20 years of the last innovative Australian TV show
Today marks 20 years since the debut of Australian talk show David Tench Tonight.
There won’t be many people celebrating this anniversary, with the show oft-described as “short-lived.” But I did want to make mention of it because it is one of the very few times that we have seen genuine innovation in the talk show space.
The gimmick of David Tench Tonight was that Mr Tench was an animated TV host. He was computer animated, with the motion capture being performed by actor Drew Forsythe. My understanding is that this wasn’t real-time motion capture with Forsythe wearing a body suit with green dots while talking with his guests, but rather that his performance was added afterwards with guests talking with Drew in the room on some sort of TV screen.
Produced by Andrew Denton, a comedian/TV presenter who has been at the centre of most of Australia’s more innovative shows over the past 40 plus years (his own late night chat show Denton, was hugely impactful on me as a teen viewer), the show ran for just 16 episodes, with the final episode a compilation episode broadcast by network Ten on Christmas night of 2006.
The best comparison for the show would be the similarly animated 90s US talk show Space Ghost: Coast To Coast. That show was certainly more abstract and ambitious, providing a more artistically fruitful product.
Instead, David Tench Tonight was more the sort of product that was inspired more by the idea of seeing if it was possible, rather than necessarily having a creatively nourishing experience. Ultimately, you have to look at the program and ask how it is made better through the use of an animated host and I don’t think the show ever really answered that question satisfactorily.
Australian TV, because of the smaller size of the market and fewer opportunities to be experimental, so rarely takes a wild swing like it did with David Tench Tonight. And so, on its 20th anniversary, if you will allow me the indulgence of offering A Tench Thought, I think it’s worthwhile to celebrate shows like this that really did make a spirited effort to apply an emerging technology to liven up one of TVs oldest formats.
It is also worth considering that in recent years we have seen the rise of VTubers, virtual YouTube show hosts that are largely employing a similar creative effort to host talk shows and similar content. It’s not really a mainstream phenomena, but as the technology evolves and traditional media continues to erode, we’re likely to see higher profile productions using virtual hosts. Particularly in fields like citizen journalism and programming created around taboo topic areas.
Bravo David Tench (and all involved in bringing that guy to life) on a good job done.
TV Week’s best TV shows of all time?
Apparently Australian TV magazine TV Week (approximately Australia’s 37th most vital publication about television) ran a survey seeking to determine the best Australian TV shows of all time.
When you look at the list, not a lot of it really makes a lot of sense, which speaks to the initial suggested list of options by TV Week, the audience for the magazine, and the voting mechanism.
In a chat with David Knox from TV Tonight a few weeks ago, I insisted that Hey Hey It’s Saturday (a variety show which ran for an original 29 year run and has maintained an irrational love for it that has only amplified in the years since it was cancelled) would come in at number one, following its omission by the TV Week editorial team.
Knox insisted that it would be Kath & Kim, which was indeed number one. With Hey Hey languishing at 25… which is still impressive as a write-in ballot entry.
It just goes to show that one should never argue with David Knox. A mistake I know I will make many more times.
That said, while I’m not calling for the return of Hey Hey It’s Saturday, I did find myself on the couch last Saturday night at 6:30pm lamenting that there wasn’t some sort of variety show on at that time which I could watch with my almost five year-old kid. TV is missing something in its absence.
News Desk
Speaking of TV Week, the TV Week Logie Awards were held last night. Sam Pang won the Gold Logie, while somehow Dog Park and RFDS won the scripted categories. Read: TV Tonight
HBO’s The Pitt dominated the 2026 Astra TV Awards with seven wins, ahead of Netflix’s Beef (five) and Hacks and Shrinking (four each), taking Drama Series as Hacks won Comedy and Beef took Limited Series. Read: Deadline
Black Mirror director Ally Pankiw and Loki‘s Kate Herron say they turned down HBO’s Harry Potter series over J.K. Rowling‘s anti-trans views. Read: The Hollywood Reporter
Disney+ has scrapped its planned live-action Power Rangers reboot, reportedly the cost was an issue for IP that Disney doesn’t own. Read: Deadline
Hulu has cancelled crime comedy Deli Boys after two seasons with a too-small second-season audience to blame. Read: Deadline
RuPaul’s Drag Race has been renewed for a 19th season at MTV, with Untucked and a 12th All Stars was also ordered. Read: The Hollywood Reporter
Netflix has moved to dismiss Tyra Banks‘ defamation suit over the docuseries Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, arguing she signed away creative control and that her editing complaints don’t amount to defamation. Read: The Hollywood Reporter
Documentary filmmakers including Laura Poitras and Geeta Gandbhir are sounding the alarm over the Paramount–Warner Bros. merger, fearing that folding CBS News and CNN’s vast archives into one owner will choke off access to historical footage. Read: IndieWire
Netflix has ordered Sid & Zoey, an eight-episode supernatural YA gothic romance from creator Jon Kasdan with J.J. Abrams, James Wan and Jason Blum producing. Read: Deadline
Jon Favreau‘s Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, a three-part miniseries blending live action and hand-drawn animation, will hit Disney+ in February 2027 with a voice cast including Steve Martin and Albert Brooks. Read: Variety
Scott Foley will reprise the role of Sean Kelly in season two of ABC’s Scrubs revival. Read: Deadline
Keyla Monterroso Mejia from Curb Your Enthusiasm is also joining Scrubs season two in a recurring role as Mimi, a new surgical nurse for Turk. Read: Deadline
HBO Max has renewed Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, the The Big Bang Theory, for a second season. Read: AV Club
Matthew McConaughey says he seriously considered but passed on Joel in The Last of Us — the role that went to Pedro Pascal — because he wasn’t really acting at the time and was wary of a years-long series commitment. Read: Dark Horizons
Trailer Park
The Bluey Movie arrives in cinemas on Aug 6, 2027. Yeah… it looks weird and off. My initial impression is that the 3D design style looks a lot cheaper than the show does in 2D. But also, perhaps we just need to see more of it to get comfortable with the design shift.
Bluey, the boundlessly energetic Blue Heeler pup, and her Queensland family head to the big screen in a fully CG-animated feature from series creator Joe Brumm.
The Mandalorian and Grogu debuts on Disney+ on Sept 2.
Din Djarin and Grogu embark on their first big-screen adventure across a galaxy still reeling from the fall of the Empire.
Ahsoka returns for season 2 on Disney+ on Jan 20, 2027.
VisionQuest debuts on Disney+ on Oct 14.
White Vision hides from the authorities after the events of WandaVision, a bounty on his head, as he searches for genuine connection — the conclusion to the trilogy begun in WandaVision and Agatha All Along.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians returns for season 3 on Disney+ on Nov 20.
Mousetrap debuts on Netflix on Aug 28.
A reclusive novelist discovers his identity has been stolen by a mysterious figure known only as “Rat,” and sets out to hunt him down and reclaim everything taken from him.
Adarsh Baal Vidyalaya returns for season 2 on Prime Video.
That’s the newsletter for the today.
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