Late Show, The

1 9 9 2 – 1 9 9 3 (Australia)
40 x 60 minute episodes

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 below right), 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.