Today Today
Encyclopedia
Today Today was a drivetime radio show on Australia
-wide radio station Triple J
, broadcast between 3:00pm and 5:30pm weekdays during 2004 and 2005. The title is a parody
of the Australian current affairs program Today Tonight
on Channel Seven
.
It was hosted by Chaser
members Chris Taylor
and Craig Reucassel
("Chris and Craig"). The theme music to the show was the opening riff to the song "She Says What She Means
" by Canadian band Sloan
The show combined political satire
, comedic discussion of the days events, and talkback from listeners with funny anecdotes on a given topic. Reucassel and Taylor also create satirical skits to play between program segments which lampoon commercial radio stations, current TV shows and topical world events. Other regular segments included the Small Talk Challenge, Two Types of People, Marketing Makeover and Pisslame Puns of the Week.
One of the shows recurring segments, Coma FM was a parody of many aspects of Australian commercial radio. These included radio hosts' nicknames, the low pitched Americanised accent, strange noises (such as the station's callsign), forced laughter at poor jokes, an emphasis on playing new music and not repeating any tracks, segments that play the "greatest hits from the 80s, 90s and mid-90s", large amounts of advertising and competitions - especially those that give away "cold hard cash". Coma FM also mocks the target audience of commercial radio with the use of callers and comments on many controversial issues such as the Bali Nine
.
In late 2004, Chris and Craig took six weeks off to rejoin The Chaser
team to produce an election special, The Chaser Decides
, during the 2004 federal election campaign. The fill in hosts were Jason Whalley and Lindsay McDougall, aka Jay and the Doctor
, who went on to become Triple J's breakfast show hosts from 2005 onwards.
On December 6, 2005, Chris and Craig broadcast the final Today Today program, and announced they and the rest of the Chaser team would be back on television in 2006. The show was The Chaser's War on Everything
. The new host for Triple J's drive timeslot was Robbie Buck
.
's Sunday afternoon show This Sporting Life
for four weeks. The show's first episode listed a single banana on eBay
.
On December 10, 2006, the program resumed in the same slot for 9 weeks over summer, billing itself as 'non-ratings period radio at its most desperate.' Listeners could often hear a TV in the background of the studio, as Chris and Craig liked to have the cricket or CNN on during the show. On the first show of 2007, Craig ran about an hour late for the show, illuminating the team's undivided devotion to the Sunday afternoon slot. The pair also predicted Naomi Robson
's appearance on dancing with the stars in 2007.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
-wide radio station Triple J
Triple J
triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
, broadcast between 3:00pm and 5:30pm weekdays during 2004 and 2005. The title is a parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of the Australian current affairs program Today Tonight
Today Tonight
Today Tonight is a controversial Australian News and Current Affairs program, produced by the Seven Network and shown weeknightly at in direct competition with rival Nine Network program A Current Affair....
on Channel Seven
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
.
It was hosted by Chaser
The Chaser
The Chaser are an Australian satirical comedian group, known for their television programmes on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation channel. The group take their name from their production of satirical newspaper, a publication known to challenge conventions of taste...
members Chris Taylor
Chris Taylor (comedian)
Christopher Thornton "Chris" Taylor is an Australian comedian, writer and former radio host from Sydney. As a member of The Chaser, he is best known for co-writing and appearing on satirical ABC Television shows CNNNN and The Chaser's War on Everything...
and Craig Reucassel
Craig Reucassel
Craig Bruce Reucassel is a television and radio comedian from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He is best known for being a member of satirical team The Chaser...
("Chris and Craig"). The theme music to the show was the opening riff to the song "She Says What She Means
She Says What She Means
"She Says What She Means" is the second single by Canadian rock band Sloan from the band's fourth studio album, "Navy Blues". The opening riff from the song was used as the theme song for the Triple J drive time radio program Today Today between 2004 and 2005....
" by Canadian band Sloan
Sloan (band)
Sloan is a Toronto-based alternative rock quartet from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Throughout their 20-year tenure Sloan has released 10 LPs , two EPs, a live album, a "best of" collection and no less than thirty singles...
The show combined political satire
Political satire
Political satire is a significant part of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing political arguments where such arguments are expressly...
