List of Good News Week recurring segments

This is an incomplete list of recurring segments featured on the Australian satirical game show Good News Week

Good News Week

Good News Week is an Australian satirical panel game show hosted by Paul McDermott that initially aired from 19 April 1996 to 27 May 2000, and resumed on 11 February 2008 to 9 May 2011. The show aired first on ABC TV before it was bought by Network Ten in 1999...

. Each episode usually consists of four to five of these recurring segments plus the regular segment of Strange But True.

Strange But True

In Strange But True, each team is given three clues regarding a "strange but true" news story. The clues are presented in the second round of the show and then revisited in the final round, when the teams must use the clues to determine the story. The first two clues are represented by props, with Robins often forced to wear a humiliating headpiece, mask or costume as his clue. The final clue is a song performed by one of the panellists, a special musical guest act or occasionally McDermott. In the initial presentation of the clues, only a verse and chorus is performed. When revisiting the clues later in the show the song is performed in full, sometimes as a whole musical routine involving other team members or the whole cast.

Panel Segments

Panel segments, listed in alphabetical order, involve games that encourage discussion about possible answers amongst team members. The first round of the show is usually a panel segment.

3-And-A-Half Corners

3-And-A-Half Corners involves questions about news from around the world.

7 Days In 7 Seconds

In 7 Days In 7 Seconds, teams are shown a quick montage of seven stories from the week. The teams alternate identifying each story until the seventh story which is thrown open to the fastest responding team. At the end of the segment the images from the montage collect on screen as McDermott recounts each story, often obscuring his face as a running gag. In the 2009 finale, the game was played as 12 Months In 7 Seconds using stories from the year.

A Thousand Words

A Thousand Words involves each team offering their best captions for images from the week’s news.

Animal Magnetism

In Animal Magnetism, each team is shown three images of different animals that they must match to three images of various objects or people to illustrate a story from the week's news.

Buzz Words

In Buzz Words, teams are required to elaborate on a given term or phrase relating to news from the week.

Giving Headline

Giving Headline involves identifying news stories from their newspaper headline.

Name Game

In Name Game, McDermott asks each panel member a question where the answer is somebody's name.

News For The Backward

In News For The Backward, McDermott presents each team with an answer to a question about a news story, and the team must identify that question as the answer.

Newsflash

Newsflash, previously named Fast Money, is played against a timer, where teams alternate answering questions about stories of the week until the last question which is thrown open to either team.

Spot The Bull

In Spot The Bull, each team is presented with a news story and must identify which of three quotes was the one actually said. A video clip of the person quoted is played to reveal the correct answer.

Survey Says

Survey Says is a multiple choice game where each team must identify the correct finding from a conducted survey.

Warren

In Warren, each team is given three headlines regarding the same subject, but its identity has been concealed by the name “Warren”. In this segment, the audience cries “Warren!” following Paul’s explanation of the game.

What's The Story?

In What’s The Story, each team is shown a series of clips and images from a news story of the week that they must identify.

Individual Segments

These games, listed in alphabetical order, are played by an individual panellist, or occasionally a specially appearing non-panellist guest, on behalf of their team and usually away from the panel desk. Panellists sometimes play against an opposing team panellist, or are individually quizzed by McDermott. Games from individual segments are typically less news-oriented than the games from panel segments, and as such are more suitable for international guests who are unlikely to be up to date with Australian news.

Blow Up Your Pants

Blow Up Your Pants, previously named Scattegories, where the panellist enters an apparently sound-proof booth in which pieces of paper each printed with a letter are blown around the booth. The panellist must catch a letter and is asked questions where all answers must begin with that letter. Questions usually refer to both news of the week and random trivia.

Border Insecurity

Border Insecurity, a game specifically for international guests, is a quiz about Australian culture.

Buzzers Of Death

In Buzzers Of Death, a panellist from each team competes against the other in the news topic of bizarre, unique deaths or accidents regarding people who "remove themselves from the gene pool in very special ways" by pressing their buzzers, which trigger a small explosion in the ends of two broken wires held by McDermott. The only rule of the game is that buzzers cannot be pressed until each multiple choice answer is listed, although panellists often violate this rule much to McDermott’s frustration. At the end of the segment, McDermott brings the broken ends of the wires together, setting off a chain of explosions that usually ends with the destruction of a part of the set or injury to McDermott.

