One of the most successful and funny comedy shows ever produced in Australia, The Late Show marked the re-grouping of the D-Generation, a comedy group from the late ’80s.
The ABC show began to a lukewarm response and quickly became a cult phenomenon with popular segments such as ‘Shitscared’, Shirty the Slightly Aggressive Bear, Graham and the Colonel (pictured), and revoiced episodes of the old 70s cop show Bluey, re-presented as Bargearse.
The D-Generation team were a comedy team in the traditional mould.
Like Monty Python or The Goodies, the seeds for the D-Generation were sown in university revues – the majority of the members attended Melbourne University, a bunch of (mostly) law students who were prepared for anything but a life of performing and writing comedy.
The original team was sufficiently successful in theatre to be offered their own ABC-TV show in the mid-80s and a successful run saw them lured to the Seven Network, where some members stayed to form the nucleus of Fast Forward.
The remaining originals – Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner and Rob Sitch – adapted the D-Generation approach to radio, creating a daily show for 3MMM in Melbourne, and during this period the only peep the rest of Australia heard from D-Gen were a couple of radio parody records.
Santo Cilauro
Tom Gleisner
Jane Kennedy
Tony Martin
Mick Molloy
Rob Sitch
Jason Stephens
Judith Lucy
The ABC show began to a lukewarm response and quickly became a cult phenomenon with popular segments such as ‘Shitscared’, Shirty the Slightly Aggressive Bear, Graham and the Colonel (pictured), and revoiced episodes of the old 70s cop show Bluey, re-presented as Bargearse.
