:33.089 and then mocking the public's reaction to the 00:18:33.089 --> 00:18:36.069 controversy in real time. And what adds a final 00:18:36.069 --> 00:18:38.589 layer of brilliance to the stunt is the nature 00:18:38.589 --> 00:18:40.609 of the Ricky Martin interview itself. Right, 00:18:40.750 --> 00:18:42.569 because the interview wasn't even live. It had 00:18:42.569 --> 00:18:44.829 been pre -recorded the previous week to fit Ricky 00:18:44.829 --> 00:18:47.490 Martin's touring schedule. The comedian Dave 00:18:47.490 --> 00:18:49.609 O 'Neill, who was sitting on the panel during 00:18:49.609 --> 00:18:52.650 that final episode, actively alluded to the fact 00:18:52.650 --> 00:18:55.630 that the stunt was entirely pre -recorded. They 00:18:55.630 --> 00:18:58.170 were deconstructing the illusion of live television 00:18:58.170 --> 00:19:01.329 right up until the final seconds of their network 00:19:01.329 --> 00:19:03.750 tenure. And those final seconds deliver one of 00:19:03.750 --> 00:19:06.390 the most phenomenal punchlines in television 00:19:06.390 --> 00:19:09.150 history. He denies the audience the traditional 00:19:09.150 --> 00:19:11.829 musical finale, he denies the musical guests 00:19:11.829 --> 00:19:14.569 their hard -won promotional spot, and he turns 00:19:14.569 --> 00:19:17.569 the network's cancellation into the setup for 00:19:17.569 --> 00:19:20.000 a joke. So, McAuliffe is wrapping up the finale. 00:19:20.359 --> 00:19:22.799 He looks at the camera and casually announces 00:19:22.799 --> 00:19:25.319 the musical guest for next week's show, a show 00:19:25.319 --> 00:19:27.259 that everyone in the room knows does not exist 00:19:27.259 --> 00:19:29.779 because they've just been fired. Right. He announces 00:19:29.779 --> 00:19:31.920 the rock band the Dandy Warholes. The camera 00:19:31.920 --> 00:19:34.579 cuts over to the performance stage. The band 00:19:34.579 --> 00:19:36.619 is standing there, instruments strapped on, fully 00:19:36.619 --> 00:19:38.640 ready to perform their hit single to a national 00:19:38.640 --> 00:19:41.180 audience. Ready to go. Ready to go. And McAuliffe 00:19:41.180 --> 00:19:43.119 just looks at them and flatly informs them that 00:19:43.119 --> 00:19:46.970 they are a week early. The broadcast ends. The 00:19:46.970 --> 00:19:50.009 Trojan horse is dismantled. It's beautiful. It 00:19:50.009 --> 00:19:53.130 really is. But the aftermath of this uncompromising 00:19:53.130 --> 00:19:55.750 run is exactly what you would expect from a piece 00:19:55.750 --> 00:19:58.750 of media that refuses to bend. It became an international 00:19:58.750 --> 00:20:01.390 cult favorite. The audience that did get the 00:20:01.390 --> 00:20:04.289 joke clung to it. They loved it. I mean, in 2007, 00:20:04.289 --> 00:20:06.809 they released a DVD compilation with the incredible 00:20:06.809 --> 00:20:10.450 title, The Expurgated Mykov Tonight, the very 00:20:10.450 --> 00:20:12.990 best of Sean McAuliffe's short -lived but brilliant 00:20:12.990 --> 00:20:16.349 Tonight Show. Kissy. Right. And in 2008, That 00:20:16.349 --> 00:20:20.710 exact DVD won an A .R .I .A. Award for Best Comedy 00:20:20.710 --> 00:20:23.309 Release. It was officially recognized by the 00:20:23.309 --> 00:20:26.009 industry as a triumph. It was later preserved 00:20:26.009 --> 00:20:30.430 in a massive 10 -disc box set in 2011. So what 00:20:30.430 --> 00:20:32.410 does this all mean? I mean, did the show's ultimate 00:20:32.410 --> 00:20:35.529 cancellation actually cement its legacy? If the 00:20:35.529 --> 00:20:37.750 Nine Network had somehow tolerated the weirdness 00:20:37.750 --> 00:20:39.829 and forced McAuliffe to water it down so it could 00:20:39.829 --> 00:20:42.589 run for five standard, highly profitable seasons, 00:20:43.319 --> 00:20:45.599 Would we even be talking about it today? This 00:20:45.599 --> 00:20:47.420 raises an important question about the tension 00:20:47.420 --> 00:20:49.940 between art and commerce. To be clear, the network 00:20:49.940 --> 00:20:51.880 was completely justified in canceling him. Oh, 00:20:51.880 --> 00:20:54.160 absolutely. You cannot run a commercial enterprise 00:20:54.160 --> 00:20:56.720 when your host is actively mocking your schedule, 00:20:57.319 --> 00:20:59.140 alienating your billionaire owner and driving 00:20:59.140 --> 00:21:01.059 viewers to the competition. Bad for business. 