ZAC EFRON - THE ABC SUSPENDS CONTROVERSIAL SATIRE SHOW

THE ABC SUSPENDS CONTROVERSIAL SATIRE SHOW

Following a viewer uproar over a sketch spoofing the Make-a-Wish Foundation, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation has ordered its top-rated satirical show The Chaser's War on Everything off the air for two weeks. (In the sketch, titled "Make a Realistic Wish," sickly looking children were given a stick and a pencil case after they wished for a trip to Disneyland or a meeting with Zac Efron, and it ended with a cast member remarking that there was no point in granting the children "extravagant" wishes since they "are only going to die anyway.") ABC Managing Director Mark Scott acknowledged today (Friday) that allowing the sketch to air was "a wrong judgment call" that had "let down our audience." He said that the two-week suspension "gives the ABC an opportunity to complete a review of editorial approval processes. It also gives The Chaser [the satirical group that stars in the series] a chance to regroup and review their material."

05/06/2009