Dr Mumbo

Tom Gleeson: comedian, Gold Logie winner and Ten’s secret weapon?

Dr Mumbo doesn’t know Tom Gleeson personally, but he’s starting to wonder about his influence on the media industry.

After six years and 100 episodes, Gleeson announced on Wednesday night he would be leaving The Weekly where he hosts the segment Hard Chat.

The conversation began uneventfully. Sitting in the studio with The Weekly host Charlie Pickering, Gleeson celebrated the situation.

“I’m in the studio! And I’ve quit! That’s exciting isn’t it?” he asked Pickering with delight. But Pickering wasn’t letting him get away with his resignation easily.

“The first thing people are going to say is that this is just a joke. That you famously axed your own show, Hard Quiz, only to use that to drum up support for your Gold Logie win. Can we trust you Tom?”

“Oh yeah. It’s true. I’ve definitely quit. I ran out of people to Hard Chat on this show. There’s no one left,” Gleeson confirmed.

Here is where things get a bit spooky. Part of the reason Gleeson has made the decision to leave, he said, was because Hard Chat has been too influential. It was Hard Chat that first saw Sophie Monk, encouraged by Gleeson, muse on being the next Bachelorette. What followed? The most successful season of the franchise to date.

“Without me, Channel Ten would be nothing,” Gleeson declared. But he didn’t stop there. The power of Hard Chat surging quickly to his head, Gleeson had bigger fish to fry.

“After that I thought let’s just see how powerful this segment, Hard Chat, is. So I went and got Grant Denyer the Gold.”

A hard-fought campaign did indeed win Denyer the Logie, even though, as Gleeson said, ‘the Logies are an absolute joke’. Of course, Gleeson himself went on to win one, using that platform to mercilessly ridicule the entire system and the industry at large.

But it isn’t just the media industry where Gleeson has influence. He also pointed to an interview with treasurer Josh Frydenberg which pre-empted a recession, one with Bill Shorten which pre-dated his 2019 election loss and a chat with Kevin Rudd which was followed by his failed UN secretary-general bid.

In fact, Gleeson said, he didn’t just ensure success for Ten, or a Gold Logie for Denyer. He single-handedly fought against the ABC’s alleged left-wing bias.

“I am so proud that over our entire time here, I’ve used the ABC to keep the coalition in power for the entire time that we’ve been on air. So Scott Morrison, if you’re watching, you’re welcome.”

In light of these developments and Gleeson’s clear influence on media success, Dr Mumbo only has one thing to say – Mumbrella wishes Tom Gleeson all the best in his future endeavours and hopes he has a long and fruitful career.

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