Is Ricky on a crime wave? Kyle Sandilands sets the record straight. What Jamie Dunn was planning for his Agro special.
You can watch the video version of MEDIA McKNIGHT in the player below.
HAS RICKY GERVAIS STOLEN ANOTHER JOKE?
Has Ricky Gervais done it again?
That’s the question being asked after an English comedian posted a side-by-side comparison of a joke he’s been doing for 10 years, next to a routine from Ricky’s new Netflix special.
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The joke in question is by Andy Field in a 2020 BBC comedy special, followed by Ricky Gervais’ 2025 Netflix special, for which he won a Golden Globe.
You can see the comparison in the video player above, but basically, the two routines centre on the idea of the comedian’s mum giving fellatio in hell.
And they are VERY similar.
For his part, Field doesn’t believe Gervais stole his joke.
“If I’m honest, what I think happened here is Ricky Gervais had the same idea as me independently on his own at a different time” he told his followers on TikTok.
“I had that idea 10 years ago. Ricky Gervais had it quite recently. I don’t think he stole my bit. I think we just have very similar bits”.
That’s very generous, but this isn’t the first time Gervais has been accused of stealing jokes for this Netflix special.
In fact, I accused him of it back in January right here on Media McKnight.
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That joke, also used in the Netflix 2025 comedy special, revolved around the idea of transplanting your head onto another body and what you would do with that body.
““Let’s have a little bit of me time, shall we?” I start, but every time I look down, I go, “That’s not my knob.” You know what I mean? I go, “Oh, that’s not my knob.”
“Oh, that’s not my knob.” It’s not my hand either. Carry on.
The punch line was exactly the same as his former co-host Karl Pilkington had delivered back in 2006 on The Ricky Gervais podcast.
RICKY: So if you have a body transplant, right and you’re there, you’re at home naked, you look down – lovely penis and a set of testicles.
KARL: Yeah.
RICKY: right. What do you do with them?
KARL: What do you mean? What am I doing with them?
RICKY: Well, do you like them?
KARL: Well, you wouldn’t. You wouldn’t mess about with them as much as if they were your own.
RICKY: But if you did mess about them, would you feel guilty that you were messing about with another man’s testicles and penis?
KARL: And it’s the full body?
RICKY: Yeah.
KARL: No, because they’re not my hands either.
Joke stealing is taken very seriously in the comedy community… and while there’s nothing legally that can be done, it really is frowned upon.
You can write one stolen joke off as a mistake, but two becomes a pattern.
TRIBUTE TO JAMIE DUNN GOES WRONG
Tributes have been pouring in for Jamie Dunn, the legendary performer who created Agro.
7NEWS ran a lovely package on Saturday night, detailing his career and personal life. There was just one problem.
See if you can spot it from this transcript, talking about Jamie’s time at B105 in Brisbane.
“By 2005, B105 was struggling in the ratings. Jamie quit, the offer of more money at a radio station closer to home on the Sunshine Coast”.
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B105 was number 1 at the time and Jamie was actually sacked.
While it was initially sold as a resignation, Jamie often spoke about the way he was marched out of the building.
In fact, I spoke to Jamie on McKnight Tonight in January in what is believed to be his final interview.
“They took me next, they took me next door to a cafe, uh, and they said, um, uh, “Today’s your last day. We’ve got a press conference, uh, when we get back. Um, you know, you’re finished.”
“We’re going back to the station. Uh, there’s a press conference. Everyone’s flowing up from Sydney. And, uh, I said, “Well, that’s not happening.” And, and I remember Richard Barker going, “No, no, it’s, it’s all arranged.” I said, “If you want me to stagger around that car park, crying like you’ve killed one of my children, you’ll go ahead with it. If not, you wait until I can find somewhere to go.” And the other guy that had the meeting with me turned to Richard Barker and said, “He’ll do it, you know?””
As previously reported on Media McKnight, Jamie was working on a one-off special for Agro for Channel seven. I can tell you that he was working on that show as late as Friday. Jamie died Saturday morning, and some details from that show have come to light.
Agro’s father and son were possible elements being considered for the show. Kyle Sandilands was also set to be involved – offering his time for free. What Kyle didn’t know, though, is that the creators were talking about letting Kyle have a go of the puppet. Now, would that have been the Agro puppet or would that have been the father or son?
These were just some of the ideas floating around; nothing had been locked off.
A meeting was due to be held with Channel 7 next month to discuss those ideas and progress everything to the next stage.
It’s a shame we will never see that special. Those who were working with Jamie have told me they won’t continue without him.
It would be nice if Channel 7 worked up a tribute special, though – I’m sure we’d all love to see that!
ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER TWIST
The ongoing Kyle and Jackie saga keeps going, with every day bringing a new twist.
