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Life Support
- 234 statements
- 45 feature instances
- 9 referencing feature instances
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Life Support | |
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Life Support | comment |
Format(s):Half Hour ComedyGenre(s):ParodyLife Support was an Australian cult comedy series that aired on SBS between 2001 and 2003, and parodied lifestyle shows such as Better Homes And Gardens while simultaneously using associated tropes to satirise the hell out of Australian society. A lot of its humour came from the hosts suggesting dangerous, dubious or often wildly illegal advice with completely straight faces.The four main characters were: Sigourney, played by Rachael Coopes: an always-chipper blonde who taught modern women all about how to win men and use handicrafts to make the world a better place. Notably the only character to be played by the same actress for the entire run of the show. Todd, played by Brendan Cowell and later Duncan Fellows: a brash, masculine (and slightly dim) Handy Man. Penne, played by Abbie Cornish and later Alison Barnes: a streetwise juvenile delinquent who offered lessons in "how to scam The Man". Dr Rudi, played by Simon Van Der Stap and later Jack Finsterer (or so we're made to believe...): a slick, suave and completely amoral South African gynaecologist with all sorts of tips about health and wealth. | |
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Dropped link to CallBack: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
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Life Support / int_1994ba0b | type |
Gone Horribly Right | |
Life Support / int_1994ba0b | comment |
Gone Horribly Right: Dr. Rudi's "I slept with your wife" counterargument does more damage than it should have; resulting in a loud, painful-to-watch fight that looks like it will end in divorce. Of course, Dr. Rudi isn't phased by any of this. | |
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Life Support / int_2d364c81 | type |
Tomboy and Girly Girl | |
Life Support / int_2d364c81 | comment |
Tomboy and Girly Girl: Penne is the tomboy to Sigourney's girly girl. | |
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Life Support / int_37499c8 | type |
OnceAnEpisode | |
Life Support / int_37499c8 | comment |
Once an Episode: In Season 1 Sigourney cooking some increasingly ridiculous dish to end the show, much to Dr Rudi's consternation. Season 2 instead has Sigourney suggest some increasingly outlandish activity to do while waiting for the next episode. | |
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Life Support / int_387c103d | type |
I Banged Your Mom | |
Life Support / int_387c103d | comment |
I Banged Your Mom: Dr Rudi advocates the "wife" variant as a way to win arguments. | |
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Life Support / int_42008602 | type |
Story Arc | |
Life Support / int_42008602 | comment |
Story Arc: Though the show's format would seem to make arcs implausible, there is an ongoing storyline throughout Season 3: Dr Rudi, who has had Magic Plastic Surgery (and thus been replaced with a new actor), keeps receiving threatening letters in the mail, which appear in each episode's mailbag segment. It's revealed in the finale that these letters are from the old Dr Rudi, played by Simon Van Der Stap - the new Rudi, played by Jack Finsterer, is an impostor. | |
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Life Support / int_43dc74d0 | type |
Sensitive Guy and Manly Man | |
Life Support / int_43dc74d0 | comment |
Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Dr Rudi is the sensitive guy (in that he's more highbrow, not that he's more of a gentleman) to Todd's manly man. | |
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Life Support / int_4864031b | type |
Informed Attractiveness | |
Life Support / int_4864031b | comment |
Informed Attractiveness: Inverted. When Dr Rudi talks about women's looks, he's accompanied by a "homely" woman that would actually be quite attractive if she just washed her hair or put on foundation. | |
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Life Support / int_4eb0815 | type |
The Nth Doctor | |
Life Support / int_4eb0815 | comment |
The Nth Doctor: For Season 3, Dr Rudi, originally played by Simon Van Der Stap, was replaced by Jack Finsterer. This was explained away as having had Magic Plastic Surgery to "look more heterosexual". Then it turned out that the new Rudi was an impostor, and the old Rudi showed up at his and Sigourney's wedding to take his life back. | |
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Life Support / int_50b05d30 | type |
Disproportionate Retribution | |
Life Support / int_50b05d30 | comment |
Disproportionate Retribution: A lot of the advice handed out by the show. Parents gave you an embarrassing name? Have them arrested! Foreign friend invites herself to stay at your place? Make it impossible for her to enter the country and ruin her reputation! Guy doesn't call? Accuse him of date rape! | |
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Life Support / int_5a3b8032 | type |
The Un-Reveal | |
Life Support / int_5a3b8032 | comment |
The Unreveal: One of the letter segments has Dr Rudi and Sigourney skimming through a series of letters without reading them out loud for the convenience of the audience. Instead they just read out the writer's names and give them context-free advice for what would have to be some risque queries. | |
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Life Support / int_5a3b8032 | |
Life Support / int_5dd7c88e | type |
Nature Adores a Virgin | |
Life Support / int_5dd7c88e | comment |
Nature Adores a Virgin: Penne suggests girls invoke this trope by lying about their virginity to potential sex partners. | |
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Life Support / int_62fd5552 | type |