00:21:01.339 --> 00:21:05.079 Very bad for business. But the brevity of Michael 00:21:05.079 --> 00:21:08.960 of tonight is exactly what makes it potent. By 00:21:08.960 --> 00:21:11.819 aggressively refusing to compromise its absurdity. 00:21:11.980 --> 00:21:14.880 You know, by stealing the shoes, punishing the 00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:16.559 guests, and turning the cameras on its own low 00:21:16.559 --> 00:21:19.000 ratings, it guaranteed its physical death on 00:21:19.000 --> 00:21:21.920 the network. Right. But that exact same refusal 00:21:21.920 --> 00:21:25.079 to compromise is what secured its immortal status. 00:21:25.099 --> 00:21:27.240 Right. It never had the chance to become stale. 00:21:27.400 --> 00:21:30.220 It exists purely as a 13 -episode lightning strike. 00:21:30.380 --> 00:21:33.299 A perfectly preserved fossil of primetime rebellion. 00:21:34.099 --> 00:21:36.289 To quickly recap our journey today. We looked 00:21:36.289 --> 00:21:39.230 at how a show disguised itself as a safe, glossy 00:21:39.230 --> 00:21:41.750 late -night staple to sneak onto a highly commercial 00:21:41.750 --> 00:21:44.630 network. And once inside, it unleashed a barrage 00:21:44.630 --> 00:21:47.089 of anti -lip -syncing audits, weaponized satellite 00:21:47.089 --> 00:21:49.849 delays, and pure absurdity that bewildered a 00:21:49.849 --> 00:21:52.750 mass audience. It boldly mocked its own declining 00:21:52.750 --> 00:21:55.549 ratings, accidentally proved a cancellation curse, 00:21:56.049 --> 00:21:58.329 and crossed the ultimate corporate line by turning 00:21:58.329 --> 00:22:01.509 a billionaire's best friend into an incomprehensible 00:22:01.509 --> 00:22:03.910 video loop. Which is still hard to believe happened. 00:22:04.150 --> 00:22:07.069 Right. Finally, a gleefully self -destructed 00:22:07.069 --> 00:22:09.670 live on air calling the network switchboard on 00:22:09.670 --> 00:22:12.309 itself before disappearing to win a major comedy 00:22:12.309 --> 00:22:15.190 award years later. For anyone studying how media 00:22:15.190 --> 00:22:18.759 functions, the value here is profound. Analyzing 00:22:18.759 --> 00:22:21.259 media that fails commercially often teaches us 00:22:21.259 --> 00:22:23.140 significantly more about the rigid boundaries 00:22:23.140 --> 00:22:26.079 of the systems we consume than the media that 00:22:26.079 --> 00:22:28.200 effortlessly succeeds. Yeah, that makes sense. 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:30.359 McCull tonight mapped the exact perimeter of 00:22:30.359 --> 00:22:32.660 mainstream television simply by driving a high 00:22:32.660 --> 00:22:35.000 -speed vehicle directly into the walls to see 00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:37.000 what would break first. Which leaves you with 00:22:37.000 --> 00:22:39.539 the final thought to mull over long after this 00:22:39.539 --> 00:22:43.519 deep dive ends. If a piece of art is truly subversive, 00:22:43.619 --> 00:22:45.700 brilliant, and entirely unwilling to compromise 00:22:45.700 --> 00:22:48.359 its vision, does it inherently possess a self 00:22:48.359 --> 00:22:50.380 -destruct sequence the moment it is placed on 00:22:50.380 --> 00:22:53.119 a massive mainstream platform? The next time 00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:55.220 you are watching a highly predictable television 00:22:55.220 --> 00:22:57.339 format and you suddenly see a show doing something 00:22:57.339 --> 00:22:59.480 truly weird and groundbreaking on a major network, 00:23:00.140 --> 00:23:02.339 ask yourself, are you watching the birth of a 00:23:02.339 --> 00:23:04.940 bold new era in broadcasting, or are you just 00:23:04.940 --> 00:23:07.579 watching a really spectacular, beautifully disguised 00:23:07.579 --> 00:23:08.640 ticking time bomb?