The Panel

This page concerns the Australian show. For the Irish version, see The Panel (Ireland).

The Panel is an Australian television show that first aired in 1998. It was very popular in its first few years. It takes the form of a chat show, with a panel of five people who discuss and joke about items in the news, current affairs, and pop culture. The show has always run at 9.30pm on Wednesday night (except for special Christmas Day editions). The Panel was initially slated to run for one hour, and sometimes would finish late, delaying the live news broadcast that is scheduled for 10.30pm immediately afterwards.

The show is produced by Working Dog Productions, which includes several members of the former D-Generation and the wildly popular The Late Show. It is broadcast by Network Ten and affiliates; it is also simulcast on the Triple M radio network.

Hosts

The regular hosts are Glenn Robbins, Rob Sitch, Tom Gleisner, Kate Langbroek and Santo Cilauro (usually sitting in this order from screen left to right at the desk). However, guest panelists are quite common, with other Australian comedians, actors, and international guests (eg Harry Shearer) regularly taking a spot at the desk.

Brian Nankervis performs warmup for the audience. The floor manager is Annie Maver, wife of Australian comedian Tony Martin. She has a loud, distinctive laugh that is often heard on-mike, but she is never seen on-screen. She is therefore sometimes referred to as 'The Phantom Laugher'.

Guests

Guests include music and movie stars, sports heroes and political figures, but also many lower profile individuals who have interesting stories to tell, such as round-the-world sailor Jesse Martin, or sexual health physician Dr. Cindy Pan. One of the most "excruciating" interviews, as Tom Gleisner described it, was in 2002 when Tommy Lee Jones was in the studio with Will Smith to promote their film Men in Black II. Jones did not respond positively to any of the good humour of the interviewers and provided very brief answers.

An interesting subject of interview was the inept All Aussie Adventures host, Russell Coight. Glenn Robbins (who plays Coight) did not appear as a panelist that week.

Spin-offs

The success of the show has resulted in successful spin off shows in Ireland (hosted by Dara Ó Briain) and New Zealand (hosted by Cal Wilson). A mock spin-off, supposedly the Afghanistan version, was introduced on the 2005 Christmas episode.

It has also led to the release of albums in the Music - Live from the Panel series, consisting of songs performed on the show by local and international artists. Performances on The Panel are unique in that they are performed acoustically or with minimal instrumental backing, as opposed to a full band.

Current

The show is currently on hiatus and has not been broadcast in 2005 or 2006, only returning for a Christmas special (including live ads, music, guests and the infamous Christmas Panto). A special Christmas night episode had been an annual tradition since 2003. In 2005 the team caught up with Australian Twin Sisters The Veronicas on their short trip home from the USA.

Network Ten and The Panel have a reputation for litigiousness, and have been parties to a number of important media law cases. They are in a long running dispute with the Nine Network in the Federal Court of Australia regarding an episode of The Panel and its broadcasts of several cuttings of Nine shows. Several appeals and related decisions have been made in the Federal Court (FCA), the Full Court of the Federal Court (FCAFC) and the High Court of Australia (HCA):

• 1st [2001] FCA 108
• 2nd [2001] FCA 841
• 3rd [2002] FCAFC 146
• 4th [2004] HCA 14
• 5th [2005] FCAFC 53
• 6th [2005] FCAFC 194

See also

• List of Australian television series

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