| Italic Title: | no |
| Runtime: | 22–24 minutes |
| Starring: | Peter Helliar Corinne Grant Damian Callinan Scott Brennan Michael Chamberlin Fiona Harris Roz Hammond Tom Gleeson Cal Wilson Jason Geary Ben Anderson Tripod |
| Country: | Australia |
| Language: | English |
| Network: | Network Ten |
| Num Seasons: | 2 |
| Num Episodes: | 19 |
Skithouse (styled skitHOUSE) was an Australian sketch comedy television series that ran on Network Ten from 9 February 2003 to 28 July 2004. The series was produced by Roving Enterprises. It featured many well-known Australian comedians, including comedy-band Tripod. Reruns can now be seen on The Comedy Channel on Foxtel. In the UK, it is shown on the channel Paramount Comedy 2 and Trouble. The title name itself is a pun on the colloquialism "shithouse".
The series only ran for two seasons, before being cancelled due to a combination of dwindling ratings and the withdrawal of the cable network Foxtel as co-financier of the program's production.
Skithouse was produced by Roving Enterprises, a production company formed by Rove McManus. Two key performers were Rove's Rove Live co-hosts Peter Helliar and Corinne Grant. The show also featured Cal Wilson, Scott Brennan, Fiona Harris, Damian Callinan, Roz Hammond, Michael Chamberlin, Ingrid Bloom, Tom Gleeson, Jason Geary and Ben Anderson. Members of the comedic band Tripod also featured, not just as the band but in the actual skits as well. Tripod are Scod (Scott Edgar), Yon (Simon Hall) and Gatesy (Steven Gates).
The director was Full Frontal alumna, Daina Reid.
Since the cancellation of the series, a number of the stars have moved on to other areas in the comedy industry. Scott Brennan and Fiona Harris starred in Comedy Inc. (before the show's end) as well as Damian Callinan and Cal Wilson staying on Network Ten on The Wedge with Roz Hammond and Ben Anderson as part of the ensemble cast on Thank God You're Here. Tom Gleeson has gone on to host popular ABCTV quiz show, "Hard Quiz" which he has been the host of since October 2016.
The show consisted of numerous comedic skits. The half-hour shows themselves often seemed to have themes (or at least they repeated the use of sets, costumes, characters and props). Its comedic styling was reminiscent of many classic Australian sketch comedies, like Full Frontal and Fast Forward, sharing common elements such as self-depreciating humour, low-cost props and effects.
Many characters recurred throughout the series, often appearing several times in a single episode, creating a semi-coherent storyline. Some more notable recurring characters and/or scenarios are listed below.
The credits of each show are accompanied by a song by Tripod. While sometimes new material is used, it is sometimes a song previously featured in their "Song In An Hour" challenge with Triple J.
The main title was composed by John Von Ahlen and recorded at Subterrane Recording Studio, and the end credits read "Theme by John Von Ahlen for Planet J Productions". The incidental stings were also recorded at Subterrane Recording Studio. The credits of each show are accompanied by a song by Tripod. A compilation of expanded studio versions of these songs was later released as the album Middleborough Rd, which won an ARIA award in 2005 for Best Comedy Release.
The ARIA Music Awards are a set of annual ceremonies presented by Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the music of Australia. They commenced in 1987.
! |-| 2005| Classic Skithouse| Best Comedy Release| | [1] |-