Ready yourselves for more shenanigans from the controversial Chaser team who yesterday announced their latest ABC production, The Hamster Wheel. Earlier today Pedestrian spoke with writer, comedian and Chaser member Chris Taylor who explained the etymology behind the title and gave us an exclusive insight into what we can expect from the show. Check out what Chris had to say below:
On the title: “The title is a reference to the rapidly changing media industry, where newsrooms are shrinking and editors are somehow required to cover more stories, more frequently, with vastly fewer resources. In America they refer to this phenomenon as ‘the hamster wheel’.”
On their inspiration for the show: “It’s partly a result of the rise in online news sites and 24-hour news channels, and our show is an attempt to comedically examine how the 24-hour news cycle has impacted on news values and media ethics. That’s a fancy way of saying that it’s basically Media Watch with jokes. I suppose at its very simplest essence it’s a show about what’s making news, and how the news is made.”
On what to expect: “Each week we’re planning to take a look at how a particular section of the media works or, in most cases, doesn’t work. And we’ll measure the sliding standards of the new media paradigm where Edward R Murrow has been replaced by Karl Stefanovic; where press releases are the new Deep Throat; and where the most popular online news story every day usually involves Kyle Sandilands or a penis… assuming there’s a difference.”
On the show’s timing: “In the wake of the whole News of the World scandal, we felt the time was right to do a show that took a broader look at the decline of journalism and to ask: why do we get the news we get? And if that all proves too hard, then we’ll just do a show about renovations instead.”
This won’t be the first time The Chaser have put the boot to Australian media outlets.
The Hamster Wheel will consist of eight half hour episodes and will air later this year.
