The Sun-Herald

The Tribal Mind: Shock to the top

To learn how Hollywood finally discovered Australia, go to Who We Are.

by David Dale
YOU be the judge. Was The Chaser's much lamented satire on sentimental fundraisers significant enough to warrant a place in the top 20 list of Australia's Most Memorable Media Moments?

In favour of its inclusion is the fact that the ABC shut down The Chaser's War On Everything for two weeks and demoted the Head of TV Comedy for her failure to censor the sketch. Against its inclusion is the fact that it was not original. As Media Watch pointed out last Monday, the Chaser team copied a sketch from a show called The Mansion on Foxtel's Comedy Channel ("No trip to Disneyland for you, kid, but 50 per cent off your next set of prints from Photo Plus").

And if we were to place it in the all time top 20, that would give the Chaser team two gurnseys, because their 2007 APEC stunt already appears in number 13 spot. Not that there's a particular rule against any program double-dipping. Number 96 and Big Brother each make two appearances. But the over-representation issue is something to bear in mind as you ponder which of these shocking, stirring and inspiring incidents might be replaced by the Make-A-Wish sketch:

Australia's Most Memorable Media Moments
1 Prime Minister Bob Hawke cries as he confesses to being an alcoholic and an adulterer on Clive Robertson 's Newsworld (1989).
2 Graham Kennedy is banned from live television for doing crow imitations that start with an "f" (1975).
3 Joe Hasham performs TV's first gay kiss, at a time when homosexuality is a crime, on Number 96 (1974).
4 Steve Irwin holds his baby while feeding a crocodile (2004).
5 Offended by an item about kangaroo genitals, Channel Nine boss Kerry Packer pulls off Doug Mulray's Naughtiest Home Videos halfway through the first episode (1997).
6 Big Brother contestant Merlin protests detention of boat people by holding up a sign "Free th refugees" (2004).
7 Channel Ten toughens its censorship procedures after contestant John exposes his penis during Big Brother (2005).
8 A Current Affair host Tracey Grimshaw tells viewers she was "absolutely miserable" when she found out chef Gordon Ramsay had called her a lesbian and an "old ugly pig" (2009).
9 The Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, is drunk at the Melbourne Cup (1977).
10 Singer Normie Rowe and broadcaster Ron Casey fight over republicanism on The Midday Show (1991).
11 Ken Shorter puts his hand up Rowena Wallace's skirt in You Can't See Round Corners (1967)
12 A reporter resigns from Today Tonight after a story about a nursing home patient being kept in chains is revealed to be fictitious (2007).
13 The Chaser team show footage of their arrest for breaching security at the APEC summit (2007).
14 The Block features gay renovators (2003).
15 Richard Carleton drops dead while reporting from the Beaconsfield mine rescue site (2006).
16 Number 96 shows TV's first bare breasts (1973).
17 A Catholic bishop urges viewers to sell their Ampol shares as a protest against Ampol's sponsorship of The Mavis Bramston Show, which has satirised organised religion (1965).
18 Bandstand host Brian Henderson, 35, is revealed to be dating 16 year old Mardi Ozoux (1966). They marry when she turns 18.
19 60 Minutes pays former flight attendant Lisa Robertson $60,000 to tell the tale of her toilet tryst with actor Ralph Fiennes and her possible pregnancy (2007).
20 Mercedes Corby wins a defamation case against Today Tonight, which claimed she had smuggled marijuana (2008).

Go to Comments to suggest any other essentials for the Top 20, and where the latest Chaser fuss should go.

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). For daily updates on Australian attitudes, bookmark http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.