Recurring Rove sketches

 

Recurring Rove sketches are the sketches that are featured on the Australian talk show Rove.

Current

Celebrity interviews

Like many shows with a similar format, Rove includes interviews with several celebrities. McManus has gained a reputation for being a very relaxed and non-confrontational interviewer. He asks fun questions, which do not make the guest feel intimidated or need to think. This has put Rove in the position of recruiting guests that may have never seen the show before, via word of mouth from previous guests.^{[citation needed]}

As of 2007, McManus ends each interview with a segment called "20 Bucks In 20 Seconds", whereby he asks the guest celebrity a serious of quick questions (often with intent to get an amusing answer) in 20 seconds and gives them a $20 note if he likes their answers. He usually ends with the question "Who Would You Turn Gay For?" regardless of whether time is up or not.

Rove has interviewed a variety of guests including actors, musicians, politicians and even Muppets (See Right).

Carrie at the News Desk

A fresh take on world and local news with a quirky twist, presented by Carrie Bickmore. This segment is similar to Saturday Night Live's long-running Weekend Update. When Carrie left on maternity leave, she was filled in by some famous faces such as Jane Hall and Meshel Laurie.

Band performances / House Band

At the end of every show there is a live band performance. The bands vary in style and level of fame, including Evanescence, David Bowie, Delta Goodrem, Grinspoon, Simple Plan, John Farnham, Craig David, Ben Folds, The Cat Empire, Eskimo Joe, Foo Fighters, Coldplay, Jet, Moby, Wolfmother, The White Stripes, Ben Harper, Rihanna, The Veronicas, John Butler, Nelly Furtado, Nick Lachey, Sonic Youth, Gomez, The Living End, The Vines, Shania Twain, blink-182, Silverchair, The Grates, Queens of the Stone Age, Regina Spektor, Ben Lee, Good Charlotte and many others.

Starting in 2005 the band performs before the closing credits. In previous years the credits would roll while the band performed.

Australian band The Living End hold the record for the most musical performances by any artist in the history of the show, with five appearances.

In 2006 a house band played live music when returning from ad breaks and Rove will have a small discussion with the band. This is usually an Australian band of much smaller stature than the main act. In one episode, The Wiggles were the house band. This has been discontinued in 2007.

peteSpace

A parody of MySpace, this segment was introduced in 2007. Peter Helliar talks about celebrities that are in his top 8 in the week. The celebrities who have appeared in Pete's Top 8 the most times are John Howard, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and Chris Crocker.

Hughesy Loses It

Another segment introduced in 2007, where Dave Hughes complains about recent topics - though, these topics tend more to be the ones that Dave is interested in rather than everyone else is, with predictably humorous results. This is similar to what Hughes did during the start of his previous show, The Glass House.

The format is as follows - Hughsey gets going on a subject, and needs to do a good strong tirade without stopping at any point for laughing at himself (not always well), and often using the catchphrase 'Seriously!'

Hamish and Andy

Comedians Hamish Blake and Andy Lee set out during the week doing various random skits which they present on the show.

Ryan Shelton's Rydeas

Comedian Ryan Shelton presents a new invention or idea he has come up with, which he calls a "Rydea", often using puns on the "Ry" part of his name.

Hot Topic

A vox-pop-style segment where random people are asked about a certain topic and are asked to give their opinion on the topic. These answers are evidently not legitimate, and many of their responses include references to Network Ten shows.

Rove's Audience's got Talent

Parody of Australia's Got Talent where Rove plucks out a member from the audience and puts them in in an unknown talent (thats performed by actors). Peter Helliar, Dave Hughes and a celebrity guest play the judges. This segment has only occurred twice since the first episode in 2007.

It Takes You

Parody of It Takes Two where Rove picks a member from the audience and makes them perform a song with a celebrity. This segment first appeared on June 3, 2007. The professional was Dean Geyer. This segment has not been seen since.

