Sticky Pictures’ Sammy J and Randy in Ricketts Lane will premiere on ABC TV from October 14 2015. The six-part musical comedy series is the first live-action prime time series for Australia’s very own Sticky Pictures in association with ABC TV, Film Victoria and Screen Australia.
Fresh off the back of a highly acclaimed ABC iview launch and having recently been featured in Neil Patrick Harris’ Gala at the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal, this is the first comedy television series for Sammy J and Randy.
A musical comedy about two mismatched housemates from the acclaimed comedic duo, Sammy J and Randy - Sammy J is a hopeless, down-and-out lawyer who, six years into his legal career, is yet to win a case. And Randy is a cheating, gambling, drinking divorcee who also happens to be a purple puppet.
Loud, bright, catchy, filthy, pun-filled, twisted and bursting with heart, Sammy J & Randy in Ricketts Lane is what happens when good, old-fashioned story-telling crashes headlong into an acclaimed, award-winning comedy duo.
“Sammy J & Randy in Ricketts Lane has been a labour of love. From first meeting the boys after one of their live performances five years ago through to wrapping production at the end of 2014, it has been a crazy, intense, laugh-out-loud rollercoaster ride. I can honestly say that there is no series like this out there. It’s a comedy. It’s a musical. It has a puppet in it. It is fabulously inappropriate, clever and is visually stunning. There is a wonderful timeless look and feel to the series. And I believe it is the funniest thing you’ll see on a screen this year. I am, of course, completely biased. I was fortunate to have a wonderful team on the production including Director, Jonathan Brough who embraced the series, and all its challenges, from the moment he read the scripts. And there were challenges. From hookers in hot tubs, car crashes, prison breakouts and hot air balloons, to a skinny man and purple puppet in matching Y fronts – this production had it all” said Sticky Pictures’ CEO and Executive Producer Donna Andrews.
Sammy J and Randy in Ricketts Lane also stars Nathan Lovejoy (This is Littleton, At Home with Julia), Georgia Chara (Wentworth, Home and Away) and Samantha Healy (Mrs Biggs, McLeod’s Daughters) and, in his debut role, an alpaca named Kerry.
Merging comedy, music and puppetry, Sammy J and Randy have played to sold-out audiences in Australia and internationally. In 2010 Sammy J and Randy won Australia’s most coveted comedy award, The Barry, for their one-man/one-puppet show, Sammy J & Randy in Ricketts Lane. In 2011, they wowed audiences around the globe with Sammy J & Randy in Bin Night, then again in 2012, with the third show in their trilogy, The Inheritance. They are without question two of the most sought after comics in Australia today.
Combining catchy songs with chaotic tomfoolery and outbursts of filth, these two adorable characters have an uncanny knack of charming the pants off everyone they meet. They have played to sellout houses at The Sydney Opera House, closed the Montreal Just For Laughs Comedy Gala and sold out seasons at Edinburgh Fringe.
In 2012 the pair hosted the Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s Opening Night TV Gala. The pair starred in Network Ten’s Good News World in 2013 and in 2014 Sammy J hosted the ABC’s political satire, Wednesday Night Fever while Randy took football fans to the brink on SBS’ The Full Brazilian. Now Sammy J and Randy are ready for their biggest adventure yet.
Catch Sammy J and Randy in Ricketts Lane on ABC TV from October 14 2015 at 9.30pm
Production Credits: A Sticky Pictures Production in association with ABC TV, Film Victoria and Screen Australia. Written by and starring Sammy J and Randy. Produced by Donna Andrews, co-produced by Chris McDonald. Directed by Jonathan Brough. Sticky Pictures Executive Producers Donna Andrews and Stu Connolly. ABC Executive Producers Rick Kalowski and Brett Sleigh.
