IT'S BEEN 20 YEARS SINCE THE DEBUT OF CNNNN
I remember the apartment I was in and the couch I was on when I sat down to watch the first episode of The Chaser’s CNNNN. I remember laughing a lot. I also remember not being able to tell the guys apart. It’s embarrassing to admit because now I see them as so distinct. But back then their faces and voices blended into one hilarious lump of middle-class smart-arsery. Except one of them also sang.
Do you start the CNNNN story at Sydney Grammar School where Dominic Knight, Chas Licciardello and Charles Firth launched the student newspaper, The Tiger, that made cult figures of teachers and mocked serious events?
Or do we skip that and just get to the part where Knight, Licciardello and Firth met Julian Morrow, Craig Reucassel and Andrew Hansen at the University of Sydney newspaper, Honi Soit, before launching a satirical newspaper called The Chaser out of Firth’s bedroom?
That story’s incomplete as well because, at the time, Chris Taylor was still a journalist for the ABC in Melbourne. But it wouldn’t take long for him to submit a few articles to the Chaser, then pack his bags and join the enterprise full time.
The birth of CNNNN owes a lot to Andrew Denton subscribing to The Chaser and being impressed enough to take the team to meet Sandra Levy, ABC’s then head of programming. That meeting spawned The Election Chaser – a four-episode series leading up to the 2001 election - and then CNNNN, which stood for Chaser NoN-stop News Network and bore the slogan “We Report, You Believe”.
Other slogans it bore, included:
“Guaranteed twice as true as regular news.”
“Bringing you other people's pain.”
“More war than any other network.”
“70% commercial-free.”
“Trust us. You can trust us.”
“One network under God.”
The first season was nine episodes and parodied the then ubiquitous 24 hour news channels like Fox, Sky and CNN and won the team a Logie for Most Outstanding Comedy Program.
After CNNNN, the Chaser would go on to make multiple, hugely successful TV and radio shows. And although the newspaper folded in 2005, it lives-on online and is now one of Australia’s most popular websites.
But back to CNNNN. The part of the show I loved most - and probably the real reason I’m writing this post - was its ticker. Not its heart - it wasn’t that kind of show - but its famous news-crawl at the bottom of the screen that I kept pausing to read as the show unfolded. It’s as funny now as it was in 2002.
CNNNN NEWSBAR QUOTES
TAFE lecturer still describing herself as an "academic"
Parent suspects Bob Marley song may really be about marijuana
Larry Emdur troubled by lingering sense of emptiness
Bank of Nigeria puzzled by its poor reputation
Non-Italian man uses Italian accent to order Macchiato
Perpetually single guy tries to make it look like his choice
Fat, short, bearded man shortage for truckdriving"
Cocaine user thinks threesome's a certainty
TV addict draws line at Marshall Law
University academic decides to cultivate an eccentricity
Plans for "huge" Friday night not realised
Actor's opinion on world events apparently newsworthy
Gourmet pizza defined by inclusion of sundried tomatoes
Australian actress pretends she still calls Australia home
Holden and Ford currently in peace talks
Check out these podcasts with The Chaser’s Chris Taylor and Julian Morrow.