So Rove's Audience Thinks They Can Dance

Parody of So You Think You Can Dance where Rove picks a member from an audience, dresses him or her in an unusual costume, and forces him/her to dance. Like It Takes You, this segment has only appeared once.

Former

These sketches are the ones that are no longer appearing on the show.

Hang Up, Don't Hang Up

Rove calls a live lister from a different time zone, so the show isn't on the air there, and tries to make a relaxed conversation. However, during the call Peter Helliar will pull random cards off an oversized novelty phone (Of which the cards are the numbers)(The letters on key 7 are in the wrong order). These cards indicate something Rove must do (e.g. Sing your words, make the live-lister say the word 'Bucket'). However, if Peter pulls out 'Hang Up', Rove must hang up and end the call without saying goodbye or even finishing the sentence.

I Want My Stuff Back

In this segment, Rove helps a 'Live Lister' receive back property that they have lent to someone. This ranges from televisions, to articles of clothing, to long lost pornographic dvds, to long lost children.

Live List

Viewers can register their name, address and various other details on the show's website to join the Live List. A broadcast team will occasionally visit a viewer (the first the viewer knows about it is when they see the front of their house live on television). What happens from then on varies greatly—from performing a quick two-minute interview live from their house, to being sent away to perform a certain task (usually to win a prize), sometimes being sent as far away as Fiji, New York City or the United Kingdom.

The Pentagon Of Probable Embarrassment

Rove gets an audience member to spin a wheel with a one in five chances of making $5000, although the other four in five chances are repelling. Other "prizes" included "Breakfast in your pants", "Kiss Pete's Grandma", "Soup on your head", "Eat a Fish Eye", "Mega-Wedgie".

What's Hot, What's Not

Rove would go through what is hot (popular) at the moment (eg. music, television shows etc) and comparing it with something which is not (eg. What's Hot - Lamborghinis. What's Not - Lamb Bikinis. What's Hot - Desperate Housewives. "What's Not" - Dentist Archives). Most times the What's Not part would rhyme or have a link to the What's Hot part.

Sex Office

Sex Office is the name of the latest ongoing sketch in the form of a drama/sitcom style television show where everyone is having sex except one. This was introduced explaining that Big Brother wasn't the first program that had controversial discussion about sex. Sex Office is set retrospectively in the 1970s.

Petesclusive

Peter Helliar will chat to a 'guest' (celebrity or world figures) who has recently been involved in a famous story or scandal. Helliar's guests are no more than a simple photograph of the famous person with their mouth edited over, so it appears that the person is speaking (this is done by Rove, off screen, who is not seen fully again until the conclusion of the segment). This is taken from a bit on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

Guests have included Pope John Paul II, Michael Jackson, Sean Connery and Saddam Hussein.

Roving with Rove

A pre-recorded Jaywalking-esque segment in which Rove McManus asks people in street for their thoughts regarding particular topics. See also: Vox pops

What the...?

This segment is included in every show. Rove receives viewer submissions of objects that might make one say "what the...?" The submissions can range from newspaper clippings, DVD boxes, photos of odd signs or animals doing inappropriate things to each other. Many are mistakes of translation from foreign languages or other unintentional humor. This segment was abandoned in 2007.

Variety show Hey Hey It's Saturday had a similar segment, named Phunny Fotos.

Ron's Review

78-year-old Ron Steward reviews a movie that is about to premiere or has just premiered and gives his comments as well as a rating out of 5 stars. Ron's Review is not a weekly segment and happens around every 3 weeks. Peter Helliar also reviews the same movie with Ron. The main humorous appeal of this segment is the fact that Ron is quite an elderly man which has led to a variety of jokes regarding Ron's age, which although many are at his own expense he appears to take in good humor. Another humorous part of the segment is Ron's ever recurring rating of 3 and a half stars (out of 5). In 2006 Rove conducted a semi-humorous campaign to have Ron nominated for the best newcomer Logie award.

