Open Slather

Ever since the Mavis Bramston show, Australian comedy has faced a recurrent problem .. while our writers have some funny ideas, they don't have enough to fill 42 minutes of airtime.

So the skits they write may have some genuinely funny lines .. but they .. just .. drag .. on .. too .. longgggggg.

Episode one of Open Slather was a good example.

Typical was the Gina Reinhart 'Definition of mine' skit. The use of the different meanings of the word 'Mine" was amusing - but then it wasn't amusing any more because the writers belaboured the point. 15 seconds? Funny. 30 seconds? Not so funny. More than a minute? Excruciatingly not so.

On the other hand, the running gag about drug testing WAS funny - because each gag only lasted 10 seconds.

I'll give them another couple of episodes, to see if they find their feet - but I can't give this a passing grade, based on the first outing.