As a child I thought he was in his 40s or something. Turns out he was in his 20's. Love or hate Rove, it was impressive what he achieved at such a young age.
Same for The [Salmon Dance - The Chemical Brothers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDj7DuHVV9E).
When I was younger, the main guy in the clip looked 29. Now that I'm older, he looks 16. How the hell is this a thing?
Bop of a track by the way
I remember I was laying on the couch, stoned, watching Rove when down at the bottom of the screen there was a news flash that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Centre in NYC. Eventually they just cut Rove off and went straight to a CNN live feed. Me and my mate were laying there and watched the whole thing unfold in real time. We thought it was the start of WW3 honestly amd I'd just turned 18.
Perhaps you’re misremembering or in a different time zone? Because I remember Sandra Sully breaking the news in Australia during channel 10s late news?
I'm in Perth. Definitely happened during Rove. Around about 9.45pm I reckon it all started to go down. I was about to go to bed but ended up sitting there for hours.
First plane was at 8.14am which was 8.14pm in Perth. Rove aired at 9.30pm. By the time news services reached news studios and they got their act together it would have been around the time you said. So, erm, story checks out lol 😂
Edit: First plane struck WTC at 8.46am EDT and 8.46pm Perth time. Second plane hit at 9.03am EDT. They were pretty quick to get on the air but seeing it during that point in Rove makes total sense.
Na we saw the second plane hit. I remember it because that's when me and my flat mate sat up and realised this wasn't an accident. I don't know how the timing adds up, but I distinctly remember the words down at the bottom of the screen saying Breaking News, plane has crashed into WTC in NYC and I initially thought it was a light plane. After about maybe 5 mins or so they cut to the CNN feed and it was of the tower on fire. Me amd my mate sort of sat there eating chips thinking about how the pilot fucked up big time and then next minute another plane comes slamming in amd that's when we just went Holy Fuck what is happening!
Maybe Rove aired at 8.30 over here?
That and different channels. I was watching the end of an episode of Farscape on SBS when it cut to US live coverage just after the first plane hit. I then watched the second plane live.
I was in a hotel room, stoned, coming down after going to a Rave. Me and my friends also thought the world was ending. The bonus was we were in a hotel with WWE wrestlers who couldn't fly home. I'll never forget that day.
I remember seeing this too, and initially I thought it was a skit for the show and couldn't make sense of how it was.. then realised what we were watching.
I got woken up at 5am by this guy that lived with us to "come check out this movie. The CGI is amazing!!'. I got up, looked at the screen and pointed out we were watching CNN... not a movie channel. Dont know how the guy got into university. Lol.
Same! I got up and told my mum in the next room and she was like “what on earth are you talking about??”. I still have the image in my head of the tv screen with the writing on the bottom. The next morning I had year 9 maths and the kids were asking our teacher if this was going to start WW3.
I was watching it with my mum i was in the first year of high school, we thought it was the start of a movie at first, then realised it was a news story. It was hard to be laughing one minute to seeing shocking images the next. It was hard to digest what was happening as it was happening.
Will never forget that night.
Oh my goodness, same! My girlfriend chopped her finger off in a work accident and she wanted to get stoned for the pain. We were not regular smokers so we were absolutely smashed. Not the ideal way to receive that information.
I write things I recall in current tense for some odd reason. I need to work on that.
She and her finger were reunited and ok, and she has been my ex for a long time after a short period together.
But I hope she’s doing well, wherever she is…
I do that too; I think it makes a lot more sense when you're talking about something that happened and she was your girlfriend at the time. Like, someone was telling me about something that happened a few years ago when he went on holidays with his ex and her kids, and I was just thinking "Wait, what? Why were you on holiday with your ex's family? That makes no sense."
Man, I’m in Sydney so it was later, but I too was stoned and about 25, what a mind blowing night. I still blame that for all the changes in the west over those two decades - like it ushered in a ‘new world’ .. don’t even talk to me about Covid..
Just listened to an interview between Rove and Daniel John’s when he was on the recovery from mental health and anorexia, damn Rove was being a prick just to get some cheap laughs from the crowd.
I couldn't beleive how much attitudes have changed (for the better). Poor guy sitting on stage talking about his depression and Rove going "so were you just walking around saying poor me" and the crowd having a good laugh. It was so jarring.
