The Hamster Wheel

The Hamster Wheel is an Australian television satirical comedy series broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) television station ABC1. It is created and presented by the satirical group The Chaser.

This article is about the Australian television comedy series. For the exercise toy for rodents, see Hamster wheel.

The Hamster Wheel
GenreComedy, satire
Created byThe Chaser
StarringAndrew Hansen
Chas Licciardello
Julian Morrow
Craig Reucassel
Chris Taylor
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
No. of series2
No. of episodes16 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersJulian Morrow
Martin Robertson
ProducerAndy Nehl
Production locationSydney
Running time30 minutes
Production companiesGiant Dwarf Pty. Ltd.
Cordell Jigsaw Zapruder
Release
Original networkABC1
Original release5 October 2011 (2011-10-05) –
14 November 2012 (2012-11-14)
Chronology
Preceded byYes We Canberra!
External links
Official Website

Production

In July 2011, TV Tonight reported that The Chaser were working on developing a new television show.[1] In August 2011, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation announced the Chaser team would return in a new show titled The Hamster Wheel.[2] The first of eight episodes aired on 5 October 2011.[3] In November 2011, it was confirmed that The Chaser would return to television in 2012, however, it was not confirmed whether they would return with another season of The Hamster Wheel.[4]

On 31 August 2012, ABC announced The Hamster Wheel would return for a second series.[5][6] On 26 September 2012, the second series premiered on ABC1.[7]

Show format

The Hamster Wheel is set within a large hamster cage, with a small hamster, named after their desk Horace, is hidden in one of the scenes. The locations of Horace are revealed on The Hamster Wheel website shortly after the airing of the episode.[8]

Primary
  • News of the Week (Introduction) - This starts with Julian Morrow, Craig Reucassel and Chris Taylor sitting at their Hamster-shaped desk, talking about stories that made headlines in the past week.[9][10]
  • Inside the Wheel - Usually followed by "News of the Week", a segment presented by Andrew Hansen and Chas Licciardello, on a particular topic on the latest headlines.[11]
  • Politics with Cats - A segment in season 1, Hansen describes a political story of the week using a selection of YouTube cat videos.[12]
  • In the Media - A segment in season 2, Hansen and Licciardello talk about a topic on what's going on in the Australian media.

Recurring
  • Standby Obituaries - Julian talks about the death of an Australian political or another famous person for when they die. Julian talks about from when they were born to the present day.

Episodes
NoAirdateViewersRank
TimeslotDayWeek
Series 1
15 October 2011857,00011030[13][14]
212 October 2011823,00011135[15][16]
319 October 2011815,000110N/A[17]
426 October 2011866,000111N/A[18]
52 November 2011766,000213N/A[19]
69 November 2011876,0001924[20][21]
716 November 2011920,00019N/A[22]
823 November 2011950,00019N/A[23]
Series 2
126 September 2012784,000312N/A[5][7][24]
23 October 2012791,000212N/A[5][25]
310 October 2012843,000212N/A[5][26]
417 October 2012875,000211N/A[5][27]
524 October 2012795,000214N/A[5][28]
631 October 2012671,000215N/A[5][29]
77 November 2012639,000315N/A[5][30]
814 November 2012606,000317N/A[5][31]

Reception and ratings

Initially, the return of The Chaser team to television was welcomed; however, many criticised the lack of Chaser-esque stunts in The Hamster Wheel. Paul Kalina from the Sydney Morning Herald stated The Hamster Wheel was "one of their best outings yet" and left him asking for more.[11] David Knox from TV Tonight commented that "by the time show was over I felt a bit exhausted but only having enjoyed a handful of laughs".[32] Throughout the first series, The Hamster Wheel retained an average viewing audience of approximately 860,000 viewers, ranking it first for its time slot for all but one of the aired episodes.[13][15][17][18][19][20][22][23]

The second series debuted to a smaller audience of 784,000, ranking 3rd for the timeslot and 12th for the night.[24]

References
  1. Knox, David (26 July 2011). "Secret project for The Chaser". TV Tonight. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  2. "Chaser Admits To Attacking Hamster". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 31 August 2011. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  3. Vickery, Colin (6 October 2011). "Review: The Hamster Wheel by The Chaser on ABC1". Herald Sun. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  4. Knox, David (11 November 2011). "The Chaser boys back in 2012". TV Tonight. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  5. Knox, David (31 August 2012). "Returning: The Hamster Wheel". TV Tonight. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  6. Hardie, Giles (31 August 2012). "Demanding prima donnas - Chaser chastened by mock ABC press release". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  7. Knox, David (27 September 2012). "Chaser's ratings test". TV Tonight. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
  8. "Where is Horace? - The Hamster Wheel - ABC TV". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 1 January 2011. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  9. The Hamster Wheel (5 October 2011). "Episode 1". Video. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  10. Ep1
  11. Kalina, Paul (26 October 2011). "The Hamster Wheel". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  12. Bastow, Clem (28 October 2011). "Please put this 'Hamster' down". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  13. Knox, David (3 October 2011). "Week 41". TV Tonight. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  14. Knox, David (9 October 2011). "NRL Grand Final tops ratings week, but Seven takes prize". TV Tonight. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  15. Knox, David (10 October 2011). "Week 42". TV Tonight. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  16. Knox, David (16 October 2011). "ABC1's Doc Martin beats Nine, TEN's best all week". TV Tonight. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  17. AndrewB (20 October 2011). "Free To Air TV Ratings, Wednesday October 19th, 2011". Throng. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  18. AndrewB (27 October 2011). "Free To Air TV Ratings, Wednesday October 26th, 2011". Throng. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  19. AndrewB (3 November 2011). "Free To Air TV Ratings, Wednesday November 2nd, 2011". Throng. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  20. AndrewB (10 November 2011). "Free To Air TV Ratings, Wednesday November 9th, 2011". Throng. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  21. AndrewB (15 November 2011). "Free to Air TV Ratings, Week 46 (November 6–12), 2011". Throng. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  22. AndrewB (17 November 2011). "Free To Air TV Ratings, Wednesday November 16th, 2011". Throng. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  23. Knox, David (24 November 2011). "Wednesday 23 November 2011". TV Tonight. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
  24. Knox, David (27 September 2012). "Wednesday 26 September 2012". TV Tonight. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
  25. Knox, David (4 October 2012). "Wednesday 3 October 2012". TV Tonight. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  26. Knox, David (11 October 2012). "Wednesday 10 October 2012". TV Tonight. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  27. Knox, David (18 October 2012). "Wednesday 17 October 2012". TV Tonight. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
  28. Knox, David (25 October 2012). "Wednesday 24 October 2012". TV Tonight. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  29. Knox, David (1 November 2012). "Wednesday 31 October 2012". TV Tonight. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  30. Knox, David (8 November 2012). "Wednesday 7 November 2012". TV Tonight. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
  31. Knox, David (15 November 2012). "Wednesday 14 November 2012". TV Tonight. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
  32. Knox, David (6 October 2011). "The Hamster Wheel". TV Tonight. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
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