Micallef

This article first appeared in the Age, on June 21, 2003

Apart from a weakness for David Letterman, the Tonight Show genre has passed my by. Too young for Graham Kennedy, too aware of glass coffee table jokes for Don Lane, too old for Rove, I have struggled on for 39 years without a Tonight show to call my own - until Micallef Tonight (Channel 9, Monday, 9.30pm). It makes me laugh. A lot.

But as you might remember, I was unable to pick Miss July 2002 in So you want to be a Playboy Playmate? So I am not sure that the fact I like the show is good news. This is my concern: will Micallef Tonight last if Micallef keeps himself at what I call an ironic, but others may call an arrogant, distance? He gives off certain vibe of not being convinced by either the style of show, or the fact that he is hosting it - though that is why I like it. (And his Simon Crean jokes are good).

As those who loved Welcher & Welcher know, Micallef gets more mileage out of being a bad, not a good host. Where Letterman, McManus or Jay Leno use charm, Micallef freezes. In the first week he didn't say a thing in the interviews, though by the second week he made jokes at his own expense and said he'd decided that he'd give questions a go. When Warren and Gavin, those loveable gay boys from The Block (Channel 9, Sunday, 6.30pm) were on a couple of weeks ago, Micallef was so graceless I began to suspect homophobia. Perhaps it was just his obvious discomfort at the cross promotion Channel 9 was engaging in. And you could tell he wanted to make a million mean jokes when he introduced Danni Minogue. He made do with just one - watching his competition, Andrew Denton, on television while she sang. I thought that was funny. But I bet she didn't. And that's the fine line in a show like this. When does edgy stop being funny and start being downright snobby?

Not that I blame Micallef for watching Enough Rope (ABC, Monday, 9.30pm). If its interview you want over laughs Denton slays Micallef Tonight. The comparison is tough when Micallef is just warming up - but when you put two of Australia's funniest and smartest men head to head, it is inevitable. The other night I flicked between the two shows until I stopped at the following exchange between Denton and mountaineer Joe Simpson, who, 20,000 feet up, with a broken leg, had his own problems with rope.

Joe Simpson: My hands were totally frostbitten, and I was going to kill Simon. I knew that he would just get pulled off. I was hanging there for about an hour and a half. It was about minus 20. With a 50-mile-an-hour wind, that puts the wind chill down in minus 70. Andrew Denton: Did you expect Simon to cut the rope? Joe Simpson: No, I was a bit surprised by that one, actually.

Micaleff is going to have to work on his empathy and conversational skills before he ever gets an interview like that.

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