The Hamster Wheel

This article is about the Australian television comedy series. For the exercise toy for rodents, see Hamster wheel.
The Hamster Wheel
The Hamster Wheel logo
Genre Comedy, satire
Created by The Chaser
Starring Andrew Hansen
Chas Licciardello
Julian Morrow
Craig Reucassel
Chris Taylor
Country of origin Australia
Original language(s) English
No. of series 2
No. of episodes 16 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Julian Morrow
Martin Robertson
Producer(s) Andy Nehl
Location(s) Sydney
Running time 30 minutes
Production company(s) Giant Dwarf Pty. Ltd.
Cordell Jigsaw Zapruder
Release
Original network ABC1
Original release 5 October 2011 – 14 November 2012
Chronology
Preceded by Yes We Canberra!
External links
Official Website

The Hamster Wheel is an Australian television satirical comedy series broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) television station ABC1. It is created and presented by the satirical group The Chaser.

Production

In July 2011, TV Tonight reported that The Chaser were working on developing a new television show.[1] In August 2011, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation announced the Chaser team would return in a new show titled The Hamster Wheel.[2] The first of eight episodes aired on 5 October 2011.[3] In November 2011, it was confirmed that The Chaser would return to television in 2012, however, it was not confirmed whether they would return with another season of The Hamster Wheel.[4]

On 31 August 2012, ABC announced The Hamster Wheel would return for a second series.[5][6] On 26 September 2012, the second series premiered on ABC1.[7]

Show format

The Hamster Wheel is set within a large hamster cage, with a small hamster, named after their desk Horace, is hidden in one of the scenes. The locations of Horace are revealed on The Hamster Wheel website shortly after the airing of the episode.[8]

Segments

Primary

Recurring

Episodes

No Airdate Viewers Rank
Timeslot Day Week
Series 1
1 5 October 2011 857,000 1 10 30 [13][14]
2 12 October 2011 823,000 1 11 35 [15][16]
3 19 October 2011 815,000 1 10 N/A [17]
4 26 October 2011 866,000 1 11 N/A [18]
5 2 November 2011 766,000 2 13 N/A [19]
6 9 November 2011 876,000 1 9 24 [20][21]
7 16 November 2011 920,000 1 9 N/A [22]
8 23 November 2011 950,000 1 9 N/A [23]
Series 2
1 26 September 2012 784,000 3 12 N/A [5][7][24]
2 3 October 2012 791,000 2 12 N/A [5][25]
3 10 October 2012 843,000 2 12 N/A [5][26]
4 17 October 2012 875,000 2 11 N/A [5][27]
5 24 October 2012 795,000 2 14 N/A [5][28]
6 31 October 2012 671,000 2 15 N/A [5][29]
7 7 November 2012 639,000 3 15 N/A [5][30]
8 14 November 2012 606,000 3 17 N/A [5][31]

Reception and ratings

Initially, the return of The Chaser team to television was welcomed; however, many criticised the lack of Chaser-esque stunts in The Hamster Wheel. Paul Kalina from the Sydney Morning Herald stated The Hamster Wheel was "one of their best outings yet" and left him asking for more.[11] David Knox from TV Tonight commented that "by the time show was over I felt a bit exhausted but only having enjoyed a handful of laughs".[32] Throughout the first series, The Hamster Wheel retained an average viewing audience of approximately 860,000 viewers, ranking it first for its time slot for all but one of the aired episodes.[13][15][17][18][19][20][22][23]

The second series debuted to a smaller audience of 784,000, ranking 3rd for the timeslot and 12th for the night.[24]

References

  1. ↑ Knox, David (26 July 2011). "Secret project for The Chaser". TV Tonight. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  2. ↑ "Chaser Admits To Attacking Hamster". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 31 August 2011. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  3. ↑ Vickery, Colin (6 October 2011). "Review: The Hamster Wheel by The Chaser on ABC1". Herald Sun. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  4. ↑ Knox, David (11 November 2011). "The Chaser boys back in 2012". TV Tonight. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Knox, David (31 August 2012). "Returning: The Hamster Wheel". TV Tonight. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  6. ↑ Hardie, Giles (31 August 2012). "Demanding prima donnas - Chaser chastened by mock ABC press release". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  7. 1 2 Knox, David (27 September 2012). "Chaser's ratings test". TV Tonight. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
  8. ↑ "Where is Horace? - The Hamster Wheel - ABC TV". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 1 January 2011. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  9. ↑ The Hamster Wheel (5 October 2011). "Episode 1". Video. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  10. ↑ Ep1
  11. 1 2 Kalina, Paul (26 October 2011). "The Hamster Wheel". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  12. ↑ Bastow, Clem (28 October 2011). "Please put this 'Hamster' down". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  13. 1 2 Knox, David (3 October 2011). "Week 41". TV Tonight. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  14. ↑ Knox, David (9 October 2011). "NRL Grand Final tops ratings week, but Seven takes prize.". TV Tonight. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  15. 1 2 Knox, David (10 October 2011). "Week 42". TV Tonight. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  16. ↑ Knox, David (16 October 2011). "ABC1's Doc Martin beats Nine, TEN's best all week.". TV Tonight. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  17. 1 2 AndrewB (20 October 2011). "Free To Air TV Ratings, Wednesday October 19th, 2011". Throng. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  18. 1 2 AndrewB (27 October 2011). "Free To Air TV Ratings, Wednesday October 26th, 2011". Throng. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  19. 1 2 AndrewB (3 November 2011). "Free To Air TV Ratings, Wednesday November 2nd, 2011". Throng. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  20. 1 2 AndrewB (10 November 2011). "Free To Air TV Ratings, Wednesday November 9th, 2011". Throng. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  21. ↑ AndrewB (15 November 2011). "Free to Air TV Ratings, Week 46 (November 6–12), 2011". Throng. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  22. 1 2 AndrewB (17 November 2011). "Free To Air TV Ratings, Wednesday November 16th, 2011". Throng. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  23. 1 2 Knox, David (24 November 2011). "Wednesday 23 November 2011". TV Tonight. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
  24. 1 2 Knox, David (27 September 2012). "Wednesday 26 September 2012". TV Tonight. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
  25. ↑ Knox, David (4 October 2012). "Wednesday 3 October 2012". TV Tonight. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  26. ↑ Knox, David (11 October 2012). "Wednesday 10 October 2012". TV Tonight. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  27. ↑ Knox, David (18 October 2012). "Wednesday 17 October 2012". TV Tonight. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
  28. ↑ Knox, David (25 October 2012). "Wednesday 24 October 2012". TV Tonight. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  29. ↑ Knox, David (1 November 2012). "Wednesday 31 October 2012". TV Tonight. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  30. ↑ Knox, David (8 November 2012). "Wednesday 7 November 2012". TV Tonight. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
  31. ↑ Knox, David (15 November 2012). "Wednesday 14 November 2012". TV Tonight. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
  32. ↑ Knox, David (6 October 2011). "The Hamster Wheel". TV Tonight. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
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