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The Chaser returns with Yes We Canberra

Chaser Yes we can Canberra mumbrellaThe Chaser is returning to the ABC with Yes We Canberra, a series of four pre-election specials.

Yes We Canberra will run on Wednesday nights on ABC1 at 9.45pm immediately after the ABC’s rebadged Gruen Transfer specials, Gruen Nation.

The ABC announced the return of The Chaser today, saying yes we Canberra will take to the air once the federal election is called.  

The last series of The Chaser’s War On Everything aired a year ago concluding with an audience of 1.5m.

The Chaser also did shows around previous elections with The Chaser decides running in 2001, 2004 and 2007.

Its announcement:

The Chaser team will return to ABC TV with their satirical take on the

2010 federal election, in a new program called YES WE CANBERRA!

YES WE CANBERRA! is an all-new format which showcases The Chaser in their current occupation – as warm-up guys for the network’s current affairs flagship Lateline.

“Most people don’t know that Lateline is filmed in front of a live studio audience,” said executive producer Julian Morrow.

“That’s the problem – they’re terribly quiet. So the ABC hired us to rev them

up a bit. Hopefully, we can help Tony (Jones) and Leigh (Sales) receive the wild applause, hollers and whoops they deserve.”

The fictional setting of the Lateline warm-up is a departure from the Chaser’s previous election special, The Chaser Decides, which was set in the national tallyroom. YES WE CANBERRA! will also differ from The Chaser Decides by not winning a Logie.

“Just because they’re doing the warm-up, doesn’t mean they can speak for the show,” said Lateline presenter Leigh Sales. “But I think adding The Chaser to the Lateline team will give us a gravitas we’ve been lacking to date.”

“I’ll take that as a comment,” added Tony Jones.

The team admits YES WE CANBERRA! was not their preferred title for the show.

“We wanted the name of the show to be Ratf#*ked 2010,” Chris Taylor explained, “but apparently that’s what the ABC’s main coverage is going to be called”.

“Our next preference for a title was Andrew, Chris, Chas, Craig & Jules’ Election Fever but I think there was a legal problem with that too.”

“To be honest we’re just relieved to have some paid work,” Craig Reucassel said about the Lateline warm-up gig. “Mark Scott is a very compassionate person.

He gave Poh a job at the ABC when she lost MasterChef, and now he’s done the same thing for us.”

YES WE CANBERRA! will air on ABC1 on Wednesday nights at 9:45pm for 4 weeks before the election, with an election wrap-up the Wednesday after the poll.

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