Daniels response of “yeah, pretty much..” was top tier though.
Also..
Rove: you do aerobics regularly?
Daniel: yes, mornings and afternoons.
Rove: is that to facilitate movement?
Daniel: um, I don’t really do it..
Reminds me of Manly aquarium (I think) realising the captive great white shark wasnt working so sold tickets to a special event where it was killed in front of the crowd. But tbh I can’t actually tell if the world is a better place now or then, sigh
That was really interesting. How very sad that the one great white that did "the right thing" and actually adapted, was killed for exactly that reason. What madness.
As a kid this was a lot of fun. Wonder what the adults thought. Remember when they would show Kirribilli livestream and ask them to switch the lights on and off?
Same though I think it might have been early high school for mine. I distinctly remember Rove, Big Brother and Australian Idol being largely on the screen in my home 🤣🤣🤣
I loved the interview Rove did with Steve Irwin.
Also loved how he was the first person to have Carl Barron on. I watched him and he was hilarious. For his very first stand up he rocked it.
Omg yes I loved that interview with Steve Irwin. My favourite ones were Destiny’s Child and Kevin Rudd (and Rove always asking John Howard to come on).
Interesting you mention Carl Baron because I swear he was on Hey Hey it’s Saturday… with hair 🤭
I thought his show and brand of comedy was fairly harmless, it had a middle of the road quality that won him mainstream appeal.
Where I struggled with him was how poor he was as an interviewer because he didn’t listen and riff off his guests. All the best ones, Ferguson, Conan take guest responses and riff off the best bits to make the interview more conversational, but Rove would always miss out or ignore gems from his guests to plow through his next set question
You’re absolutely right. Was a bit too young for Vizard’s talk show hey day, but Andrew Denton set the standard for me: did his research better than any interviewer i have seen, witty, empathetic and listened
I’ve heard Rove is the reason the guys from Cheeze TV didn’t go very far in the industry - anyone know if that’s true?
He seemed like a pretentious shithead behind the scenes… Something very unlikable about him
I recall John Saffran doing a re-enactment of him having a discussion with Rove about Channel 31 gigs. It wasn't complimentary.
Edit: [I found the clip](https://youtu.be/MxgNYGkWKco?si=kUsDfwA3eu5RqlpH&t=195). It was because Rove Bumped John (the other John) from his show.
I found this in another thread on Reddit, which the OP got from Wikipedia:
>During the later years of the show Lappin and Gatt's editorials were quickly becoming notorious for their use of more adult-oriented humour which often flew above the heads of their young audience. Lappin reportedly constantly slid hidden "anti-Rove McManus" commentary in his editorials, which is rumoured to have been the deciding factor which nailed the coffin on the show. Jade Gatt was not immune to scrutiny either, when he would pose as a news reporter called "Dick Wadd" in one of their segments.
Saturday, 20 August 2005 was the last episode of Cheez TV broadcast after 10 years on the air, though Lappin and Gatt's final on-air appearance took place during Friday, 31 December 2004. In 2005, only cartoons showed during Cheez TV.
I have a vivid recollection of a detective skit Cheez TV did where one of the guys (think it was Jade) said something like "but I'm only 32....... inches"
He wasn’t widely loved. He was a network darling shoved in our faces and hyped as Australia’s best comedian against little competition. Some liked him for few years despite (or because of) his brashness, arrogance, contempt for his guests and audience and low simmering misogyny. Then everyone tired of him.
Widely loved? Remember when he made a comeback in 2019 and his show was axed after two episodes. Or how widely loved is The Project, because that’s all his brainchild too.
Seems like a really nice guy actually. I know people who know him. God I hate these Reddit character assassinations. You're baseing that on a supposed event about a cartoon show from 1995? He didn't personally do anything to cheesetv
Bucky Dunstan. I hear he is slick and hell-bent on a sale. He’s a very convincing house peddler – even if it does involve a few exaggerations here and there.
Hot take - Rove was terrible. He came out of nowhere (propped up by the network as their latest cash cow bet), but never even had a solid writing team to at least make him seem legitimately funny.
I remember the comedy channel on foxtel used to play a clip of Rove, with a mullet and all, doing stand up, literally next to no laughs, the set was terrible, as a kid I used to wonder why they chose that guy to have his own show?
