The Paul Hogan Show

My first exposure to Paul Hogan was when his series was syndicated on American television in the early 1980's. I always thought he was a tremendous performer, both in the material he wrote and the wide variety of characters he portrayed.

I found him far superior to Benny Hill, since Hogan's work, unlike Hill's, seemed more contemporary. Hill's work, although often amusing, always seemed like recycled music hall/"Carry On" film/"Laugh In" stuff. If Hogan did draw on things, they were instead Monty Python and Saturday Night. If he didn't draw on things, his work could be quite original, and his ability to continually re-invent characters was quite good (I recall his middle-aged beach bum character, Arthur Dunger, eventually being turned into a middle-aged beach bum superhero, and then into a middle-aged beach bum superhero video game character who ended up destroying the person playing the game).

Sadly, when "Crocodile Dundee" came out the show (which Hogan on the Tonight Show once joked was only on in America at 2 AM) got yanked, presumably for repackaging and reselling to capitalize on Hogan's new movie star status. The quality of his films declined rapidly, however, and I'm supposing up until last month, when a DVD was supposed to be released in Australia, no one saw the value in re-releasing these little masterpieces of comedy.

Although some things in "Crocodile Dundee" came close (my favorite gag in that was the "updating" of the film, "Walkabout," having its star, David Gumpilil, walk onto the scene with face paint, spear--and blue jeans!), Hogan never was able, in my opinion, to bring the magic of his TV show to his films.

One should be grateful, though, for his show, and hope a DVD will be coming this way soon.

Ah, Memories.

Channel 4 in the UK started playing this as one of their very first programmes and, at the age of 9, it had us hooked for life. The easy-going charm of Hoges combined with his love of TV meant that either his spoofs, sitcom-sketches and his stand-up material always won audiences over.

Bloody hard to find now, we were luck to tape a number of them when Channel 4 played a batch of them again (as The Best of the Paul Hogan Show) in the 1991. The show has not been heard from since.

This is a shame, as the format is much more welcome than the ususal "long-winded-build-up-for-a-scathing-putdown" favoured by most shows these days.

We thankfully were able to transfer out tapes to the wonders of recordable DVD, so we have them backed-up once the tapes have packed-in through sheer age.

The wonders of The Incredible Weed, Benny 5-0, Leo Wanker, Perce the Wino, A Fistful of Ravioli, Arthur Dunger, Mullet and numerous others will not be lost to time so easily.

Perhaps one of, if not, the most memorable Aussie icons would have to be none other than PAUL HOGAN. Out of his material ever since he caked audiences on "New Faces", the one thing that he is most remembered for is "The Paul Hogan Show". Whoever could forget Leo Wan*er, Luigi The Unbelievable, that dumb arse Strop or the ever so sexy Delvene Delaney. Thew show was indeed one of 'laugh your pants off' sketches, clever satire and pretty decent stand-up comedy. In fact, the show even made the No.2 spot on "50 Years 50 Shows"- You might say that "The Paul Hogan Show" is a milestone in Australian Television and proof that Mr Hogan indeed has it! I must say though, it is most unfortunate that Hoges could not have the same impact on audiences after his TV run and the box-office smash "Crocodile Dundee". Anyway, I strongly advise you to get a copy of "The Best Of The Paul Hogan Show" on DVD. A 5/5 Classic TV show!

Judging from comments made, a lot of people have been waiting for a DVD of the Paul Hogan Show. Well, it's finally out, in Region 4 at least. It's a 2-disc DVD featuring the best of Hoges and all his small-screen characters, and supporting cast including John Cornell (as Strop), Delvine Delaney, Andrew Harwood and John Blackman. 'The Best of the Paul Hogan Show' is rated PG, covers the years 1977-79 mainly, and runs for 370 minutes.

I have to admit that much of the material seems quite dated now, and politically incorrect, but then that was the 70s. The formula is simple: backyard ocker fun that appeals to the workers and pokes fun at politicians and others in the public eye. Notable politicians who get a (dis)honourable mention include former Australian Prime Ministers Bob Hawke and Malcolm Fraser.

Before the "Come and Say G'Day" commercials in 1983 and the Crocodile Dundee movie in 1986 there was the Paul Hogan Show. It was Australia's Benny Hill with sophomoric but clean, biting humor yet without the infamous ribaldry. The show usually opened with a welcoming monologue featuring wisecracks in front of a live audience. Then would come a series of shorts. One of the recurring skits featured Hogan and John Cornell as two losers in a ramshackle bachelor pad planning out their supposed evening with the ladies. In a style that truly mimicked Benny Hill there were frequently accelerated-film skits. One that I remember featured Hogan trying to set up camp to the accompaniment of Canned Heat's "Up The Country".

Although sometimes bland, the Paul Hogan show definitely had its moments. One of the most unforgettable performances was Hogan as the trenchcoat-clad man in the city park, singing to the accompaniment of lush Phil Spector-esque instrumentals: "There's someone, waiting around you, just stop and see. There is someone, waiting to know you, over there, behind the tree! There is someone, who has something, that he wants the world to see! Oh somebody, anybody! oh for God sake! look at me!" [holding trenchcoat wide open] "LOOK AT ME!"

Do any tapes exist anymore? If so, drop me a line.