Chaser sketch 'may have been ripped off'

17:00 AEST Thu Jun 4 2009

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Chris Taylor in the skit labelled as offensive. (ABC)

The Chaser team have come under fire again.

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Speculation is mounting that The Chaser's controversial skit mocking dying kids was ripped off from another Australian sketch comedy show.

The Mansion, which airs on the Comedy Channel, ran a skit about the fictitious Reasonable Request Foundation last year.

Watch the skit here

The idea was remarkably similar to The Chaser's Make a Realistic Wish Foundation, prompting claims last night's "offensive" skit was pinched.

Media blog Mumbrella said comedian Dan Ilic was first to point out the close similarities between the two skits.

PHOTOS: Chaser controversies

The comparisons have come after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd blasted the comedy team for the skit aired last night.

Mr Rudd said that while he is happy to be fair game for parody, the stunt was "way beyond the pale".

"These guys, collectively, should get up and hang their heads in shame," Mr Rudd said this afternoon.

The ABC was forced to censor the controversial episode following public outrage over the The Chaser's War On Everything segment.

The public broadcaster was in crisis talks this morning after being flooded with complaints over the offending sketch.

"The ABC and The Chaser did not intend to hurt those who have been affected by the terminal illness of a child," ABC TV boss Kim Dalton and the show's executive producer Julian Morrow said in a statement released today.

What did you think of the stunt? View comments

"We acknowledge the distress this segment has caused and we apologise to anyone we have upset.

"As a result, ABC TV will edit the segment out of tonight's repeat screening on ABC2 and on-line."

In the sketch, Chaser members Andrew Hansen and Chris Taylor ask actors playing terminally ill children to make a wish.

One girl tells Hansen she wants to meet Hollywood teen heartthrob Zac Efron, but instead she is handed a stick.

Taylor at one point says the fictional foundation's aim is to help "thousands of kids to lower their extravagance and selfishness in the face of death". (Watch more: Chaser back at it today)

A spokeswoman for Make-A-Wish said Taylor had called Ms Brattstrom to apologise for the sketch.

"I have had a call from The Chaser this morning explaining to me that they weren't specifically poking fun at us," the foundation's communications manager Janita Friend told Melbourne radio station 3AW.

According to ratings company OzTam, The Chaser averaged about 1.2 million viewers last night — more than 300,000 less than last week’s series debut.

The Chaser has been pushing the boundaries of good taste since its debut in early 2006, including the infamous 2007 APEC Osama bin Laden prank and the tasteless "Eulogy Song", which poked fun at deceased celebrities such as Peter Brock, Princess Diana and Steve Irwin.

User comments

I used to find some their comedy funny. This is so low. Perhaps they could put they "talent" to some good use one day and actually contribute to the community rather than this rubbish. These idiots obviously don't have children or a heart, grow up guys !!

They were not poking fun at the children, but at "celebrities" who promote themselves by being seen in an entirely artificial relationship with one or two of the kids. I am not referring to such people as the Starlight Foundation.

spinelesseffort chasers

I thought it was the funniest skit I've ever seen. I don't see what the problem is. If we're going to start censoring things that are controversial how about we start with that highly offensive new Vodafone add where the priest is handing out condoms and the man on the microphone is flipping off the screen? Surely this is no less absurd.

It comedy, whether you define it as such or not. It's just like the majority of the Australian population to use the words like "how dare they" and "I'm outraged" but who are you to decide. Don't watch it if you’re easily offended, there's shows all around the world pushing these kinds of boundaries. The hypocrisy of people who decide they'll enjoy the Chasers poking fun at certain thing but not others, if you enjoy a censored sense of humour watch a censored show like thank god you're here or comedy inc on a heavily censored channel like 9 or 10. Don't ruin something different by complaining about it.

Many years ago, Doug Mulray was hosting a show on Nine Network, it became offensive and pathetically crude...one Kerry Packer immediately instructed the show to be flicked during the next set of commercials...ABC have the BALLS to flick these dim witted morons of the air PERMANATELY, they are nothing but waste of space and resources.

I used to be a fan of the show but its quality has recently taken a nosedive and they are really struggling for ideas! The lowest of all lows is to make jokes at the expense of dying children. Absolutely disgraceful.

Only the ABC would try something like this.They think now that Labor runs the country, they can get away with anything! Don't they know the difference between humour and insult? It's time they pulled the reins in on the Chaser Team, and made sure they get to see anything before it goes to air. Channel 2 has always been a law unto itself, but now they think they are beyond it! It's time that both the State and Federal Governments, started to tell the ABC the boundaries they can walk in. The Chaser Team are starting to make a lot of enemies out there, and I for one, wouldn't like to be on the receiving end when they come for payback!

As a mother who has a child that has cancer let me tell you there is nothing funny about cancer. To the chasers, you walk my shoes for 24 hours and tell me what is so funny. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Cancer is a horrible disease. I think you should issue a public apology to all cancer suffers. And be greatful that we have wonderful organisation like make-wish to help out our sick kids... GET A REAL JOB YOU PACK OF LOSERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't have a sick child relative, and I didn't see the skit simply because I stopped watching Chasers long ago because the show, and its satirist comedians (using the term losely here) are just not funny, insightful or clever. The ABC needs to get rid of the show not appologise and censor it episode by episode. It is a waste of space.

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