Review: Randling
Everyone's a good loser on Randling.
Randling
Starring: Andrew Denton, Annabel Crabb, Merrick Watts, Michael Williams and Julia Zemiro
Airtime: Wednesdays, 8:30pm, ABC1
Randling begins with an opening sequence that should be on ABC3 rather than ABC1, and has a cornier theme song than Spicks And Specks – the hugely popular show that Andrew Denton’s much-hyped new quiz show effort is effectively replacing.
This “gameshow about words” will feature ten two-person teams over the season (mostly the usual suspects but some intriguing newcomers; my favourite team name has to be Roget’s Ramjets) gerunding for their place on the ladder by making up definitions, guessing rebuses, but mostly prattling on light-entertainingly.
Don’t be waylaid by the private schoolboy blazers and the Wiggles-inspired rollercoaster intro, this ain’t no softly-softly preschool prequel to Andrew Denton’s last hosting gig Elders. There’s an aspirant edginess. I noted references to eBay, ‘white powder’, a ‘shopped photo of Adolph Hipster, “Tropical Cyclone Christ”, a very askance fingering pun, dog poop, and the word ‘shit’ (coyly expressed, it must be said). I think I heard a feather ruffled.
Tonight we have, in the green corner, the West Coast Odd Sox – political boffin chipmunk Annabel Crabb and professional buffoon Merrick Watts. And in the red corner, the Southern Furies – amiable Director of the Wheeler Centre Michael Williams and the Ethnic Channel’s resident culture glamazon Julia Zemiro.
Pitched as QI meets, I dunno, a PC Blankety Blanks, the exchange of witticisms in the conference before final answers is meant to be the primary entertainment. Denton himself pitches out a handful of little-known factoids that are Quite Interesting and he turns out to be the most ably deadpan, in contrast with the eager-to-please guests.
The segments this week (and maybe every week)? A ‘This Or That’ guessing game, which could’ve easily been varied for both teams for more fun. Then there was ‘Heiroglyphics’ which is some sort of rebus puzzle. And all were WAY TOO EASY, for those dullards playing at home. In the third game, when a series of clues are delivered to the origin of a figure of speech, holy hell, I could barely pay attention to their shaggy dog guesses as I begged for someone to give the obviously correct answer. Spicks And Specks at least had a bit of suspense. That’s saying something.
Effectively, Randling closes the middle ground between the coloured-ball-room anarchy of Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation and the greying geekiness of Letters And Numbers. Denton’s an equally-loveable national treasure (his tagline, “May your words never fail you, and happy randling”, is clumsier than Adam Hills’), so we’ll have to see how much trouble Chris Taylor, Jennifer Byrne, Dave O’Neil and Anthony Morgan can get Aunty into next week.
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Excuse me Andrew Tijs, are you working for Andrew Denton?! Randling is as stinking a piece of doggy doo as the ABC’s ever inflicted on us ’8 cents-a-dayers’. A cross between the New Inventors and a discarded episode of It’s Academic. The set is definitely a leftover from the New Inventors. I believe ex-PM John Howard will find this windy waste of taxpayers dosh immensely entertaining – he’ll watch it in his old school blazer and slippers. And who are the guests we have to look forward to? Dave O’Neill, the unfunniest so-called comedian in Australia, Wendy Harmer, the unfunniest person in Australia after Julia Gillard, and the unnecessarily ubiquitous Jennifer ‘ Andrew’s My Husband & We’re Both On TV ‘ Byrne. This is media-class crap from a select coterie of aspirational wankers from Sydney’s northern beaches & Melbourne’s inner eastern suburbs. Very stinky. Julia Zamero looked like she was trying to find a peg. And no, Andrew Denton is not Australia’s answer to Stephen Fry.
Did you just make a verb out of the word for ‘nouns derived from verbs’?
Is there no fear of God left in this nation?
The discussion on whether Christ was a saint or a cyclone, was in poor taste to say the least and I consider blasphermous and ofrfensive to Christians
Would they have risked offending Muslim,Buddhists or Hindus by making fun of the founders of their faith?
I and others have been an Andrew Denton fan, and only watched the show because of him being the host.He lost a large % o his followers and hence audience through hosting this tasteless and Politically incorrect display
I really contest the idea that Denton is “a national treasure”. But then hey, Clive Palmer is apparently a national treasure.
Have to agree with Gecko here. These shows trot out the same offenders yet again. Andrew Tijs’ description, The ‘Professional Buffoon Merrick Watts’, is funnier than anything he, or any other of these try hards have to offer! Mikey Robbins, Paul McDermott, Amanda Keller, Wil Anderson, that creepy guy with big teeth who shaves once a month (name escapes me), Felicity Ward, that O’Loughlin woman, Julia Z, the list goes on…….. I know they haven’t all been on this latest offering, but they will be. Annabel Crabb – ‘Political Boffin Chipmunk’!! That too, is funnier than all the tosh these supposed clowns can come up with.