It later had a very successful revival thanks to the British satirist Sacha Baron Cohen through his characters Ali G, Borat and Brüno. In both style and appearance, Paul Kaye's character Dennis Pennis was strongly reminiscent of Gunston. The Gunston technique has since been employed by many comedians. in Series 2 Gunston presented (but did not appear in) a 3-minute satirical 'micro-soap' called Checkout Chicks, which parodied current Australian TV soap operas and starred actresses well known for their appearances in such programs, including Number 96 stars Abigail and Philippa Baker, Class of 74 star Anne Louise Lambert, who went on to star in Picnic at Hanging Rock (in which McDonald also appeared in a 'straight' role).a weekly review of the show's ratings over previous weeks, with suggestions on how viewers and the studio audience might help them skyrocket later in Series 1 this focused on Norman's increasingly desperate campaign to win the coveted Gold Logie – which is, ironically, exactly what transpired at the 1976 Logies.'Consumer Straight Talk' – helpful tips on alternative uses for everyday household items, which later evolved into the even more grandiose-sounding 'Spaceship Southern Hemisphere'.'Norman's Dreamtime' – a mock-fairytale segment in which Gunston regaled a group of increasingly bored children with readings from a book of iconic Australian fables, with titles such as 'Why Underpants Ride Up'.McDonald is in real life an accomplished blues harmonica player (he jammed with Frank Zappa in an interview recording during Zappa's second Australian tour) and many of Norman's musical performances were regularly punctuated by poorly executed and inappropriate harmonica playing, such as in his rendition of the Billy Joel signature tune 'Piano Man'.Īs the series developed McDonald and his team introduced additional live and pre-taped segments including:

Among his memorable performances were his histrionic rendition of the Tom Jones hit 'Delilah', his charades-like version of 'Send in the Clowns' and his heroic interpretation of the Liza Minnelli's theme-song 'Liza with a Z', which Norman back-announced by guilelessly expressing surprise at the fact that few singers except 'Miss Lisa Minnulli' had ever attempted the song. Genuine musical performances by guest stars were countered by Norman's own unique interpretations of popular songs – he specialised in portraying his lyrics through mime and sign language and frequently punctuated the song with 'dramatic' interjections. The Gunston show was a subversive parody of the established variety 'Tonight Show' format, centering on a weekly roster of celebrity guests who were 'interviewed' by Norman.

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