The Paul Hogan Show

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. Premise 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. These include: Leo Wanker: an inept daredevil stuntman; George Fungus: a take-off of real-life television journalist George Negus of the Australian 60 Minutes; Super Dag: an ocker superhero complete with terry-towelling hat and zinc-creamed nose. His powers include his ability to use his esky in innovative ways; Perce the Wino: an old drunken derro who starred in a series of silent, Benny Hill-style, sketches; Donger: variants of this beer-gutted character include Sgt Donger, the tough cop with a bionic beer-gut, and Arthur Dunger, a caricature of the suburban tinny-chugging Australian male. Nigel Lovelace: a skateboarding eleven-year-old ("almost twelve" as they say in the show); The Phantom: a parody of the famous comic book hero The Phantom Arthur Dunger: a beer swilling pier bum. 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.