Bavarian Fire Drill | |
Life Support / int_62fd5552 | comment |
Bavarian Fire Drill: Penne pulls this on a line of people queueing for concert tickets by wearing a fake Ticketek shirt and telling them the tour was cancelled. | |
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Life Support / int_722b3319 | type |
Camp Gay | |
Life Support / int_722b3319 | comment |
Camp Gay: Dr Rudi's advice for men who wish to "compliment" women in the workplace is to act like a gay stereotype to avoid sounding too sincere. | |
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Life Support / int_758c3034 | type |
Prison Rape | |
Life Support / int_758c3034 | comment |
Prison Rape: One of the Todd's Tips segments suggested plying rapist cellmates with romantic gestures so that it always happened "with a genuine sense of affection". | |
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Life Support / int_77b2803c | type |
Vox Pops | |
Life Support / int_77b2803c | comment |
Vox Pops: With real live people on the street. Probably. | |
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Life Support / int_812fc350 | type |
Turn of the Millennium | |
Life Support / int_812fc350 | comment |
Turn of the Millennium: Satirised a lot of the issues relevant in Australia at the time (some of which, depressingly, persist to this day). | |
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Life Support / int_812fc350 | |
Life Support / int_83a903f6 | type |
Stepford Smiler | |
Life Support / int_83a903f6 | comment |
Stepford Smiler: Heavily implied with Sigourney. | |
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Life Support / int_85abf836 | type |
Squirrels in My Pants | |
Life Support / int_85abf836 | comment |
Squirrels in My Pants: Todd's advice for awkward dancers is to wear miniature solar panels on his jacket which are connected to some wires that he clips onto his nipples. The intention is to have the flashing lights in a nightclub send rhythmic jolts throughout his body. The result looks even more awkward. | |
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Life Support / int_85abf836 | |
Life Support / int_863fa679 | type |
What Happened to the Mouse? | |
Life Support / int_863fa679 | comment |
What Happened to the Mouse?: The very last episode ends on a cliffhanger as the real Dr Rudi reveals his replacement was an impostor right before the credits roll. | |
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Life Support / int_863fa679 | |
Life Support / int_8f612013 | type |
Token Good Teammate | |
Life Support / int_8f612013 | comment |
Token Good Teammate: Todd is probably the least cruel of the group, as his advice doesn't involve manipulation or come at anyone's expense. At least not as much as the others does. | |
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Life Support / int_90b66e22 | type |
Femme Fatale | |
Life Support / int_90b66e22 | comment |
Femme Fatale: Sigourney is prepared to have Penne sabotage an electrical substation to make sure the lighting at her boyfriend's house makes her look attractive. | |
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Life Support / int_927b2f11 | type |
The Bus Came Back | |
Life Support / int_927b2f11 | comment |
The Bus Came Back: The original Dr Rudi returns in the final moments of series 3. | |
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Life Support / int_97ee273 | type |
Momma's Boy | |
Life Support / int_97ee273 | comment |
Momma's Boy: Todd, amusingly enough, still has his mother do his laundry. He even asks her, on air, not to sew the sleeves back onto his shirts. | |
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Life Support / int_9ae85487 | type |
Dr. Jerk | |
Life Support / int_9ae85487 | comment |
Dr. Jerk: Dr Rudi is the suave, charming and horribly amoral variety. | |
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Life Support / int_9d3f4777 | type |
My Nayme Is | |
Life Support / int_9d3f4777 | comment |
My Nayme Is: Penne, pronounced "Penny". She's so unhappy with the spelling, she actually arranges for her parents to be arrested in Germany under an obscure local law. | |
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Life Support / int_9fc04a54 | type |
Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today? | |
Life Support / int_9fc04a54 | comment |
Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?: Dr Rudi's new look is explained as him getting corrective surgery to look less gay. | |
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Life Support / int_b01abe4f | type |
Catchphrase | |
Life Support / int_b01abe4f | comment |
Catchphrase: Each host has one. Sigourney: "As a modern woman..." Todd: "So take a tip from Todd..." Penne: "See ya!" Dr Rudi: "Howzit!" Becomes a plot point in the series finale - spoken in the familiar voice of the old Rudi, played by Simon Van Der Stap, who has come to confront the impostor about to marry Sigourney. | |
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Life Support / int_b5060b63 | type |
The Lad-ette | |
Life Support / int_b5060b63 | comment |
The Lad-ette: Penne, Penne, Penne. | |
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Life Support / int_b6db5695 | type |
Political Overcorrectness | |
Life Support / int_b6db5695 | comment |
Political Overcorrectness: Dr Rudi, particularly in series 3 regularly comments on how political correctness is affecting social activity. One episode has him coach a man in how to get away with sexually harassing his female colleagues by giving off a gay vibe. | |
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Life Support / int_b6db5695 | |
Life Support / int_b915d947 | type |
Impossible Pickle Jar | |
Life Support / int_b915d947 | comment |
Impossible Pickle Jar: In the seventh episode of season three, Sigourney does a segment on tightening jars around the house so that your boyfriend can open them and get a boost to his ego. | |
