Just when you thought the ABC had exhausted every possible idea for a middle-of-the-road interview program, along comes another one. Shaun Micallef’s Eve of Destruction is a terminally bland comedy series that recycles the old “what objects would you take to a desert island?” question, except here a hypothetical meteorite is about to crash into the guest’s home, leaving them with only enough time to save a couple of items. Doubling down on activities suitable for primary schoolchildren, it also deploys the equally timeworn “show and tell” routine, whereby the guests’ prized objects are brought into the studio.
The series of course is hosted by Micallef, continuing a long trend of programs containing his name in the title – among them Shaun Micallef’s World Around Him, Shaun Micallef’s New Years Rave, Shaun Micallef’s On the Sauce, The Micallef Program, Micallef Tonight and, of course, the excellent, long-running political satire Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell. Like many, I tuned into the latter most weeks, and have enjoyed watching Micallef’s career evolve over the years.
When he announced his retirement from Mad As Hell in 2022, he tweeted that “after 11 years and 15 seasons, I just felt it was time for someone younger to take advantage of the resources and opportunities on offer”. He made similar comments while appearing as a guest on Fran Kelly’s ABC talkshow Frankly, saying: “I genuinely wanted to give the microphone over to somebody who was perhaps younger, or just some different voices.” And again to the Age: “There are limited resources here at the ABC and I wanted to hand over the mic to somebody who was younger … I’d like to see more of a younger and more diverse bit of programming.”
What then do we make of Micallef’s decision – coming so soon after Mad As Hell’s conclusion – to host yet another comedy series with his name emblazoned in the title? What happened to passing the baton to younger talent who haven’t been afforded the same share of, as he put it, limited resources? It’s one thing to sound virtuous; quite another to put words into practice. Adding to the sense that the above comments were pure posturing is the existence of another Micallef-led show that is about to drop: Shaun Micallef’s Origin Odyssey, premiering on SBS next month.
Soon after welcoming his first guest – actor Stephen Curry – to the debut episode of Eve of Destruction (the only episode made available by the ABC ahead of time), Micallef says one of the most ABC things ever: “Full disclosure, ladies and gentlemen, Stephen and I know each other.” This is indeed a network where the interviewers know the interviewees, who also know the other interviewees, who probably know the crew and a couple of department heads too.
When Micallef and Curry begin bantering about whether they’re friends or acquaintances, the show resembles one of those podcasts in which the hosts are clearly having an awesome time, catching up and joshing around while the rest of us feel like outsiders. Micallef reiterates the premise, informing Curry that a meteorite is heading towards his house and he has just enough time to snatch a couple of things. Curry says he would save “a chainsaw and an air hockey table”. These objects are brought on stage so Micallef can feign a look of slight incredulousness, as if this was unprompted.
We learn that Curry’s chainsaw is named Brian; this evolves into a theory about how “Brians don’t let you down”. Curry is reliably likable but boy does this show scream “filler”. It doesn’t improve with the addition of a second guest, the teenage Boy Swallows Universe star Felix Cameron, though that’s hardly his fault; the format is bogus.
Experienced comedians such as Micallef have every reason to act boldly and experimentally. They can throw caution to the wind, knowing they have an established personal brand with a built-in following that affords them plenty of room to take risks. Usually, however, the opposite happens: age tends to make people more cautious and set in their ways – thus the need for, as Micallef himself put it, younger and more diverse programming. Not to replace the oldies (with age comes valuable experience) but to work alongside them, enhancing the overall offering.
It’s possible none of this would have entered my mind had Eve of Destruction wooed us with its wit, flair, colour, ideas. But the modus operandi seems to have been: don’t bother trying anything new. Shows like this make the ABC look crustier than ever.
Shaun Micallef’s Eve of Destruction airs on Wednesday nights on ABC and is available to stream on ABC iView.