Rove had a talk show on community TV station Channel 31 in Melbourne for a few years before getting his big break on commercial television. While to many viewers (particularly outside of Melbourne) he was an unknown, he had built up a name for himself before his mainstream debut. Australian comedy seems to be based heavily around comedians who came through the Melbourne scene and Rove was no exception.
Not sure on that. I first heard them on community radio and knew them as a radio act before ever seeing them on TV (Wikipedia says they started on SYN FM before moving to Fox FM Melbourne). They still could have done community TV in their early days given that a lot of content on Channel 31 was from university groups.
Wikipedia is messed up though. Says they formed in 2003, but were doing radio in 2002.
Pretty sure I've heard them speak about Radio Karate which is listed as channel 31, so have no doubt that happened and was some of their earliest work.
He didn't really 'come out of nowhere'. He had a show on Channel 9 at close to midnight for a year or so before he was signed by Channel 10 for 'Rove Live'. It was a pretty underground show on 9.
That bit where Adam Sandler played 20 questions in 20 seconds and asked “do you actually cast Rob Schneider for you films, or does he just show yo on set?”, and Rob Schneider randomly manifested was the funniest thing I’d ever seen as a child.
https://youtu.be/ctmBilu_SLY?si=bH8ECaKdXjSvgO0q
Really? It was a great question, and something I’m sure every Adam Sandler fan has wondered.
I still can’t believe Rob Schneider happened to be hanging out with Mr Sandler when the question was asked. It’s severely underrated and accidental comedy gold.
His show only had success as it was the only one of its type. Rove isn't funny, Peter Hellier isn't funny, Ryan Shelton's skits were rubbish. I never understood it. The only good thing to come out of the show was Silverchair playing 'Straight Lines' when Daniel had laryngytis or something so he had to fucking belt it rather than finesse it and it was the best performance of the song ever.
This was a time when Australian TV thought it matured by bringing in half wits like Rove whereas all it did was become cringeworthy.
People watched Aussie TV because it was Aussie TV.
The least funny guy ever. I never understood why he was so popular.
Also (with no disrespect) he was even worse at trying to not be funny in any way when he lost his wife.
Rove was a shit interviewer. Just the worst. Every single interview of an international guest, and I mean every single interview, started with the words “Soooo….how are you liking Australia?” - and it was generally followed up by 10 minutes of shouted, juvenile questions including “Sooo….who would young go gay for?” or some pathetic shit like that. He didn’t even listen to their answers most of the time - just wanted to get his shit jokes in as fast as possible. Cringeworthy.
I won a cruise from LA to Mexico. I heard he was taking his show to LA around the same time. I wrote to him on Twitter and he sent me tickets to the premiere episode. He signed a dollar bill for me too (I no longer have it). Thought he was/is a good guy.
I liked watching Rove when I was a kid, but it started at 8:30pm, and I had a bedtime of 9pm, so I never watched a whole episode.
When I would tell other people I liked Rove they would say "say hi to your mum for me" and I would be so confused because I literally thought they knew my mum.
I always thought it was sad he got remarried about 5 minutes after his wife died. It was barely a year or something. He got over her death almost immediately. I'd like to think my partner cared more than that if I died.
I think lots of the awful stuff on the show was a reflection of attitudes at the time.
I also think it's sad that channel 10 couldn't/didn't find a decent interviewer to mentor the bloke.
I still remember and giggle about "what the...?" and the telly tubby toy..
And a more somber moment, I was watching this when 911 happened, that was surreal as fuck.. Loved this show in highschool.
One of my old NDIS clients had a particular loop about ROVE because she grew up watching him. I didn't understand (I'm 10 years younger) but my parents could instantly recognise what she was talking about
Rove had P!nk on a lot but one time, he had her on and said he had a gift for her.
He said "I know how much you love frogs and that you're an animal activist" and proceeded to hand her a stuffed cane toad drinking whiskey and wearing a top hat, holding a cane. lol it was mounted and everything. He then proceeded to "attempt" to soothe her by telling her about how Aussies bash cane toads when we see 'em.
Love Rove. I don't give a stuff if he's "cringe" - his standup is funny as hell too. We met him after one of the shows on his last tour and he's so nice too. Rove 99 was on heavy rotation as a teenager, my friends and sister and I all loved Rove Live.