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Life Support / int_bc00493f | type |
Precision F-Strike | |
Life Support / int_bc00493f | comment |
Precision F-Strike: Penne's reaction to the real Rudi's return in the series finale. | |
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Life Support / int_c01027a6 | type |
Better than a Bare Bulb | |
Life Support / int_c01027a6 | comment |
Better than a Bare Bulb: The Other Darrin is alluded to a couple of times. Penne's transition in series 2 is briefly acknowledged. In series 3, Todd mentions that he hasn't had much interaction with the others...this series. In the finale he wonders out loud if the real Dr Rudi "got anyone with him?". | |
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Life Support / int_c435ec5d | type |
Aesop Amnesia | |
Life Support / int_c435ec5d | comment |
Aesop Amnesia: Dr Rudi gives advice on making your teenage daughter fat to ensure she doesn't get pregnant at school. In another segment he also gives a teenage girl advice on how to get male attention. | |
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Life Support / int_cdcdb2b2 | type |
Cooking Show | |
Life Support / int_cdcdb2b2 | comment |
Cooking Show: Parodied in Todd's recurring "Todd's Treat" segments, which involved Todd passing off ordinary food as fancy recipes - coffee as homemade Prozac, for example, or toasted beef stew sandwiches as spring rolls, or imitation crab meat as an exotic seafood delicacy. One especially amusing example involves Todd's response to a viewer letter complaining that lifestyle shows always showed the same tired old recipes, and requesting that Todd show them how to make a dish like they'd see in the country's finest restaurants. After several minutes of proudly pointing out to the viewers all the French cooking terms and ingredients he's using, Todd puts the finishing touches on... a Big Mac and fries. | |
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Life Support / int_d45c0b86 | type |
Refuge in Audacity | |
Life Support / int_d45c0b86 | comment |
Refuge in Audacity: And how! | |
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Life Support / int_dbc33bf5 | type |
Handy Man | |
Life Support / int_dbc33bf5 | comment |
Handy Man: Todd. He's good with tools. | |
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Life Support / int_dcb9c541 | type |
Ship Tease | |
Life Support / int_dcb9c541 | comment |
Ship Tease: Sigourney and Dr Rudi. They shared as kiss in one segment that Todd was quick to point out. Series 3 drops an increasing number of hints that they're going steady but haven't told Todd or Penne. Finally confimred in the penultimate episode, which ends with them announcing their engagement. | |
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Life Support / int_ddf56e0a | type |
Amoral Afrikaner | |
Life Support / int_ddf56e0a | comment |
Amoral Afrikaner: Dr Rudi, though his exact ethnicity is Anglo-African instead of Afrikaan. | |
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Life Support / int_ddf56e0a | |
Life Support / int_e2d457 | type |
The Ditz | |
Life Support / int_e2d457 | comment |
The Ditz: Todd and Sigourney both have elements of this. Todd in particular once prematurely announced the end of a show in a segue, then had no idea what the next segment would be. It was his own segment. | |
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Life Support / int_e2d457 | |
Life Support / int_e9fb38 | type |
The Talk | |
Life Support / int_e9fb38 | comment |
The Talk: In true Life Support style, Dr Rudi suggests using an old porno movie to teach kids where babies come from. Sigourney helpfully chimes in and recommends the sound be turned down, so the kids "don't hear any nasty swearing". | |
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Life Support / int_eae41a | type |
The Vamp | |
Life Support / int_eae41a | comment |
The Vamp: Penne has been known to use her wiles on men (and occasionally women) to get what she wants with minimal effort. Sigourney has hints of this. | |
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Life Support / int_f081b6bc | type |
EmoTeen | |
Life Support / int_f081b6bc | comment |
Emo Teen: The phenomenon is parodied in one episode with a segment on "Chamber Mouth", a thankfully fictional depressive rock band whose lead singer permanently has a loaded shotgun in his mouth. | |
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Life Support / int_fbd285b7 | type |
Comically Missing the Point | |
Life Support / int_fbd285b7 | comment |
Comically Missing the Point: One mailbag segment has the hosts treating a vitriolic complaint letter as glowing praise. | |
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Life Support / int_fe0330fb | type |
Brick Joke | |
Life Support / int_fe0330fb | comment |
Brick Joke: A segment at the beginning of Episode 5 shows Penne preparing to steal a TV whose box she spotted in the owners' garbage. Later in the episode, she gives advice while on trial for that same theft. | |
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Life Support |
The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.
Australian Television Shows | seeAlso |
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Blackface / int_7df0c5ac | |
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Embarrassing First Name / int_7df0c5ac | |
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Half Hour Comedy / int_7df0c5ac | |
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I Banged Your Mom / int_7df0c5ac | |
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Impossible Pickle Jar / int_7df0c5ac | |
LiftOff | seeAlso |
Life Support | |
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Series of the 2000s / int_7df0c5ac | |
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The Nth Doctor / int_7df0c5ac |
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