Tuesday afternoon on Nova’s Fitzy, Wippa & Kate, comedian Sam Pang joined the team to talk Logies, the person who could possibly fill his shoes as host, and his new ABC comedy series Ground Up.
Pang revealed that he was asked to stay on to make it his fourth year in a row, but despite Seven’s persistence, he declined.
Fitzy asked him, “Okay, so with how busy you are with The Front Bar, and obviously with Ground Up premiering this Sunday, and you were filming that as well, you can definitely 100% confirm on the show now you will not be hosting the Logies this year?”
“No…I’ve done three, and that was more than enough,” Pang said.
Wanting further details, Fitzy pressed: “How far did they try and coerce you to do it again?”
“Yeah they asked me, and I just thought, you know, I’ve done three… I just politely declined,” Pang tactfully revealed.
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When asked for his thoughts on who could be his replacement as Logies host, Pang was again polite.
“Give us some whispers…who you’ve heard in the industry, maybe [that’s doing it] because they are big shoes to fill taken over from Pangy. Have you heard [anyone]?” Fitzy asked.
Pang suggested: “I think that Kitty Flanagan or Anne Edmonds or Tim McDonald and Melanie Bracewell from The Cheap Seats…I think Pete Evans would be a good one as well. There’s so many that could do it!”
On the topic of hosting, Kate Richie joked that she doesn’t want to see a comedian in the role.
“I want a newsreader…I don’t need the jokes. Sorry!” she said.
“Just get through it.”
As a veteran of the silver screen, one can imagine Richie has enjoyed watching many of the “TV’s night of nights.”
Pang was quick to respond, laughing, “Kate, your takeaway from my three years of hosting was ‘I think that they should get a news reader to do it. It’s enough with all the jokes’.”
Sam Pang has hosted the Logies for three consecutive years.
Sam Pang won’t do four years straight as Logies host
Last month, Pang addressed rumours about whether he would host or not.
“I’ve had three great years, and it was wonderful, but I’m just not going to do it this year,” Pang told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“It was very amicable. I’m well aware I may never do it again, and whoever does it, I’m sure will do a great job, but I just thought three was a nice number.”
News of Pang’s upcoming new show, which starts on Sunday, was released in May.
The ABC said: “A new chapter of Australian comedy kicks off next month with the arrival of Ground Up, a six-part series led by one of the country’s most loved comedians, Sam Pang.”
The premise is this: after years of trying, Tasmania has finally been given the green light to field a team in the AFL – but there’s a catch. The locals have to build a new stadium.
AFL administrator Hugh Shen (Pang) has been sent from Melbourne, tasked with establishing the club. There’s a divided public to win over, oppressive deadlines to meet, feisty protesters to handle and inoffensive mascots to employ.
Running out alongside Pang in the workplace chaos is a stellar ensemble cast including Emma Harvie (Colin From Accounts, RFDS), Dylan Murphy (Upper Middle Bogan), Josh McConville (Plum, Black Snow), Lucy Durack (Lift, Love in Lockdown) and Marg Downey (The Newsreader, Dear Life, Fast Forward).
The series premieres Sunday 7 June at 8:30pm on ABC TV and ABC iview.
Fitzy, Wippa & Kate can be heard from 4pm nationally on the Nova Network
Listeners can stream the show live or catch up with the daily podcast by downloading the Nova Player.