Not So Frequently Asked Questions

NSFAQ as quoted on the Rove Live website is a fairly recent segment (2004) where Rove, Peter and Corinne are asked questions that aren't asked very often. This usually ends up with a video-skit that was pre-recorded.

Joke credits

At the end of every episode there were fake credits shown with the real credits. There was a common theme for the credits each week, and that theme varied from week to week.

Two Minutes at Your House

In addition to being chosen to participate in stunts and contests, "Live List-ers", as they are referred to, may be visited by the shows camera crew for a live crossover to their house lasting about two minutes. In reality, these segments are often well beyond the suggested two minutes, as the timer doesn't commence counting down until the person has been verified to be at home, and Rove tells the clock to start. If a particular story isn't finished, pet not shown, or talent not displayed, the segment will often continue even if the timer has expired. Recent segments have hinted at prior planning of the segment, by contact friends and/or family of the Live Lister to ensure they are where the camera crew will show up.

Flick Your Switch

Another feature of the show is a live video shot of an area of an Australian city. Rove then gets the residents of the area to flick the lights of their houses on and off, often in answers to questions.

This segment started in 2004 when Rove pointed a camera at Kirribilli House and asked the Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard, to flick his light switch if he was willing to be interviewed on the show. When the desired result was not achieved, Rove then asked the neighbours to flick their switch if they would try to help get Howard on the show. In a recent show (19 April 2005), Rove succeeded in his goal of getting Kirribilli house to flick its switch. A special ferry filled with participants in a dress-up competition for the show, stopped on the Sydney Harbour outside Kirribilli House, the passengers chanting "Flick your switch". Rove and viewers were surprised to see the lights flick. It was neither Mr. or Mrs. Howard as they were both on an international visit at the time, but it is believed it was one of Howard's children or an aide.

The show Don't Forget Your Toothbrush had a similar feature of the second season involved the audience flashing their house lights on and off at a prescribed moment. A camera in a mystery location would search for someone taking part, thus selecting them to play a game involving throwing things out of their windows.

My Charader

A variation of the game charades, the title being a play on the song "My Sharona" by The Knack. The game is run by Rove and involves two teams. Formerly Peter Helliar and a guest would play on one team, and Corinne Grant and a guest on the other team. Each player takes a turn guessing the charades of their teammate and must correctly guess as many as possible within the time limit. The team with the most correct guesses wins.

Tell Us Where To Go

At a viewer's request, Corrine Grant is sent on location somewhere in Australia to witness a local event, local landmark or local personality. With the attractions being of varying notoriety, the segment is often played up for laughs. The segment is prefilmed and presented by Grant and McManus in front of a large map of Australia (without Tasmania) lowered onto the stage. At the end of the segment, Grant gives Rove a present from adventures, something sexual or inappropriate (or both) if possible, and a magnet is placed on the drop-down map approximately where the location was. Due to Australia being very closely populated on the eastern coast, and southeastern corner in particular, the "approximate" placement of the magnets has been evermore loosely interpreted. This segment was dropped in 2006, with the departure of Grant in 2005.

Amazing Talents

Viewers with "amazing" (or just plain bizarre) "talents" are brought to the studio and given a few minutes to display their skills. These can range from feats of skill, such as balancing lawn furniture, or natural freakishness, such as nailing a fork into each nostril. This is comparable to the "Stupid Human Tricks" segment on The Late Show with David Letterman.

Who's in the Swivel Chair?

This segment consisted of a celebrity personality being pushed around the studio on a swivel chair. Each week the name of the celebrity was announced by Bruce Mansfield. “Who’s in the Swivel Chair?” was brought to an end when tragedy struck one of the celebrities as Rove remembered it in a flashback.

Words that sound better when said by Dave

Dave Callan recites random words and names. The sketch was abandoned when Callan left after the first series in 2000. Some of Callan's famous words include: trousers, haberdashery, archbishop desmond tutu and man-boob.

Donate to Wikimedia