Couch Potato

In Couch Potato, a panellist from each team sits on a lounge chair and is interviewed by McDermott in a mock psychiatrist-type session. The first part of the interview consists of a word association, followed by McDermott suggesting to “go a little deeper” with more structured questions.

Clash Of The Titans

Clash Of The Titans is a game where a panellist from each team face off over questions about the news or general knowledge, crying out their own name as their buzzer. However, panellists often challenge this rule, resulting in the use of nicknames to match up the number of syllables in each panellist’s buzzer (as with “Wardo” and “Scottie” in a round between Felicity Ward

Felicity Ward

Felicity Ward is an Australian comedian, best known for her TV appearances on Spicks and Specks, Thank God You're Here, Good News Week and as a writer/performer in the Channel 10 Network television programme The Ronnie Johns Half Hour...

and Denise Scott

Denise Scott

Denise Margaret Adelaide Scott is a Melbourne-based stand-up comedian, actor and radio personality.-Career:She has appeared frequently on Australian television since her regular slot on ABC TV's The Big Gig in 1990, and a weekly segment on Tonight Live with Steve Vizard...

), or comically long names and words (such as Adam Spencer’s

Adam Spencer

Adam Barrington Spencer is an Australian radio presenter, comedian, and media personality. He first came to fame when he won his round of the comedic talent search Raw Comedy in the mid-1990s...

use of “Adam Barrington Spencer” or Colin Lane’s

Colin Lane

Colin Stuart Lane is a comedian and actor, best known for being one-half of former comedy duo, Lano and Woodley.-Lano and Woodley:...

“disestablishmentarianism”).

Dishing The Dirt

In Dishing The Dirt, the panellist is given two possible answers for questions regarding entertainment, gossip and other tabloid news.

Know Your Enemy

Know Your Enemy involves a panellist from each team facing off over questions about their opponent, which have been referenced from Wikipedia.

Little Pricks

In Little Pricks, a panellist from each team face off over questions regarding news or general knowledge to throw darts at a wall of balloons, which contains four images of well-known people at the centre. Points are awarded for identifying the person in each image.

Magazine Mastermind

In Magazine Mastermind, a panellist from each team is given a magazine on an obscure topic to study before the show, then must answer questions about the subject.

So You Think You Can Mime

So You Think You Can Mime, previously named Bad Street Theatre, requires the panellist to mime a news story from the week to their team which is often quite unusual for additional comedic impact. The name of the game refers to the dance show So You Think You Can Dance
So You Think You Can Dance Australia
So You Think You Can Dance Australia was an Australian version of the American reality dance-off series So You Think You Can Dance. The show is hosted by Natalie Bassingthwaighte, with Jason Coleman, Matt Lee and Bonnie Lythgoe acting as the judges....

.

Speed Dating

In Speed Dating, panellists pair up with an opposing team panellist at a bar table and compete for the buzzer to guess the name of a newsmaker from three single word clues. The pairs rotate after each set of clues.

Target Of Opportunity

In Target Of Opportunity, the panellist from each team are shown images of people making news and discuss the stories in a critical manner.

Up Cut

Up Cut requires the panellist to rearrange words on a magnet board to make three headlines from the news of the week.

Would You Believe

In Would You Believe, the panellist must guess which of the three news stories recounted by the opposing panel members is true. The panellist may ask questions, to which the person possessing the real story must answer truthfully while the others are permitted to lie.

What Would An Idiot Say?

What Would an Idiot Say?, previously named Are You Stupider Than A 5th Grader? is a game where the panellist is given a question from a quiz show and three “superbly dumb” answers, of which one the panellist must identify was actually given as an answer by a contestant.

Group Segments

Group segments, listed in alphabetical order, involve games where all six panellists participate without formal team division or scoring.

7 Things For The Bin

In 7 Things For The Bin, panellists sit around a rubbish bin and rant about a news story which they never want to hear of again, then “bin” the story by throwing their magazine and newspaper props into the bin. However, this often extends to any topic annoying the panellist. Despite its name, McDermott only occasionally contributes a seventh “thing” for the bin.

