The Chasers War on Everything

[sabang]

I have become an instant fan of this Aussie satirical series, thanks to their brilliant stunt at the APEC summit. I am currently downloading their 2007 episodes from Torrentspy- you might want to as well.

Notably, it airs on the government channel ABC- so they don't need to keep corporate sponsors happy. Commercial TV has already tried to poach them. This commonly happens to any ABC production that gets a big audience, such as Kath and Kim- they sell out for the higher money offered by the commercial channels, the shameless hussies. To their credit, the team behind Chaser has resisted all such proposals- they know full well that going commercial would lead to the series being watered down. Maximum street cred.

Wiki actually has a pretty comprehensive site on the series-
The Chaser's War on Everything - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Let's start off with the recent APEC prank:-



These are the fake APEC passes they made up, which got them through two checkpoints.

On 6 September 2007, during the APEC Leaders Summit in Sydney, Julian Morrow and Chas Licciardello along with nine other production crew members were arrested after they drove a fake Canadian motorcade down Macquarie Street and successfully breached the APEC restricted zone. It was reported that the motorcade finally came to a halt just metres from the hotel of the President of the United States George W. Bush. Police only realised that the motorcade was a hoax when Chas Licciardello, dressed as Osama bin Laden, stepped out of an official-looking car replete with a Canadian flag flying from the bonnet. Licciardello, Morrow and the nine crew members were immediately detained by NSW Police, taken to Surry Hills Police Station, questioned and charged with entering a restricted area without special justification under the APEC Meeting (Police Powers) Act 2007 . All were released on bail to appear in court on 4 October 2007.

If found guilty they are liable to serve a maximum of 2 years imprisonment or a minimum of six months.

[sabang]

On 2 August 2006, Craig Reucassel responded to a news story about a private school student who had hugged Prime Minister John Howard while holding a screwdriver during one of the PM's morning walks. To test the Prime Minister's security arrangements, he approached John Howard during a morning walk and asked for a hug while holding a large plastic battle axe. Reucassel did receive the hug, but a later approach while holding a running chainsaw was not so successful. There was much debate surrounding whether or not to turn on the chainsaw and whether they would be shot at for doing this.
Cut out from this segment was the attempt between the axe and the chainsaw, in which Reucassel was holding a four-point-star mace. He did not achieve his hug on that occasion, either. Anybody who listens to the DVD commentaries of The Chaser's War on Everything will know just how difficult it was for them to actually find John Howard at all.

[sabang]

Julian Morrow's Virgin Blue ticket prank

On 16 August 2006, Julian Morrow purchased two airline tickets on the Virgin Blue airline under the names "Al Kyder" and "Terry Wrist", checked in using the automated check-in at Sydney Airport, and then did not show up for boarding, so that the names would be read out in a final boarding call over the public address system. The prank was acknowledged by Virgin Blue who criticised the use of taxpayer dollars in the "childish humour".

[kingwilly]

birthday present to me 2 weeks ago, 4 dvd'sof The chaser, never seen them before, and while their jokes are somewhat topical, and therefore out of date quickly, they are bladdy funny!

[sabang]

Of course the shermans/seppo's are not given a free ride.

Firth in the USA" – Charles Firth, now living in America, performs some kind of stunt or conducts some kind of interview. Segments included Firth trying to get into Yale University's 'Skull and Bones' secret society), attempting to be thrown out of more corporate headquarters in one day than Michael Moore has in his entire career and flirting with a male Christian fundamentalist from Westboro Baptist Church. A more famous segment is when Firth met Hillary Clinton during campaigning and offered to be her intern; an obvious satire of Monica Lewinsky . He also once went to Africa to see if products that stated they were "world famous" really were. The episode where Firth promotes to the Americans that many "famous landmarks" are located in Australia has attracted acclaim, as it showed that the Americans interviewed had believed that the Great Wall of China is a town called China located outside of Darwin, and that the "real" Mount Rushmore is in Australia as well.

[The Basket Weaver]

^ i like this setup/hidden camera style comedy too. those guys have got balls. what a great job. good shite.

[sabang]

Balls like watermelons BW.

They have their own web site you know:-
The Chaser

It's a bit slow to load, but then again after their recent stunt I would imagine they are getting thousands of hits from all over the world.
Recent snippets concern country singer James Blundell's tryst with a young fan, and Bush and Howard now feel closer than ever (in the Polls).
Theres even a world news section, so you don't need to be Aussie to get it.

Prince William dumps Kate: cites "Poor Inbreeding"
could be an interesting read.

