Press release from Mockingbird Productions
Tim Ferguson, formerly of the Doug Anthony Allstars and Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush, is hosting a reactionary Live TV show: ‘With Tim Ferguson’ on Channel 31. Describing the half-hour weekly commentary show as ‘shock-jock radio with pictures,’ Tim said, ‘I’ll attack the Right, the Left and whatever the Greens are calling themselves these days.’
‘With Tim Ferguson’ will cover world events, cultural trends and the Victorian Election. This will be the first time a State election has been under this level of comic scrutiny. Sources say Premier John Brumby made a show of carrying on as if the new show made no difference. It’s understood Liberal leader Ted Baillieu has never heard of Tim Ferguson. Ferguson claims he hasn’t heard of Ted Baillieu either.
According to Ferguson, his show will have no skits, no stunts and no parlour games. ‘It’ll just be the Truth, the whole Truth and nothing but what I reckon is the Truth. It’ll be funny, sure, but sometimes I’ll go straight down the line.’
Producer Marc Gracie said he is thrilled that Channel 31 is now digital and reaching a much larger audience. But Gracie is daunted by the prospect of controlling Ferguson. ‘I toured with the Allstars and Tim was always the most dangerous. He’ll say anything to get attention. The man has no fear or sensitivity. We’ll have lawyers on standby at every show.’
Gracie claims the production style of ‘With Tim Ferguson’ resembles that of a current affairs show. ‘Tim will be speaking live from his bleeding heart and his right-wing brain,’ says Gracie. ‘We don’t have a bunch of joke-writers telling Tim what to say – we have a team of thinkers telling him what to think.’
The “thinkers” include playwright/political speechwriter Michael Gurr, journalist/comedian Fiona Scott Norman, movie legend Alan Finney, playwright/screenwriter Chris Thompson and finance expert Mark Ryan.
Tim Ferguson refused to be drawn on his political intentions, saying his days as the federal candidate for Kooyong ‘are dead, cremated, buried and eaten by my hunting dogs, who are also now dead.’ Ferguson was offended by suggestions his show was a comedy show, saying ‘My jokes are too serious to be taken lightly.’
‘We’re thrilled to have a performer of Tim’s calibre on the station,’ said C31 General Manager Richard McLelland. ‘In an environment of reconstituted, repackaged, international reruns, it’s exciting to be able to offer original, relevant and local content to Melbourne and Geelong viewers.’
WHAT: ‘With Tim Ferguson’
WHERE: Channel 31 (To pick up Channel 31, re-scan your digital TV or set-top-box – it will appear on Channel 44.)
WHEN: Wednesdays Live at 8pm (from October 13th, 2010)