ABC1 is offering up some new Australian comedies for Thursday night, and lure of bogans and dating brought in viewers.

Upper Middle Bogan starring Annie Maynard, Glenn Robbins and Michala Banas, is about a working class woman named Bess who discovers she was adopted and is shocked to find that her birth parents head up a drag racing team in the outer suburbs and brings her family to meet her birth family.

I personally don’t know much about the drag racing culture, but I can only assume that Robbins, Banas and Robyn Malcolm are hitting the mark perfectly as the Wheelers, a family of children giving birth to children (Wayne and Julie were apparently in their mid teens when Julie fell pregnant with Bess) who love their footy, drag racing and beers around the outdoor dining table.

Banas in particular is a highlight, moving on from bitchy Tiffany Turner (Winners & Losers) to playing the belching, cursing and screeching Amber Wheeler.

Following on from Upper Middle Bogan is the Peter Helliar created Its A Date.  A sort of narrated-reality-comedy-drama look at the troublesome world of dating, with each episode taking focus on a different topic.  Thursday night’s “When should you end a date” saw Helliar playing opposite to an off-character Lisa McCune while TV Chef Poh Ling Yeow (who was surprisingly good) played opposite Dave Lawson.  The eight part series features a slew of well known Australian actors from Denise Scott to Asher Keddie to Nadine Garner and Stephen Curry.

It’s A Date brought in 8777,000 viewers and won it’s timeslot.

Not a surprise.  The show is funny.  Lisa McCune getting smashed on margaritas then ending up in a strip club receiving a lap dance off a busty stripper is not something you see on TV everyday!

Of the two, It’s A Date won me over more than Upper Middle Bogan but I adore Michala Banas and will happily watch her groan “It’s F*cking Reflux!” on a weekly basis!

Both Upper Middle Bogan and It’s A Date air Thursday nights on ABC1 8:30pm/9pm respectively.

 

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• Upper Middle Bogan delivers strongly for ABC1 (mumbrella.com.au)