THE
NEWS ACCORDING TO PAUL
By
Simon Yeaman
It pays to pay attention when
interviewing Paul McDermott...or risk an amusing put-down. The
supremely sharp host of the ABC-TVs Good News Week is describing
how the comical quiz show may tour Adelaide this year.
"We've got Brisbane
coming up, then we're going to Perth. We're doing two shows in
Sydney, one in the Sydney Opera House to celebrate the 110th
anniversary of the Sydney Opera House and hopefully we can
schedule one for Adelaide as well." says McDermott, before
pausing.
"You don't want to pick
me up on that one. Did you not want to?" he asks.
Huh, please explain. "The 110th anniversary of the Opera
House, Simon."
D'oh!
"Come on, investigate, investigate. Nixon would have been
brought to heel with people like you around. Watergate - that's a
hotel, right?"
Okay, point taken (damn it), but what about Adelaide?
"There has been an invitation for us to go there and
play," he says. "You think I'm joking, don't you? Can I
hear giggling in the backround there (actually, it's just a
colleage blowing his nose)?"
Apparently, P.M. is serious
about Adelaide (as serious as he can be) but nothing is concrete
at this stage. Like everything at the ABC, it's a matter of money
and how much Aunty's shrinking budget can afford.
Money might even bring the
demise of Good News Weekend, the Saturday version of the Friday
quiz show, which fills-in for Roy and H.G's The Channel Nine Show
(on ABC).
"The ABC is not saying much but they're happy with it
because it's rating well and getting a fair bit of critical
acclaim," McDermott says. "So they're p..ing in each
other's pockets up in middle management, though I don't think
they had much to do with it... but they're very happy.
"But whether they'll
have the foresight to actually carry it on next year is another
thing entirely.
"I'd love to see the (weekend) show come back because I
think it's doing well. I think five (of them) have been
fantastic. The moment we had Mark Holden on singing with Bob
Downe, that was a classic moment in Australian television."
For those not in the know,
Good News Week, which will return next year, and it's weekend
offshoot, are basically irreverent looks at the week's news
events. McDermott umpires two panels (headed by Mikey Robins and
Julie McCrossin) and awards points to the panels which give witty
but accurate retorts to the week's topical issues. Panel guests
have a wide varitey of luminaries, including H.G Nelson, Adam
Spencer, Natasha Stott-Despoja and Amanda Vanstone.
"John Howard hasn't come
on yet - we keep sending a big invitation out to him. It's not
like he's doing anything at the moment," McDermott says.
"We want him. We want the big man, whose actually quite
short, to come on the show. I'll put a cushion on the seat so he
looks the same height as everyone else. He'll be fine."
A former member of the the
comedy-musical trio the Doug Anthony Allstars, McDermott is a
seasoned writer, musician, stage performer and Triple J radio
announcer, who juggles much of his time between Australia and
Britain.
"There are things
happening for me in England but whether they come to fruition or
not just depends on talks with people... stage shows and things
of that nature," he says. "And there's a televison show
being developed with channel 4 at the moment."
Outside of work, it seems
P.M., in his mid-30's is a wanted man, romantically speaking. His
publicist frequently gets calls from young women desperately
seeking a date, only to deflate them with: "Sorry, dear.
He's taken care of in that department."
"I have my harem, my
harem of happiness," McDermott jokes. "I'm happily
settled with someone (he lives in Bondi, Sydney, with partner
Johannah Fahey). I think people are very bizarre like that. I
think televison is one of those great levellers. It's
like...everyone's your best friend.
"Before in my life, no
one's ever liked me so it's come to a shock. So once people get
to know me, it's 'Gee, he's not as nice as he appears."
(Methinks he jest again)
On a slightly more serious
note, McDermott praises shows shuch as GNW and The Panel, by Tom
Gleisner and Rob Sitch's Working Dog company. The cynical young
adult market is loath to watch TV news (programs which take
themselves oh so very seriously) but readily watch the likes of
GNW and The Panel, satires which "deconstruct" the big
issues with often stinging incisivness.
McDermott hopes to see a lot
more of such stuff on Australian televison.
"The more the merrier," he says. "We're living in
a time of crisis across the board; ordinary people are a bit
shocked at what's going on; there's a lot of disquiet in the
community, so the more programs that look at that in a comical
way and cast a satirical eye over that, the better.
"At least, with GNW
we're giving opinions rather than issue the facts with a claim
they're not opinionated."
Thanks to
DAmieAS for this Article
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