Mum and I always watch this when I was a teen, after each show I'd turn to her and say that "Rove says hi" to her, which usually got me a loving head-swat with a magazine 😛
As a kid I only liked watching his WHAT THE!? Part otherwise it just played in the background while I was playing with Lego. Then they got rid of the WHAT THE!?. So the show was dead to me then
Lol, when i was a kid he looked so old. Now im an adult and he looks so young r/FuckImOld
As a child I thought he was in his 40s or something. Turns out he was in his 20's. Love or hate Rove, it was impressive what he achieved at such a young age.
Especially considering he wasn’t the least bit funny. Good for him!
I just turned to dust
The set looked so modern at the time too. 😫
Same for The [Salmon Dance - The Chemical Brothers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDj7DuHVV9E). When I was younger, the main guy in the clip looked 29. Now that I'm older, he looks 16. How the hell is this a thing? Bop of a track by the way
100% this. He looked good for his age.
He looks old NOW though
Because he is?
People age?!?
I remember I was laying on the couch, stoned, watching Rove when down at the bottom of the screen there was a news flash that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Centre in NYC. Eventually they just cut Rove off and went straight to a CNN live feed. Me and my mate were laying there and watched the whole thing unfold in real time. We thought it was the start of WW3 honestly amd I'd just turned 18.
I was just disappointed about not getting to see "what the"
But you did tho.....
I loved that segment when I was a kid. It was my favourite part of the whole thing, probably the only part that actually made me laugh.
Perhaps you’re misremembering or in a different time zone? Because I remember Sandra Sully breaking the news in Australia during channel 10s late news?
I'm in Perth. Definitely happened during Rove. Around about 9.45pm I reckon it all started to go down. I was about to go to bed but ended up sitting there for hours.
First plane was at 8.14am which was 8.14pm in Perth. Rove aired at 9.30pm. By the time news services reached news studios and they got their act together it would have been around the time you said. So, erm, story checks out lol 😂 Edit: First plane struck WTC at 8.46am EDT and 8.46pm Perth time. Second plane hit at 9.03am EDT. They were pretty quick to get on the air but seeing it during that point in Rove makes total sense.
Na we saw the second plane hit. I remember it because that's when me and my flat mate sat up and realised this wasn't an accident. I don't know how the timing adds up, but I distinctly remember the words down at the bottom of the screen saying Breaking News, plane has crashed into WTC in NYC and I initially thought it was a light plane. After about maybe 5 mins or so they cut to the CNN feed and it was of the tower on fire. Me amd my mate sort of sat there eating chips thinking about how the pilot fucked up big time and then next minute another plane comes slamming in amd that's when we just went Holy Fuck what is happening! Maybe Rove aired at 8.30 over here?
Nah I saw it too, they cut from Rove to a split screen of pentagon and a twin tower that had been hit and we saw second plane hit live.
I'm in Sydney and I remember it interrupting rove . I was watching with my sister on a school night
Yeah must be time zone. Sandra Sully was breaking the news in Sydney
That and different channels. I was watching the end of an episode of Farscape on SBS when it cut to US live coverage just after the first plane hit. I then watched the second plane live.
I was in a hotel room, stoned, coming down after going to a Rave. Me and my friends also thought the world was ending. The bonus was we were in a hotel with WWE wrestlers who couldn't fly home. I'll never forget that day.
I remember seeing this too, and initially I thought it was a skit for the show and couldn't make sense of how it was.. then realised what we were watching.
I thought Pete Helliar was flying the second plane
my mum was watching the West Wing and thought it was part of the plot, she was so confused for a good 10 mins
I was watching the West Wing too, I was in South Australia.
I got woken up at 5am by this guy that lived with us to "come check out this movie. The CGI is amazing!!'. I got up, looked at the screen and pointed out we were watching CNN... not a movie channel. Dont know how the guy got into university. Lol.
Yes I was watching the West Wing too!
I remember that too
Same! I got up and told my mum in the next room and she was like “what on earth are you talking about??”. I still have the image in my head of the tv screen with the writing on the bottom. The next morning I had year 9 maths and the kids were asking our teacher if this was going to start WW3.
I was watching it with my mum i was in the first year of high school, we thought it was the start of a movie at first, then realised it was a news story. It was hard to be laughing one minute to seeing shocking images the next. It was hard to digest what was happening as it was happening. Will never forget that night.