Kyle Sandilands broke his silence Tuesday afternoon, issuing a statement about the events of the past few weeks and his deteriorating relationship with ARN.
“Jackie and I have worked together for over 25 years. She is one of the most important people in my life. The idea that our partnership could end like this is devastating to me.
I can only imagine. There is no doubt Kyle has been blindsided by Jackie saying she can’t work with him and ARN pulling him off the air for misconduct and breaching his contract.
An interesting note in the statement is that ARN told Kyle he could not contact Jackie or any members of staff.
Kyle seems genuinely remorseful for hurting Jackie and makes the point he could have fixed the situation if he had been allowed to talk to people.
But does ARN want it fixed?
It’s been widely reported and assumed ARN wants out of the $200m contract previous managers signed with K&J. Many believe the company has used this opportunity to do just that.
Kyle, for his part, has drawn a line in the sand, saying he wants to be back on the air.
“I have a contract with ARN that runs until 2034.
I am committed to that contract.
Despite what ARN says, I am not in breach of that contract.
I want to be on air. I want to be with my audience. I want to do the job I have done my entire adult life.”
And there’s certainly been a lot happening over the last 24 hours on the Kyle and Jackie front.
Late Monday, The Daily Tele revealed the two have been talking and want to do radio again.
Now, as bizarre as this might sound after everything that’s happened, my sources have confirmed this reporting to be true.
So that means Kyle and Jackie have been in contact. As to whether this means they will return to the KIIS Breakfast Show is highly doubtful.
A source told the paper, ““The ball will be in ARN’s court as to how this goes forward,”.
It might be in their court, but it’s very likely this will all end up in the courtroom.
OSCARS ON DELAY
Channel 7 has made the bizarre decision NOT to air the Academy Awards LIVE next week.
The televised event will air at 10am in all markets. That means NSW, VIC and TAS will get the ceremony live, while viewers in QLD, SA, WA and the NT will be on delay.
In WA that’s a 3-hour delay, while results fill social media feeds.
Seven points out viewers will be able to watch the Oscars live on it’s 7PLUS catch-up service. That is positive news but still strange they are not broadcasting it live on one of their free-to-air channels.
And then there was this Oscars clanger from Seven’s social media team, advising viewers they could watch the Oscars at 3pm – five hours AFTER the broadcast.
The social media team at Channel 7 got their time conversion wrong in regards to telecast times for the Academy Awards
We *THINK* they did their time conversions wrong. Since being contacted by TVBB, Seven has removed the post.
YouTube will be streaming the event from 2029, taking coverage away from traditional broadcasters for the very first time.
A sign of the times.
GOOD NEWS FOR THE LOGIES
Changes are coming to the way the TV Week Logie awards will be judged.
According to TV Tonight, this year only one panel of judges will review and assess each category’s submissions. There will be no separate judging panel ranking ratings figures with a score, but ‘audience engagement’ is still expected to be a consideration.
This is a really good move.
I’ve been a judge for the Logies in the last few years, and I’ve never understood how ratings can play a part in the judging. For example, when you’re looking at a news report and judging its quality, how do ratings play a part in that?
By that standard a submission from SBS can’t beat Seven, Nine or 10 because its ratings are much lower, despite the fact the story might be better journalism.
It’s good to see TV Week listening to industry feedback.
FAKE NEWS ON FOX
Fox News in the U.S. has come under fire for using old footage of a dignified transfer over the weekend.
The footage presented during Fox & Friends replaced scenes of Trump wearing a baseball cap – a move seen as disrespectful to fallen soldiers.
Instead, Fox showed footage of Trump from a previous service where he wasn’t wearing the cap (you can see the clips in the video player at the top of this article).
The backlash was swift, forcing FOX and FRIENDS to apologise later in the broadcast.
It turns out the incorrect footage was replaced on a string of shows on FOX, leading to questions of whether they were trying to cover for Trump’s bad decision to wear the cap.
Fox News insists it was inadvertent, but conspiracy theorists are not copping it and say the network went too far, trying to protect the president.
SH*T I JUST DON’T CARE ABOUT
This week, it’s video footage exposed by the always-terrific Media Diary section of the Australian.
Steve Jackson revealed ABC Four Corner’s reporter Mark Willacy let a few f-bombs drop when vox popped while visiting a Sydney restaurant.
Look, it’s good fodder for the media diary, which has been kicking goals since Jacko took over the column.
But, I just don’t give a shit if an ABC reporter swears while they’re having dinner and being vox popped on camera.
Maybe others do, but I certainly don’t.
The video version of MEDIA McKNIGHT is published on YouTube every Tuesday at 9pm AEDT and the article is available on Wednesday mornings.
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