, comedic discussion of the days events, and talkback from listeners with funny anecdotes on a given topic. Reucassel and Taylor also create satirical skits to play between program segments which lampoon commercial radio stations, current TV shows and topical world events. Other regular segments included the Small Talk Challenge, Two Types of People, Marketing Makeover and Pisslame Puns of the Week.
One of the shows recurring segments, Coma FM was a parody of many aspects of Australian commercial radio. These included radio hosts' nicknames, the low pitched Americanised accent, strange noises (such as the station's callsign), forced laughter at poor jokes, an emphasis on playing new music and not repeating any tracks, segments that play the "greatest hits from the 80s, 90s and mid-90s", large amounts of advertising and competitions - especially those that give away "cold hard cash". Coma FM also mocks the target audience of commercial radio with the use of callers and comments on many controversial issues such as the Bali Nine
Bali Nine
The Bali Nine is the name given to a group of nine Australians arrested on 17 April 2005, in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, in a plan to smuggle of heroin valued at approximately A$4 million from Indonesia to Australia...
.
In late 2004, Chris and Craig took six weeks off to rejoin The Chaser
The Chaser
The Chaser are an Australian satirical comedian group, known for their television programmes on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation channel. The group take their name from their production of satirical newspaper, a publication known to challenge conventions of taste...
team to produce an election special, The Chaser Decides
The Chaser Decides
The Chaser Decides is a Logie Award-winning Australian political satire based comedy program produced by The Chaser. The show provides commentary on Australian federal elections and has been broadcast in 2001, 2004 and 2007 on ABC TV...
, during the 2004 federal election campaign. The fill in hosts were Jason Whalley and Lindsay McDougall, aka Jay and the Doctor
Jay and the Doctor
Jay and the Doctor are the on-air names of Australian radio duo Jason Whalley and Lindsay McDougall, on radio station Triple J.Best known as members of punk band Frenzal Rhomb, they performed occasional late-night shifts on Triple J until 2004...
, who went on to become Triple J's breakfast show hosts from 2005 onwards.
On December 6, 2005, Chris and Craig broadcast the final Today Today program, and announced they and the rest of the Chaser team would be back on television in 2006. The show was The Chaser's War on Everything
The Chaser's War on Everything
The Chaser's War on Everything is an Australian television satirical comedy series broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation television station ABC1. It has won an AFI Award. The cast perform sketches mocking social and political issues, and often feature comedic publicity stunts...
. The new host for Triple J's drive timeslot was Robbie Buck
Robbie Buck
Robbie Buck is an Australian radio announcer best known for his work at the national youth broadcaster, Triple J...
.
Bloody Sunday
On July 16, 2006, Chris and Craig returned to Triple J for a temporary run with their show Bloody Sunday. They replaced Roy and HGRoy and HG
Roy & HG is an Australian comedy duo, comprising Greig Pickhaver in the role of "H [Harry] G Nelson" and John Doyle as "'Rampaging' Roy Slaven". Their act is an affectionate but irreverent parody of Australia's obsession with sport. Their characters based on archetypes in sports journalism: Nelson...
's Sunday afternoon show This Sporting Life
This Sporting Life (radio program)
This Sporting Life was a culturally iconic Triple J radio comedy programme, created by award-winning actor-writer-comedians John Doyle and Greig Pickhaver, who performed as their characters Roy and HG. Broadcast from 1986 to 2008, it was one of the longest-running, most popular and most successful...
for four weeks. The show's first episode listed a single banana on eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
.
On December 10, 2006, the program resumed in the same slot for 9 weeks over summer, billing itself as 'non-ratings period radio at its most desperate.' Listeners could often hear a TV in the background of the studio, as Chris and Craig liked to have the cricket or CNN on during the show. On the first show of 2007, Craig ran about an hour late for the show, illuminating the team's undivided devotion to the Sunday afternoon slot. The pair also predicted Naomi Robson
Naomi Robson
Naomi Robson is an Australian television presenter who is best known as the former presenter of the east coast edition of Today Tonight, an Australian current affairs program which is broadcast on weeknights on the Seven Network, from 1997 to 2006...
's appearance on dancing with the stars in 2007.