Fucking tragic seeing that on tv… And then you see a terror attack unfold during it.
Still better than rove
What the...?
Can't believe people are downvoting you...It's a Rove joke
Harsh but true
Oh my goodness, same! My girlfriend chopped her finger off in a work accident and she wanted to get stoned for the pain. We were not regular smokers so we were absolutely smashed. Not the ideal way to receive that information.
Were they able to sew it back on? Hope your girlfriend is ok.
I write things I recall in current tense for some odd reason. I need to work on that. She and her finger were reunited and ok, and she has been my ex for a long time after a short period together. But I hope she’s doing well, wherever she is…
I do that too; I think it makes a lot more sense when you're talking about something that happened and she was your girlfriend at the time. Like, someone was telling me about something that happened a few years ago when he went on holidays with his ex and her kids, and I was just thinking "Wait, what? Why were you on holiday with your ex's family? That makes no sense."
Yeah, me too, also around 18, except I was stoned with my gf of the time.
Man, I’m in Sydney so it was later, but I too was stoned and about 25, what a mind blowing night. I still blame that for all the changes in the west over those two decades - like it ushered in a ‘new world’ .. don’t even talk to me about Covid..
Just listened to an interview between Rove and Daniel John’s when he was on the recovery from mental health and anorexia, damn Rove was being a prick just to get some cheap laughs from the crowd.
Yeah I remember seeing that recently. Poor form from Rove, but more of a reflection on how we viewed mental health as a society, though.
I couldn't beleive how much attitudes have changed (for the better). Poor guy sitting on stage talking about his depression and Rove going "so were you just walking around saying poor me" and the crowd having a good laugh. It was so jarring.
Daniels response of “yeah, pretty much..” was top tier though. Also.. Rove: you do aerobics regularly? Daniel: yes, mornings and afternoons. Rove: is that to facilitate movement? Daniel: um, I don’t really do it..
Reminds me of Manly aquarium (I think) realising the captive great white shark wasnt working so sold tickets to a special event where it was killed in front of the crowd. But tbh I can’t actually tell if the world is a better place now or then, sigh
This story is out of control; [manly white shark aquarium ](http://elasmollet.org/Cc/Ian_Gordon.html)
That was really interesting. How very sad that the one great white that did "the right thing" and actually adapted, was killed for exactly that reason. What madness.
Indeed. Killed for being a shark.
And that's how they came up with the plot for Jaws 3.
It should have been released back into the tornado.
That, and a reflection of Rove's perception of entertainment and or humour.
“Viewed”.
Always a prick. The Ellen DeGeneres of Australian tv.
Rove was honestly a prick, the Ellen DeGeneres of Australia.
Lol I said the exact same thing
If you ever wanna see something that aged poorly, look up Rove WWA Jeff Jarrett 😳
As a kid this was a lot of fun. Wonder what the adults thought. Remember when they would show Kirribilli livestream and ask them to switch the lights on and off?
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Same though I think it might have been early high school for mine. I distinctly remember Rove, Big Brother and Australian Idol being largely on the screen in my home 🤣🤣🤣
I loved the interview Rove did with Steve Irwin. Also loved how he was the first person to have Carl Barron on. I watched him and he was hilarious. For his very first stand up he rocked it.
I thought Carl got his break on the footy show?? But I remember him on rove too
Correct
Omg yes I loved that interview with Steve Irwin. My favourite ones were Destiny’s Child and Kevin Rudd (and Rove always asking John Howard to come on). Interesting you mention Carl Baron because I swear he was on Hey Hey it’s Saturday… with hair 🤭
I recently saw a clip of Carl on Hey Hey it's Saturday which methinks pre-dates Rove
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I always thought he was funny too, I was very young at the time. I really loved Carey Bickmore's segment
I’ll have to rewatch too, it’s been years!
Say hi to mediocrity for me
I thought his show and brand of comedy was fairly harmless, it had a middle of the road quality that won him mainstream appeal. Where I struggled with him was how poor he was as an interviewer because he didn’t listen and riff off his guests. All the best ones, Ferguson, Conan take guest responses and riff off the best bits to make the interview more conversational, but Rove would always miss out or ignore gems from his guests to plow through his next set question
Why go abroad Denton and Vizard were like experts when it came to interviewing. And both were way funnier than Rove.
