Fast Forward (TV Series) - Sketches and Content

Sketches and Content

Each episode of Fast Forward featured regular characters, a news-based segment, a major parody of a well known television show or film, lampoons of television commercials, political satire, particularly in a segment using the Rubbery Figures political puppets.

Some of the most memorable regular characters included

• Marg Downeys; SBS Presenter

• Magda Szubanskis; Pixie Anne Wheatley; Chenille the Beautician (with Marg Downey); the Ugly Couple (with Peter Moon)

• Steve Vizard and Peter Moons; Advertising executives, Brent Smythe and Barry; Indian Rug Fakari salesmen;

• Michael Veitch (with Steve Vizard); gay flight attendants

• Gerry Connolloy's; the Queen; Joh Bjelke Petersen

• Jane Turner (with Peter Moon); Russian news presenters;

• Steve Vizard; Darren Hunch

• Ernie Dingo; Robert Gottliebsen

• Steve Blackburn and Geoff Brookes; the Dodgy Brothers

Some of the most memorable sketches included Gina Riley, Jane Turner and Magda Szubanski's Kath and Kim, which would later give rise to the spin–off series of the same name; Dumb Street, a parody of Home and Away and Neighbours; a lampoon of Skippy; Moon and Vizard breaking up in their parody of Kung Fu;

The political puppets Rubbery Figures were made more “commercial” than on the ABC by inserting them into popular situations outside the political Canberra environment. This led to the Star Trek parody where Paul Keating was Mr. Spock and Bob Hawke was captain Kirk. Rubbery Figures was a huge hit and a crucial element in the early success of Fast Forward.

The full length TV or Movie parodies which were “stripped” through each the one hour episodes were:

1989 Series

• Episode 1 Midday show with Don Lane and Jana Wendt, Bourke's Backyard
• Episode 3 Friday the 13th, Geoffrey Robertson's Hypothetical
• Episode 5 The 1989 Logie Awards
• Episode 7 A Night on Manhattan, Batman
• Episode 11 The Towering Poseidon Tidal Earthquake '1977
• Episode 12 Candid Camera
• Episode 13 Beijing TV News
• Episode 15 Tell the Truth
• Episode 16 The Cosby Show, Batman, Beijing TV news
• Episode 17 Batman, MTV
• Episode 18 The Addams Family
• Episode 19 Casablanca
• Episode 20 Get Smart
• Episode 21 Hogan's Heroes
• Episode 22 Lost in Space

1990 Series

• Episode 1 Kung-Fu
• Episode 2 Hawaii Five-O
• Episode 3 A Country Practice
• Episode 4 The Beverly Hillbillies, Four Corners
• Episode 5 The Golden Girls, Beach Party Massacre
• Episode 6 Happy Days
• Episode 7 New Faces
• Episode 8 The Flintstones
• Episode 9 I Dream of Jeannie, NBC Today Show
• Episode 10 Doctor Who
• Episode 11 The Adventures of Superman, Donahue
• Episode 12 Prisoner, Floyd on Australian Cooking
• Episode 13 Play School, Mister Ed
• Episode 14 Sale of the Century, That's Dancing
• Episode 15 The Patty Duke Show
• Episode 16 Sale of the Century, James Bond Gold Finger
• Episode 17 Perry Mason
• Episode 18 Bonanza, Seven Samurai
• Episode 19 Fantasy Island, Dick Smith
• Episode 20 Skippy, Bewitched, Wheel of Fortune
• Episode 21 The Partridge Family
• Episode 22 The Sullivan's
• Episode 23 Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, To the Manor Born
• Episode 24 Gilligan's Island
• Episode 25 Cleopatra/The Fall of the Roman Empire, Agatha Christie
• Episode 26 Pride and Prejudice, The Munsters

1991 Series

• Episode 1 M*A*S*H
• Episode 3 Family Feud
• Episode 4 Batman, Thomas The Tank Engine
• Episode 5 Star Trek
• Episode 6 Donahue
• Episode 7 Are You Being Served?
• Episode 8 Miami Vice
• Episode 9 The Adventures of Robin Hood
• Episode 10 Blind Date
• Episode 11 The Six Million Dollar Man
• Episode 12 Dallas
• Episode 13 The Poseidon Adventure
• Episode 14 I Love Lucy
• Episode 15 Dracula
• Episode 16 Skippy, Embassy
• Episode 17 Sherlock Holmes and The Hound of the Baskervilles
• Episode 18 Charlie's Angels
• Episode 19 Petticoat Junction
• Episode 20 Alien, All Creatures Great and Small
• Episode 21 Lost in Space
• Episode 22 Fantastic Voyage
• Episode 23 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
• Episode 24 Oprah, Young Talent Time
• Episode 25 Miss Teen USA
• Episode 26 The Midday Show, The Saturday Show

1992 Series

• Episode 1 Star Wars, The Dating Game, 60 Minutes
• Episode 2 The Flying Nun, Flipper, The Book Show, Dumb Street
• Episode 3 Apocalypse Now, America's Funniest Bloopers, Backchat, Amazing Stories, A Current Affair
• Episode 4 Frankenstein, Mother and Son, Donahue
• Episode 5 Hard Copy, Godzilla, New Faces, The Book Show, Edith Piaf
• Episode 6 The Movie Show, Burke's Backyard, The Hunt for Red October, Four Corners
• Episode 7 Picnic at hanging rock, Four Corners
• Episode 8 The Wizard of Oz, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
• Episode 9 The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Strictly Ballroom, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Sylvania Waters
• Episode 10 Gone with the Wind, Sylvania Waters
• Episode 11 Casablanca, Open University, Sylvania Waters
• Episode 12 Chariots of Fire, Psycho, Romeo and Juliet
• Episode 13 King Kong, Blood Frenzy Massacre 2, 4 Corners
• Episode 14 E.T.
• Episode 15 Blake's 7, The Saturday Show
• Episode 16 Play School, The Sound of Music