The Age from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia • Page 39

GREEN GUIDE 14 APR! 1994 Dark Knight throws light on going 'Full Frontal' Andrew Knight doesn't think he is a funny man but that hasn't stopped him breeding a healthy comic offspring from his 'Fast Forward', dinosaur. Margot Date speaks with him about bearing the comic burden for Seven. Butcher explains that the audience is closer to the action this year. "They call it the home set now. It was always like it is in TV, the audience sit up against one wall in the bleachers, then there is a gulf, the comedy gap, and a row of cameras and then you're over there against a wall." According to Ward-Lealand, this new proximity to the audience is far better for timing.

She says they try to use the first take as often as possible. This year, the audience will have the added excitement of a band, in the form of Steve Blackburn's combo. Another new face is that of Denise Scott, who was a regular on Tonight live. Used to working on her own in live performances, Scott says she is enjoying the luxury of having scriptwriters, make-up artists and costumers. Knight, meanwhile, stirs from his pessimism when asked what television personalities will be sacrificed this season.

Alan Jones? "Oh no, we'd never touch Alan; I think Alan's too nice; I think he's too good a person. It's not like they're in that other studio doing three sketches about him now. He's sacrosanct." Derryn "Hunch" Hinch, now that he's at Midday? "No, we'd never do it. The new lovely cuddly, warm Derryn, no, no, no, no, no." Man Man? "It's one of our network's own it's a quality program with enormous potential." Even though Seven likes Artist Services and Artist Services likes Seven, Knight says creatively, the company is prepared to "sleep What about a 7 pm timeslot on Ten? "We could look at it; we'll talk to people," he says with a hint of a smile. Full Frontal resumes tonight on Seven at 8.30 pm.

(Left) Mr Fishing (Erie Bana) goes 'Full Frontal'. Alan Jone (Ross Williams), "too good a person" for 'Full Frontal'? IT IS no wonder Steve Vizard doesn't normally let his Artist Services partner, Andrew Knight, give interviews. The guy is surround-ed by black clouds; his back is so racked with stress that he can hardly stand upright and he keeps talking about his burning desire to flee the television production business. He presents a sort of pathetic, vulnerable He makes coffee for both of us and then can't remember which cup has sugar. It takes ages to find somewhere to sit Eventually we settle and Knight starts off by saying that as executive producer of Full Frontal he did not believe it would work.

Filling the Fast Forward slot at the behest of Seven executives with another comedy, he says, was "a really bad The trouble was that Fast Forward's greatest strength, its cast, became its downfall. "They were all such good friends mat it would have created a realty bad vibe if I'd said, 'Look, a couple of you have to go to let in new people'. The program really became a dinosaur, says Knight It had enough legs kicking to attach its name to the new comedy, so viewers watched Fast Forward Presents Full Frontal, complete with the old characters introducing sketches by the new ones. But tying the new show to the old one was very limiting, says Knight. "I expected an enormous backlash and to be dragged through the streets," he continues cheerfully.

After the first series, the Fast Forward reference and characters were dropped and Full Frontal achieved its own success. This year, Artist Services has been commissioned to make 22 more episodes, to be shown in two blocks of 11. The cast is Jennifer Ward-Lealand, Rima Te Wiata, Glenn Butcher, Ross Williams, Eric Bana and Kim Gyngell, with new members Denise Scott and John Walker. It's all much more than Knight ever imagined. "I think the cast have been really good; 1 have been really delighted, he says in the studio at Seven in South Melbourne where Full Fron "he's asleep in his soup." GLENN BUTCHER and Jennifer Ward-Lealand are taking a lunch break from filming.

Their's is a continual ritual of wig, costume and make-up changes, rehearsals and taping in the studio, culminating in Friday's audience night. Everything that has been filmed is played to the audience and another eight or so sketches are taped. The program will then screen the following Thursday. "You have to find various devices in the sketch format to keep you current," says Butcher. "It was very hard for us last year with The Late Show on ABC going out on Saturday night live.

We recorded on Friday and didn't get to air until Thursday. It was quite difficult, but we didn't lose too many sketches." tal, Jlmeoln and Man Man are taped. The swimming pool is covered, which is unfortunate because the cast was going to do a gag about throwing the boss in the pool for a photograph. "They came in with a huge weight on their shoulders. I think I was probably the least inspiring leader." Not only is he so pessimistic that Vizard has banned him from meeting with the network brass, Knight says he's not even ninny.

At a dinner party recently, a man at the other end of the table finished telling an unbelievably funny story. The woman running the party leaned over to him and said: "I can see why you've made it so big in comedy The man replied that he was a teacher. She said: "Aren't you Andrew Knight?" "No," the teacher said, IPC Porta PC P2 PLUS Free Carry Bag i i $2295 1 Intel 486SX-25, 4 Mb RAM (Exp.) 120 Mb HDD, 1.44 Mb 3.5" FDD 9.5" Backlit LCD 640 480 64 grey scale I serial, I parallel port 2-5 hour battery life SI Technology THE GREATER WE lil I SI I3i 1ZJ KIM KItl EE iXfcl Critical Path $85.00 Sherlock Holmes insulting Detective 3 $89.00 DayofthcTcmide $69.00 "Toorn $49.95 Dracula Unleashed $85.00 Space Quest IV $49.95 Journeyman Project $89.00 Arthur's Teaditr Trouble $59.95 Lawnmower Man $68.00 LandsofLorc $79.95 Microcosm $89.95 "TronHclb: $99.95 Mvst $99.95 "Legend of Kynndia $79.95 UbrinthofTimc $89.95 P.C. Sig, 13tt Edition $49.95 Return to Zotk $79.95 otal Baseball $39.95 Blue Force $89.95 Grolliers Encyclopedia $69.95 Chen Mater 4000 $79.95 Mavis Beacon i Teaches Typing $39.95 1.44 Mb FDD A 210 Mb HDD; Local Bus TWJ Motherboard, 2 VESA slots, 5 ISA slots 14" low radiation SVGA monitor and Windows Accelerator Card; DOS 6.2, Windows 3.1, IPC mouse. I I MediaMagic ISP-16 Sound System ISP-lfiMPC Audio Board Yamaha OPL3 20 voice FM synthesis Sony Double-Spin CD-ROM drive, Kodak Multi-session Photo CD, trayknd, 64 Kb buffer True 16-bit stereo 48 KHi sampling MIDI music interlace LISTEN SUNDAYS NOON 1PM Proudly Sponsored by IPC 10 off All Notebook Cases'1 15 off Complete Range of Books Stereo digital mixer 8 watt power amp Stereo Speakers Supports all major sound standards.

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