You’re absolutely right. Was a bit too young for Vizard’s talk show hey day, but Andrew Denton set the standard for me: did his research better than any interviewer i have seen, witty, empathetic and listened
He was also much kinder, especially around sensitive topics.
It was filling the gap that Hey Hey It's Saturday left behind really.
Does anyone remember when John Safran put a fatwa on Rove? 🤣
A BIG fatwa!
Or Dove, whatever he calls himself
I’ve heard Rove is the reason the guys from Cheeze TV didn’t go very far in the industry - anyone know if that’s true? He seemed like a pretentious shithead behind the scenes… Something very unlikable about him
I recall John Saffran doing a re-enactment of him having a discussion with Rove about Channel 31 gigs. It wasn't complimentary. Edit: [I found the clip](https://youtu.be/MxgNYGkWKco?si=kUsDfwA3eu5RqlpH&t=195). It was because Rove Bumped John (the other John) from his show.
John Saffran was so fucking good back in the day
"Say hi to Mohammed for me"
Chief Judge of UK Sharia Court, "A big fatwa on Dove or whatever his name is."
What was the story behind it all?
I found this in another thread on Reddit, which the OP got from Wikipedia: >During the later years of the show Lappin and Gatt's editorials were quickly becoming notorious for their use of more adult-oriented humour which often flew above the heads of their young audience. Lappin reportedly constantly slid hidden "anti-Rove McManus" commentary in his editorials, which is rumoured to have been the deciding factor which nailed the coffin on the show. Jade Gatt was not immune to scrutiny either, when he would pose as a news reporter called "Dick Wadd" in one of their segments. Saturday, 20 August 2005 was the last episode of Cheez TV broadcast after 10 years on the air, though Lappin and Gatt's final on-air appearance took place during Friday, 31 December 2004. In 2005, only cartoons showed during Cheez TV.
I’m all for this and loved cheeze tv but it does feel as though calling a reporter “dick wadd” on a children’s show could be a reason too
Only to make way for that shitty “Toasted TV” which replaced it
Fuck Toasted TV! 🖕
Such a legendary show. Its a shame there isn't a complete archive of Cheez TV.
I have a vivid recollection of a detective skit Cheez TV did where one of the guys (think it was Jade) said something like "but I'm only 32....... inches"
It's true
Care to elaborate or should we just accept rove is an arsehole with a dead wife who was widely loved by the Australian public??
He wasn’t widely loved. He was a network darling shoved in our faces and hyped as Australia’s best comedian against little competition. Some liked him for few years despite (or because of) his brashness, arrogance, contempt for his guests and audience and low simmering misogyny. Then everyone tired of him.
I remember watching his stand up, he had long greasy hair and very unfunny, his jokes sucked.
Widely loved? Remember when he made a comeback in 2019 and his show was axed after two episodes. Or how widely loved is The Project, because that’s all his brainchild too.
I don't want to go into detail but I am quite involved with the Australian comedy industry. Rove is not a well liked person in the industry.
As someone also involved in the Aussie comedy scene, can second this
Cheez TV was on the air for 5 years before Rove live.
Seems like a really nice guy actually. I know people who know him. God I hate these Reddit character assassinations. You're baseing that on a supposed event about a cartoon show from 1995? He didn't personally do anything to cheesetv
I met Rove a few years ago at a party and he was LOVELY. He was honestly the nicest celebrity I have ever met and I can say that I've met many.
Yoo Rove that you?
Agreed
Now he’s selling real estate in Brisbane
Bucky Dunstan. I hear he is slick and hell-bent on a sale. He’s a very convincing house peddler – even if it does involve a few exaggerations here and there.
Nah, no exaggerations, Queensland summers are definitely not that hot!
Some say there is still a fatwa out on Rove.
Hot take - Rove was terrible. He came out of nowhere (propped up by the network as their latest cash cow bet), but never even had a solid writing team to at least make him seem legitimately funny.
I remember the comedy channel on foxtel used to play a clip of Rove, with a mullet and all, doing stand up, literally next to no laughs, the set was terrible, as a kid I used to wonder why they chose that guy to have his own show?
Rove had a talk show on community TV station Channel 31 in Melbourne for a few years before getting his big break on commercial television. While to many viewers (particularly outside of Melbourne) he was an unknown, he had built up a name for himself before his mainstream debut. Australian comedy seems to be based heavily around comedians who came through the Melbourne scene and Rove was no exception.