Other proposed names for the series which were rejected by the ABC include 'Thank Allah It's Friday!' and 'The Chaser's Age Of Terror Variety Hour'

[sabang]

Brief explanation for those not fortunate enough to be Aussie. The Bulldogs are a Sydney Rugby League team who's fan enjoy an enviable reputation similar to that of, say, Liverpool or Millwall fans. This stunt also got one of them arrested:-

"On July 14, 2006, Chas Licciardello was charged with offensive conduct after attempting to sell fake Canterbury Bulldogs merchandise outside an NRL game. The merchandise included plastic knuckledusters and balaclavas in the Bulldogs' colours, and was supposed to satirise the anti-social and hooligan behaviour of some Bulldogs fans. Several Bulldogs fans took offense and as a result he was charged for offensive behaviour. On the broadcast following his arrest, Licciardello appeared onstage in handcuffs and within an iron cage. On that same episode, he apologised for his actions, claiming to understand why the Bulldogs fans were offended: because Canterbury Bulldogs fans much prefer to use their fists. This statement was accompanied by footage of Bulldog's supporters assaulting opposing team supporters during a match. After appearing in court with co-star Julian Morrow, Licciardello pleaded not guilty and the matter was adjourned. On January 23, 2007, Licciardello was found not guilty of the offensive behaviour charge. He was interviewed after the case draped in an Australian flag, and said he would appeal "to the Supreme Court, to the High Court, to the UN, to the Jedi Council and the Snickometer." After being reminded he had won, he said "I didn't actually prepare any material for the off-chance that we won." He then said he was going to the Big Day Out."

[Wayne Kerr]

Sorry to miss this Sabang, but I too have just been introduced to the Chasers ... this is my favourite - YouTube - Chasers : War on Everything -Americans

I always like most of the yanks I meet in Asia as they've been smart enough to escape and likely laugh harder at this clip than I did .

Australian's aren't much better ... a good one here on the goold old Trojan Horse - YouTube - Trojan Horse - The Chaser

[sabang]

Chaser charges may be dropped

THE TEAM from the ABC's satirical The Chaser's War on Everything may escape prosecution for their stunt which breached APEC security.
Due to face Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday, reports surfaced today the matters have been adjourned until December "leading to speculation the matter could be dropped altogether".



AdelaideNow... Chaser charges may be dropped

On a sadder note, it looks like Chasers next series will be on commercial TV. Can't blame them really- it will make them rich- but the series will probably be watered down.

POPULAR television comedy group The Chaser, of recent APEC fame, may follow Kath & Kim to Channel 7.
Seven has emerged as the favourite among the commercial networks to sign The Chaser team amid a bidding war for the satirical comedians' next series.
"We are obviously not closing our eyes to the rest of the Australian TV world or the world," The Chaser's Julian Morrow said.

The Chaser now attracts an audience in excess of 1.5 million people each week, an enormous figure for an ABC program.
A recent episode where a number of The Chaser crew were arrested after breaching APEC security attracted an all-time high for the show of 2.24 million viewers.

AdelaideNow... Seven chases Chaser

[astasinim]

YouTube - Chasers : War on Everything -Americans

OMFG Thick B`stards

[Katana]

ABC Television - Downloads

The abc has free downloads of chaser.

Mark

[chinthee]

YouTube - Chasers : War on Everything -Americans

OMFG Thick B`stards

Americans laugh at that more than anyone else. Chasers did the same thing that Borat did - went out in search of the lowest common denominator - most uneducated lowest class and/or most insulated. Very funny indeed.

[astasinim]

^
Sure its media manipulation. You can make any nation, anyone, or anything look how you want them to look.
Still shocking though, how uneducated some people are, even though they live in one of the most developed countries in the world.

Funny all the same

[sabang]

Members of ABC TV's satirical Chaser team are set to face a hearing in July over charges laid after they drove a fake Canadian motorcade through APEC security checkpoints.

A two-week hearing has been scheduled for the charges, laid against 11 people involved in driving a convoy of three cars into APEC's multimillion-dollar high security zone on September 6 last year.

The case has been adjourned several times amid speculation the charges may be dropped.

The prosecution told the court in January it needed a further delay because fresh information had surfaced.

In seeking a further adjournment today, prosecutor Peter Morgan told the court the Director of Public Prosecutions had this morning said it was considering taking over the case from the police.

"As of 6pm last night I would have confidently said I was prosecuting this matter," Mr Morgan told the court.

He called unsuccessfully for another three-week adjournment to allow a decision to be made on who would have carriage of the case.

