Kitty Flanagan Has Roasted Channel Ten Over Its Extremely Male Pilot Week Lineup
"Whatever they're paying Kyle Sandilands, I'll give you exactly three quarters of that."
Comedian Kitty Flanagan has taken aim at Channel Ten over the conspicuous lack of women in its Pilot Week lineup, roasting the network on Wednesday night’s episode of The Weekly.
Channel Ten came under fire over the weekend after it revealed that all eight shows set to feature in its Pilot Week experiment would be hosted by men. A number of female comedians and media personalities have criticised the lack of diversity — although, as Flanagan jokes, maybe it’s for the best.
“Women can’t host television shows,” she insists in a sketch in which a desperate Channel Ten executive asks her to join their lineup.
“I know that,” he replies. “But in today’s climate, how bad’s it going to look if every new show we come up with is fronted by a man?”
“There’s no precedent for a women hosting a show,” says Flanagan. “We don’t know what she might do”.
“This is Pilot Week,” she adds. “It’s not the time to get all crazy and innovative and take risks.”
“Is it about the money?” the exec asks. “Whatever they’re paying Kyle Sandilands, I’ll give you exactly three quarters of that.”
But it’s not just Ten that cops a roasting, with Flanagan also taking aim at her own network.
“Just look at the ABC, they know what works,” she says. “Shaun Micallef, Wil Anderson, Charlie Pickering, Tom Ballard, Tom Gleeson, Paul McDermott. All men, doing what they do best: being men on television.”
You can watch the sketch below.