| Genre: | Variety |
| Director: | Peter Faiman |
| Starring: | Paul Hogan John Cornell |
| Country: | Australia |
| Language: | English |
| Num Seasons: | 12 |
| Num Episodes: | 60 |
| Executive Producer: | Paul Hogan John Cornell |
| Producer: | James Fishburn |
| Location: | TCN-9 Willoughby, New South Wales (1978 - 1984) |
| Cinematography: | Tony Bartuccio |
| Camera: | multi-camera setup |
| Network: | Seven Network (1973 - 1977) Nine Network (1978 - 1984) |
The Paul Hogan Show was a popular Australian comedy show which aired on Australian television from 1973 until 1984 for a total of 12 seasons and 60 episodes. It made a star of Paul Hogan, who later appeared in Crocodile Dundee. Hogan's friend (and producer of Crocodile Dundee) John Cornell also appeared in the show, playing Hogan's dim flatmate Strop.
Episodes of the series generally opened with Hogan, playing a version of himself he called 'Hoges', presenting a stand-up comedy routine dressed in his bridge rigger's costume of boots, shorts, and shirt with sleeves cut off. The show then presented a series of comedy sketches, usually with Hogan in the lead role and playing various recurring characters, including:
Another recurring sketch featured Hogan again playing "himself" as Hoges, depicting the character's situation of living the carefree bachelor life in a disorderly apartment with his flatmate Strop.
The show would generally end with him in his bridge painter getup trying to flip cigarettes into his mouth.
The series also regularly featured attractive female models and actresses in its sketches - frequently in revealing costumes. Television actress and presenter Delvene Delaney (who later married Cornell) was the most frequent and best-known of these. Other women to appear in the series were Sue McIntosh, Karen Pini, Anya Saleky, Karen West and Abigail.[1]
Many sketches in the show were parodies of contemporary television shows. These included "Thick 'Ead" (Mastermind), "Pot o'Brass" (Pot o'Gold), "A Casual Affair" (A Current Affair) "Sale of the Week" (Sale of the Century), and "Benny Five'O" (a Benny Hill-inspired take-off of Hawaii Five-O).
The theme music was taken from the second movement of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No.5. This music was also used in contemporary advertisements for Winfield cigarettes, which featured Hogan.
The show was very popular in Australia and was compared to Saturday Night Live and The Benny Hill Show. The series also became popular in the UK as a result of its scheduling within peak time on the new Channel 4, and was one of the shows shown on its launch night on 2 November 1982.
After appearances on A Current Affair and specials for the Nine Network, Hogan and Cornell fell out with network owner Clyde Packer. The first three seasons from 1973 to 1975 of the Paul Hogan Show were on the Seven Network until Kerry Packer took over Channel 9 and invited them back.[2] [3]