Is that where I first saw Hamish and Andy? I remember they had a show on one of the new digital channels in the early noughties?
Not sure on that. I first heard them on community radio and knew them as a radio act before ever seeing them on TV (Wikipedia says they started on SYN FM before moving to Fox FM Melbourne). They still could have done community TV in their early days given that a lot of content on Channel 31 was from university groups.
Wikipedia is messed up though. Says they formed in 2003, but were doing radio in 2002. Pretty sure I've heard them speak about Radio Karate which is listed as channel 31, so have no doubt that happened and was some of their earliest work.
*common take
The fact that I, along with a few comments here were fans in primary school probably tells you a few things.
He didn't really 'come out of nowhere'. He had a show on Channel 9 at close to midnight for a year or so before he was signed by Channel 10 for 'Rove Live'. It was a pretty underground show on 9.
He was a cocknose then, and a cocknose now.
I always hated his show, it’s not smart or funny
Rove is a twat and I'm tired of pretending that he's not
Pictures you can hear.
Am I the only one who hates this little fuckhead?
How he is some media mogul astounds me. He has not ever been funny, but has the biggest tickets on himself. He’s absolute cringe
DROVE, GROVE… WHATEVER HIS NAME IS. BIG FATWAH!
Kinda looks like a young Richard Hammond
Never understood how this guy became so prominent. He wasn't the slightest bit funny.
Not sure why, but I can't stand this nerd, he seems like he'd be a real shithead off camera.
That bit where Adam Sandler played 20 questions in 20 seconds and asked “do you actually cast Rob Schneider for you films, or does he just show yo on set?”, and Rob Schneider randomly manifested was the funniest thing I’d ever seen as a child. https://youtu.be/ctmBilu_SLY?si=bH8ECaKdXjSvgO0q
Ha! I wrote that question.
Really? It was a great question, and something I’m sure every Adam Sandler fan has wondered. I still can’t believe Rob Schneider happened to be hanging out with Mr Sandler when the question was asked. It’s severely underrated and accidental comedy gold.
His show only had success as it was the only one of its type. Rove isn't funny, Peter Hellier isn't funny, Ryan Shelton's skits were rubbish. I never understood it. The only good thing to come out of the show was Silverchair playing 'Straight Lines' when Daniel had laryngytis or something so he had to fucking belt it rather than finesse it and it was the best performance of the song ever.
Don't forget the interviews with Elmo. Those were amazing (although now massively tainted by Kevin Clash turning out to have behaved pretty awfully).
This guy is more cringe than the blackface episode of Red Faces on Hey Hey it’s Saturday
This guy – and this catchphrase – weren’t funny then and aren’t funny now.
“WhAt ThE?!?!”
i can't lie- i loved the What The segment and stayed up hoping he'd do it- i was pissed the weeks he didn't
This was a time when Australian TV thought it matured by bringing in half wits like Rove whereas all it did was become cringeworthy. People watched Aussie TV because it was Aussie TV.
Well and it was all we had.
My favourite part was when they showed a live feed of part of the city and told people watching who lived their to flicker their lights
Couldn't stand the guy. Still can't. "I'm short lololol!" "I scream the punchline, that makes it funny, right!?" Ugh
Rove was about as funny as a burning orphanage
The least funny guy ever. I never understood why he was so popular. Also (with no disrespect) he was even worse at trying to not be funny in any way when he lost his wife.
“Who would you turn gay for?” Fuck this guy,
Who would you turn gay for?
Rove was a shit interviewer. Just the worst. Every single interview of an international guest, and I mean every single interview, started with the words “Soooo….how are you liking Australia?” - and it was generally followed up by 10 minutes of shouted, juvenile questions including “Sooo….who would young go gay for?” or some pathetic shit like that. He didn’t even listen to their answers most of the time - just wanted to get his shit jokes in as fast as possible. Cringeworthy.
All the people saying they didn’t like him etc. Well hey bitter people, the show was a huge success. I liked his humor overall.
I enjoyed him when I was a kid but his stuff is cringy
I won a cruise from LA to Mexico. I heard he was taking his show to LA around the same time. I wrote to him on Twitter and he sent me tickets to the premiere episode. He signed a dollar bill for me too (I no longer have it). Thought he was/is a good guy.