Hot Spot

In Hot Spot, McDermott stands amongst the audience and asks the panellists on stage questions about the news of the week, to which they must respond with witty one-liners

One-liner joke

A one-liner is a joke that is delivered in a single line. A good one-liner is said to be pithy.Comedians and actors use this comedic method as part of their act, e.g...

while standing on a large yellow spot.

Special Segments

These games, listed in alphabetical order, are typically one-off occurrences designed for special guests or occasions.

Good News Week Kitchen

Good News Week Kitchen required each team to identify newsmakers from the week as represented by different food dishes, played for the occasion of MasterChef Australia
Masterchef Australia
MasterChef Australia is a Logie award winning Australian competitive cooking game show based on the original British MasterChef. It is produced by FremantleMedia Australia and screens on Network Ten. Restaurateur and chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston serve as...

judges Matt Preston

Matt Preston

Matt Preston is a British-Australian food journalist and restaurant critic. He is best known for his role as a judge on Network Ten's MasterChef Australia and his weekly food column in the Herald Sun 'Taste' supplement...

and George Calombaris

George Calombaris

George Calombaris is an Australian chef and a judge of the Network Ten series MasterChef Australia. Prior to his role on MasterChef, Calombaris regularly appeared on the daytime Ten cooking show Ready Steady Cook. He owns three restaurants in Melbourne and one in Mykonos, Greece...

appearing as panellists.

Making Your Mark

Making Your Mark was a quiz about the environment and sustainability, played for the occasion of Making Your Mark week, Network Ten's

Network Ten

Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...

environmental initiative.

Political Mastermind

Political Mastermind involved a quiz about Australian political history, played for the occasion of a special guest appearance by then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd

Kevin Rudd

Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...

Sporting Mastermind

Sporting Mastermind was a sport-themed quiz, played for the occasion of the 2010 Commonwealth Games

2010 Commonwealth Games

The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games, were held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 2010. A total of 6,081 athletes from 71 Commonwealth nations and dependencies competed in 21 sports and 272 events, making it the largest Commonwealth Games till date...

The Great Debate

In The Great Debate, teams captains Mikey Robins

Mikey Robins

Mikel Mason "Mikey" Robins is an Australian media personality, comedian and writer. He is best-known for the satirical game show Good News Week, which ran on the ABC and Network Ten between 1996 and 2000, and returned again when the series was resurrected in February 2008.-Personal life/health...

and Claire Hooper

Claire Hooper

Claire Hooper is an Australian stand-up comedian and writer. She appeared as a team captain on the 2008 revival of Good News Week on Network Ten and previously was a regular on The Sideshow, appearing with Paul McDermott...

portrayed opposition leader Tony Abbott

Tony Abbott

Anthony John "Tony" Abbott is the Leader of the Opposition in the Australian House of Representatives and federal leader of the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott has represented the seat of Warringah since the 1994 by-election...

and Prime Minister Julia Gillard

Julia Gillard

Julia Eileen Gillard is the 27th and current Prime Minister of Australia, in office since June 2010.Gillard was born in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales and migrated with her family to Adelaide, Australia in 1966, attending Mitcham Demonstration School and Unley High School. In 1982 Gillard moved...

, respectively, and responded to questions on party policies asked by McDermott in a parody of the 2010 leaders debate

Leaders debate

In jurisdictions which use the parliamentary system of government or a similar system, leaders debates are often held, usually during a general election campaign. These debates are normally televised and are often organized by one or more television stations....

. On a second occasion, leaders were portrayed by panellists Peter Berner

Peter Berner

Peter Berner is an Australian comedian, radio and television presenter, probably best known as host of television's The Einstein Factor.-Comedy:He has been involved in the Australian comedy scene since the 1990s...

and Corinne Grant

Corinne Grant

Corinne Grant is an Australian comedian and television presenter.-Career:After briefly studying as a nurse in Wodonga, she embarked upon a career as an actor in Melbourne, obtaining a degree in drama. After graduating, Grant started doing stand-up comedy to overcome her stage-fright. Her first...