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MELBOURNE
HERALD SUN
MAY 20th 1998
by Paul Dowsley
Is nothing taboo on Good News Week? Paul Dowsley finds out.
If a bolt of lightning struck and killed Good News Weeks's Mikey Robbins, it wouldn't make many people laugh. But the host of the show, Paul McDermott, is sure he could think of a few gags about it.
As regular viewers of good News Week know, not many subjects are "joke free" on the satirical news-based show. In fact, McDermott cannot think of a subject that would be considered inappropriate. Last year, audiences laughed at one-liners about everything - even the deaths of Princess Diana and Mother Teresa.
"The attitude is finding a way into a topic, rather than just dropping it," McDermott says. "Something like the Di and Dodi car-in-tunnel mishap," he says, "Well, a tragedy for some... it had to be from an angle that nobody else was doing. You can't really avoid a story like that. We weren't making jokes about it. We were making observations."
Is anything sacred?
"Um, no."
The scenario of
Robins' death, under any circumstances, is put to McDermott.
"It could be a little too close to the truth," he says.
"If Mikey carked it, and did a big belly up, the least we
could do is some jokes at his expense. You've got to have your
own sense of humor about it. You can't do the things we do and
not expect someone to do something similar to you."
The same should occur in the event of his own death, McDermott says. "I would think that if I had a head-on and there was some humour to be drawn from it, it would be remiss of my colleagues not to take advantage. Look, you live by the word, you die by the word."
McDermott is content with Good News Week, with reason. it has a very strong, loyal following and McDermott believes it is the best it has been in its three-year run. McDermott is set to build on its success as host of a new 10 week Saturday night show, Good News Weekend, on two, from June 13.
While many would be
thrilled at an offer to sit behind the Good News Week desk as a
guest, others are keen to avoid it.
"Our dear friend Jeff Kennett has kept us hanging on,"
McDermott says. "It was promises, promises, promises, but it
didn't come through. He was meant to be at the first Melbourne
show we did at the Melbourne Comedy Festival. He was going to be
in the hot seat. It was like 'Yes, Jeff's very keen, ooh, he's
very interested.'" his voice drops, "'Oh,
unfortunately, no, he's gone cold'.
"We heard from Felicity, when they were still together, that they both watched the show. It was probably one of those happier moments in their household. We'd asked Jeff a couple of times, but it's always been a pull- out at the last minute."
Kennett isn't our only leader to say no to McDermott - Prime Minister John Howard has also declined. "I'm sure he knows we'd love him to be on. It's a standing offer. We'd make room," McDermott says.
Why would the PM dare
decline such a prestigious offer?
"He could believe he'd be open to ridicule," McDermott
suggests, laughing.
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