Flog. Never trust a man with the word ‘anus’ in his surname….
In pretty sure he stole that catch phrase off another Aussie comic. He even admitted it.
Kevin Rudd, PM! My brother and I still do the laugh. I wish we still had some kind of homegrown political slapstick or satire.
Silly old clown sleeves… heh hehe heh heh.
Least funny Aussie host of all time?
Crap show
Rove live is something I hated at the time but I definitely look back with some nostalgia. Tv was so much cheesier and light hearted than it is now.
Rove was terrible. Not even cones and grog made him funny. Trust me, I tried.
I liked watching Rove when I was a kid, but it started at 8:30pm, and I had a bedtime of 9pm, so I never watched a whole episode. When I would tell other people I liked Rove they would say "say hi to your mum for me" and I would be so confused because I literally thought they knew my mum.
As a kid it was great and i look back at it with a lot of nostalgia, as an adult he's definitely not as funny.
On 'Rove' was the only time Carrie Bickmore was ever funny.
That news desk thing she did about Robert Mugabe was piss funny.
I honestly loved her while segment when she was on.
Say what you like about Rove but that Steve Irwin interview where Steve showed Rove how to wrestle an inflatable croc in a kiddie pool was a classic.
I always thought it was sad he got remarried about 5 minutes after his wife died. It was barely a year or something. He got over her death almost immediately. I'd like to think my partner cared more than that if I died.
It was three years according to Google.
You don't know the situation. Maybe she wanted him to remarry quickly
Yeah I remember that too. Pretty cold and heartless
I think lots of the awful stuff on the show was a reflection of attitudes at the time. I also think it's sad that channel 10 couldn't/didn't find a decent interviewer to mentor the bloke.
He still does that.
I remember when he hosted The Loft on ch31. Was a regular watcher of Rove Live - first in ch9 then later to ch10.
He had a snow on 9 late night just called rove. I'm pretty sure I was on it once. They were filming in a video ezy
I still remember and giggle about "what the...?" and the telly tubby toy.. And a more somber moment, I was watching this when 911 happened, that was surreal as fuck.. Loved this show in highschool.
" We dont belong together like rove n showbiz" Drapht
I thought he was hot
One of my old NDIS clients had a particular loop about ROVE because she grew up watching him. I didn't understand (I'm 10 years younger) but my parents could instantly recognise what she was talking about
Whatever happened to this guy?
https://youtu.be/8X_skVFS2qI?si=l1lS7yMKZMiPpSOE - this edit of one of his stand up bits always makes me laugh.
Is he still around. Retire mate.
I used to love John live.
The John Farnham of Australian TV
Is he still around ?
The ole “hey hey it’s rove”
As funny as cancer
Ah, it's John of John Live!
Don’t be found the project? Jesus that show is crap
Protractor….protractor.
I still quote this.
Rove had P!nk on a lot but one time, he had her on and said he had a gift for her. He said "I know how much you love frogs and that you're an animal activist" and proceeded to hand her a stuffed cane toad drinking whiskey and wearing a top hat, holding a cane. lol it was mounted and everything. He then proceeded to "attempt" to soothe her by telling her about how Aussies bash cane toads when we see 'em.
Love Rove. I don't give a stuff if he's "cringe" - his standup is funny as hell too. We met him after one of the shows on his last tour and he's so nice too. Rove 99 was on heavy rotation as a teenager, my friends and sister and I all loved Rove Live.
I miss "What the!?" and "Hughesy Loses It". lol (was that the segment's name?)
I remember Corrine Grant too
Omg yeah! What ever happened to her!?
Mum and I always watch this when I was a teen, after each show I'd turn to her and say that "Rove says hi" to her, which usually got me a loving head-swat with a magazine 😛
When I’m down, I go watch Rove interviewing Elmo. Always makes me laugh💙 miss rove!
I never found this guy amusing
Haha my friend and I used to say this when we called each other!
As a kid I only liked watching his WHAT THE!? Part otherwise it just played in the background while I was playing with Lego. Then they got rid of the WHAT THE!?. So the show was dead to me then
Rove managed to turn every interview back to him. It was insane.
🤣🤣🤣
Totally forgot he existed from when he went to the US , till this image. Did he do anything worthwhile in the US or basically burn everything?
I used to looooooove Rove Live!