Chaser's APEC stunt goes to court - National - smh.com.au

Hopefully it will be laughed out of court.

[sabang]

Members of ABC TV's satirical Chaser team should know by the end of the month if charges of breaching APEC security will go ahead or be dropped.

In the Downing Centre Local Court today, a representative of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) said the director's office had just taken over the case.

Marianne Carey said the DPP was now considering "representations" from lawyers for the team and she was hopeful a decision would be made by the next court listing.

Chaser team's APEC case may be thrown out - National - smh.com.au

My guess is it will be dropped. Aussie's do not like to be perceived as Wowsers, or not up for a joke.

[Looper]

Sabang guesses right...

Police bungle sees Chaser charges binned | NEWS.com.au Entertainment

ALL charges against members of The Chaser's War on Everything were dropped today because police had given them "tacit permission" to enter the security zone at last year's APEC summit, the Director of Public Prosecutions said.
NSW Director of Public Prosecutions, Nicholas Cowdery QC said Licciardello, the group of 10 men and one woman from the ABC TV's satirical show would have a further defence open to them of being in the area for work-related purposes, because they had been following the directions of their executive producer, Julian Morrow.

Chas Licciardello, six crew and three hire car drivers had been charged with entering an APEC restricted area without justification, after driving a convoy of three cars into Sydney's multimillion-dollar high security zone on September 6.

Masquerading as a Canadian motorcade, the comedians and their crew passed though a number of security checkpoints to within metres of the Sydney hotel where US President George W. Bush was staying.

Comic Licciardello emerged from the vehicle dressed as Osama bin Laden.

The prank made international headlines, and the charges were set down for a two-week hearing in July at Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court.

Mr Cowdrey, who assumed responsibility for the case earlier this month, today announced the matter would not proceed.

Mr Cowdery said the circumstances of the case were "unusual" and his decision required some explanation.

"In the cases of all 11 accused, I am satisfied that on the evidence presently available the prosecution would not be able to negate beyond reasonable doubt the existence of an honest and reasonable - but ultimately mistaken - belief that they would not enter or be taken into the restricted area, and that, when they did enter it, it was with the permission of police," he said.

Mr Cowdery said police had offered tacit permission for the team to enter the secure zone by waving their motorcade through the checkpoints.

"Police permission, in fact, constitutes special justification for entry," he said.

"Accordingly, there is no reasonable prospect of conviction and for that reason the prosecutions should not proceed."

Mr Cowdery also said the team had been following the directions of Morrow.

"Morrow was directing the progress of all who were employed for the purposes of the stunt and they either followed or were swept along by the directions that he gave," Mr Cowdery said.

"I am also satisfied that, if the prosecution proceeded against Morrow only on the basis that his situation could be distinguished from the rest, the court would be bound to find that the motorcade entered the restricted area in error and, if the offence were otherwise proved ... it would be probable that a magistrate would dismiss the charge without conviction ... considering also Morrow's otherwise good character," he said.

"That would provide an additional discretionary basis for not proceeding in Morrow's case, in accordance with the Prosecution Guidelines."

The charges against Morrow, Licciardello, Nathan Earl, Giles Hardie, Lauren Howard, Geoffrey Lye, Alexander Morrow, Benson Simpson, Esteban Alegria, Mark Kordi and Rodrigo Pena will be formally withdrawn tomorrow.

[sabang]

AN ADVERTISEMENT for The Chaser's War On Everything DVD has been banned by Australia's largest outdoor advertising company on the grounds it is "too political".

The ad, which was planned to run on State Transit buses, features The Chaser's APEC stunt and the slogan: "The only good thing to come out of APEC."

Despite being accepted by magazines and newspapers, the ad was considered too controversial for Buspak, owned by APN News & Media's APN Outdoor.

The decision has amazed The Chaser's Julian Morrow, who approved the ad along with executives from the ABC and DVD distributor Roadshow Entertainment.

"They have flatly refused to run the artwork we have provided because it has the slogan, 'The only good thing to come out of APEC'," he said. "They say that's too political. They said they will run the ad but they don't want anything that can be construed, even jokingly, as disparaging of APEC. It's ridiculous."

Many other media outlets have accepted the ad, which depicts Morrow as a driver and Chas Licciardello as Osama bin Laden waving his fake APEC security pass from the window of a bogus Canadian motorcade.

The Chaser banned: 'too political' to carry on the buses - TV & Radio

I hope a healthy degree of vandalism will ensue to Sydneys buses.